Trip Report: 11 Days in Kyoto and Tokyo

This sub was very helpful in planning, so I want share my experience with you! Feel free to ask questions for more details.

**Day 1 – Travel Day (Tokyo to Kyoto)**

* 5:10 PM Land in Haneda airport
* 5:30 PM Exited terminal and waited for additional party members
* 6:30 PM Although my brother landed 20 minutes after I did, he got caught in a crowd and it took him an hour to get through immigration and customs
* 7:20 PM Shikansen from Tokyo to Kyoto
* 10:20 PM Checked in to hotel. We notified our hotel of our late arrival since the reception is normally closed at 10 PM.

**Day 2 – Kyoto (Fushimi Inari Taisha, Tofukuji, Nishiki Market, Pontocho)**

* 7:45 AM Breakfast at Takagi Coffee – Karasuma (Smoking allowed. Check Table Log for restaurant details.)
* 9:00 AM Arrived at Fushimi Inari Taisha. We spent an hour here casually taking photos and walked up to a lake.
* 10:25 AM Arrived at Tofukuji. We only spent 20 minutes here walking around and weren’t interested in paying to go into any of the buildings.
* 12:00 PM Took a break at the hotel. We took the long way back by taking a different subway exit and walking a mile through the neighborhood.
* 1:30 PM Snacked at Nishiki Market and the Daimaru basement floor
* 4:10 PM Rest our feet and had drinks at Bar The Northern Lights
* 5:30 PM Dinner at Yasohachi in Pontocho
* 7:00 PM In for the night at the hotel

**Day 3 – Kyoto (Higashiyama)**

* 9:00 AM Left hotel and made our way to Ginkakuji
* 9:30 AM Breakfast at Ginkakuji Triangle House
* 10:20 AM Entered Ginkakuji. I had low expectations but was blown away by the garden and view of the city.
* 11:00 AM Exited Ginkakuji, shopped a little outside the temple, then made our way down Philosopher’s Path
* 12:00 PM Stopped at Okonomiyaki Zen for lunch
* 1:00 PM Arrived at Nanzenji. The aqueduct was the highlight of the temple. We weren’t interested in paying to go into any of the buildings.
* 1:40 PM Started walking along the aqueduct towards Kaege Incline. It took 20 minutes to get to the subway platform.
* 2:30 PM Second lunch at Izuu to have mackerel sushi. It was worth the 30 minute wait. There’s only three 4-top tables inside and service is quick. It was hard to control myself and stop from over-eating!
* 4:40 PM Arrived at Uniqlo to pick up some thermals since it was colder than expected. We took a break at the hotel after shopping.
* 8:00 PM Arrived at Kodaiji but we only stayed for 5 minutes. There was a huge line to enter the illumination and we didn’t want to miss Kiyomizudera.
* 8:20 PM Arrived at Kiyomizudera. There were a lot of people, but we still had plenty of room to walk around. The grounds are huge and there is some downhill walking. The view of Kyoto at night is incredible! It only took 30 minutes to walk through.
* 10:00 PM Late dinner at CoCo Ichibanya near our hotel

**Day 4 – Kyoto (Arashiyama)**

* 9:00 AM Arrived in Arashiyama. It took us 25 minutes to get coffee from % Arabica Kyoto.
* 9:45 AM Breakfast at Cafe Ranzan
* 10:20 AM Arrived at the base of the monkey park steps. It took us about 20 minutes to hike up to the park and it was worth it!
* 11:10 AM Made our way down to exit the park
* 11:45 AM Lunch at Saganoyu. We waited about 15 minutes for a table. The curry was the best we’ve ever had!
* 1:00 PM Boarded the Sagano Scenic Railway
* 1:45 PM Arrived at the Hozugawa River Cruise ticketing counter. Our boat was ready at 1:55 PM. After the boat ride, we picked up a snack and walked through Tenryuji’s (paid) garden area towards the bamboo grove.
* 4:20 PM Arrived at the Tenryuji bamboo grove
* 6:00 PM Arrived at the hotel
* 7:30 PM Thrift shopped at Second Street for my brother who didn’t pack a coat
* 9:50 PM Turned in for the night at the hotel

