Hi fellow travelers! My husband and I are traveling to Japan for the first leg of our honeymoon. I was hoping to get some feedback from you all on our itinerary for December 4-10. Items to note: we are big on food and culture and are fine with rush-rush and lots of walking (we will be in Maldives the second half of the honeymoon so we can rest then).
Without further ado:
**Day 1**: Landing at Haneda @ 3pm
* We have pre-booked our JR Pass tickets and pocket wifi and will be picking those up here.
* The goal is to get to our hotel (in Ginza) by 5:30 pm, freshen up a bit and then head to Roppongi @ 6pm.
* Dinner reserved at Sushisho Masa @ 8:45pm.
* Question: Any recommendations for things to do in Roppongi for 2ish hours while we wait for our reservation? We are trying to avoid staying in our hotel room until dinner for fear of giving in to the jetlag nap.
**Day 2**: Tokyo crash course
* Early wake up for Tsukiji outer market
* Head to Sensoji Temple
* Backtrack to Shibuya – explore/do crossing/eat at sushi conveyor-belt restaurant
* Explore Harajuku
* Meiji Shrine
* Go back to our hotel and reset
* Dinner/drinks in Shinjuku area
**Day 3**: Hakone
* Take early JR train/other trains/buses to Gora. Purchase Hakone Freepass.
* Start the Hakone loop at the shrine, then take the pirate ship and ropeway up to our ryokan.
* Chill at the ryokan and (hopefully) enjoy Mt. Fuji view.
* Question: What are the chances of serious snow in Hakone in early December? Should we bring snow shoes? We are trying to pack as economically as possible and would like to avoid packing snow shoes (on top of the heavy jackets we are already bringing) if it isn’t necessary.
**Day 4**: Kyoto
* Early train to Kyoto.
* Question: Google maps is showing the fastest way to get to Kyoto is to backtrack to Tokyo. If this is really the fastest, fine by me, but any tips or tricks on getting to Kyoto from Hakone are much appreciated!
* The hope is to get to our hotel (in Gion) to drop our bags around 1pm.
* Ginkaku-ji
* Eikan-do Temple
* Kiyomizu-dera Temple
* Dinner at Kobe Beef steak Mouriya Gion @ 7pm
* Question: Any better recs for set menu Kobe beef? Our budget is around 20,000 yen pp.
**Day 5**: Kyoto pt. 2
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove/Arashiyama District/Tenryuji Temple
* Kinkaku-ji Temple
* Late lunch: Nishiki Market
* Nijo Castle
* Fushini Inari
* Kodai-ji Temple
* Dinner: Somewhere in Gion area
* We figured we would explore the area and find some place to eat but any recs are welcome here!
**Day 6**: Osaka/Hiroshima day trip
* We plan to check out of our Kyoto hotel early and head to our hotel in Osaka (Dotonburi area) to quickly drop our bags before we head to Hiroshima for the day.
* Question: Any recs for best Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki?
* Once we get back (late afternoon is my guess) we have the day to ourselves to do whatever. Any recommendations for ways to spend the evening are welcome!
**Day 7**: Last day to explore
* After we check out, we were planning on taking our carry-ons to Osaka station and leaving them in a locker.
* Shitennō-ji
* Kuromon Market
* Osaka castle (just to take a look from the outside – we probably won’t go in)
* Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street
* Osaka station by 8:30 pm to make it to the airport for our 11pm flight
Thank you all in advance for your thoughts/advice! As mentioned previously, we are fine with some days that are more rushed so long as they are still conceivable.
2 comments
> Day 1
Not exactly a suggestion for something in Roppongi, but you could head over to Tokyo Tower. It’s not a very far walk. I’d also recommend walking around Roppongi Hills.
> Day 2
This is doable, but it’s all over Tokyo (you’d be in the southeast, then northeast, then south west and then northwest parts of the city)
> Day 4
Not in Kyoto or Kobe specifically, but Ginza Steak has a number of locations in Tokyo that serve AYCE A5 wagyu for under 11,000 yen per person.
> Day 5
This is a lot to do in one day. Nishiki Market is really big and a ton of fun and you could easily spend an entire afternoon there. Kyoto is also very spread out and can take a good amount of time to get around to different places.
> Day 6
I just went to Okonomiyaki Junior in Hiroshima and it was excellent. I’d also recommend trying oysters while you’re there, it’s another thing that the city is known for.
> Question: Any recommendations for things to do in Roppongi for 2ish hours while we wait for our reservation?
You can probably walk around Tokyo Midtown or Roppongi Hills. There is also the Mori Art Museum at Roppongi Hills too, side benefit is that is it on the 52nd-53rd floors of Mori Tower so you get some nice views of the city. There are also of course a lot of bars in the area if you wanna do drinks before dinner. Bars start opening up around 5 or 6 so that is a good time to visit when they aren’t as crowded especially on weekdays.
> Early wake up for Tsukiji outer market
While most of the inner market stalls moved to Toyosu the ones that stayed behind moved to two buildings at the edges of the outer market located here https://goo.gl/maps/N8TjcJ7TsvARCjZX8 and here https://goo.gl/maps/sqzKCAsriYFBMXzx7 Not as crowded as the more toursity areas of the outer market.
> Question: Google maps is showing the fastest way to get to Kyoto is to backtrack to Tokyo.
You could just head to Odawara station and take the shinkansen from there you wouldn’t be taking the fastest shinkansen, but you’ll get there fairly quickly and there is no backtracking.
> Dinner: Somewhere in Gion area
We like going to sukiyaki at a place called [Moritaya](https://goo.gl/maps/Z8bAkRFDshFLZ4XW9). Kansai style sukiyaki is interesting and IMO better than Kanto style. You may need reservations here.
> Day 6 Once we get back (late afternoon is my guess) we have the day to ourselves to do whatever. Any recommendations for ways to spend the evening are welcome!
Depending on what your plans on in Hiroshima you may not be able to get back to the evening. That being said, you could check out the shinsekai area. It’s kinda grungy, but has a old time vibe to it. Lots of kushikatsu stores in the area. As for best hiroshima okonomiyaki you could checkout [Okonomimura](https://goo.gl/maps/QydDbpjsTrFRX87RA) which is a food hall with a bunch of Okonomiyaki shops.