Hi everyone,
My husband and I (in our mid-30s) are travelling from Australia to Japan for 3 weeks in May for our first visit, flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka.
I am a bit overwhelmed with planning the first half of the trip, Tokyo is HUGE! I am seeking advice on how I’ve grouped together the daytime activities to make sure we are not wasting travel time and reduce backtracking. We can move around any of the days except for the Yayoi Museum, which is open Thurs-Sun only. We might split our Tokyo accommodation between Shinjuku and Chuo City to experience both the hustle and bustle and somewhere bit quieter/calmer, but open to advice. Also if you know any preferred districts for accommodation based on my itinerary (close to train stations, landmarks etc) that would be appreciated.
We are pretty fit and enjoy walking/exploring but also like a bit of downtime, so am trying not to load up our days too much. We will also purchase the JR Pass activating on Day 6.
If there are any gaps for anything fun/interesting to do that I’ve missed as well, please let me know. Also happy to remove Yokohama if it looks a bit too much, but will need to fill another day or two.
**Day 1 | Mon 8/5 – Tokyo (Shinjuku)**
* Arrive in Haneda Airport at 6:45am from Australia
* Recover from jetlag, explore Shinjuku district
**Day 2 | Tues 9/5 – Tokyo (Harajuku & Shibuya)**
* Meiji Shrine (60 mins)
* Takeshita Street (30–60 mins)
* Cat Street (30–60 mins)
* Shibuya Scramble Crossing (biggest on planet)
* Tokyo Tower, Minato City (skyline views)
* Night: Ruby Room, Drunkard’s Alley
**Day 3 | Wed 10/5 – Tokyo (Koto City, Ginza & Chuo City)**
* teamLAB Planets
* Gundam Statue
* Unko Museum
* Tsukiji Fish Market, Chuo City
* Ginza
* Night: Golden Gai, Omoide Yokocho
**Day 4 | Thur 11/5 – Tokyo (Shinjuku City)**
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
* Yayoi Kusama Museum (open Thurs-Sun only)
**Day 5 | Fri 12/5 – Tokyo (Asakusa & Akihabara)**
* Senso-ji Temple
* Nezu Shrine
* Hoppy Street
* Tokyo Metro Government Building
* Akihabara
**Day 6 | Sat 13/5 – Tokyo (Nikko day trip)**
* Shinkyo Bridge
* Nikko Rinno-ji Temple
* Toshogu Gojunoto
**Day 7 | Sun 14/5 – Tokyo > Yokohama**
* Travel to Yokohama by bullet train
* Explore the area
* Basing these few days in Yokohama as we are looking to do a couple of day trips to Hakone and Kamakura, so hoping to save some time and money (as I am guessing Tokyo is a bit pricier accommodation).
**Day 8 | Mon 15/5 – Yokohama (Hakone)**
* Day trip: Hakone
* Views of Mt Fuji
* Hakone Shrine
* Hakone Open-Air Museum
**Day 9 | Tues 16/5 – Yokohama / Kamakura**
* Day trip: Kamakura
* Visit temples, Meigetsu-in
**Day 10 | Wed 17/5 – Yokohama > Kyoto**
* Bullet train to Kyoto
* Check in and explore around hotel
**Day 11 | Thur 18/5 – Kyoto**
* Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
* Kyoto Imperial Palace
* Higashiyama
* Gion – maybe tea ceremony
**Day 12 | Fri 19/5 – Kyoto**
* Nishiki Market
* Yasaka Shrine
* Kiyomizudera – Pure Water Temple
* Maruyama park
**Day 13 | Sat 20/5 – Kyoto (Arashiyama)**
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
* Gioji Temple
* Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street
* Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple
* Night: Pontocho Alley
**Day 14 | Sun 21/5 – Kyoto**
* Free day (maybe cooking class/food tour)
**Day 15 | Mon 22/5 – Kyoto > Hiroshima**
* Bullet train (AM)
* Peace Memorial Museum
* Atomic Bomb Dome
**Day 16 | Tues 23/5 – Hiroshima (Miyajima Island)**
* Deer park
* The Floating Torii
* Itsukushima Shrine
* 5 Story Pagoda
* Mount Misen (if good weather/if there’s time)
**Day 17 | Wed 24/5 – Hiroshima > Osaka**
* Tenjinbashisuji shopping
* Nakazaki
* Tsutenkaku Tower
* Night: Dotonbori, America-mura
**Day 18 | Thur 25/5 – Osaka (Himeji)**
* Day trip: Himeji Castle
**Day 19 | Fri 26/5 – Osaka**
* Universal Studios/Nintendo World
**Day 20 | Sat 27/5 – Osaka (Nara)**
* Nara Deer Park
* Todai-ji temple
**Day 21| Sun 28/5 – Osaka > Australia**
* Fly home
I’m so happy to have stumbled across this amazing subreddit and appreciate reading all the tips and advice from everyone!
1 comment
Personally think that this is a bad use of the JR Pass as you would likely get the 14 days when you could do with 7.
Before making the assumption that staying in Yokohama would be cheaper, I would really check hotel prices. Yes it could save a little bit of time, but not enough to fully justify the hotel change.
Anyway, to reduce it to the 7 days pass, you could go to Nikko using the Tobu Nikko Pass.
If you still want to change to stay in Yokohama, take the local train, yeah, it might be a bit longer, but depending from where to where exactly you are going, the local train might be a more simple route.
Going to Kamakura is going to be cheap, so no need to do it on JR Pass.
Check the time to compare local train and shinkansen, but if you decide to take the shinkansen to Odawara, then do it on the last day (so day 9) instead of day 8, as it will be the more expensive of the to.
Then you can do JR Pass from day 9 to 15. As you plan to take longer in Kyoto, I would do Osaka first, Hiroshima and back to Kyoto for latest day 15. Then you can take the Haruka train direct to KIX.
My guess is that this would be cheaper than using the 14 days pass.
I would consider doing Himeji as a stop on the way to or back from Hiroshima instead of a day trip as it’s on the way.
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Anyway, that’s what I would consider.
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I would check to do Shibuya Sky instead of Tokyo Tower.
Day 5 is really not in order. Senso-ji is next to Hoppy Street and everything except the Gov. Building are east side of Tokyo.
Speaking of Gov. Building, I would say that you chose the 2 least interesting observation deck, the best thing about it is that it’s free, otherwise it’s just ok. Unless there is an event or something special you want to see at one of them, I would say that Roppongi Hills Mori Tower and Shibuya Sky. Both are more modern and you have access to the roof, so that is a really nice experience.