Itinerary Check – 13 days – Osaka, Shimanami Kaido, Kyoto, Tokyo

My husband and I (29) are traveling to Japan the last week of March and the first week of April. I’m an architect and he’s a chef so our focuses for the trip are architecture, food, and nature. I know some people have limits on temples and castles but for me the limit does not exist. Our honeymoon to Japan in 2020 was canceled so we are finally getting to take this trip three years later.

We’ve done a similar itinerary when we traveled to Italy, Switzerland and France in 2019 so we liked the pacing enough to recreate it for this trip. Usually one small travel day followed by two full days in a city with possible day trips. We’ve never been to Japan before so I wasn’t sure if applying my other trips abroad to this one would work.

We have a direct flight from Washington DC to Haneda Airport and will each have a 40L backpack for ease of getting around. I was thinking of packing a small foldable bag I can fill with gifts and souvenirs along the way and check on our flight back home.

I saw another post talk about having a battle station for each city and that’s how I set up this trip. Stay in a city for a few days and do day trips from there if we want. We pack light but constantly packing up your stuff and moving accommodations can be an annoying part of a trip.

Note: We are flying into Tokyo and immidiately going to Osaka. We could have booked the flight to Osaka but it was the same direct flight with another smaller flight from Tokyo to Osaka. We felt having a layover with a time crunch and customs/COVID procedures versus a direct flight with a more relaxed train trip after was worth it for us.

I haven’t bought a JR Pass yet because I couldn’t figure out if paying for the trains from and to Tokyo with a 5 day Kansai Area pass would be ok.

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**Overview of days:**

**Day 1** Arrive at Haneda 3:30pm and head to Osaka by train

**Day 2** Explore Osaka

**Day 3** Explore Osaka

**Day 4** Travel to Onomichi

**Day 5** Bike to Setoda

**Day 6** Bike to Imabari and bus back to Onomichi

**Day 7** Travel to Kyoto

**Day 8** Explore Kyoto

**Day 9** Explore Kyoto

**Day 10** Travel to Tokyo

**Day 11** Explore Tokyo

**Day 12** Explore Tokyo

**Day 13** Depart at 3:30pm from Haneda

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**The Breakdown**

I usually plan trips with one goal for the day like an attraction or food tour and then whatever can fit in after that without us running around all day is what we do.

Will the day of the week affect the itinerary in a city versus rural towns? Usually Mondays in the US are the days when small businesses are closed. I know for the bigger attractions with websites I can look up their times.

**Arrival Day: Monday** The only goal is to get through the airport, pick up wifi, sim cards, JR Pass, train to Osaka and pick up ekiben, check in to the hotel and have probably a late dinner.

**Osaka Day 1: Tuesday** Food tour which will prbably include Shinsekai market. Dotombori, Namba Yasaka Jinja, and Osaka Castle.

**Osaka Day 2: Wednesday** Minoh Park and Falls and Umeda Sky Building or see the Open Air Museum of Old Japanese Farm Houses. It’s on that side of the city and I would love to see some older traditional Japanese architecture this trip.

**Onomichi: Thursday** Fit in any last minute Osaka places if needed, train to Onomichi and explore Cat Alley and Senkoji Temple / ropeway and explore the town.

**Shiminami Kaido Day 1: Friday** Pick up pre-rented bikes in the morning and stop at whatever looks good along the way until we reach Setoda. Probably won’t go too far off the blue path. We are looking forward to staying at a Ryokan there and going to the public bath in town.

**Shiminami Kaido Day 1: Saturday** Bike to Imabari, enjoy the views along the way and drop off bikes near Imabari station. Bus back to Onomichi. The only goal is to return to Onomichi in time for showers and dinner.

I was thinking of having a hotel room in onomichi from Day 4 to Day 7 even though we won’t use one night while we are along the bike trail. Not the cheapest option to do but not having to pack our bags and store them just to go back to Onomichi the next day sounds less hectic.

**Kyoto: Sunday** Train to Kyoto. I keep train days open to fit in more of the town we are in and getting settled and exploring our new neighborhood in the new town we go to.

**Kyoto Day 1: Monday** Fushimi Inari Taisha as early as possible. Make our way north to the Nineizaka area including Kiyomizu dera, and Gion area. Maybe fit in the Philosiphers Path if possible with the cherry blossoms.

**Kyoto Day 2: Tuesday** Morning in Arashiyama, bamboo forest, food tour. I have so many small places like restaurants, cafes and parks tagged in this area I’m looking forward to just walking around. Maybe fit in Kinkaku-ji because it’s on that side of town but I usually like smaller shrines and temples better. Another temple I would love to see near there is the Horinji Temple that has a bunch of daruma dolls.

**Tokyo: Wednesday** Train to Tokyo. Typical exploring day as the other train days.

**Tokyo Day 1: Thursday** Stay in the Shibuya and Shinjuku area for the day. Hanazono Shrine, Shinjuku Garden, Shibuya Sky. Go into bookstores, cafes, parks, and find a gachapon machine.

**Tokyo Day 2: Friday** Another food tour as requested by my husband since we are only in these cities a short time it allows him to experience different food options. Not too sure what else we want to do in Tokyo. I’m still researching but I would love to go to a museum like Nezu Museum, more for the architecture than the art.

**Departure Day: Saturday** at 3:30pm. Last morning will be any last minute items we want to see or do.

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I tried not to shove as much as possible into the itinerary and the pacing seems ok to me after tweaking it a few times. Thanks for any feedback!