Two week trip in late October 2021, second revision

31 comments

1. On that last Wednesday, you might want to go ahead and head to Ginza straight after your appointment. Looks like the studio’s in Shibuya so it’ll be a 30 or 40 minute trip up to L’ambre.

   It also looks to me like your lunch isn’t spoken for that day, in which case I’d head to Ginza as soon as I could and get ramen at Kagari just a few blocks away from L’ambre, then have coffee after the meal.

2. > 8:00am Go to Monkey Park Iwatayama
   >
   >9:00am monke

   Do note that it’s about a 30min walk each way. Not incl. actual transit.

   Honestly I would probably remove all of the times and be more flexible. This trip is so rigid I truly think you won’t be able to complete everything you have listed in a day. Some things you allot way too little time for and I just think arranging to wake up/eat/return to accommodation etc at specific times isn’t going to be strictly followed which may lead to disappointments. You make wake up later than expected or get tired earlier than expected. You might end up taking too long to complete an activity leaving you no choice but to cut something.

   It’s probably just best to outline a few things you want to do in a day and take it from there. Unless you were a tour company who could arrange everything to the T based off of doing the same thing everyday, it’s kind of unrealistic to plan things down to the minute or hour.

   Also you’re basically going all the way to Kobe for lunch??

3. I think the schedule is a bit too tight and the Kyoto day and Tokyo day are just too packed. I suggest you turn up with 1 or 2 things per day planned because you’ll find that there’s exciting things you’ll see on the way that you don’t want to miss. The idea of doing Shinjuku, Palace, Akihabara, Sugamo and Golden again in one day is too much and too much commuting. Try eg. palace, Shinjuku and Golden gai (spend less time commuting and you’ll be able to see it all)

4. Wow I don’t like your timestamps..
   They don’t leave a lot of room for errors. You’ll be in Shinjuku, and the station is pretty complicated if it’s your first time.

   Like 30 minutes to wake up, find a coffee shop, order, receive and walk to station/location (you’ll need to finish drinking before as well). Doable, yes, but the chances of delays are big..

   15 minutes to leave the government building and be on the train? Not very likely if you don’t know the station well.

   15 minutes from entering train to entering sky tree? No.

   1.5 (why 1.5 and not 2?) hours walking around randomly in Nara, and then 3 hours free time? All of that time can be used up more or less “walking randomly” in Nara.

   Every day is like 30 minutes for lunch. It may take more, depending on the area. You’ll have to find the lunch spot, order, receive and eat. If the restaurant isn’t empty, this is very optimistic.

   To each their own, but your timestamps stresses me out.
   My approach would be to relax the times by using longer timespans instead of timestamps. Like
   7:00-9:00 wake up, coffee, go to location.
   9:00-11:30 be on location
   11:30-13:00 lunch and move to other location.

   Or just
   Morning:
   Afternoon:
   Evening:

5. The point about japan is to soak it in. People make travel mistakes when they schedule every minute to get to the next Instagram moment. Some of the BEST experiences I have had (including japan) is just getting to the park early say around 5am (yes it’s sunny in japan) and looking… listening… hearing only nature and my thoughts! It was a profound moment.

   The next are just sitting and talking/joking with the locals. In Tokyo I found a 24hr sushi place and me and the chef did our best communicating through jokes and gestures. Man he was funny pretending to be Mickey Mouse and I went back with more jokes and samurai’ed my sushi roll.

   Also GET LOST!! Omg finding random secret paths in Tokyo was amazing! Like only
   Locals know them. There’s also the worlds best ice cream in gion/Kyoto but it looks like a boring staircase to an attic from the street. It almost appear to be part of a tea shop. Seriously best ever! Even some
   Cold green noodles on ice there.

   So please
   Forget the schedule. Wander, get lost, go with the flow, talk to
   Locals!!!! If you just want to see the major sites they are all in a book or on google images. Get the experience and memories!

