Hello JapanTravel,
Firstly, I’d like to thank you for clicking on this post and deciding to help a stranger with his travel plans. I appreciate it very much.
I will be travelling to Japan in March with my best friend (2 Mar – 22 March).
We are both Male (23 and 22 respectively) from Singapore, share an interest for **Anime** and love **off the beaten paths** and **countryside vibes (haikyo/old nakasendo trail)**.
We **don’t like crowds nor queuing** 20 mins+ for food so even though they are unavoidable we will try to avoid them as much as possible. Sadly we both cannot cycle (well) or drive so we are restricted to **public transport** and walking. Taking advantage of our JR pass would be nice too. We are not interested in shopping for luxury goods/clothes or nightlife.
My personal interests: Collect diecast cars and **car spotting**. Bringing along a film camera for this trip. Love treks/hikes with amazing scenery.
Friend’s interests: Collecting and building **gundam**, **Space**
I’m posting on this subreddit as I need suggestions on changes I should make to my itinerary.
Feedback like ‘You don’t have to go this shrine it looks like any other shrine’, ‘Travelling all the way here ain’t worth it there is a nearby alternative’, ‘You definitely need to queue here it is a tourist trap/very popular with locals’, ‘This day will be too rushed’, would be much appreciated. Feedback about **less popular alternatives** that offer the same vibes would be nice (if you don’t wish to gatekeep of course).
Other info before getting into the itinerary: Hotels, SIM cards, SUICA cards, Visa, VisitJapanWeb immigration, 21 Day JR Pass all purchased/completed. I understand that it is more efficient to fly back from Tokyo but we bought return tickets from KIX (oops).
I will be summing up Book-Off/Mandarake/Animate/Lashingban etc with the letter ‘**AS**’ representing Anime Shops.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be **B, L, D**
*2 March – 4 March Fukuoka + Yufuin (Day Trip)*
*4 March – 7 March Okayama + Kurashiki (Day Trip) + Kagawa (Day Trip)*
*7 March – 9 March Kobe + Himeji (Morning Trip)*
*9 March – 11 March Nagoya + Nagiso (Day Trip)*
*11 March – 13 March Takayama + Shirakawa-go (Day Trip)*
*13 March – 18 March Tokyo + Yokohama (Day Trip)*
*18 March – 20 March Hakone*
*20 March – 22 March Kyoto*
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**2 March (Thu):**
* Land in Fukuoka (8am)
* Mister Donut (B)
* LaLaport: Gundam Park
* Daruma Ramen – Hakata Ramen (L)
* Hakata Station surrounding and connected malls (AS)
* Sumiyoshi-jinja
* Canal City (AS)
* Kushida-jinja
* Tenjin Station surroundings (AS)
* Wakaba – Tonkatsu (D)
**3 March (Fri):**
* Nagahama Sengyo Market – Seafood (B)
* Yufuin Day Trip
* Comico Art Museum
* Donguri No Mori
* Yufuin Retro Motor Museum
* Yufuin Showa Museum
* Yufuin Floral Village
* Kinrin Lake/Tenso Shrine
* Yunotakean – Oita Beef (L)
**4 March (Sat):**
* Checkout
* Konbini (B)
* Head to Yanai City – Town of White Walls
* Soy Sauce Factory
* Yanai-nishigura
* Head to Hiroshima
* Okonomiyaki Teppan-yaki Momiji-Tei (L)
* Atomic Dome
* Orizuru Tower **(unsure if worth the time and entry free)**
* Shukkeien
* Hiroshima Castle
* Head to Okayama
* Check in to hotel
* Matsuya/Coco Ichibanya near hotel(D)
**5 March (Sun):**
* Rice ball Yamadamura – Onigiri (B)
* Okayama Castle + Korakuen Garden
* Kurashiki
* Achi Shrine
* The Ohashis’ house
* Shinkei-en
* Kurashiki Moneybox Museum
* Umenoki – Miso Katsu (L)
* Okayama Station surroundings (AS)
* Kobiki – Miso Ramen (D)
**6 March (Mon):**
* Konbini (B)
* Head to Kagawa (Day Trip)
* Shikoku Village
* Waraya – Udon (L)
* Shotengais near Takamatsu Station (AS)
* Ritsurin Gardens
* Steak House Ichigo – Olive Beef (D)
**7 March (Tues):**
* Checkout and head to Kobe
* Kobe Sandwich (B)
* Sannomiya Shotengai (AS)
* Chinatown (L)
* Meriken Park/Be Kobe sign
* Harbourland
* Red Rock – roast beef don (D)
**8 March (Wed):**
* Himeji Castle
* McDonald’s (L)
* Kitano Ijinkai-Gai (**unsure if worth buying tickets to enter the houses**)
* Mt. Rokko **(Hopefully the bus and cable cars aren’t too inconvenient)**
* Garden Terrace
* 格子戸 – Kaarage (D)
**9 March (Thu):**
* Checkout and head to Nagoya
* Ikea (L)
* Ghibli Park (Tickets booked)
* Toyota Automobile Museum
* うなぎ 光玉 – Unagi (D)
* Osu Shopping District (AS)
**10 March (Fri):**
* Bus to Magome-juku
* Masuya – Soba (L)
* 8km trek to Tsumago-juku (old nakasendo trail)
