Hello! We (me + 1 friend) will be travelling to Japan for the first time in March, arriving on the 6th and departing on April 3rd giving us 28 days total.
We’ve tried to make it quite slow paced with a minimum stay of 2 days in most places. We’ve also not locked the itinerary down at this point, but collected key things we want to do during the time we’re in a location (see question below about this…). So the order of events isn’t determined yet.
Would appreciate any kind of feedback! Booked accommodations are cancellable so this itinerary can be changed quite drastically if anyone raises any big issues. Not gonna lie, this is the longest holiday either of us have ever embarked upon and trying to plan this is causing so much stress and I’m second guessing every decision we make. So apologies if this itinerary isn’t as fleshed out as others posted here, it’s still very much a work in progress.
**Questions:**
1. Are we spending too long in any location? If any of our locations that we’re staying at are truly just day-trip locations that we’ll maybe get bored in over 2 days, please say!
2. Is our itinerary too vague? A lot of itineraries I see have defined specific cafes and shops to go to. We’ve put (too much?) faith in just wandering around and discovering stuff as we go – is this a bad idea? Are we gonna suffer for this?
3. Any mad route inefficiencies? I’m vaguely aware of how to get from each area but am still in the process of nailing down exactly what will be required and the travel times involved.
4. Any recommendations for things to do if we’ve missed any obvious must-see / recommended stuff also appreciated.
**1.** **TOKYO:** 7 days total
|Date(s)|Activities to cover|
|:-|:-|
|**TOKYO:** 6th March – 9th March (4 nights)|Arrive at Haneda at 7:30am. Stay in Asakusa hotel. Nikko daytrip, various Asakusa temples, Skytree, Akihabara, Ueno park, teamLab Planets, Odaiba area, Tokyo Joyopolis (?), meet Japanese friend.|
|**TOKYO:** 10th March – 12th March (3 nights)|Move to Shinjuku hotel. Meiji Jingu temple. Yoyogi, Hanegi and Shinjuku Gyoen parks, Meguro river, Shibuya SKY, Tokyo Tower, explore: Harajuku, Ni-chome, Shibuya|
|**KAWAGUCHIKO:** 13th March – 14th March (2 nights)|Stay at onsen hotel 1 night, move to cheaper hotel 2nd night. Chureito Pagoda, Mt. Fuji ropeway, explore lakes area and town.|
|**HAKONE:** 15th March – 16th March (2 nights)|Open-air museum, panoramic ropeway, Hakone shrine, lake boat tour|
|**TAKAYAMA:** 17th March (1 night)|Explore town? Hida Folk Village.|
|**GOKAYAMA:** 18th March (1 night)|Bus journey from Takayama to here. Short layover to look around Shirakawago (bus times permitting). Staying in a Minshuku which will hopefully be an experience itself. Walk around a bit I guess? Not much going on.|
|**KANAZAWA**: 19th March – 20th March (2 nights)|Kenroku-en, Castle Park, Omicho market, Ninja temple, Higashi Chaya district (+ others)|
|**KYOTO:** 21st March – 24th March (4 nights)|Fushimi Inari, Bamboo forest, Monkey park, meet Japanese friend, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji, Nara daytrip (or from Osaka)|
|**KOYA**: 25th March (1 night)|Temple stay at Mt. Koya|
|**OSAKA**: 26th March – 29th March (4 nights)|Himeji daytrip, Nara daytrip (or from Kyoto), Osaka castle, Namba Yasaka, Shinsekai, Dotonbori area, USJ (maybe), Umeda|
|**HIROSHIMA:** 30th March – 31st March (2 nights)|Peace memorial and park, daytrip to Itsukushima|
|**TOKYO**: 1st April – 2nd April (2 nights)|See to anything we didn’t have time for.|
|**HOMEWARD**: 3rd April|Fly back home from Haneda.|
Thanks!