Hi dear Japan travelers, with much excitement I come to you to ask for help with planning our first trip to Japan after years of waiting!
We are going from March 31st to April 13th, giving us a total of 11 1/2 days to explore. “We” are my boyfriend and I btw.
Here is the rough itinerary I have envisioned so far:
* April 1st: arriving at Haneda airport in the early afternoon, travel to Hakone or Kawaguchi Lake area to get used to the time zone while enjoying the beauty of Japan’s nature and having a full ryokan experience
* April 2nd: stay in that area for the day, travel to Tokyo in the evening
* April 3rd and 4th: explore chosen areas of Tokyo
* April 5th: visit Kamakura
* April 6th: travel to Kyoto via Shinkansen
* April 7th: explore Kyoto
* April 8th: Fushimi Inari
* April 9th: spend a day in Nara
* April 10th: travel to Osaka
* April 11th have a blast at Super Nintendo Land
* April 12th: head back to Tokyo
* April 13th: travel back home leaving in the late morning
What are your thoughts on this? I would have loved to fit Kanazawa in there too, but I worry it would make the trip too crowded. There are some things that we absolutely want to do, such as see Fuji-san (even if just by passing on the train), stay one night at a real ryokan, ideally with private onsen (to make it easier finding one we can stay at considering my large tattoos), go to Super Nintendo Land, Akihabara, Fushimi Inari and Nara. We are not hell-bend on Osaka, but not sure if SNL is feasible without staying in Osaka at least one night.
Also the reason for staying in a ryokan right at the beginning is this: from my last travel to Asia (Thailand) I remember how absolutely exhausted I was from the long travel and while I know how to deal with traveling West, my body did not like traveling East. I am worried we’d not have a good time in Tokyo if we try to explore it right on day 1. I hated Bangkok because of how dead I felt on my first days but in hindsight wished we had just gone at a later moment… BUT April 1st is a Saturday, the 2nd a Sunday, so we do expect crowds on those days regardless. Might as well go to a place that at least feels relaxing.
3 comments
April 1st.. arriving.. getting to Hakone.. then the next day travelling back to greater Tokyo? 🥴
I would heartily applaud you if you achieved that. You mentioned about previous asian trips and jet lag. Trying to travel from Haneda .. ( not sure the connections to Hakone) to Hakone.. stay an evening there (Hakone is a *huge* area.. ) check in.. succumb to jet lag.. wake up in a daze in Hakone.. check out.. leave for greater Tokyo. Man, I don’t know how you could even focus on where you are and what you’re doing… but I couldnt do it.
I get the Ryokan idea, but the distance and cost involved I just argue it is not worth it during the first 24 hours in the country. Plus, the whole discussion of visiting Hakone for one night (this discussion comes up here weekly it seems)
There are many comfortable albeit not necessarily ‘authentic’ Ryokans along the Haneda area (check [here](https://www.ryokan.or.jp/english) for their official association website in English)
As for your concern about tattoo’s.. consider the option to stay at a cheaper hotel and be aware that Ryokan/ Inn/ Hotel partners with a neighbouring hotel that has a Sento/Onsen that will book private baths hourly. This makes it very affordable and often gives variety.
Others will chime in here, but IMO leave at least the first two days to decompress before visiting the areas I am in. I completely understand time constraints. Be aware that early April will be around Sakura and blossom time. I would absolutely have accommodation nailed down as this will be the first spring with zero health restrictions and will be ultra popular for international tourism (edit: be 100% certain on all public transportation bookings as well.. this time period as well as other national Holidays such as ‘Golden Week’ insists on confirmed tickets due to how busy things are)
edit: grammar
Regarding ryokan the first night, there is some reasons why it may not be a good idea.
1. If you are already exhausted from your flight, you have to add 1h30 to 2h to reach Hakone or about 3h to Kawaguchiko, and none of them will be a direct route from the airport.
2. If you want to get the full ryokan with the meal experience, this create some sub problems
1. You usually have to check-in by 5 or 6pm if there is dinner included and considering the time required to travel from airport to ryokan, you have to land in the morning or early afternoon to get to the ryokan in time. This is especially a problem if you fly from North America as most flights land in the afternoon (but you might be European as you said traveling East, in that case, landing in the morning is more frequent)
2. A kaiseki meal is a lot of food, so how is you appetite on the day you land ? Ready to eat a meal with up to a dozen of small dished ?
For that reason, I would at least stay the first night in Tokyo, but you could decide to do the ryokan on the second night, for example in Hakone and from there, go directly to Kyoto. I say Hakone more than Kawaguchiko mostly because it’s easier to get to the shinkansen from Hakone. Then you can move the bulk of the Tokyo days at the end of the trip and focus on sopping at that moment instead of moving what you will be all the way to Kyoto an back.
>April 1st: arriving at Haneda airport in the early afternoon, travel to Hakone or Kawaguchi Lake area to get used to the time zone while enjoying the beauty of Japan’s nature and having a full ryokan experience
Whew, yep. This will be the rough part.
Assuming you land at 1pm, and that you get through Immigration by 2:30pm (since you collect your baggage before you cross the border) you still have to make it from Haneda Airport to Shinjuku Station [(45 minutes by train)](https://www.google.com/search?q=haneda+airport+to+shinjuku&oq=Haneda+Airport+to+Shinjuku&aqs=chrome.0.0i512l9.10057j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8_), then from Shinjuku to Hakone [(1hr, 28 minutes)](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Shinjuku+Station,+3+Chome-38-1+Shinjuku,+Shinjuku+City,+Tokyo+160-0022,+Japan/Hakone-Yumoto+Station,+Yumoto,+Hakone,+Kanagawa,+Japan/@35.4617401,139.2819577,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m22!4m21!1m5!1m1!1s0x60188cd0d6b1ba1f:0x1c32a1f1ecacfdd5!2m2!1d139.7005713!2d35.6896067!1m5!1m1!1s0x6019a37513517f71:0x9ba58d3f229386a2!2m2!1d139.1035878!2d35.2332816!2m7!5e0!5e1!5e2!5e3!6e0!7e2!8j1668264120!3e3) putting you at Hakone-Yumoto Station for 4:30ish pm, but likely later since I haven’t factored in buying tickets for these trains and finding your cars/moving luggage.
On arrival at Hakone-Yumoto Station, you’ll have maybe an hour and a half tops to “see” Hakone, with most things closing between 5 and 6pm. Your Ryokan is likely to have a strict mealtime in place of between those hours as well, possibly no later than 6:30 – 7pm, so if you arrive later than expected, you’ll lose out on the food you’ve paid for.
You’ll also want to be really careful in selecting your ryokan, because if you need to take a shuttle, that shuttle is likely to stop at multiple other ryokan on the way, meaning a 5 minute drive could turn into 30 while other guests hop on and off the bus and collect their things. You CAN take a cab, but again if it’s more than 5 minutes from the station, you’ll be held up by traffic, and could still end up being late for dinner.
As you have it right now, this is honestly cutting it too close for a “relaxing” first day. To give yourselves and Hakone the time you deserve there, you’ll want to either dedicate 2 full days to see the sights and enjoy your ryokan, or have a ryokan day elsewhere and save Hakone for another trip entirely. Unfortunately, [I planned our recent trip to Hakone poorly, and I do regret it.](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/y0w3cd/trip_report_part_3_18_days_in_september_2022/) Don’t make the same mistakes I did.