Request: Itinerary advice – one month

8 comments

1. Kyoto-B: I’d say possible, but it’d be really, really packed if you also want to go to Kibune.

   Kyoto-C: Shirahige Shrine is very, very out of the way. It’s also like 30 min walk from the closest station (Omi-Takashima).

2. It would be good to get some context on your choices for timing. For example, that’s a lot of time spent in Tokyo – even though it’s the capital a lot of the more cultural and traditional Japan experiences are outside of there. It seems like you are more focussed on city experiences and not nature? Unless of course you are super happy with your timeline and just want input on the individual days.

3. That is surprisingly a lot of days for Osaka. No idea if you included things in order, but you should end the day by Dotonbori.

   For Kyoto, I think that Fushimi Inari should be done first and as early as possible (wake up at 8am is not early, you want to be there at least at 8 am to avoid the crowd).

   Kifune is out of the question for the second day, that is way too much. Also think that it would be hard to do things in center of Kyoto and Biwako on the same day.

   So if you want to see it all, I would at least add one day for Kyoto if not two.

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   For the Kawaguchiko, be flexible and do it on whatever day the weather is good (as long as you do not have a museum ticket like Ghibli on that day). Also check schedule of things as some places have a day close or a day they close earlier.

   You have doguyasuji in Osaka, but if you are into cooking, also try to check Kappa bashi in your Asakusa day.

   You day L in Tokyo is too much, yes you can do Ghibli and Nakano on the same day, but adding more things that are out of the way might be difficult, so you might have to report some of if to the last unscheduled days.

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   In general it seems quite ok. I would just try to be flexible and keep your schedule in mind. If you see you have too much, do not hesitate to drop something and if you go faster than expected, you might want to start visiting places from days later in the schedule. For example, if you cannot do Hama rikyu on your ginza day, you can do it before Zojo-ji as it is not too far.

4. First thing is you don’t need to stay in both Kyoto and Osaka, they are only 15 minutes apart by Shinkansen

5. Hey, just wanted to note that Palette Town which includes Venus Fort, TeamLab, the Ferris Wheel, Mega Web (the Toyota Museum you’re going to pass through going to TeamLab) as well as Zepp Tokyo will be closed for renovation starting this December. There’s a good chance those won’t be open for a while.

   Edit: Apparently TeamLab and the Ferris Wheel won’t be closed til August next year so you’ll be able to see that. Venus Fort will be closing on March so that’s a sure miss. [Here’s the link to the article for reference.](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/palette-town-in-odaiba-to-close-facilities-from-december-for-major-redevelopment-072621)

6. This post will be really helpful. My friend and I are also planning to visit around June the same route from Osaka to Tokyo. Looks like you have put a lot of research.

7. Osaka – Day B/D/E, I don’t think you need 3 full days for these, 2 should be enough. Another day you could do a day trip to Himeji or Amanohashidate.

8. Osaka days:

   I would switch Osaka Castle for one of the authentic in the Kansai area (Himeji or Hikone). Osaka-jo is a bad reconstruction with a decent(ish) museum inside the keep, however, it’s perfectly skippable in months, where Nishinomaru garden isn’t the main attraction.

   Day B: Unless you plan a whole day of shopping, I would supplement this with a trip to one of the above-mentioned castles, Minoo Park or Expo’70 Park.

   Days D and E: This is one-day’s worth of itinerary. In fact, I would visit Shitenno-ji, Sumiyoshi Taisha, Abeno Harukas and Shinsekai on one of those days; and Namba area (from Den Den Town via Kuromon Market, Namba Parks to Shinsaibashi and Amerikamura with Dotonbori at night) on the other.

   Day G: Shirahama Beach is Japanese equivalent of Scheveningen. It would make more sense to take a day trip to Awaji or Naoshima. Or just to add this day to Kyoto.

   Kyoto days:

   Day B: Arashiyama, Kinkakuji and Kifune Shrine inside one day is simply undoable. Arashiyama and northern Kyoto temples (Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, Ninnaji) are doable.

   Day C: This is only technically doable (Lake Biwa destinations, Nijo-jo and Manga Museum), but this would be a lot of walking.

   Tokyo days:

   Days A to C: Generally, you would need 2 days for this itinerary, including shopping.

   Day D: I would probably recommends starting the day at Hamarikyu Gardens. And note that Mori Tower observation deck is more spectacular after dark.

   Day F: Think about skipping the tour as it is fairly boring since you stay outside the buildings.

   Day G: It would make sense to start the day at Edo-Tokyo Museum (major time stealer). Sumida Park outside cherry blossom season is just pretty ordinary riverside park.

   Out of the way sights:

   Yayoi Kusama Museum can be easily done on your Shinjuku day.

   Yanaka Ginza would be a good fit for Ueno/Akihabara day if you skip zoo (which is cramped and really poor) and don’t have specific plans for National Museum.

   Ghibli Museum and Nakano Broadway usually go together.

   Other notes:

   > we don’t mind getting up early (like 8 AM)

   This is ok for Tokyo (other than day trips to Kamakura and Fuji Five Lakes, where you’d probably want to get by that time in the morning) and in Osaka sights, however, for Kyoto… well, you really need to get to starting point at opening times (Arashiyama: Tenryu-ji) or very early in the morning (Fushimi Inari or Kiyomizu-dera) to beat the crowds.