Hi everyone! My girlfriend and I are going to Japan dec 29th – january 12th this year. I wanted to get a sanity check on our rough itinerary. I think we are going to get the JR pass, haven’t decided between the 7 and 14 day. We both are big into Japanese food and expect a lot of highlights to just be trying some of the fantastic restaurants and holes in the wall we walk into. We both do like anime as well. Flying in and out of Tokyo, set in stone. We haven’t nailed down everything we would like to do in these cities, so any suggestions are welcome. I would like to see some of the snowy countryside but it seems like a hassle to go north and then back to Tokyo then on to osaka/kyoto and back. Thanks!
Dec 29th: arrive in Tokyo, grab dinner and go to sleep.
Dec 30th: go to akhibara, shop.
Dec 31st: tsukiji market, walk around to whatever New Years events we can find.
Jan 1st: go to yokohama, cup ramen museum.
Jan 2nd: take shinkansen to nagano, take paid tour that includes monkey park for day trip.
Jan 3rd: free day, maybe look around shibuya.
Jan 4th: take train to kyoto, see monkey park there for view and animals, stay in ryokan.
Jan 5th: hike fushimi inari.
Jan 6th: train to osaka, free day.
Jan 7th: day trip to himeji castle.
Jan 8th: day trip to Hiroshima.
Jan 9th: day trip to Nara deer/todai-ji
Jan 10th: train back to Tokyo.
Jan 11th: final day.
Jan 12th: fly back to US.
3 comments
January 2nd.. from Tokyo to Nagano (prefecture) ..for a day trip?? That’s a huge day.. considering Bullet train and then bus to watch your snow monkeys (I have no idea where along Nagano you will be visiting..) but if you attempt this, this will be a huge day
You mention ‘Flying in and out of Tokyo’.. are you landing at Haneda..or Narita? ..because one airport verses the other will make travel time’s shorter and a little more straightforward.
I’d suggest that if you are making a journey by plane over any more than 5 hours you could be exhausted after customs/immigration and finding/checking into your hotel. If you have never been to greater Tokyo nor familiar with crushing Asian cities there will be challenges to ‘hit the ground running’ upon arrival. I see people suggest this in posts every day. (Edit..I read again you are flying from the continental US..your jet lag flying westward is killer the first two days)
Dec 31st will have very limited opening or operating hours of just about everything. NYE is a huge deal in Japan, more so as this year is the first (mostly) unrestricted celebration in three years. I would look closely and double check all what you plan to do Dec 30/31st .. similar to Jan 1st
I would be surprised if the Ramen museum is open Jan 1st
You are running out of time ordering tickets but have a look at this simple [JR Fare calculator](https://www.jrpass.com/farecalculator). Note this is NOT the official website for JR East/West. Be very careful arranging passes and be clear on what you are buying. There have been many cases of fraud, proof of purchase and generally mis understanding when showing up to a large JR Station hoping to receive pre bought tickets (mostly due to spoofing websites and fraud) JapanRail is really clear (signs in English at their travel desks) that there is no refunds and so on. Search the Reddit travel subs, r/TravelJapan and so on & you can read about the issue pre- Covid
Doing separate day trips to Himeji and Hiroshima doesn’t make sense given that Himeji is on the main train line to Hiroshima. I’d suggest dropping your luggage at Himeji station while you see the attractions there and overnighting in Hiroshima.
Day trip to Nagano is a No. If You want to enjoy it that is.
Hiroshima is doable depending on what you’re doing but I personally would stay the night.
You should check if the cup ramen museum is open on Jan. 1st. Tbh, it kinda blows. Better stuff to do in Yokohama.