* Oasis 21 and surroundings (AS)
* Kushikatsu Lovely (D)
**11 March (Sat):**
* Checkout and head to Takayama
* 松喜うし – Hida Beef (L)
* Hida no Sato
* Takayama Jinya
* Retro/Showa Museum
* Hida Takayama Gyoza Sohonzan (D)
**12 March (Sun):**
* Miyagawa Morning Market (B)
* Day trip to Shirakawa-go
* Observatory (Ogimachi Castle or Tenshukaku)
* Wada House
* Shiraogi (L)
* Kanda House
* Gassho-zukuri Minkaen
* Shirakawago Three Houses
* Kataribe
* Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine
* Myozenji
* Chill at Sanmachi Historical Houses Preserved Area
* Center4 Hamburgers (D)
**13 March (Mon):**
* Konbini (B)
* Checkout and head to Tokyo via Nagoya
* Eki-ben @ Nagoya (L)
* Odaiba
* DiverCity (Gundam)
* Daiba 1-Chome Shopping street
* Fuji TV Network
* Foodcourt @ Divercity (D)
**14 March (Tues):**
* Tsukiji Market (B/L)
* Akiba (AS)
* Asakusa (at night)
* Koyanagi – Unagi (D)
**15 March (Wed):**
* Shinpachi Shokudo Daimon – traditional bkfast (B)
* Toshima Kuritsu Tokiwaso Manga Museum
* My Curry Shokudou (L)
* Ghibli Museum (tickets on sale next month)
* Walk to Kichijoji Station via Inokashira Park
* Nakano Broadway (AS)
* Hōzuki Ramen – tantanmen (D)
* Jojo Bar
**16 March (Thu):**
* Yokohama Day Trip
* Cup Noodle Museum
* Gundam Factory
* Chinatown (L)
* Nissan Global Headquarters Gallery
* Bikkuri Donkey/Jonathan’s/Royal Host – Family restaurant (D)
**17 March (Fri):**
* Yoshinoya – Hangover Gyudon (B)
* Tsukuba Space Centre
* Lunch at staff cafeteria
* Ikebukuro (AS)
* Shibuya Sky
* Kura Sushi – Conveyor Sushi (D)
**18 March (Sat):**
* Checkout and head to Hakone
* *Oh boy heading to Hakone on a weekend..*
* 銀かつ工房 – Katsudon (Lunch)
* Hakone Gōra Park
* Hakone Open Air Museum
* Gyoza Center (D)
* Private Onsen at Hotel
**19 March (Sun):**
* Owakudani
* Geo Museum
* Guided Tour
* Pirate Ship
* Hakone Sekisho
* Hakone Yashima (L)
* Onshi-Hakone Park
* Old Tokaido Highway (the short cedar one)
* Hakone Shrine
* **Hakone Mototsumiya Shrine (Travelling here from Hakone Shrine is definitely an issue and we would love to have suggestions on alternatives where we can spend Sunday night in Hakone)**
* Okonomi-yaki Kaji (D)
* Private Onsen at Hotel
**20 March (Mon):**
* Checkout and head to Kyoto
* Kyoichi Honten – Beef Noodles (L)
* Manga Museum
* Teramachi Street (AS)
* Gion
* Shirakawa Lane
* Post Office
* Hanamikoji
* すいば 四条河原町店 – Izakaya (D)
**21 March (Tues):**
* ガスト 京都四条大宮店 (B)
* Arashiyama
* Bamboo
* Observation Deck
* Okochi Sanso Garden
* Tenryu-ji
* Hogon-in
* Monkey Park
* Arashiyama Daizen – Sushi (L)
* Jōjakkōji Temple
* Nisonin Temple
* Gioji
* Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street
* Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple
* Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple
* **No idea what to do at night**
**22 March (Wed):**
* Nijo Castle (near our hotel)
* Head to KIX
I’ve included my meal plans in hopes of getting crowd forecasts.
Any feedback or suggestions would be much appreciated. **Bolded words are my main concerns** with what I’ve come up with so far. Off the beaten path suggestions would be nice too as I did not include much/at all.
Thank you!
1 comment
I know you are 22 and 23 but you have a massive amount of stuff each day. Just day 2, it’s 4 hours by public transportation to Yufuin from Fukuoka. Also are you staying in Yufuin the night or heading back to Fukuoka? The day trip comment makes me think you are heading back to Fukuoka. If you are staying the night in Yufuin, the next day your train ride is 5.5 hours then a day packed with even more stuff and more travel to Hiroshima for a quick stop then onto Okayama. You’re either going to miss a lot of stuff or every day is going to be 20 hours of activity. I’d cut out either Yufuin or the stops the next day and pick only one city to visit and stay the night out(truthfully I would do both and shift half the stuff from day 1 to day 2, and I love visiting Yufuin)
EDIT: I see your Yufuin meal is marked as lunch which means it’s not happening. The fish market in the morning opens at 9am which makes about 10am as the earliest train you can get to Yufuin putting you there at 2, even if you have a late lunch you’re going to have only an hour or two to visit the other things in Yufuin before it all closes up because, you know it’s a small rural town. And all that depends on you having zero issues with any language or transportation.