Hi there,
Like many others, my girlfriend & I are heading to Japan for the first time in March and would appreciate some feedback on a rough itinerary that we have at the moment as well as a few random questions at the end!:
22nd-26th Tokyo
22nd March:
– Land at 9am
– Pick up Pocket-wifi from airport and make our way to our accomodation near Ueno station
– As we’ll likely get there before check-in time, hopefully we’ll be able to find luggage storage lockers for our big bags so we can explore the area a bit, get some lunch etc before checking in
– In the evening, see how we feel jet-lag-wise and let that dictate how late we stay out
23rd-26th March:
– Exploring various districts/areas:
– Asakusa
– Akihabara
– Shibuya
– Shinjuku
We don’t have *too* much of a plan yet for these days, I’d like to fit TeamLab Planets in there if we can even though Toyosu is a little out of the way.
27th-28th Hakone
One thing I’ve loved the idea of in Japan is the hot springs. We’ve been to Iceland before and one of the highlights was the lagoons there so having an Onsen experience is something we’d really enjoy.
Hakone seems to have the reputation as the best place for that and would be a smaller, maybe slightly quieter place for a day (even though I know we’re going near peak cherry blossom time in the first open year since Covid, it’s not going to be quiet anywhere haha)
Travelling to Hakone doesn’t seem too bad, but we still need to look into the best way to get around to see Owakudani /Hakone Tozan Ropeway.
29th-31st Kyoto
The last part of the holiday would be going from Hakone to Kyoto for a few days, trying to include:
– East day
– Fushimi Inari Taisha (Shrine path)
– Kiyomizudera Temple
– Higashiyama Streets
– Kodai-ji Temple
–
– North-West Day
– Arashiyama Bamboo Forest/Kameyama Park
– Tenryū-ji Temple
– Monkey Park Iwatayama
– Okochi Sanso Villa
Potentially fit an afternoon at Nara to see the Deer park as well, depending on how things go.
31st Return to Tokyo and fly home
– Leave our accomodation at Kyoto and grab the Shinkansen to Tokyo
– Find a station on the line to Haneda airport with luggage storage to leave our bags for the day
– One last day in Tokyo (undecided where)
– Flight leaves at midnight so by evening get our bags and head back to the airport
I know it’s not too detailed with actual activities and that’s by design right now as we nail down where we are and when first.
Please point out any glaring faults, or if you think we’re doing some stuff straight up wrong! Also any recommendations for specific activities I haven’t put here would be awesome too.
As for a few questions lingering in my brain right now:
– With the Hakone overnight trip, It does leave Kyoto a little short on time especially trying to fit Nara in. Can Hakone(including onsen experience) be done in one day without staying overnight? Or should we look to do an Onsen experience somewhere else like Kyoto?
– Luggage forwarding: I’ve tried to read up on it but I haven’t seen much about this specific scenario so if anyone has any knowledge on this please let me know; Can it be done so that we could send our bags straight from Tokyo to a hotel in Kyoto, with them arriving a day later so we could just take our backpacks with overnight clothes to Hakone and meet our bags in Kyoto? Does it depend on the hotel(s) we’re using?
– Cherry Blossoms: I know we’re a little early to see peak bloom this year (I imagine it’ll start to hit peak in Tokyo as we leave for Kyoto) but I’d like at least one day if it’s possible for us to have a really nice cherry blossom day. Should we shift our schedule around a bit to accommodate that (i.e. go to/come back from Kyoto a day early, leaving us one last extra day in Tokyo with better blossoms) or are we still likely to see a good amount (I know it’s never 100%, predictions especially at this point is just educated guesswork)?
– I believe summer/autumn are more likely to have specific festivals/events, but are there any that would be on during our visit that people know of that could be worth a visit?
– And finally, are we packing too much into a 10 day trip when it comes to places?
Thanks 😀
2 comments
Regarding lockers: If you are staying at any kind of hotel other than a capsule hotel they will likely hold your bags for you if you stop by before check-in time. You might even find when you go back to check-in that they already took your bags up to your room for you.
If not, Ueno Station – both the JR and Keisei line stations have a lot of lockers. Enough that you should probably take a picture of where you stored your stuff or make sure there’s an airtag/tile in your bags.
Haneda itself has a decent amount of lockers and if you are taking the Keikyu line to get there, you will probably pass through Shinagawa Station which also has a lot.
You can definitely transport your luggage from Tokyo to Kyoto a day early using TA-Q-BIN, I believe you just specify the date you’d like it to arrive.
If you’re happy to start early enough, it’s definitely possible to cover most of the Hakone loop in one day – if you’re unsure about the best way around, I’d recommend looking into the Hakone Free Pass which covers most modes of travel in the area. I think the journey from Hakone Yumoto to Kyoto would only take ~an hour or so longer than if you went from Tokyo to Kyoto, so it shouldn’t make too much impact on the time you have in Kyoto by staying overnight.