Hey,
Looking to see If you could give us some advice on our draft itinerary for Japan (late March to mid-April 2023). We are a young couple traveling to Japan for the first time, and because of how far away with live with only a small chance of visiting again soon. We would like to cover a lot of territory, and we know it might feel packed at times, but we are positive this includes everything we’d like to see at this time. Interested in Japanese architecture and nature, looking to mix modern and ancient Japan as much as possible, also street/konbini food so very interested in trying many things we wouldn’t be able to at home (Argentina). We also love street and landscape photography very much. I´m mildly interested in manga and anime (not a super crazy fan though), and my girlfriend would like to go shopping for stationery. I have around JLPT N4 Japanese level, If that helps.
Our itinerary so far looks as follows (we would be using the JR Pass, by the way):
Day 0 – Arrival in Tokyo (Night in Asakusa, Tokyo): Arrival in Tokyo after -30 hours flight approx. We do expect to be very tired, so no specific plans for this day but to chill and sightsee a bit at sunset/night around Sumida Park/Tokyo Skytree If we feel up to it. Maybe go to an Izakaya close to our hotel.
Days 1, 2, 3 – Tokyo (Night in Asakusa, Tokyo):
Depending on whether Sakuras are in bloom or not, we might slightly adjust our itinerary on the go, but our idea is to be able to visit Teamlab Borderless in Odaiba along with Tokyo station/Ginza and Imperial palace/Chidorigafuchi one day.
Visit Asakusa (Sensoji, Kaminarimon and the market) along with Ueno and Akihabara another day.
Go to Shibuya another day along with Nakameguro If cherries are in blossom (otherwise this day 3 could be left to do whatever we couldn’t on the other 2 days).
Day 4 – Kyoto (Night in Higashiyama, Kyoto): Arrival from Tokyo via Shinkansen at noon. Will spend rest of the day potentially visiting Higashiyama/Gion, Nijo castle and will go to a Sushi restaurant we were recommended to by friends which is located near Nijo castle.
Days 5, 6, 7 – Kyoto, Nara (Nights in Higashiyama, Kyoto):
One day we would start in Kiyomizudera, Sannenzaka and Ninnenzaka (very early in the morning to beat some of the crowds) then traverse south Higashiyama into Maruyama Park, and continue up north through the temples and Philosopher´s path. This might be altered depending on cherry blossom status at the moment.
Another day we would go to Arashiyama to explore bamboo forest, then Monkey park and a few temples such as Golden and Silver temples, Ninnaji and Ryoanji. We might Cherry blossom tram for pictures also visit along the way.
The other day left we would probably visit Fushimi Inri early in the morning and then do a day trip to Nara, going back to Kyoto for the final night there.
Day 8 – Koyasan (Night in Koyasan):
Early-starting travel from Kyoto to Koyasan, to arrive around noon. Spend the day in Koyasan, staying potentially at a temple, and touring Okunoin at night.
Days 9 and 10 – Osaka (Nights in Namba, Osaka):
From Koyasan we would go to Osaka and spend 2 days there. Not a lot of plans here yet, but for sure we would go and visit Osaka castle from the outside (not interested in going in), for sure visiting Namba and Dotonbori and eating our fair share of street food. We will also visit Amerikamura, Shin Sekai for sure, and no other plans for the moment but taking it easy and eating a lot.
Days 11 and 12 – Hiroshima / Miyajima (Nights in Miyajima):
From Osaka we would take an early train to Hiroshima, maybe spend a couple of hours there visiting Hiroshima Peace Park and eating Okonomiyaki. We plan on going in the early afternoon to Miyajima and taking it easy that afternoon, staying in a ryokan. Next day is also devoted to Miyajima and taking it easy, visiting Itsukushima shrine, going for photographs of the giant Torii gate and maybe taking the funicular up to Mount misen.
Day 13 – Himeji (Night in Nagoya):
Plan this day is to depart from Hiroshima and visit Himeji for 3-4 hours before proceeding to Nagoya to spend the night in a capsule hotel near the station. We don’t plan on spending time in Nagoya apart from maybe dinner and sleeping.
Day 14 Nakasendo (Night in Takayama – or 2nd night in Nagoya?):
This seems to be one of the toughest days transport-wise. We would depart around 8 AM from Nagoya, taking the train to Nakatsugawa and taking the bus to Magome. We would walk the Nakasendo Magome to Tsumago portion of the trail (and potentially up to Nagiso / or taxi up to there depending on the time we end up in Tsumago). From Nagiso we would take the train back to Nagoya, to transfer and arrive in Takayama at night.
The initial idea is to spend this night in Takayama, so we can take maximum advantage of being there in Takayama early the next day and take pictures without the crowds. If we stayed instead in Nagoya, we would take the earliest possible train we can to Takayama, but we think we prefer the first option unless we are missing some other details you might think of?
Day 15 – Takayama (Night in Takayama):
This full day would be for Takayama. Our main interest is taking nice pictures of the Old town, maybe eating some nice food as Hida Takayama beef.
Day 16 – Shirakawa go / Kanazawa (night in Kanazawa):
We would take an early bus from Takayama to Shirakawa go, spend around 3-4 hours there, and then go around noon to Kanazawa. Spending the afternoon in Kanazawa.
Day 17 – Kanazawa (night in Kanazawa):
Depending on what we have been able to see the previous day, we are mainly interested in visit Kenrokuen, Higashichaya and Omicho market for lunch.
Days 18, 19, 20 – Tokyo (nights in Shinjuku, Tokyo):
Early Shinkansen from Kanazawa to Tokyo on day 18, spending then 3 days in Tokyo with a potential day trip to Kamakura if time allows.
Day 21: leaving Tokyo with flight out at 5 PM.
In this section of the trip for Tokyo, we are interested in visiting Shinjuku mainly (Golden Gai, Omoide Yokoche, visiting Ghibli Museum and hitting other spots we weren’t able to in our first days in Tokyo such as Shibuya/Harajuku/Meiji for example. Any extra time we have we might go to the larger Mandarake, Donki shops or go back to visit some Flagship stores in Ginza or Shinjuku.
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Wondering if you have any advice/recommendations or any critique for our itinerary, as anything would be super helpful for us. Thank you very much!
