Hi everyone! We are a group of 4 and due to our schedules, this was the only time that worked for all of us. We know it will be golden week, hopefully not too busy 🙂 It will be our first time in Japan.
Wed **26**
\-Land in NRT late afternoon
\-Activate JR Pass, pickup pocket WIFI, load up Suica
\-Train to Osaka, check in to hotel and rest (staying in Namba)
Thurs 27
\-Universal Studios Japan for the day
\-Giant Ferris Wheel
Fri 28
\-Day trip to Nara
\-Nara Park to see the deer
\-Namba Shrine Osaka
\-Super Potato video game store
\-Gigo Arcade namba
\-Karaoke in Osaka in the evening (Big Echo Karaoke?)
Sat 29
\-Parco Shinsaibashi Mall
\-Pokemon Cafe
\-Amerika-mura district
\-Dotonbori District in late afternoon/early evening (River boat cruise, Ferris wheel)
\-Nightclub (Giraffe, Ghost, or Pure)
Sun 30
\-Shinesekai District
\-Osaka Castle
\-Umeda Sky Building
\-40 Skybar and Lounge (Conrad Hotel)
Mon 1
\-Kyoto Day Trip
\-Kimono Tea Ceremony
· Fushiminari Shrine
· Gion District- Hanamikoji St
· Pontocho Alley
· Yasaka Shrine
· Kiyomizu-dura
Tues 2
\-Check out from Osaka, train to Tokyo
\-Check in Tokyo hotel (Ginza area)
Wed 3
\-Koto City
\-National Museum of Emerging Science
\-Gundam Statue
\-Teamlab Planets
\-Round 1 Stadium
\-Street Kart Tokyo Bay
Thur 4
\-Asakusa
\-Ueno Zoo
\-Senso-ji- Kaminarimon Gate
\-Sumida Park
\-Tokyo Skytree
Fri 5
\-Shinjuku
\-Tokyo Metro Building
\-Omoide Yokocho
\-Kabukicho district
\-Golden Gai
\-Robot Restaurant (if reopened)
\-Ce La Vie in the late evening
Sat 6
\-Akihabara District
\-Roppangi District (Mori Art Museum)
\-Ginza District (Red Tokyo Tower)
\-Nightclub (1OAK, V2, or Zeus)
Sun 7
\-Shibuya
\-Mejii Jingu Shrine
\-Yoyogi Park (Cherry blossom garden)
\-Parco Mall (Nintendo and Pokemon Store)
\-Miyashita Park
\-Shibuya Crossing
\-Shibuya SKY (Sunset time)
Mon 8
\-Day trip to Enoshima Island
Tues 9
\-Check out from hotel and train to NRT
QUESTIONS:
1) In Tokyo, which robot cafe is better? Dawn Robot Cafe or Pepper Parlor?
2) Is the JR Office open in Narita Airport? Google Maps is showing permanently closed?
3) How realistic is it to take cabs or ubers? Particularly from USJ to the Giant Ferris Wheel.
4) Is luggage forwarding worth it in our case?
5) Should we get a JR Pass? 7 day, 14 day, or No Pass?
6) Any suggestions on what else we can do in Nara?
7) Is the Osaka/Tokyo City Pass worth it?
8) 2 out of 4 members of the group are vegetarian (no seafood as well). Any tips or restaurant suggestions for them? Haven’t looked at too many restaurants but open to any recommendations 🙂
Thank you for taking the time and reading! Much appreciated
4 comments
I love this itinerary, can you please tell me how did you cameup with it because i am trying to plan mine and i am lost tbh is there any good websites that list gaming anime stores and. Caffe and spots like japan guide ? Or a youtube channel
1. …
2. Location of exchange offices listed here [https://japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html](https://japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html)
3. You could consider the ferry [https://goo.gl/maps/rbg3xdQsuZ94kGL39](https://goo.gl/maps/rbg3xdQsuZ94kGL39)
4. Depend of you definition of worth. If you are physically able to move your luggage, then we could say you are spending money for nothing, but other would say that the convenience is worth the money. Personally never used it.