6. Have you done a trip that was planned out like this before (anywhere in the world)? Maybe this kind of rigidity works for some people, but I find travelling in a new country to be way more exhausting than you expect.
   Personally, I have a much more enjoyable time when I just have a rough list of stuff to do in an area if I run out of things to do, and just go with the flow the rest of the time. I think of it as ‘planned serendipity,’ where I try to optimise my chances of having a truly unique and unexpected experience, and maintain complete flexibility (perhaps with the exception of accommodation if the budget is tight). It also removes expectations and makes every experience that much more interesting because you have no idea what is going to happen.
   In any case, you do you 🙂

7. I love how you set a time for waking up 😅 . You will fit right in in Japan.

8. The timestamps may be hard to achieve perfectly, but it’s good you’re planning to that level. Although you may end up overbooking a day, you run less of a risk doing so this way. Looks like a good trip!

   The climb to monke park is a haul. It’s not terrible, but it’s steep and about half an hour. Worth it though!

9. have you checked that any nearby coffee shops or breakfast places are going to be open near your airbnb? It is common for even McDonald’s to open later in Japan compared to the rest of the world.

10. You have really long days, at least in my experience many stores open past 10 am and rush hour is a dread for walking and transit. Also, for the life of me I could not wake up at 7 am after drinking and karaoke at Golden Gai lol, totally recommend going to Champion! People ended up buying me drinks, had old ladies hug me and telling me how cute I was, singing Disney duets with random salarymen.. Although the experience might be different for a man.

    I love staying in Sugamo because it’s quiet and right on the Yamanote line but there’s not much to it (that’s why I like it) so you’re better off just heading straight to Shinjuku.

    Try to add some more breaks to it as you might take longer in some areas as the tiny little shops can get quite interesting or suddenly you’re in Yodobashi looking at washing machines and wondering how you ended up there.

11. I personally think that putting time is a bit overkill, especially if you are trying to follow it at all cost. Also, it is useless to put time if you do not even check opening time of attractions.

    Oct 21 : As you will not use the JR Pass from the first day, there is no reason to change it on days 1, especially if there is a line of people at the exchange counter at the airport. You can change it any other day in Tokyo, there is different exchange desk in several big stations like Shinjuku, Ueno, Tokyo (just to name some).

    Oct. 22 : first mistake, The Gov. Building open at 10am. Ueno park, there is not that much to do in the park itself, so 5h30 for it if quite a lot, unless you plan to go to one of the museum in the park.

    Oct. 23 : second schedule mistake, Shinjuku Gyoen open at 9am (at least you did not plan it on a Monday). Do not especially understand why go spend one hour in sugamo, but ok. Karaoke, usually you rent a place for you and your friends, karaoke in Japan is not done in a bar in front of all the other people.

    Oct. 24 : I personally thin Gion is a better idea in the evening than in the middle of the day, and there is not especially any reason to go that day if you go again the next. Kiyomizu is a temple, not a shrine,

    Oct. 28 : for sure you can stay a bit longer in Hiroshima, you do not have to go back at 6, you might just check train schedule to see when the last train you can take it and just go back anytime you want.

    Nov. 1 : Those are Docomo bikes, I never used it and I heard that you have to take and return bikes within the same ward. Here is the page for Koto ward [https://docomo-cycle.jp/koto/en/](https://docomo-cycle.jp/koto/en/)

12. While you’re in Akihabara on the 1. November you have to eat some Gyukatsu at Ichi Ni San! Literally changed my life 👀

13. Random question but for a couple of the cities you mentioned a specific hotel you will be staying at. Im assuming they are hotels you know to be good?

    I am following a similar plan to yours is why I am wondering, as I will look into the hotels you mentioned as well.

    Also i hadn’t considered Nara before. What drew you to it I you don’t mind my asking?

14. I also like planing out my trips to the half hour like a crazy person! Half the fun is planning isn’t it? And I think you have a good head on your shoulders about this, knowing you’ll probably have to be flexible and drop stuff and move stuff around in favour of other things, etc. My biggest suggestion is plan more time for sleeping! Having time to wind down each day and reflect on what you did and being able to get a full night sleep is really important to keep up the stamina. You might end up sleeping more than what you’re used to cause of how physically and mentally demanding traveling in a foreign country can be.

