My friends and I have booked a trip tour a tour agency and we are trying to come up with a loose idea for our itinerary. March 23rd-31st. Unfortunately we haven’t been given our flight or accommodation details yet. All we have is a loose guide on which days include guided tours and which days are “free days”. We will likely skip out on some of the guided tour days (i.e. the one day in osaka is supposed to be guided but we want to explore that city ourselves instead). None of us have ever been before, but we’ve all been trying to do out research and not be too ambitious with our plans. What I’d like to know is if this itinerary seems too overloaded or if there’s anything for us to consider that we may be missing.
March 23rd
-Overnight flight to Tokyo
March 24th
-Arrive in Tokyo at (Time??)
-Maybe we can do some exploring after we check into the hotel
March 25th
-Start the day with the guided tour through Harajuku, Shibuya Crossing, Sensoji Temple, Nakamise shopping street, and the Imperial Palace.
-4pm: Ghibli Museum – buy tickets on Feb 10th for 1000 yen (can change to March 27th if wanted)
-After museum: Free welcome dinner
-After dinner: Free time to explore Tokyo at night
March 26th
-Morning: head to Akihabara and explore/get breakfast
-Lunch: Pokemon Cafe in Nihonbashi – buy tickets on Feb 22nd?
-After lunch: teamLab Planets Tokyo – can buy tickets now, 3200 yen each, must select entrance timeslot, 2:30pm?
-Evening: Explore some more arcades around Akihabara, get dinner
March 27th
-Morning: head to Shibuya to explore/get breakfast
-Lunch: Mipig Cafe – Cant book yet, should open soon – 1100 yen per person for 30 min timeslot
-After lunch: explore Harajuku, go see Hachiko statue in Shibuya
-Dinner: Eat at Kumachan Onsen, a shabu shabu hot pot restaurant in Shibuya – can make a reservation 30 days in advance
-After dinner: continue exploring Shibuya
March 28th
-Travel to Kyoto in the morning, check into accommodations
-Guided tour where we will visit Kiyomizu Temple
-After tour: Loutre Otter Cafe – last reservation time is 6pm – 2000 yen for 50 minutes – no online reservations, must go directly to store, cash only
-After cafe: Explore Gion, get dinner
March 29th
-Wake up early (6am?) to head to Fushimi Inari Taisha
-11am: Go to Maikoya in Gion for kimono rental and tea ceremony – can reserve now for 6930 yen each. Can wear kimono until 6pm
-After tea ceremony: Grab lunch in Gion
-After lunch: Head to Nanzen-Ji Temple (at the beginning of philosopher’s path)
-After temple: Stroll down philosopher’s path and explore the shops along the way
-Head back to Gion to return the kimonos by 6pm and have dinner at??
-After dinner: Maruyama Park in Gion – sakura tree park, trees lit up until 1am
March 30th
-Travel to Osaka in the morning and check into accommodations
-Tenjinbashisuji – glass roof lined shopping street, can get lunch here
-Head to Namba Yasaka Shrine – buddhist temple with giant lion’s head gate
-Go to the Tempozan Ferris Wheel – Tickets are 800 yen each, around sunset would be nice
-Evening – head to Dotonbori shopping street, while on this street, we can find Hozen-ji Yokocho, an alley off the main street which leads to the lantern-lit Hozen-ji Temple
March 31st
-If time permits, an early morning trip to Nara Park
-Fly home