Hi! I’m on my late 20s, visiting Japan for the first time on a 17 days solo trip arriving there the last week of February. I wanted to have some feedback on my itinerary because I’m not sure if I’m trying to do too much with the time I’ll have.
I won’t list all the details for each day because I haven’t planned it to that extent, I prefer to just do whatever I feel like doing, wherever I am that day (obviously I have some ideas in mind and possible spots to hit in each place but I don’t want to overplan).
– Day 1: Tokyo (arriving at 09:50h)
– Day 2: Kanazawa (train from Tokyo early in the morning)
– Day 3: Kanazawa
– Day 4: Takayama (train from Kanazawa early in the morning)
– Day 5: Takayama
– Day 6: Kyoto (train from Takayama early in the morning, takes about 3h40).
– Day 7: Kyoto
– Day 8: Kyoto
– Day 9: From Kyoto – day trip to Koyasan, maybe stay the night in a temple.
– Day 10: From Kyoto/Koyasan – day trip to Nara.
– Day 11: From Kyoto – day trip to Osaka.
– Day 12: Tokyo (train from Kyoto early in the morning).
– Day 13: Tokyo.
– Day 14: Tokyo.
– Day 15: Tokyo.
– Day 16: Tokyo.
– Day 17: Tokyo.
– Day 18: Fly back home.
So a few comments or doubts. I am not completely sure if the detour to Kanazawa/Takayama will be worth it. I tend to prefer nature and more quiet places that may have a more authentic feeling, so I chose them for that reason. Please do tell me if it has the potential of being too much of a detour from Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka, given my 17 days.
Secondly, I chose Kyoto as a base in Kansai for the 6 days I’ll spend there. I did not split it with Osaka because I figured that since I am not a big foodie or big on night life, I may not miss a lot by doing Osaka just as a day trip from Kyoto. Please also do let me know if I could be wrong here.
I wanted to spend the last 6 days in Tokyo and just soak it up as much as I can.
The most important thing to mention – I think – is that when I travel, I love to take it easy and soak it all up even if I may miss out on other stuff. If I like it, I will come back again someday.
I like photography and I love just wandering around taking pictures with my camera, so I can usually spend more time in a city than more people would consider, just because of that. I was thinking that 6 days in Tokyo may fall short, and maybe shortening Kanazawa/Takayama would be something to look at.
Lastly, I still need to look into JR pass and see if it’s convenient for me, but if you have any advise, please do let me know 🙂
Thanks!
3 comments
Kyoto and Tokyo are very busy, touristy and quite different from the rest of Japan. I would not skip Kanazawa and Takayama. They are both nice cities and definitely worth it.
6 days in Tokyo is plenty.
I think it can be fine going to Kanazawa/Takayama. My question would be the following. How early do you plan to be in the train and why move in the morning ? I personally try to avoid being in the train between 9am and 5pm as it’s the time when most attractions like temple/shrine, castle, museum are open. After 5pm, there would be a bit more limited range of things to do either things that are open earlier or time specific like observation deck, shopping, arcade, illuminations, night view and nightlife.
JR pass only take it if you save money, it is really not a question of convenience. And as it is, you would probably have to leave and return to Tokyo within 7 days for a pass to save you money.
Nah, go to Kanazawa and Takayama. Takayama is lovely. Was just in both these places last month and it was great. Probably quieter than usual this time of year, but still plenty to do. Not to mention, the food in both cities is amazing. Seafood in Kanazawa and beef in Hida/Takayama.