I am traveling with my girlfriend to Japan; this is our first time and our third attempt (Thanks, COVID). She speaks fluent Japanese, and I would be reliant on Google Translate. We only purchased our tickets and accommodations; everything else, like JR pass, Wifi puck, and Universal tickets, we will hopefully purchase when we get into Japan.
We will be traveling to Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Hakone, and we have so must do but are pretty flexible on our itineraries. I would love some suggestions or advice for our fast-approaching trip, especially in the realm of local festivals or off the beaten path sights.
Day 1 Land in Narita Aiport
After immigration and hopefully picking up a wife puck, We’ll take the Narita Express to Minato city. We will chill and eat dinner as the flight into Japan will be way too long.
Day 2 Tokyo Activities
The two must-do’s are to visit the Yushukan Museum and the Ouran High School Host club pop-up shop.
Day 3 Tokyo – Osaka
Traveling from Tokyo to Osaka and Starting the 7-Day JR Pass and staying in the Nishi area.
Day 4 Osaka Activities
The only must-do is to eat at the Zauo Fishing Restaurant
Some Suggestions we had gotten are Spa World, The cup of noodles museum, and Walk around Dotonbori.
Day 5 Hiroshima Day trip
This will be a day trip to Hiroshima to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
Day 6 Univseral Studios
Spend the whole day at Universal Studios Japan
Day 7 Osaka to Hakone
We are traveling from Osaka to Hakone. We will be staying near Lake Ashinoko.
Day 8 Hakone Activites
We want to hit some sights, especially the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun, for the coffee onsen.
Day 9 Hakone to Tokyo
Last day of our JR pass, and we will go from Hakone to Tokyo. We will be staying in the Taito area.
Day 10 Tokyo Activities
No must do but would love suggestions.
Day 11 Tokyo half day
Our flight leaves in the afternoon, but we need to know if we need to be at Narita super early or have time for another activity.
3 comments
I really recommend you visit fewer places. With 11 days, I think you’d have more fun sticking to two cities rather than going to four.
From personal experience, going to a different city every 2-3 days is annoying. Think unpacking and repacking luggage, checking in to hotels, maneuvering train station chaos…the annoying parts of travel will become a sizeable portion of your vacation, rather than maximizing the time spent sightseeing and enjoying yourselves. Travelling from one city to another ends up consuming at least half your day, and looking at your itinerary, you’ll only have 5 days free of worrying about catching a train, packing and lugging suitcases, etc.
I know that as tourists we want to see everything, but this way you would get to know fewer places very well rather than having spedrun the top X attractions of each city.
I speak from experience, having visited 15 cities in Europe in 6 weeks…never again 🥲
But no matter what you guys end up doing, you’ll surely have a lot of fun! Have a nice trip!
(Also I think one can only buy the JR pass for tourists outside the country? Cause it’s such a good deal they don’t want locals to use it or something lol. Make sure to double check that)
You cannot buy a JR pass inside Japan, you need to have the voucher ahead of time.
I’m always in the camp of moving more than staying more. I did 3 weeks once with a different city (or two) every day and it was incredible. I also did 5 weeks across the world (Australia, Japan, Greece, Sweden and Norway) Multiple times actually, and wouldn’t change anything. It’s not for everyone though. I walked on average 40 miles a day and one day was 61 miles, confirmed with my Fenix. I walked so much my socks were soaked in my own blood, just depends what your training level is and how bad you really want to see everything.
First, you’ll need to limit yourself to a quality backpack. I have the reverse carry Eagle Creek. Buy socks and underwear at 100y shops and throw them away. Don’t bother washing them, or bring ones you don’t mind throwing away. Get use to wearing your other clothes every day.
Start your day at 5am, you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll burn through a day otherwise. Just getting from the hotel, to food, to the train eats up time when you’re being amazed by Japan.
If you’re willing to do these things, your itinerary is fine. If not, I agree, you should tweak it.
I went to Yushukan yesterday. A significant portion of the placards are not translated into English but it’s still worth the price of admission – Y1,000.