15. You forgot the timestamps for when you will go to the restrooms.

16. Some of the beauty I find is when you don’t have a plan. I was in Japan for 6 months because I was working, and some of my favourite days were when I had nothing planned, said to my mate let’s go somewhere and we would just walk in a direction, find a coffee shop or something and go in there. Walk to maybe the park that’s there or just quickly Google to see what’s around. A lot of the time I found more fun in spontaneous trips than planned itinerary. You still want to have some places that you want to go but to experience the culture and truly experience Japan and not the tourism of Japan you should just walk.

    It’s fun walking down small alleys going into a small ramen or soba place and just sitting down and ordering. It feels homely and nice. That’s what I enjoyed about Japan personally.

17. Man, I would hate this schedule. Way too packed.

18. There’s a slight chance that you may have overthought things a little.

    Having an exact timed schedule seems like overkill to me. Maybe reduce it down to what you want to see in the morning, afternoon and evening. Also allow yourself plenty of time to get from place to place.

    I myself am planning an itinerary and have been using a Japan trains site to get a rough idea of travel times and have found it incredibly useful.

    Also, nah, no way will they be open in October. Realistically we’re talking spring next year at the earliest.

19. Since you seem at least somewhat into coffee, I’ll mention that if what you’re looking for in the mornings is specialty coffee, that might be harder to find. There are a lot of good specialty coffee places in Japan, but in Tokyo they tend to be a bit out of the way and not in major areas. So while you can find a lot of coffee from family restaurants/chains/bakeries (Doutour, Excelsior, Starbucks, any konbini, etc.), it won’t be that interesting. If you want to try new and interesting speciality coffee every day, you’ll need to plan that out more and allot more time for it.

    Speaking of allotting more time, you gave an hour for L’ambre, which is probably optimistic. It’s a tiny place and at lunch it will be packed. Even if there _isn’t_ a line, their service is slow. Note, too, that they only serve coffee and coffee with milk. There is no espresso, no steamed milk, and no food. They are a pretty cool kissaten for the style and atmosphere alone, but they don’t represent the modern style of coffee roasting and preparation in Japan, so it will be a fun comparison if you’re visiting other specialty shops.

20. You will have an awesome time, I guarantee that! What you will find is that your most fun will probably happen in the several hours you have allowed each evening to explore the area you are in, and no doubt as a single traveller you will bump into random people and get drunk and have a blast.

    I spent one night with some Aussie I met in Osaka going to convenience stores comparing fried chicken, and another night going out with random people I met in an Irish pub to sing karaoke. At least for the nights, just let it happen and relish it. Plus, you will find everything takes longer than you expect, as everything is so interesting!

21. I just notice a problem in your itinerary. You plan to go to Kyoto the 24 and return to Tokyo the 31. That is 8 days total.

    This mean that you plan to get a 14 days pass ?

    Save money and return to Tokyo at the end of the 30, even if you are to get to Tokyo at 9pm (as long as you are in time for check-in at hotel) so only get the 7 days pass.

    There is no savings to make using JR Pass within Tokyo and it’s limiting if you avoid to take the subway. The only “long” train ride it to Toke station and it’s under 1200 yen each way, so this does not justify paying an extra week of JR Pass.

22. Are you planning to stay multiple nights at a capsule hotel in Kyoto? If so, you need to confirm their policy as many capsule hotels make you check out and store your luggage each day then check back in later. They are really designed for people who miss the last train home or just short one night (or less) stays as sometimes they charge by a set number of hours you will use the capsule for. It’d be a huge hassle to check in/out and there are sooooooo many hotels in Kyoto. Just look on sites like Booking or Agoda; though most only allow reservations 3-6 months out so put in placeholder dates for now to get a sense of what options there are. Prices are really low right now so keep an eye on what the regular price is rather than the steeply discounted price.

