My wifey and I are traveling to Japan in March (3rd-23rd). Returning home from Australia. We booked open-jaw tickets, so arriving in Kansai-Osaka and leaving from Haneda-Tokyo. I have booked most of the acoomodation already and bought two 14-day JR Passes which I will be activating in the middle of my trip.
Since I am returning from a long-term stay, I won’t need most of the things in my luggage so I would like to travel “Hand’s free” trough the entire trip.
There is no specific order on the things to do each day, but here is the plan:
**Day 1**
***OSAKA***
Arrive to Kansai Airport \~3:30PM
Go to Osaka castle (10min walk from Airbnb)
**Day 2**
Amerikamura
Dontonbori district
Kuromon Market
**Day 3**
Namba Yasaka Shrine
Shinsekai
Tsutenkaku
Sumiyoshi ward
**Day 4**
Super Nintendo World
**Day 5**
*Activate 14-Day JR Pass*
***WAKAYAMA***
Tomogashima Island: 3rd battery ruins and hike
Kimiidera temple
Wakayama castle
**Day 6**
***KOYASAN***
Okunoin Cementery
Banryu-tei Japanese Rock Garden
Visit various other temples and stay the night in one of them.
**Day 7**
***NARA***
Kōfuku-ji
Isui-en & Neiraku Art Museum
Kasuga-taisha
Mount Wakakusa
Naramachi
**Day 8**
***KYOTO***
Higashiyama Ward
Rengeoin Sanjusangendo
Kiyomizu-dera
Pontocho Park
**Day 9**
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
Tenryu-ji Temple
Senkoji Temple
Kinkaku ji
Nijo Castle
**Day 10**
OG Nintendo HQ
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Katsure River
Eikan-do Temple
Philosopher’s Path
**Day 11**
***ONOMICHI***
Stop at Himeji castle on the way
Cat Alley
Rest for the next day biking 70KM
**Day 12**
Start the *Shimanami Kaido* early morning
Return to our Onomichi accomodation via bus in the evening once we finish the cycle
**Day 13**
***HIROSHIMA***
Stop by Okunoshima Island on the way to Hiroshima
Peace Memorial Park
Atomic Bomb Dome
**Day 14**
Itsukushima Shrine
Mount Misen
Hiroshima Castle
Shukkeien
**Day 15**
***KANAZAWA*** (Long trip)
Kenroku-en garden
**Day 16**
DT Suzuki Museum
Omicho Market
Gyokusen-inmaru Park
Myouryuji (Ninja temple)
**Day 17**
***TAKAYAMA***
Stop by Shirakawa-go on the way to Takayama
Takayama Jinya
Sanmachi Suji
Takayama Old Town
Hida folk village
**Day 18**
***TOKYO***
*Last day of JR Pass*
Senso-ji
Asakusa
**Day 19**
Tsukijii Outer Market
Ginza
Akihabara
Imperial Palace
**Day 20**
Yoyogi Park
Meiji Jingu
Shubuya
Harajuku
Omoide-Yokocho
**Day 21**
Shinjuku Golden Gai
Shinjuku Gardens
Take flight home 5:25PM
*A few questions:*
**1.** Is this doable?
**2.** Do you guys have any suggestions as to how I could travel as “Hands-free” as possible? Ideally, I would not like to see my luggage until right before I leave home.
I contacted Yamato Transport and the max days they can store is for 7 days.
Crosta can store for up to 15 days but then I would have to make time to
return to Osaka just to send it. Is there a company that would deliver from
Osaka to Tokyo and then have it stored until I pick it up?
**3.** Is it possible to do the Shimanami Kaido in 1 day and then take a bus ride home the same day? Assuming we start early morning and finish before night time.
**4.** Any specific reccomendations for these places? Places to eat specially!
*For context:*
I want to get rid of 2 pieces of luggage (1X30kg, 1X20kg).
We would want to travel Japan with 1 backpack each, and a small carry on with essentials for both.
*-Much love*
1 comment
Your 14-day JR pass is used pretty… inefficiently. Day 5-10 do not require JR Pass at all. If you instead go to Tokyo on the night of Day 17, you can use 7-day JR Pass on Day 11-17, but that day would be fast-paced. It’s doable, but not sure if you would enjoy the day.
Day 5-7 would be MUCH better using Kansai Thru Pass 3-day. The Nankai and Kintetsu have a much better route on those days. For Kimiidera, which is served only by JR, take a bus from Wakayama-shi station.
Day 8-10 can be used with just IC card or Kyoto City Bus 1-day pass.
Some days might be somewhat fast-paced, but overall it looks good except for the aforementioned pass usage.