Hello! I just wanted to post my itinerary here and see if anyone has any suggestions for things to do, important details I’m forgetting, or general advice for my first trip to Japan. For context, I am travelling with my partner and we’re both 21 year old uni students, so we’ll be budgeting on everything we can besides attractions and transport, most meals will be bought at convenience stores and cheap restaurants.
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**Wed 8/2:**
We will arrive to Haneda airport (where we’ll pick up our JR and suica/pasmo passes) and drop bags to hotel in Asakusa, then spend the morning around Senso-ji and the food stalls around there. Around lunch we’ll head to Shibuya to just walk around and explore, aiming to have a relatively chill day since we’ll be tired after our flight. Dinner will be in Akihabara since I’ve heard there’s a great night life there (hoping to do all-you-can-drink nomihodai there if anyone knows good places that offer it)
**Thurs 9/2:**
Shopping day! I plan to take only 3 sets of interchangeable warm outfits and buy everything else there, since I live in Australia and our winter fashion isn’t suited for winter Tokyo. I’ve planned to shop in Shinjuku and visit Shinjuku Central Park while we’re there. The rest of the day will be other shopping and exploring around the area.
**Fri 10/2:**
Tokyo Disneyland!
**Sat 11/2:**
Nothing planned, probably just a chill day or potentially Ueno Zoo if weather permits and if we have the energy.
**Sun 12/2:**
Will book Tokyo Sky Tower for the morning, then I have Team Lab Planets booked for 1pm. After that we plan to explore around Palette Town and that whole area for the rest of the day.
**Mon 13/2:**
Time to see Mt Fuji! My partner loves caves, so we want to go see the Fuji ice caves first, have an explore of the surrounding area, then go have fun at Fuji Q.
**Tues 14/2:**
This day we’ll be catching the Shinkansen to Kyoto, spend the morning exploring the many gorgeous temples and the Fushimi Inari gates, then head to Arashiyama for the monkey park and bamboo forest. The rest of the evening will be spent at Nishiki markets.
**Wed 15/2:**
Nothing planned
**Thurs 16/2:**
Universal Studios Japan!
**Fri 17/2:**
A chill day sleeping in before heading to Todoroki for a walk around the gorge, then will catch the train to Futako Tamagawa for some shopping and general exploring (suggestions are welcome for any other cool places to shop and explore, not sure if Futako Tamagawa is the right choice, just saw it on a blog somewhere).
**Sat 18/2:**
Catching a train to Kamakura where we’ll see Kotoku-in, then a travel to Yokohama to see the cup noodle museum! That’s all I have planned for that day.
**Sun 19/2:**
Nothing planned
**Mon 20/2:**
A late morning chilling out before heading to Yomiuri Land for rides and the winter illuminations until closing.
**Tues 21/2:**
Nothing planned, the flight home is around 10:30pm.
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Any and all suggestions/advice are welcome!!! Sorry for such a long post, just anxious about my first trip overseas and want to make sure we get the most out of this trip. We have also already purchased SIM cards.
I also would like to ask what shoes we should bring for the cold icy weather! My most comfortable walking shoes are my converse, but my most grippy shoes are my doc martens (I will probably bring both). My partner plans to bring only his hiking boots. I’d just like some guidance on if I should worry much about slippery ground with potential snow/ice around the city, my converse don’t have much grip at all since I wear them everywhere.
Thanks everyone who takes the effort to read and respond! I appreciate any and all comments!
3 comments
My only two cents is Kyoto is not a easy city that can be visited in one day. Unless you have a car or take taxis everywhere, going to all those shrines/ locations in one day will take a lot of time changing trains and buses and/or walking. Since you have nothing planned on 15/2 I would suggest moving Arashiyama to that day and get to Bamboo Forest pretty early to beat the crowds.
I’m editing to add that we were just in Kyoto and stayed 5 nights. It snowed when we were there and everywhere was so slippery. All shrines and steps etc were very dangerous to go up and down. Definitely bring shoes with good grip. Hiking shoes seem to be the best , a lot of ppl had them on in Kyoto and they were confortable in icy conditions.
Have agreat trip!
The JR Pass won’t be worth it with this itinerary. Just use a Suica and buy the shinkansen tickets individually.
Palette Town is no more, the whole complex closed last summer for redevelopment.
Akihabara for nightlife? First time I hear that. I mean Shibuya yes, but not really Akihabara.