Please let me know if you have any suggestions or if there is too much stuff some days. I appreciate the help!
Day 1 – Arrive in Tokyo
Day 2 – Explore east side of Tokyo
* Visit the Sensoji Temple by walking through Nakamise Street
* Explore the Ueno Zoo
* Tokyo National Museum
Day 3 – Tokyo Disneyland
Day 4 – Continue to explore East Side
* Head over to the Odaiba area. Do Teamlab planet and walk around to see sights such as rainbow bridge and liberty statue.
* Head to the imperial palace
* Explore Akihabara for the afternoon/evening. Look at the shops and eat at a maid cafe for dinner.
Day 5 – Travel to Hakone (\~80 minutes by romance car)
* Boat ride on lake Ashi
* Hakone ropeway & Owakudani
* Hike old Takaido road (if there is time)
* Enjoy dinner and onsen
Day 6 – Travel to Kyoto (\~2 and ½ hours with bus and train)
* Explore Teramachi street and Nishiki market
* Explore Gion street
Day 7 – Explore Kyoto
* Head to Kiyomizudera and stop at shops along the way.
* Tea ceremony in the afternoon
* Fushimi Imari shine
Day 8 – Explore the Arashiyama area in Kyoto (\~20 min train ride)
* Tenryuji temple
* Bamboo grove
* Katsura river & Togetsu Bridge
* Monkey area
* Nanzen-ji complex
Day 9 – Day trip to Osaka (15 min by bullet train)
* Osaka Castle
* Kuromon Ichiba Market (get lunch there)
* Shintennoji Temple
* Walk along Shinsekai
* Walk along Dontburri canal
Day 10 – Day Trip to Nara (35 min by train)
* Nara park
* Mochiidono Shopping center
* Kofukuji
* Todaiji temple
* Nigatsu do
* Kasuga-Taisha
Day 11 – Travel to Tokyo. (2 hr 20 min by bullet train) Explore the west side of Tokyo.
* Shinjuku national gardens
* Nakano broadway at night
Day 12 – Explore the west side of Tokyo.
* Meiji shrine with teahouse and garden
* Walk through takeshita-dori & Omotesando street (shopping district)
* Yoyogi park
* Shibuya crossing
* Cat cafe Shibuya
Day 13 – Leave Japan
2 comments
Hakone the order is wrong the Tokaido is south of the lake and Owakudani North. You need to do the boat ride between these two points, not before.
Nakano one of the big thing is anime/manga related shopping so don’t go too late in the day if you want to do that.
On Day 8, do bamboo first thing in the morning, before tenryuji temple opens. This gets you a much better atmosphere.
On Day 5, the romancecar (or Odakyu services) may not be the best option depending on where in Tokyo your hotel is – from the east side the JR local train from Ueno might work better than trekking to Shinjuku to catch the train.