Hello everyone. I am a guy in his early 30s who is going to travel to Japan next year for 18 days. It is going to be my first time in the country. A little bit of background about myself – I am into anime, video games, and Japanese food.
I have tried to plan this itinerary by arranging some of the busiest places to visit in the early morning or on weekdays to beat the crowd. I might have overlooked something or packed too many places for a day. Any opinion or advice would be much appreciated.
​
# TOKYO (part 1)
## Day 1 (April 25, Tuesday)
* 3:45 pm – arrive at Narita airport from Canada
* Pick-up Tokyo Subway Unlimited Pass 72hr with Keisei Skyliner roundtrip ticket and pocket wifi
* Reload Suica and get some yen
* 5 pm – check-in
* 6 pm – Shibuya
* Shibuya crossing, Hachiko statue, Shibuya Parco (Nintendo Tokyo)
* Dinner at Nonbei Yokocho
## Day 2 (April 26, Wednesday)
* 7 am – Asakusa
* Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori, Senso-ji
* Sumida River, Sumida Park
* 9 am – Odaiba
* Toyosu Market, teamLab Planets at 10 am
* Watch the Unicorn Gundam transform at 1 pm
* 2 pm – Akihabara
* Wander around Yodobashi
* Play at Gigo and Super Potato
* Shop at Animate, A-stop, Amiami
## Day 3 (April 27, Thursday)
* 7 am – Ginza
* Tsukiji Market
* Shop at Uniqlo and Muji at 11 am
* 3 pm – Ueno
* Ameya Yokocho, Ueno Park, Yanaka Ginza (sunset)
## Day 4 (April 28, Friday)
* 9 am – check out
* 10:15 am – arrive at Narita airport
* Depart to the Philippines
​
*\** *Visit the Philippines (April 28 – May 26)\**
​
# NARITA
## Day 1 (May 26, Friday]
* 11:45 am – arrive at Narita airport from the Philippines
* Pick-up pocket wifi
* Reload Suica and get some yen
* 3 pm – check-in at the hotel near the airport
* Mostly sleep or explore Narita
​
# KYOTO
## Day 2 (May 27, Saturday)
* 11 am – check out then take the free shuttle back to the airport
* 11:45 am – arrive at Narita airport (again)
* Pick-up JR 14-day pass
* 1:15 pm – arrive at Tokyo station (via Narita Express) then take Tokaido Shinkansen (Hikari) departing to Kyoto station
* 4 pm – check-in
* 4:30 pm – Nishiki Market, Pontocho, Kamo River
## Day 3 (May 28, Sunday)
* 7 am – Nara
* Todai-ji, see and feed some deers
## Day 4 (May 29, Monday)
* 7 am – Arashiyama
* Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji, Iwatayama Monkey Park
## Day 5 (May 30, Tuesday)
* 7 am – Fushimi Inari Taisha
* 11 am – Higashiyama
* Kiyomizu-dera, Sannenzaka, Ninenzaka (Starbucks)
* Gion, Yasaka Shrine
* 3 pm – Sakyo
* Nanzen-ji
* Philosopher’s Path
* Higashiyama Jisho-ji
* 6 pm – Kyoto Imperial Palace
​
# KINOSAKI ONSEN
## Day 6 (May 31, Wednesday)
* 10 am – check out then depart to Kinosaki Onsen
* 1 pm – leave luggage at the ryokan
* 2 pm – Kinosaki Ropeway, Mount Daishi summit, Onsen-ji
* 4:30 pm – check-in at ryokan
* 7 pm – relax at some of the 7 onsens
​
# OSAKA
## Day 7 (June 1, Thursday)
* 6 am – relax at a private onsen in the ryokan
* 11 am – check out then depart to Osaka
* 2:30 pm – leave luggage at the accommodation
* 3 pm – Osaka-jo
* 4 pm – check-in
* 6 pm – Dotonbori
* Glico Sign, Okonomiyaki Mizuno, Takoyaki Wanaka, Genrokozushi
* Shinsekai
## Day 8 (June 2, Friday)
* 7 am – Universal Studios Japan (express pass?)
