Hi everyone 🙂 I have been working on my rough itinerary and I am wondering if anyone has any feedback on my planned route. I am wondering if this might be too ambitious, or if anyone recommends longer stays in particular cities. I am definitely trying to cram in as much as possible into my trip, but I also don’t want to totally feel super rushed.
My boyfriend definitely wants to fly to Sapporo for a few days, so that needs to be included. I am very excited about the Snow Monkey Park, but I realize it adds a lot of extra travelling and time, so I am wondering how others with more experience feel about it’s inclusion?
My boyfriend is also super excited about Okunoin Cemetery in Koyasan, so I tried really hard to find a way to fit it in… is it realistic?
Open to any and all suggestions – I have never visited Japan, so I am flying blind (besides the many hours of research that helped me create this very rough itinerary, lol). Please let me know if there are any places that we need to see that I may have overlooked!
Also – I have planned this itinerary so that I will only need a 7 day JR Pass (to cover days 4 – 10). I am fine paying per train on local trains (Osaka to Nara, Sapporo to Otaru, etc), so I think this will be most cost effective – please let me know if I am wrong. 🙂 Thank you!
Day 1 – Tokyo
\- Arrive at Narita
\- Buy everything we need (pocket wifi, suica card), travel to Tokyo, check in to accommodation
\- Explore a bit and eat
Day 2 – Tokyo
\- Teamlab Borderless or Planets
\- Toyosu Market
\- Tokyo Tower
Day 3 – Tokyo
\- Art Aquarium Museum
\- Shibuya109
\- Nintendo Shibuya
Day 4 – Nagano
\- Bullet train to Nagano, check in to hotel, explore
Day 5 – Nagano
\- Monkey park
\- Dinner and walking around
Day 6 – Tokyo
\- Travel back to Tokyo, chill and relax
Day 7 – Osaka
\- Travel to Osaka, check in to accommodation
\- Explore Osaka
Day 8 – Osaka
\- Daytrip to Kyoto
\- Explore Kyoto
\- Philosopher’s path, shrines, etc
\- Dinner
\- Back to Osaka for bed
Day 9 – Osaka
\- Daytrip to Kyoto
\- Sagano Scenic Railway
\- Explore Kyoto, dinner
\- Back to Osaka for bed
Day 10 – Osaka
\- Exploring Osaka, no plans yet!
Day 11 – Osaka
\- Daytrip to Nara in the morning for the day
\- Back to Osaka in the evening
\- TeamLab Botanical Garden
\- Dinner and bed
Day 12 – Koyasan
\- Travel to Koyasan
\- Okunoin Cemetery
\- Check in to accommodate, dinner
Day 13 – Osaka
\- Travel back to Osaka, check in to accommodate, chill day
Day 14 – Sapporo
\- Fly to Sapporo, check in to accommodation
\- Sapporo beer garden
\- Explore Sapporo
Day 15 – Sapporo
\- Mt Moiwa Ropeway
\- Beer factory tour?
\- Susukino at night
Day 16 – Otaru
\- Travel to Otaru, check in to accommodation
\- Explore Otaru, Onsen maybe?
Day 17 – Otaru
\- Explore around Otaru, no plans
Day 18 – Sapporo
\- Travel back to Sapporo, check in
\- Hokkaido University Campus wandering?
Day 19 – Tokyo
\- Fly back to Tokyo, check in to hotel, explore
Day 20 – Tokyo
\- Explore, no plans
Day 21 – Go home
\- Train to Narita, go home!
1 comment
No snow monkeys in November and no snow. They won’t be in the water, they might not even be at the pools. And if they are there then only because staff ring a bell and feed them (outside of the water)
Just go to Takayama or something like that for mountain area/countryside