Hello! My girlfriend and I are going to be spending 3 weeks in Japan. We’ve been wanting to go for a while and we’re excited to catch cherry blossoms because our trip is late March – April. My girlfriend is vegetarian so I already planned 90% of the places we’re going to eat at. Not including restaurants in this itinerary because it’ll be too much text.
Staying in Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Tokyo because I already booked a RT flight to NRT. I was thinking of just going to Kyoto first and stay in Tokyo for the remainder of the trip but I decided against it because I’m landing at 5:30pm and I don’t want to stress at night trying to get to Kyoto. We are planning on not buying a rail pass because we’re staying 7 nights in Kyoto and we don’t want to get a 14 day pass. My hotels can be adjusted so I was thinking maybe I could cut a day of Kyoto to get max value for the 7 day pass but maybe that’s too much time in Tokyo and not enough around Kyoto.
We both love anime, stationary, and quality dishware. We plan on bringing minimal clothes and shopping on day 2 so we can buy a lot of new clothes. Any cool dishware shops such as yumiko iihoshi porcelain would be highly appreciated!
​
**Day 1 – US -> Tokyo:**
Arrive at 5:30pm. Get Suica cards, sim cards, check in at our first hotel
**Day 2 – Tokyo:**
GINZA SIX, Uniqlo, GU, Muji, maybe Nissan Crossing
**Day 3 – Tokyo:**
Yoyogi Park (might not go and instead line up at Starbucks early), Starbucks Reverve, Nintendo, explore Shibuya
**Day 4 – Tokyo:**
teamLab Planets, Joypolis, Small Worlds Tokyo, Hamarikyu Gardens
**Day 5 – Tokyo:**
Skytree, Kappabashi
**Day 6 – Tokyo:**
Nakano Broadway, Gyoen National Garden
**Day 7 – Tokyo:**
Inokashira Park, Fujiko Museum, Ghibli Museum, Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum (if time permits)
**Day 8 – Tokyo:**
Mori Art Museum, National Art Center, Toraya Confectionary, Erwan Couples Massage (if anyone has a better massage rec lmk)
**Day 9 Tokyo -> Kyoto:**
Arrive at 12, check in at our second hotel in Kyoto, Heian Shrine, Philosopher’s Path
**Day 10 – Osaka:**
Universal Studio
**Day 11 – Nara:**
Tōdai-ji, Nara Park, Mount Yoshino. Not too sure how to get to Mount Yoshino/if it’s worth the trip. I was thinking about taking Blue Symphony
**Day 12 – Kyoto:**
Keage Incline around 6 or 7am for it to be emptier, Nishiki Market, Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto Palace
**Day 13 – Osaka:**
Round1, Dotonbori & venture around, Katsuo-ji
**Day 14 – Awaji (unsure):**
Dragon Quest Island, Godzilla Interception Operation, Crayon Shin adventure park. Really unsure about this day because of how long it’ll take to get to Awaji island. Has anyone been to DQ land/Godzilla/Crayon shin park and have any opinions?
**Day 15 – Kyoto:**
Fushimi Inari Taisha, Maruyama Park, Eikan-dō, Bamboo forest
**Day 16 Kyoto -> Tokyo:**
Not sure when I’ll arrive. Keeping this day empty to try to catch up on anything or maybe I’ll find new places to go to. Staying in a different hotel from last time just to experience a different neighborhood feel
**Day 17 – Tokyo:**
Pokemon Center, Itoya, random Ginza shops
**Day 18 – Tokyo:**
Sekaido Shinjuku, yumiko iihoshi porcelain
**Day 19 – Tokyo:**
Sunshine City, Nezu Shrine, Akihabara
**Day 20 – Tokyo:**
Victory lap kinda day. Keeping it empty and we’ll go hit up our favorite food and shops
**Day 21 – Tokyo -> US:**
Depart at 6:40pm. Maybe go to some places we didn’t have time for, if not then victory lap part 2
2 comments
My daughter has a school friend who tried to make it to Awaji. Her father was somewhat incompetent and they made it to the island and had a little while to look around as everything closed and they just barely made it to the last bus off island. I think it’s one of those places you need to be really on top of transport options unless you rent a car which has its own issues.
BTW you want to do Shinjuku Gyoen before Nakano Broadway Mall. I believe Shinjuku Gyoen opens at 9 while many shops in Nakano don’t open until noon.
Awaji Island is lovely but time consuming to get to and explore without a car.
It’s going to take a few hours depending on your starting point and you will need the train and a bus to get there and move around.
I would save that for another trip in the future and maybe add another day to Kyoto because your Day 15 is incredibly busy.