Itinerary Check: 1st time travelling alone for 20 days (Jul 31st – Aug 20th)(Tokyo, Sendai, Kyoto, and multiple daytrips)

3 comments

1. > I have a peanut allergy (I have an epipen), so there is concern about consuming pastries and noodles (peanut oil is my worry).

   Don’t worry too much about this. Japanese cuisine doesn’t use peanuts the way Chinese or Thai cuisine uses it. Almost everywhere uses vegetable/soybean oil for frying and it’s very rare you’ll see a dish with peanuts **unless** it’s stated as part of the dish.

   Some packaged foods (ie: candy, snacks) will have peanuts — but it’s usually easy to tell when it does. You should, however, familiarize yourself with [Japanese allergen charts](http://justhungry.com/handbook/dining-out-japan/food-packaging-labeling-allergy-causing-food-substances-japan) **and** the kanji for peanuts ( 落花生/らっかせい/rakkasei. Also called peanuts – ピーナッツ)

   > I don’t really enjoy eating out or spending a lot for food

   This is a shame, as you’re going to one of the best countries in the world for dining. I’d reconsider your aversion to eating out. It can be done very cheaply in Japan and the food is incredible.

   > visiting an Owl Cafe is something I’m curious about

   Make sure you visit one that has a good reputation and treats it’s animals well. Avoid the one in Harajuku at all costs, please.

   > I’m hesitant on maid cafes

   If you don’t like spending money on dining out, then don’t do this. You’ll pay a lot of money for mediocre/horrible food and the “privledge” of talking to a young woman. Unless you have no experience talking to women and desperately want to do so, this is skippable. Spend your money on a decent meal or a souvenir.

   > I am leaning towards hotels and maybe a ryokan too

   This can be quite expensive for a single traveler. Most ryokan don’t accept single travelers, and the ones that do usually charge the 2x person rate for a single person room — so you’ll pay ￥40,000 instead of ￥20,000 per night, for example. You should look at hostels and homeshare (ie: AirBnb) if you need cheap lodging. Hostels are probably your best bet as a young, single traveler.

2. Honestly, I’d pass on both the [Owl café](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/5zz0up/opinion_on_owl_cafes/) and maid café.

   A day trip to Matsue and Gifu from Sendai/Tokyo are terrible ideas, especially considering Matsue is at the other side of the country and would take hours to get to from Tokyo, let alone if coming from Sendai. Both would make better day trips from Kyoto.

3. This is another case where you ***really need to look at a map*** and you are ***severely*** underestimating the number things to do in each location.

   >Aug-9: Matsue Daytrip(Adachi Museum of Art)

   Matsue is nowhere near Sendai or Tokyo. From Sendai it is ***literally impossible*** to do this as a day trip, and from Tokyo the round trip would take more than 14 hours. Hell, even from Kansai (which is much closer) the round trip would take approximately 9 hours, which is still too far for a reasonable day trip.

   >Aug-10: Check-in Tokyo, Gifu Daytrip(Otaki Cave)

   This is another 9 hour round trip. If you really want to do this, at least do it on your way to Kansai since it’s actually kind of on the way. And I say “kind of” because it’s still a 5+ hour detour.

   >Aug-14: Check-in Kyoto

   >Aug-15: Kyoto (Shrine / Temple Hunting)

   >Aug-16: Miyajima Daytrip

   >Aug-17: Kyoto / Osaka, Check-in Tokyo before midnight JR Pass Expires

   One full day and two half days is ***nowhere near enough time*** to even get a taste of Kansai. Kyoto alone takes about 3 days just to see the highlights, and that’s without even considering Osaka, Nara, Himeji, Kobe, and a huge amount of other things in the area. I’d recommend at least 5-6 days as a starting point, and more would be better. You should also know that the 16th is [Gozan no Okuribi](https://www.google.com/search?q=gozan+no+okuribi&num=40&rlz=1C1ASUM_enUS660US660&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjrkZ3Bl9bTAhUkzoMKHb2TAsEQ_AUICigB&biw=3440&bih=1261) and the Arashiyama Lantern Festival in Kyoto, which I definitely wouldn’t miss.

   Miyajima is a long day trip from Kansai (although certainly more manageable than some of the other day trips you’re proposing), and you have to go through Hiroshima to get there. I would strongly recommend either staying a night and doing both or skipping this altogether.

   >Is it too much for a first-timer in travelling?

   Emphatically yes. It’s probably too much for a 100th timer.

   >Am I too late in planning this Itinerary for August?

   No.

   >Are there places I should stay in longer / shorter? Other places I should drop by along the way?

   ***KANSAI***. When my mom visited me in Kyoto a couple of years ago we spent her entire 11 day stay in Kansai and still felt rushed.

   I’ve never been to the Tanabata Festival in Sendai, but I doubt you’ll need 4 days/3 nights to experience it. I would probably cut a day or two here, use them for Tokyo and its environs, and then move your last couple of days in Tokyo to Kansai. There are also plenty of other festivals going on around the country ([including numerous ones in Tokyo](http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/tokyo-calendar) and the Uji, Biwa, and Yodogawa fireworks festivals in Kansai), so don’t feel like you have to go to this one unless you have a specific reason to.

   I also have a feeling that you won’t need to spend 3 full days at Comiket even if you’re really, really into anime and manga–and especially if you don’t speak or read Japanese.

   >I’m considering replacing some of my Tokyo days with daytrips to Yokohama, Kamakura, and Hakone. Are daytrips enough for those places?

   Yes, although you’ll probably find that you won’t have time for them all unless you cut some other things. You can do Kamakura during the day and Yokohama in the evening if you want, since you have to go through Yokohama to get to Kamakura.