    In Tokyo, consider chain hotels like Dormy Inn, APA, MyStays, or Toyoko Inn. For a single person, these may be cheaper than an Air BnB and are typically located right by a station entrance/exit. Air BnBs are often a 10 to 15 minute walk from the station which doesn’t sound bad but after a long day exploring can feel like a long way to go to get home after getting off the train. Hotels also offer breakfast, usually starting quite early, so you could get up, have breakfast/coffee and be on your way to your first site without wasting time looking for something open. As others have mentioned, most good coffee places open at 10 am so early morning you’re best bet is the coffee at the convenience store or chains like Starbucks/Doutor/Tully’s.

    I highly recommend looking for a hotel in the Southern Higashiyama/Gion area in Kyoto. You’ll be close by lots of sites, heaps of restaurants, and walking around Gion at night is really special. Since you have plenty of time to plan be sure you are grouping the sites you want to visit by neighborhood so you don’t waste a lot of time crisscrossing the city and use Google maps to get a more realistic estimate of how long it takes to travel between sites via public transit and walking. In Kyoto, head to one neighborhood in the morning and go to your must see site first. Then, walk to the other nearby sites and give yourself some time to just wander down the shopping streets. Then another neighborhood in the afternoon.

    – [Kyoto Districts ](https://www.insidekyoto.com/kyoto-districts)
    – [Kyoto Itineraries ](https://www.insidekyoto.com/kyoto-districts)

    For the day you’re planning to visit Universal Studios Japan, just plan to do this. After walking around and waiting in long lines for the rides all day in the sun you’ll be pooped and I highly doubt you’re gonna want to explore more. I say that as an adult who went to USJ with an adult friend and we stayed til closing and still didn’t get on all the rides we wanted. Also, the nighttime parade is really cool and you should definitely stay until closing time to see that. It’s expensive to go to USJ so I’d say make the most of your day here. They have an amazing Halloween parade too and it’s super popular for people to come here on Halloween. [Here’s a good article on Halloween celebrations in Osaka. ](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/nightmare-dotonbori-top-halloween-spots-kansai/)

    In Nara, be sure not your miss out on [Kasuga Taisha. ](https://goo.gl/maps/qkATN7g6SP4fZ3JX8) It’s nearby Kodaiji (The Great Buddha) but further up a waking path lined with hundreds of stone lanterns into the park. Pay to go inside the inner area to see all the various hanging lanterns and the darkened rooms where some are lit up. Was my favorite part of visiting Nara.

    Finally, have you considered just flying into Osaka and flying out of Tokyo (or vice versa)? This may be only slightly more expensive than a round-trip and saves you a full day of travel time as you don’t have to take the train back and forth between. Tokyo and Kansai region. It’s often well worth it logistically and cost wise.

    In general, your schedule may help you check a lot off your list but if you’re rushing between sites you may not get to really enjoy each place you visit for it’s own uniqueness if you’re thinking/worried about the next stop on your schedule. I love a good schedule, but until you put your daily route into Google Maps and add on an extra 15 minutes at each train/subway station to get lost trying to find your correct train/platform and/or the correct exit out of the station you won’t know if it’s really feasible or not.

    Edit to Add: Forgot to ask if you’re sure the only thing you want to do in Arashiyama is the Monkey Park? It takes awhile to get out here from central Kyoto and it’s really best done as a day trip. There’s lots to do and when we went we took the scenic railway and a riverboat cruise back. We still had time to visit the Bamboo Forest too.

    – See my trip report on [Arashiyama: Sagano Scenic Railway and Riverboat Cruise ](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/mibm8t/kyoto_sagano_scenic_train_hozugawa_riverboat/)

23. Nara is between Kyoto and Osaka (kind of), so it seems like you could switch the 25th and 26th and sleep in Osaka on the 26th after visiting Nara; this way you don’t have to worry about moving to Osaka on the 27th before heading to USJ.

    Along similar lines, I’d try to combine Himeji/Hiroshima/Kobe. Maybe think about spending one night in Hiroshima and grabbing lunch in Kobe on the way back? I think to do this best you’d want to shuffle the days around a little so you don’t have a split stay in Osaka.

24. FWIW I think it can be worthwhile to initially lay out timestamps for things like you did so you have a better sense of what is feasible to do in one day (understanding approximately how long you plan on spending at one place and travel times in between).

