Hi everyone,
My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Japan in early May, and we’d appreciate your thoughts on this itinerary. We’ve both been before but are trying out a few new places. We usually start our days pretty early at 7:30am, especially for the day trips, but some days might still be a little too cramped. Suggestions welcome!
Thanks for looking!
**Day 1 – Tokyo**
* Arrival Approx 2pm. Sorting out pocket wi-fi, sim, JR pass.
* Train from HND to Akihabara hotel
* Shibuya Pokemon Centre
* Shibuya Sky. Dinner at Shibuya Scramble
**Day 2 – Tokyo**
* Pokemon Cafe, early reservation
* Train to Ashikaga Flower Park, stay till 7-8pm
* Train back to Akihabara
**Day 3 – Kawaguchiko**
* Store luggage at Akihabara hotel, bring only a mid-sized duffel bag of clothes and essentials
* Direct bus from Akihabara Station to Fuji Q Highland Station? (7:30am to 9:15am)
* Drop luggage off at hotel (Highland Resort)
* Arakuyama Sengen Park + Chureito Pagoda
* Oshino Hakkai
* Yamanakako Hananomiyako Park
**Day 4 – Kawaguchiko**
* Check out, leave bags at hotel
* Fuji Q theme park
* Check-in to ryokan hotel
**Day 5 – Kawaguchiko/Tokyo**
* Check out of ryokan hotel
* Shibazakura Festival via Shibazakura Liner bus
* Head back to Tokyo after, leaving at approx 12pm, 2.5hrs journey
* Check back in at Akihabara hotel
* Dinner at MoonFlower Sagaya Ginza 7pm
**Day 6 – Tokyo**
* Train and bus to Hitachi Seaside Park, 2.5hrs
* Spend approx 2-3 hrs here, and then another 2.5hrs to get back
* Art Aquarium Ginza
* Ninja Restaurant Akasaka
**Day 7 – Tokyo**
* Tsukiji Outer market
* teamLab Planets
* Joypolis
**Day 8 – Tokyo**
* Ikebukuro + Akihabara shopping for anime goods
* Any suggestions for new stores to check out at these places? I know a few have closed/open since pre-covid
**Day 9 – Tokyo**
* Disney Sea whole day
**Day 10 – Tokyo**
* Sanrio Puroland
* Asakusa and Nakamise Dori
* Harry Potter Cafe in Akasaka
**Day 11 – Nagoya**
* Check out of Akihabara hotel, ship luggage to Osaka with Yamato Transport?
* Travel to Nagoya from Akihabara via shinkansen
* Check in to Nagoya Hotel.
* Nabana no Sato park. 1 hour train ride from Nagoya Station
**Day 12 – Nagoya**
* Check out of Nagoya Hotel
* Ghibli theme park
* Travel to Osaka via shinkansen, collect luggage from Yamato transport, check in to Osaka Airbnb
* Dotonbori
**Day 13 – Osaka**
* Bring mid-sized duffel bag of Kyoto luggage to USJ station, store at luggage lockers located outside the park
* USJ
* Travel to Kyoto from USJ, check in to Kyoto hotel
**Day 14 – Kyoto**
* 6:50am Yasaka Pagoda for photos
* Kishin Kitchen breakfast 7:30am
* Travel by bus to Arashiyama area 1hr journey
* 2hrs at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Tenryuji Temple
* Leave at 12pm, train to Kichi Kichi for lunch
* Okazaki Shrine
* Collect luggage and train back to Osaka Airbnb
* teamLab Botanical Gardens 6pm onwards
**Day 15 – Osaka**
* Direct Bus (Kakehashi) from JR Namba Minato-machi Bus Terminal to Nijigen no Mori, 8:10am to 10:15am
* Nijigen no mori theme park
* Last bus back to JR Namba Minato-machi Bus Terminal, 4:40pm to 6:30pm
**Day 16 – Kyoto, Kobe**
* Travel to Kyoto from Osaka, train 7am to 8:30am
* Kiyomizudera
* 10am booking at Kyoto Samurai Experience
* Pokemon Centre Kyoto, leave at 12:30pm
* Travel to Kobe, 1hr15min trains
* Lunch at Mouriya Honten. 2:15pm
* Atoa Aquarium
* Dinner at Ishida 6:30pm
Questions/Concerns
* I’m not sure how luggage transport works as I’ve never used it before. With Yamato transport, I had a look and was hoping to ship from our Akihabara hotel to a convenience store near the Osaka Airbnb, or to their Osaka Minami Office near Kuromon Market. Is this possible?
* I’ve been to Kyoto before but had a harder time navigating as Kyoto seems to be serviced more by buses than trains. Are the timeframes for the Kyoto days reasonable? We had to split it into 2 days as different activities weren’t available all on the one day.
Is a JR pass worth getting? I don’t see us making much use of it. The only shinkansen trips are from Tokyo -> Nagoya and Nagoya -> Osaka.
* Any must-eat, must-see places we’ve missed? All suggestions are welcome.
1 comment
Hi!
I need to re-read back through your Kyoto days but just wanted to mention, there is no direct train to Nabano no Sato.
It’s a stunning light-up and really lovely, but from Nagoya you need to either take a bus or take a train and then bus (or you can rent a car.) We took the train to a smaller station outside Nagoya and then rented a car. We were staying on property at Nagashima, so used the free shuttle to the park. If you’re planning to go to Nagashima Spa Land, it’s pretty far, like at least 10 km, away from Nabana no Sato. We didn’t make it to the theme park actually, though we could see it from our hotel. The first day most of the coasters were down and then second my tween just wanted to go to Tokyo.