**Day 5 – Nara and Osaka**

* 7:40 AM Breakfast at a nearby hotel restaurant since our hotel didn’t have one
* 9:30 AM (ish?) Arrived in Nara. Picked up electric bikes from Nara Bicycle Rental.
* 10:15 AM Arrived at Kofukuji to recreate my husband’s late-grandparent’s photo
* 11:00 AM Left Kofukuji and made our way to Kasuga Taisha
* 11:25 AM Arrived at Kasuga Taisha
* 11:50 AM Left Kasuga Taisha to find lunch. Passed by Todaiji and a cute lake.
* 12:20 PM Plan A was fully booked so we ended up at Kinari pizza. What a gem!
* 1:45 PM Bought a beret at Necoco (cat-themed everything). My brother found a unique coat at a nearby thrift shop.
* 2:15 PM Bought mochi from Nakatanidou which was amazing!
* 3:15 PM On our way to Osaka (after dropping off the bikes)
* 3:45 PM Arrived in Osaka and took a break at LiLo Coffee KISSA. Afterwards, we walked around Dotonbori.
* 5:45 PM Went to Round 1 to kill some time and play some games
* 7:15 PM Arrived at & Cafe COZY Osakanagaiten Billiards. Awesome place to have a drink, enjoy some cats, and play pool!
* 8:25 PM Made it to teamLab Osaka before closing. There was hardly anyone there and we got to enjoy the attraction mostly to ourselves.
* 11:00 PM In for the night at our hotel

**Day 6 – Tokyo (Odaiba)**

* 10:00 AM Breakfast at Kyoto station
* 11:10 AM Shikansen to Tokyo
* 1:50 PM Dropped our luggage off at our hotel before check-in. We walked around looking for lunch but ended up snacking at Family Mart and checking into our hotel at 3 PM.
* 4:00 PM Arrived at teamLab Planets. There was an intimidating line but it moved quickly.
* 5:20 PM Left teamLab Planets to the Hilton. I had planned to have dinner/drinks here and watch the fireworks but the restaurants were closed for an event.
* 6:45 PM We found a spot between Hilton and Aqua City to watch the fireworks
* 7:30 PM Dinner at Haibana
* 9:30 PM Drinks at ORCHARD GINZA. Pick a fruit/vegetable/item from the display and the bartender will make a drink served in a unique container, like a trash bin, camera lens, or baby bottle. They don’t show prices and we paid about $25 a drink (includes cover charge).

**Day 7 – Tokyo (Tsukuji, Akihabara, and Rikugien Garden)**

* 10:00 AM Arrived at Tsukuji market. It was Sunday so some of the shops were closed. We got coffee at Tsukuji Peppers Cafe and they recommended Aozora for sushi.
* 11:00 AM We were the second group into Aozora and we’re glad we got a spot before the crowd came in! The fatty tuna and eel were outstanding!
* 1:00 PM Arrived in Akihabara to do some shopping
* 2:10 PM Took a break at Cure Maid Cafe. Great spot to relax. The chiffon cake and Darjeeling tea were delicious. Afterwards, we shopped at e-earphones.
* 4:25 PM Left Akihabara to go back to the hotel
* 6:20 PM Ramen for dinner near our hotel
* 7:25 PM Arrived at Rikugien Garden for the illumination
* 8:30 PM Left Rikugien Garden

