Hi everyone!
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I (26M) Am planning to head to Japan in May (10-18) and will be travelling solo.
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Have a rough plan and would appreciate some feedback as well as some suggestions for certain aspects!
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I am mainly interested in Japanese food (Interested in learning how to make them as well), Omakase, Japanese watches, Japanese knives and nice nature sceneries
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Day 1 (10 May, Wednesday)
\- Land in Kansai International Airport in the afternoon
\- Thinking of getting the airport to send my luggage to my accoms
\- Head to Rinku premium outlets (Reason for sending luggage straight to accoms)
\- Check in accoms before dinner
\- Dotonbori for food
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Day 2 (11 May, Thursday)
\- Osaka castle
\- Shinsekai
\- Doguyasuji – For cutleries
\- Thinking of an Omakase dinner for this day
\- Other recommendations?
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Day 3 (12 May, Friday)
\- Visit Sakai for the knife shops
\- Maybe can head to the outlets today instead if going on the first day does not make sense.
\- If not, come back to Osaka after lunch and maybe visit Kuromon Ichiba market/go for an Okonomiyaki cooking class (recommendations are appreciated)
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Day 4 (13 May, Saturday)
\- Catch Thunderbird Train early maybe 7am to Takefu.
\- Knife making workshop at Takefu Knife Village in Fukui area (0900-1630)
\- Head back to Osaka for dinner
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Day 5 (14 May, Sunday)
\- Kyoto!!
\- Early morning head to Kyoto
\- First stop Arashiyama
\- Lunch at Nishiki
\- Kyoto Imperial palace/Fushimi Inari Taisha (Wise to visit Arashiyama and Fushimi Inari Taisha on the same day?)
\- Dinner
\- Head back to Osaka
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Day 6 (15 May, Monday)
\- Early morning head to Seki
\- Check out feather razor museum, Sakai Knife musuem
\- Have lunch
\- Head to tokyo
\- Check in
\- Dinner
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Day 7 (16 May, Tuesday)
\- Day trip to Lake Kawagchiko
\- On the way back, stop by Gotemba Outlets
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Day 8 (17 May, Wednesday)
\- Ginza seiko musuem
\- Akihabara
\- Basically shopping!
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Day 9 (18 May, Wednesday)
\- Fly back from Narita Airport
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Questions:
1. For Day 1, recommeded to send my luggage from Kansai airport to my Osaka accomodations (in terms of timing and safety)? so that I can go to Rinku premium outlets and maybe sakai before heading to Osaka? As this leaves Day 3 free and I can shift Kyoto down to Day 3 and maybe leave for Tokyo a day earlier.
2. Day 4, would I be able to make it to Takefu at 9 AM if I take the Thunderbird at Osaka at 7am?
3. For Day 6, would it be wise to head to Seki before Tokyo? I have searched on google maps and Seki is on the way to Tokyo from Osaka. However, I have a luggage and I was considering asking if my accomodation can help with sending my luggage to my Tokyo accomodation (I have heard that it is a thing in Japan).
4. For Day 7, would going to Lake Kawaguchiko and then Gotemba Outlets be wise? Is the transportation between the two conveneint?
5. Should I get a JR pass? I have tried searching on google maps which trains to take so that I can calculate whether it is worth for me to get a JR pass. But, I am honestly not sure as this is the first time I am using google maps to search trains in Japan. Also, some JR pass calculators do not have the rides that I supposedly need? (For example, Osaka to Nagoya for Day 4).
6. If I should get a JR pass should I activate it on the first day or on Day 3? As I am also not sure whether it will be more worth to use it for Kansai Airport to Osaka or for Tokyo to Narita.
7. Any other recommendations, for budget omakase’s, places to eat, sushi making/okonomiyaki/soba making classes or shops/attractions to visit based on my interests are very much welcomed! Thank you so much for you time 🙂
2 comments
I am not sure your Kyoto Day 5 can work like that.
First of all, Arashiyama, Nishiki, Imperial Palace and Fushimi Inari. They are all distinctly separate areas, and getting around takes time.
Of course, a lot will depend on how early you will be heading to Kyoto, how long will you be staying in Arashiyama, how fast will you eat at Nishiki, how long will you stay at the Palace, and if you would be willing/planning to go to Fushimi Inari after like 6pm
And my reality check is sounding alarms.
– getting from Osaka to Arashiyama is a “will get there between 10-11am” unless you really make an effort, like setting an alarm, skipping breakfast, hurrying…
– Arashiyama is easily half a day, and can without any issue take a whole day. Attempting Arashiyama in like 2 hours usually means just going for one thing, and then I question if its even worth going in the first place.
– Nishiki Market takes time. Even walking through takes time. Going at lunch time, and wanting to eat lunch, takes time. 2 hours are gone quick, if you dont know what to eat and want to browse/shop, this will be 3 hours easily
– Palace is big, takes time to walk around, and then whatever you wanna do/see, may take time too.
– While the Fushimi Inari hike can be done late in the evening, the big entrance area will be closed, as well as the shops. This is fine if thats what you are going for, but it should not be overlooked. further more, you will be going back to Osaka, and the trains dont run all night. And you wanted to have dinner, too…
–> all in all, I see a lot of potential for it to not work out. So go as early as you can, start with the big attraction you wanna see, enjoy Nishiki as much as possible, then if there is time, go to the next big attraction you wanna see, and then your probably heading back. if you want to add fushimi, make sure you know when you need to head back…
Yeah Day 5 looks exhausting. What’s the point in rushing to see everything if you don’t have time to actually soak it in and enjoy it?
I would do Nishiki/Fushimi Inari and skip Arashiyama. Maybe you could squeeze in Nijo Castle too, but Arashiyama is basically on the other side of town compared to Nishiki and Fushimi Inari. Not to mention the added commute from Osaka as well.