5. If you do, max 7 days. You are probably going to save a bit because you are landing in Narita, but you won’t save a lot of money. 14 days is useless as local train is really not expensive. One thing I would change is do not get an IC card in Tokyo, wait to be in Osaka and get the Kansai One Pass. Despite the name it is not a pass but just an Icoca card that also give discount in attractions around Kansai. Then after you can use it at all the same places as the other IC cards (like Pasmo/Suica).
6. Todai-ji and other temple/shrines around the park.
7. You mean subway pass ? They could save a couple of dollars, depend on how much you move during the day, it can require 3-4 rides in a day to make it worth.
8. Use the happy cow app to find places.
Going to Nara to see only the deer would be a waste of time. They’re really aggressive and unpleasant and are actually best avoided.
I did the walking route around Nara Park to visit the various temple complexes, which was excellent. It took almost the full day. The branch of the national museum in Nara is also great.
A few comments:
The JR Service Center eventually requested people come up who were planning trips West when I was there on the 22nd because there was a huge danger they were not going to be able to make it to their destinations before the shinkansen stopped. We were there around 6:00 pm post landing at 4:00 pm. Going to Kansai on arrival day is risky. The service center also cut off the line early, because they closed at 7. Everyone else had to wait in the very very long line for the JR East Counter.
Be aware you are in Japan during Golden Week which is a holiday time. I don’t expect the trains you are looking to take being impossible to book, but USJ is going to be a lot more crowded.
My friend who lives in Osaka had an app for taxis and was able to just hail us some a few times. I think I would have had a harder time without them though.
The Pokemon Cafe is a pain to get a reservation for, the food is not terribly good, and there is VERY limited vegetarian items. We just went to the Shinsaibashi branch on 12/25. We’d been to the Nihombashi Cafe 2 or 3 times previously. A vegetarian’s best bet is getting dessert as a main course. If you need some Pokemon themed food you can check out Pokemon Sweets in Ikebukuro. It doesn’t require a reservation.
Teamlab Planets has the most amazing vegan ramen shop out front. My tween wasn’t feeling Planets but loved the ramen. It’s incredibly rich and tasty. Uzu vegan ramen also has a branch in Kyoto. I plan to try that branch in the future. She also loves T’s which has multiple branches throughout Tokyo, including: Tokyo Station; Ueno; and Ikebukuro.
We went to the Kirby Cafe in Skytree. That’s also a pain to get a reservation for. The food is much better than the Pokemon Cafe and Kirby makes cheese pizzas. My tween also liked the dessert pancake. I think Pikachu makes better lattes than Kirby though. Kirby also has a small takeout place. I am unsure what they sell because it all sold out very fast.
It’s 6 of one half dozen of the other whether a rail pass is worth it. You wouldn’t get any real use of it necessarily in Kansai, but I guess if you want the potential to do more, it comes in handy. Not having a pass would let you take the faster and more frequent Nozomi. I definitely wouldn’t get a 14 day, you are not even close to making that worth it.
I think some of your days seem a little full.
Shibuya on a holiday week end is going to be unpleasantly crowded. It’s fine for like 30 minutes as an experience, but the crowds make it hard to do anything. The Nintendo Store requires a free entry ticket to visit because it is so crowded, like all of them. The Pokemon stores in Japan can get stupid crowded and the lines can be insanely long. I went to: Shinsaibashi, Umeda, Kyoto, Ikebukuro, Nihombashi, and Skytree’s Pokemon Center. Shibuya was just too crowded to even consider. If any of you have a birthday the month you visit and bring your switch you can get a free download code for some sort of reward. I forget which Pokemon it was in December.
I’d spend some time on Happy Cow looking at restaurants. It’s not perfect, and there are certainly things it is missing, but it’s a good starting place for knowing where there might be vegetarian options. Japan has gotten 100% better about vegetarian food than in the past, but it’s still sometimes a challenge. My tween loves the new heat and go plant based Starbucks sandwich, which is great when it’s late and you just need something. It’s not available in the US. We’ve been to Ain Soph and they don’t like kids and will give you dirty looks for bringing one in. I liked Mumokuteki, my kid did not.