**Day 8 – Tokyo (Asakusa and Roppongi Hills)**

* 10:00 AM Breakfast at Eggs ‘n Things
* 11:00 AM Arrived at Asakusa Tourist Center for the view. Afterwards, we walked down Nakamise street to Sensoji. Very touristy and I recommend skipping it if you’ve been to other temples.
* 11:40 AM Got some matcha beer, Marion crepes, and sweet potato taiyaki
* 1:00 PM Took the HOTALUNA river cruise
* 2:00 PM Landed in Hinode pier. Caught a direct bus to Roppongi Hills (it only comes once an hour).
* 2:55 PM Got lunch in the station/north tower area
* 3:15 PM Killed time at the Christmas market in Mori Tower
* 4:00 PM Mori Art Museum. Although the observation deck was closed due to rain, we were able to get a great view in one of the exhibits with moody lighting and rainforest sounds.
* 5:35 PM Arrived at Zojoji to see a pop-up LV sign. It was cool to walk by and around the Tokyo tower.
* 6:10 PM Dinner at Fukki. Excellent ramen and tsukemen!
* 7:15 PM We ended up seeing Hayao Miyazaki’s NTV Clock. We were trying to see Caretta Shiodome’s illumination but it was cancelled.

**Day 9 – Tokyo (Harajuku, Shibuya, and Shinjuku)**

* 10:10 AM Back at Tsukiji Peppers Cafe for coffee and toast. Afterwards, we snacked around Tsukuji market.
* 12:40 PM Arrived in Harajuku. Lunch at Roast Beef Ohno Harajuku.
* 2:15 PM Walked through the teamLab floor at the Galaxy store. Took about 15 minutes.
* 3:30 PM Got donuts and a chai latte from The Little Bakery Tokyo
* 5:25 PM Left Harajuku. We did a lot of thrift shopping. Closet Child is my favorite store because of their cute collection and breath-takingly low prices!
* 5:35 PM Arrived at Shibuya crossing. Crossed the street then left to Shinjuku.
* 7:00 PM Arrived at Kabukicho to check out Godzilla
* 8:00 PM Back in Shibuya. The bar we wanted to go to was full but we made a reservation for an hour later. We walked around looking for food and ended up getting onigiri at Family Mart.
* 9:00 PM Drinks and food at Igu & Peace

D**ay 10 – Tokyo (Shimo-Kitazawa)**

* 10:10 AM Breakfast at Tsukiji Sushidai Honkan (opens at 10:30 AM but there were people lining up already! It was another recommendation from Tetsu at Tsukuji Peppers Cafe). The botan shrimp was the best shrimp I’ve ever had.
* 12:25 PM Coffee at NORAH’S COFFEE TABLE in Shimo-Kitazawa
* 3:20 PM Lunch at Oishii Curry after lots of thrift (window) shopping
* 6:00 PM Back at the hotel for a break
* 8:00 PM Dinner at Sushiro Yurakucho (My brother really likes sushi)

D**ay 11 – Tokyo (Art Aquarium Ginza)**

* 10:10 AM Arrived at Art Aquarium Ginza. Spent 30 minutes here.
* 11:15 AM Brunch at Cafe Gusto. They had robots serving food! The fried chicken was yummy.
* 12:10 PM Shopped at HANDS Ginza
* 1:30 PM Picked up our bags from the hotel and left for the airport
* 2:45 PM We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight, which was plenty of time with only carry-on luggage. There were no lines going through security.

**Notes**

* I hope the timestamps give a good idea of how long it takes to do things. I think our pace was average, not too hurried and not too slow. We are a group of 30 year olds with sedentary jobs.
* Shikansen tickets were reserved ahead of time and were easy to change when I knew we were delayed. They will refund the entire charge, then charge for the updated ticket.
* My flight changed so I had to forward my pocket wifi to the hotel since the airport post office would be closed. LightPocket was quick to process my request, even on a Sunday. Very impressed with their service!
* We walked up to 12 miles in a day. Our bodies were aching all over and we NEEDED breaks throughout the day. Grabbing coffee and drinks was relaxing and very enjoyable. Most massage places couldn’t take three people on walk-in, but often had openings for one or two people.
* Trash cans were basically non-existent so we held on to trash until we found a bathroom.
* I made a point not to make restaurant reservations so our day could be more flexible. Restaurants included in my itinerary were often for lunch time or didn’t take reservations.
* I packed 2 tops, 1 sweater, 2 pants, 1 dress, 1 coat, and 1 bucket hat for our 11 day trip. We did laundry the first half of the trip in our hotel room (Mimaru).