    For your final itinerary I might suggest taking a step back and just leaving a few key timestamps per day on the major things you want to do to allow for more flexibility but still keep you on track. I would be conservative with how long you leave for things so you are able to properly enjoy them and then just have some backup things to do in case you finish early.

    I’ve noticed travel subreddits tend to get pretty passive aggressive when someone includes timestamps in their plan because people here are “wander and get lost with minimal planning or you’re doing it wrong” travelers.

25. You like cars? Well, YOU HAVE to go to the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagoya. That place is the mecca for any car enthusiast.

    Also, the Kyoto car scene is pretty great. Saw a ton of cool cars all over the place. On late evenings, a lot of them take their cars out for spin. If you hang around main roads, you see a lot of nice cars and some bosozoku.

26. Stayed at the millennials for 10 days back in 2019, it’s an amazing place!

27. > 7:00pm explore shopping area in airport (This amount of time can be flexible in case customs, JR Pass, or other things take longer than expected)

    Skip the shopping area just get your pass and get to the platform there isn’t much there anyways and pricing might not be great. You’re better off getting into the city and use more time to explore there.

    > 4:30pm Enter Tokyo Sky Tree for sunset (If cloudy still go for the experience)

    Lines can be rather long at sky tree, there is an express line for international tourists it costs a little more than a regular ticket, but you can get to the observation deck faster.

    > * 12:30pm Imperial Palace Tour/Walk around
    > * 2:00pm Possibly go to the Science Museum/ have another meal
    > * 3:30pm Take train to Akihabara

    Not sure which Science museum you are thinking of, but the imperial palace and Akihabara are relatively close together and you can walk between the two if you wanted to. Depending on which route you take you’ll walk through some interesting neighborhoods.

    > 4:00pm Head back to any areas that I wanted to buy things in (Akihabara, Shinkuku, Shibuya, etc.)

    Akihabara and (Shinjuku./Shibuya) are pretty far apart you’ll probably want to break shopping across different days. Since it sounds like you’ll be in the general area of Shinjuku the previous day since you’re headed to Nakano you might want to take some time out of that day. Also sounds like you’ll be in Shibuya a few days afterwards too.

28. Buy coffee from a grocery store, it will be cheaper in the long run from my experience (unless someone else has a better idea, looks around hoping for an answer)

29. Hey mate, I made an own [google map](https://goo.gl/maps/QgB6vuMuoeYN512Y8) over the years of traveling to Tokyo. So if you need some inspiration, some places to go when you’re hungry, just wanna be inspired or whatsoever. Feel free to save the map and use it. It‘s all the places I would recommend friends to go to. From restaurants, bars, coffee places to some sightseeing places. I hope you will enjoy your stay 🙂

30. The 28th seemed a bit packed, you’re doing both Himeji and Hiroshima. While your duration in Himeji is fine I would personally spend more time in Hiroshima, because aside from the Peace Memorial Park and Peace Museum, you can also visit Itsukushima island which is approx 45mins away from Hiroshima and you can easily spend a good half day there. All that you would need to at least overnight in Hiroshima, my last trip there I spent 3 days 2 nights (well technically it was more like 1.5 as I landed in noon, and left in early morning on the third day) there and I felt that was a bit rushed.

31. Seems like you and I got a lot in common planning wise. I too am planning a 14 days trip down to the minute and people are adverse to that level of details. I agree that we’re both using this to just be guide but yours does feel a little more crammed than mine. I mean, I did the map thing and all the google transit to gage how long it will take for me to go from point A to point B but I haven’t taken into account on what if the kaiten sushi I want to go to has a 3 hour line. or what if Google Map says it’s 5 minutes walk but it’s actually a 30 minutes hike. I am in the process of pairing things down more. The general idea I got is just to find 2 or 3 must see spots close to each other and just spend time exploring them each day.
    I don’t know if Himeji/Hiroshima/Osaka would make sense but if you can pull it off, all the more power to you.
    Hope we can inspire each other in this process. Cheers and good luck!