Hi all. My husband and I (ages 40 and 36) are visiting Japan for the first time in October. We live in California.
Interests: Nature, moderate hiking, wildlife, history/culture, dinosaurs!, trains, museums. My husband likes video games. We are both vegan and don’t drink alcohol. We’ll live and die by HappyCow, but if anyone has any specific vegan food recommendations, I’d love to hear them.
We tend to be early risers, so we’ll be up and ready to do things in the morning, but we have no interest in night life. I think we travel at an average pace, but I’m trying hard not to overpack our days. We would like some downtime, especially in the evenings.
Here is our proposed itinerary. Is this feasible without feeling like we’re just dragging ourselves from place to place?
I did a couple of the JR pass calculators, and it looks like we might save a small amount of money with the 14-day pass. I’m not sure if it would just be easier to buy tickets as we go instead of worrying about picking the right trains to utilize the pass. Is it a headache trying to stick to the JR trains? Ultimately, since the cost difference doesn’t seem too significant, I just want to do whatever will be less hassle and/or save time.
**Day 1 (Sunday): Arrive in Tokyo**
* Arrive at NRT 15:30
* Bus to hotel
**Day 2 (Monday): Tokyo Disneyland**
**Day 3 (Tuesday): Tokyo DisneySea**
**Day 4 (Wednesday): Tokyo Disneyland**
**Day 5 (Thursday): Tokyo DisneySea**
(I know we’re spending a big chunk of time at Tokyo Disney Resort, but we want to see everything without rushing. I’m a huge Disney parks fan.)
**Day 6 (Friday): Tokyo to Kanazawa**
* Train from Tokyo to Kanazawa
* Check into Kanazawa hotel
* Explore Higashi Chaya District?
**Day 7 (Saturday): Kanazawa**
* Myoryuji – Ninja Temple (From what I’ve read, this requires a phone call to make a reservation. We will ask our hotel to do this for us.)
* Kanazawa Castle Park
* Kenrokuen Garden
**Day 7 (Sunday): Kanazawa to Fukui to Kyoto**
* Train from Kanazawa to Fukui and then to Katsuyama Station
* Take the bus to Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (I’m super excited about this. It is closed temporarily but is supposed to reopen in the summer. If it doesn’t open in time, we will scrap Fukui and probably add a day in Kyoto.)
* Bus/train back to Fukui and maybe wander around a little bit? I’m not sure how long we will spend with the dinos. Tojinbo looks really nice, but I’m not sure if we will have time.
* Train from Fukui to Kyoto
* Check into Kyoto hotel
**Day 8 (Monday) Kyoto: Arashiyama**
* Sagano Scenic Railway
* Okochi Sanso Gardens
* Bamboo Grove
* Tenryuji Temple
* Togetsukyo Bridge
* Monkey Park
* Kinkakuji Temple? I think we want to see this, but does it make sense on this day?
**Day 9 (Tuesday): Kyoto**
* Philosopher’s Path
* Higashiyama District – Kodaiji Temple, wander around
* Kiyomizudera Temple
**Day 10 (Wednesday): Kyoto: Day Trip to Nara**
* Nara Park
* Todaiji Temple
* Kasuga Taisha Shrine
**Day 11 (Thursday): Kyoto**
* Fushimi Inari
* Kyoto Railway Museum
**Day 12 (Friday): Kyoto to Koyasan**
* Travel to Koyasan via Osaka
* Wander around and explore Koyasan
* Check into temple for overnight stay
* Scripture writing/meditation/dinner at the temple
* Okunoin Cemetery night tour
**Day 13 (Saturday): Koyasan to Himeji to Hiroshima**
* Watch morning rituals and have breakfast at the temple
* Travel to Himeji via Osaka
* Himeji Castle
* Train from Himeji to Hiroshima
* Check into Hiroshima hotel
**Day 14 (Sunday): Hiroshima**
* Peace Park and Museum
* Shukkei-en Garden
**Day 15 (Monday): Miyajima Island and travel from Hiroshima to Tokyo**
* Check out of hotel and leave luggage
* Ferry to Miyajima Island
* Explore Miyajima / ropeway up Mt. Misen
* Ferry back to Hiroshima
* Pick up bags from hotel
* Train from Hiroshima to Tokyo
* Check into Tokyo hotel
Is this all too much for one day? I don’t know how much time we will want to spend in Miyajima. Originally I was planning to do this the previous day after the museum, but I am worried that would be exhausting.
**Day 16 (Tuesday): Tokyo**
* Ikebukuro – Sunshine City (is this the best place for gachapon? That’s my main motivation to go there)
* Fabric shopping at Nippori Fabric Town and Tomato Fabrics (I’m a quilter, so if there are any great fabric shops in any of the cities we’re visiting, I’d love recommendations)
**Day 17 (Wednesday): Tokyo**
* Ueno Park, Museum of Nature and Science
**Day 18 (Thursday): Tokyo: Day trip to Kamakura**
**Day 19 (Friday): Tokyo – TBD**
No plans for this day yet. Suggestions would be great, but I may also just leave it open and figure it out when we get there. I have debated adding a day trip to Nikko on one of our last days in Tokyo, but I think we might be too wiped out at this point in the trip. Is there a shorter/closer day trip that might be a good alternative?
**Day 20 (Saturday): Flight home**
* Hamarikyu Gardens in the morning (close to hotel)
* Back to NRT for 16:25 flight home
Luggage forwarding question- I’m planning to pack an extra duffel bag for souvenirs and check that bag on the flight home. If we buy a lot of stuff at Disney at the beginning of our trip, is it possible to have our extra bag transferred from our first Tokyo hotel (when we leave on day 6) to our final hotel in Tokyo where we will check in on day 15? I’ve looked at a couple of the luggage transfer service web sites, but I cannot find anything specifying how far in advance they will take and store your luggage. We’re also open to leaving a bag in a locker someplace in Tokyo if that is an option. Any advice here would be appreciated.
We will probably also transfer our luggage from Kyoto to Hiroshima and just carry backpacks for our overnight stay in Koyasan. Would it make sense to try to do that for our Dinosaur Museum excursion day too, or would it be possible to leave our luggage in lockers at Fukui Station?
Thanks in advance. I’ve been reading a lot on this sub since we started planning our trip, and it’s been super helpful.