My brother and I are traveling to Japan in May of next year. This is our first time traveling internationally by ourselves (I’m 20 he’s 23). I made a super rough itinerary that will likely change. Specifically, Shibuya is all over the place because we have a lot of things were want to do there and don’t know what order to do them in geographically (IDK what is near where…I just know where the cities are in relation to each other). And Kyoto/Osaka is pretty bland because we only recently decided to add that part to our trip. Please give suggestions on how to revise our itinerary in a way that makes sense. I don’t want it to be too rigid and feel like we’re just checking boxes, but IDK when the next time we’ll be able to go will be, so I want to enjoy as much as possible.
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* Day 1 (May 19) – **Tokyo**
* Land in Haneda at 6PM
* Check into Airbnb (Likely in Taito/Asakusa Area)
* Dinner
* Day 2 (May 20) – **Tokyo**
* Akihabara
* Maid Cafe
* Arcades
* Anime/Maga Shops
* Kanda Myojin Shrine
* Super Potato
* Day 3 (May 21) – **Tokyo**
* Shinjuku
* Godzilla Head
* Samurai Museum (if it reopens)
* Golden Gai
* Isetan
* Day 4 (May 22) – **Tokyo**
* Shibuya
* Harajuku Shopping
* Parco
* Tokyo Snake Center
* MiPig Cafe
* Day 5 (May 23) – **Tokyo**
* Shibuya
* Shibuya 109
* Shibuya Crossing
* Hedgehog Cafe
* Shibuya Sky
* Day 6 (May 24) – **Tokyo**
* Chiyoda
* Funky Vending Machines
* Tokyo Character Street
* Bunny Cafe
* Day 7 (May 26) – **Tokyo**
* Misc.
* Tokyo Sky Tree?
* Day 8 (May 25) – **Kyoto**
* 8AM Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto
* Kyoto Tower
* International Manga Museum
* A Temple
* Day 9 (May 27) – **Kyoto**
* Monkey Park
* Nishiki Market
* A temple
* Day 10 (May 28) – **Kyoto**
* Gion District
* Nyan Nyan-Ji
* Day 11 (May 29) – **Osaka** \*Day Trip from Kyoto Airbnb\*
* Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai (Shopping Street)
* A temple/shrine
* ???
* Day 12 (May 30)
* Train to Haneda; Fly Home
2 comments
Two days in shibuya is a bit overkill.
Pairing akihabara with tokyo skytree is fairly doable as well.
Maybe throw in an odaiba, ikebukuro, nikko (daytrip), fuji (daytrip), hakone (daytrip), nagano (Pairs well with shinjuku or shibuya) in ones place.
The best way to split up tokyo is by stops on the Yamanote line and a map of the physical city like Google maps. Find the stuff you want to do, and tag them to the nearest stop. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll help you find where you want your hotel to be and how you want to space your days.
> IDK what is near where
Put things in google maps that will help you figure out locations.
> Day 4 (May 22)
> Day 5 (May 23)
So Parco is around Shibuya Sky, Shibuya 109, and Shibuya Crossing so you’d probably want to do those together. Also note 109 is mainly focused on womens fashion, there is a separate building nearby that has some mens stuff called Magnet by Shibuya 109.
Not sure where those cafes are so you might have a pretty sparse Harajuku day. You might want to check out the nearby Meiji Shrine. Also for more shopping i’d expand to Omotesando and Aoyama which are adjacent to Harajuku. If you want to make your way towards Shibuya you can head down cat street which has a couple good second hand stores. At the end of Cat Street will be Miyashita Park.
If you want to check out some more menswear stuff you Hankyu Mens in Ginza has a good selection also Dover Street Market in Ginza has some cool stuff too. Although both places can get pretty pricey.