15 Days Itinerary Check – Mar/Apr – Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka

Hi Everyone!

My gf and I are going to Japan at the end of march for about two weeks and we would like your opinion on our itinerary. We are pretty stoked about it, we had to go in march 2020, but the pandemic stopped us with perfect timing. At the time we used an agency but this time around we decided to plan it ourselves.

We are in the mid 30s and we will be traveling from Germany. We are used to travel quite a lot and move locations often, but this is our first time outside of Europe. It’s a lifelong dream for us to finally go there, in the Hanami season no less!

We are interested in nerdy stuff (videogames and manga) and we like to wander around as opposed to visit museum and stuff. We can’t wait to try all the amazing food and go shopping.

We are traveling to and from Tokyo. We already booked all the accommodation but they’re refundable if we want to change or switch around. We left some questions in bold and also at the end.

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Day 1. TOKYO

We land in Narita at 17:10. Probably we’ll spend the late afternoon at the airport, recovering the JR Pass, a Suica card and changing currency. Dinner and maybe a walk in Ueno, next to the hotel.

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Day2. TOKYO West

Harajuku + Shibuya, Takeshita Street, having ramen in Shinjuku, Omoide Yococho, drinking in Golden Gai. **Maybe too much in a day?**

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Day3. TOKYO

Daytrip to Kamakura, maybe Enoshima

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Day4. HAKONE

Shinkansen to Odawara, leaving the luggage in the lockers and go exploring Ashi Lake. We’ll probably do the 2-Days Hakone-Pass. **we’re more into walking in the nature and having a view of the Mt. Fuji than doing nothing in an Onsen. That’s why we’ve planned to spend just one night in Gora. Is it worth it or better staying more nights?**

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Day5. HAKONE

maybe another stroll in Hakone then back to Odawara . Shinkansen to Nagoya. **We’ve realized Hakone is a very popular destination and will be rather crowded. Can you recommend any alternative situated between the trip from Tokyo and Kyoto that includes nature, M. Fuji view and onsen?**

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Day6. NAGOYA

Magome-Tsumago hiking trail, or at least a part of it. **Our first idea was visiting the new Studio Ghibli Park but we had no chance at all to get a ticket! What a disappointment!**

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Day7. NAGOYA

relaxing a bit, visiting the city: Nagoya Castle, Tsuruma Park, Osu shopping street. Shinkansen to Kyoto.

**Let’s say this 4 days Hakone-Nagoya are quite flexible destinations. Still looking for alternatives.**

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Day8. KYOTO

We will stay in a traditional ryokan, close to the “philosopher’s path” that we’d like to do + Arashiyama + Fushimi Inari Taisha + evening stroll in Gion

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Day9. KYOTO

perhaps visiting some places we didn’t manage to visit the day8 or daytrip. A**s daytrip we’re considering the hike trail Kibune – Kurama or Otagi Nenbutsu-ji. Is it worth it?**

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Day10. OSAKA

Haruka express to Osaka. Visiting the city: having lunch at the Kuromon Market + Dotombori + Amerikamura + evening at the Hozenji Temple

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DAY11. NARA

Daytrip from Osaka

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DAY12. OSAKA

We didn’t manage to visit the Ghibli park but we absolutely want to visit the Super Nintendo World in the USJ. Evening Umeda Sky Building

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DAY13. TOKYO

Back to Tokyo to enjoy the city a couple of days before the departure. TOKYO – East: Senso-ji, Asakusa touristic center

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DAY14. TOKYO – south

teamLab Planets + Gundam + Takoyaki Museum + having sushi at Toyosu market + evening Meguro River sakura

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Day 15. We leave early in the morning.

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So, about the Nintendo Park, I’m still on the fence. I am huge Nintendo fan and it would be like a dream to me to go there (in those days the movie should also come out, I wonder if they’ll do some events) but the difficulty to reserve a ticket to be sure to enter + the huge crowd is putting me off. As I understand the only way is to enter the park and then book the timed entry, is this correct? We’re not really interested in everything else at the park, so we want to go just for the Nintendo World, do you think it would be worth the risk?

For the JR pass, we wanted to use this [website](https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/?currency=EUR) because you can also get a SIM card. What I cannot find is if there is some limitation about tethering, as we would just get one and use one phone as hotspot for the other. I was also valuing an e-sim but this one seems to be cheaper and we would just use it to find our bearings or check some place to visit.

Also, we would like to do this [bike tour in Osaka](https://www.magical-trip.com/product/fcd0a539-dc55-4c44-8689-94e577d4bfcd?utm_source=matchajp&utm_medium=content-text&utm_campaign=1) , we are not like expert bikers but we like it and we think it’s a fun way to experience the city while also visiting places. What do you think? Has anybody done this?

We will also try to get a ticket for the Ghibli Museum, as they open reservation for march on feb 10th. Depending on the availability, we will move stuff around. We were not planning to go (again, not huge museum fans) but since we could not get into the park, we will try that.

Any specific suggestion for a Nintendo fan is welcomed (not huge on Pokémon tho), I will try to get a reservation for the Kirby Café next month (same deal as Ghibli park).

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Thanks in advance for any suggestions and feedback! The posts here helped us a lot and we’re very grateful! Can’t wait to report back in a few months!