M&F early 30s travelers in Japan for two weeks in April. We love Markets, Museums, Parks, weird/unusual stuff and **food.** Not party party types however would not mind some suggestions for the odd bar/louder place in the evening as we have not booked up much past 5 or 6 pm. Would love to hear feedback from locals and seasoned Japan travelers. Especially if any of the places we’ve put in may not be worthwhile/there is more interesting options around or if some things just don’t work – all opinions/advice welcome 🙂
Day 1:
* Arrive in Tokyo 5:30pm
* Pick up 7 day JR Pass
* Use JR pass Narita Express to Hotel near Tokyo Station
* Walk and dinner outside
Day 2:
* Morning Bullet Train to Nagoya
* Drop bags in Hotel 10am
* Toyota Commemorative Museum
* Nagoya Castle
* Dinner and City Walk
Day 3:
* Morning Bullet Train to Kyoto
* Drop Bags in Hotel 10am
* Kyoto Railway Museum
* Higashi Hongan-ji Temple
* Kiyomizu-dera Main Temple
* Dinner and City Walk
Day 4:
* Morning Bullet Train to Osaka
* Drop Bags in Hotel 10am
* Kuromon Market
* Osaka Castle
* Dotonburi walk/Dinner
Day 5:
* Train to Nara
* Nakatanidou
* Kōfuku-ji & Tōdai-ji
* Kasuga Taisha Shrine
* Deer
* Train Back to Osaka
* Dotonburi walk/Dinner
Day 6:
* Shintenoji
* Tsutenkaku
* Dotonburi/Pokemon Cafe
* Dinner/city walk
Day 7:
* Bullet Train back to Tokyo, check into Ginza Hotel
* Zoji-ji Temple
* Dinner
* Tokyo Tower
Day 8:
* Train to Taito City
* Kaminarimon Gate
* Senso-ji
* Asukusa Jinja
* Ueno Park/Museum of Nature
* Chiyoda/Imp Palace (just quickly)
* Train back late, quick dinner
Day 9:
* Tsukiji Outer Market
* Hamrikyu Gardens
* New Market & Lunch
* TeamLabs
* Dinner and explore Ginza
Day 10:
* Train to Shinjuku and check in new hotel
* Tokyo Metro Govt Building
* Samurai Museum
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
* Dinner and explore Shinjuku
Day 11:
* All day Mt Fuji tour on bus (Klook)
Day 12:
* Meiji Jingu
* Yoyogi Park
* Shibuya Sky
* Explore Shibuya and Dinner
Day 13:
* Free day for shopping and exploration.
2 comments
For food in Nagoya, you should try miso katsu. It’s pretty good and is one of the famous dishes from that area.
I’d recommend adding Kiyomizu temple in your Kyoto itinerary. Also, the Imperial Museum is pretty cool.
Few things which I saw as worth commenting:
Day 7:
Zozo-ji and Tokyo Tower are nearby, but both are a bit away from Ginza. You’ll need to ride train to there. But the same is true about other days in Tokyo.
Since you’ll be in the vicinity of Roppongi (near Tokyo tower), perhaps pay a visit to Mori Tower viewing deck. It isn’t free; but it has a nice art museum and it is superior in every way to Metropolitan Building, which is a lot like being inside a dated office in comparison.
Day 8:
There’s no train to Taito city. It’s also a strategic mistake from Tokyo government to call it a city, since it’s just a Tokyo ward. Anyways, you’ll need to take the train to Asakusa. Kaminari-mon, Senso-ji and Asakusa jinja are all the same temple facilities, just different parts of it.
Same with Chiyoda: it’s not a concentrated city which is possible to explore on its own. It’s just a ward where the imperial palace happens to be. That said, I think it’s impossible to get into the palace anyway except certain days of the year.
Day 9:
TeamLabs is no more as far as I know.
Day 10:
It’s up to you of course and there can be different reasons but I don’t see why would you need another hotel in Tokyo if it’s about the vicinity. Ginza and Shinjuku are both in the central Tokyo.
I hope these tips were helpful.