* Harry Potter, Nintendo World, Jujutsu Kaisen
​
# HIROSHIMA & MIYAJIMA
## Day 9 (June 3, Saturday)
* 6 am – check out then depart to Hiroshima
* 8 am – leave luggage at the accommodation then depart to Miyajima
* 9 am – Miyajima
* Ride the Great Torii Ferry
* Omotesando Arcade, Senjokaku, Itsukushima shrine
* Momojidani Park, Ropeway
* Mount Misen
* 3 pm – check-in
* 4 pm – Hiroshima
* Peace Memorial Park, Atomic Bomb Dome
* Hiroshima Castle
​
# TOKYO (part 2)
## Day 10 (June 4, Sunday)
* 11 am – check out then depart to Himeji
* 12 pm – Himeji-jo
* 2 pm – depart for Tokyo
* 6 pm – arrive at Tokyo station and check in at the hotel
## Day 11 (June 5, Monday)
* 10 am – Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (observatory)
* 12 pm – Ghibli Museum
* 3:30 pm – Shop at Nakano Broadway
* 6 pm – Shinjuku
* Godzilla head
* Omoide Yokocho, Golden Gai
## Day 12 (June 6, Tuesday)
* 10 am – Kamakura
* Daibutsu
* 2 pm – Yokohama
* Chinatown
* Noodle Museum
## Day 13 (June 7, Wednesday)
* 11:30 am – Nikko
* Toshogu Shrine
* Kanmangafuchi Abyss
* Shinkyo Bridge
## Day 14 (June 8, Thursday)
* Wander around
* Experience riding Monorail back and forth
## Day 15 (June 9, Friday)
* 11 am – check out but leave luggage at the hotel (is it possible to leave it?)
* 11:30 am – walk around Tokyo station
* 1:30 pm – depart to Narita airport (via NEX)
* Departure to Canada
​
\> Questions:
* Which mobile option is better, data sim or pocket wifi? I am going to bring a tablet and a phone.
* Is an Express Pass worth it for one day at Universal Studios Japan to visit the attractions I would like to see?
* Am I allowed to leave my luggage at the hotel hours before checking in or after checking out?
* I have heard that Japan is strict with medicine and I plan to bring some with me. Are these allowed: fish oil soft gels, vitamin C tablets, lactaid tablets, and allergy relief tablets?
​
Thank you very much for the time to check my itinerary and concerns.
1 comment
Yes, usually possible to leave luggage at hotel before check-in or after check-out, worst case you bring it to a train station and put it in a locker.
Sim card is cheaper, pocket wifi allow you to use internet on more than one device. If you only want to use the tablet back at the hotel, you could then use the hotel wifi on the tablet and just get the sim for the phone during the day. But if you want to be able to use both at any time, then pocket wifi.
There is indeed a limit of medicine that you are allowed to bring, so just keep it to the minimum to cover for your trip and not more. It should not be too hard to find the official website that give the exact guideline.
​
It is fine to go to Asakusa early, but if you leave early, you will miss the shops that are open along Nakamise, they should start to open at 9am.
Do not exchange your JR Pass the day you want to use it, do it at least the prior day or even one of the days during your first stop in Tokyo. This way you can get on the way to Kyoto as soon as the train start in the morning.
In Kinosaki, you can usually have the onsen pass from your ryokan, no idea if they can give it before check-in time, but if not, go back to check-in at 3pm, change in yukata and start going to some onsen and continue to visit in yukata. If you wake up early and go to the public onsen, you are likely going to be one of the only person there, I went to the one next to the station, that is rather large, and I think I saw one person but I just picked a different bath that I had all for myself. I would not pay an extra to get a private onsen at the ryokan. Even when I went to the ryokan onsen, I was the only person bathing at that time.