Hi everyone,
Me and my boyfriend are travelling to Japan for the first time from the 1st of april – 22th of april. We are trying to figure out our schedule and would love to have some advice. We made a first attempt for a schedule, but afterwards we realised that one of the places that we really want to visit (we wanted to do a day trip from Takyama to Kamikochi) is not open yet when we would be there. It will reopen on april 17th which would mean we would have to rearrange our whole schedule. We also found out that there is a festival called Sanno that takes place in Takyama from the 14th and 15th. Is it worth being rearranging our schedule for this?
This is what we have so far:
Day 1 – Osaka (arrival)
Day 2 – Osaka
Visiting castle Ōsakajō, Sumiyoshi shrine, Dotombori, maybe do a food tour?
Day 3 – Kyoto
Hike Through Torii Gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine, stroll The Philosopher’s Path
Day 4 – Kyoto
Daytrip to Nara
Day 5 – Kyoto
Daytrip to Kobe
Day 6 – Kyoto
Daytrip to Otsu City or Okyama (what would you recommend?)
Day 7 – Kanazawa
Kenrokuen garden, kanazawa castle park, nagamachi samurai district
Day 8 – Kanazwa
Omicho fish market, Higashi chaya district, Myouryu-ji temple
Day 9 – Takyama
Exploring the old town, Higashiyama Walking Course,
Day 10 – Takyama
Daytrip to Kamikochi (but later we found out that this not possible yet during our stay), maybe instead visit Shirakawago?
Day 11 – Takyama
Visiting 2 markets: the Miyagawa Market along the Miyagawa River in the old town, and the Jinya-mae Market in front of the Takayama Jinya.
Day 12 – Matsumoto
Visiting Matsumoto castle (is this worth it?)
Day 13 – Tokyo
Akihabara District, Shinjuku District
Day 14 – Tokyo
Nezu shrine, Ueno park
Day 15 – Tokyo
Odaiba district
Digital art museum
Day 16 – Tokyo
Tsukiji Fish Market, Tsukiji Honganji Temple
Day 17 – Tokyo
Yanesen area
Day 18 – Tokyo
Daytrip to Kusatsu Onsen town (is it better to stay there for two days or is one day enough?)
Day 19 – Tokyo
Shibuja area
Day 20 – Osaka
Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street
Day 21 – Osaka
Doing a sushi or ramen workshop
Day 22 – Osaka (departure)
About us: we are two nerds who love gaming, food and trying out new stuff. We prefer to have some variation in city vs. nature and avoid the really touristic places (as far as possible).
We hope that we are there during the spring blossoms. Do you have any additional tips of nice places to visit during this period?
Any other reccomondations are also welcome!