Hi all,
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Hoping to get some feedback for my 23-day trip for the end of March – mid April.
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For context:
* I’m a 24-year-old solo female traveller from the UK
* This is my first time in Japan
* I’m arriving from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, so hopefully, I won’t be too jet lagged
* I’m planning on purchasing a 2 week JR Rail Pass and am using this to travel between all cities
* My interests are history (fairly modern history, WW2 in particular), culture, seeing cherry blossoms, animals, shopping, beauty (especially beauty treatments), and fashion
* I really want to see Nagasaki, so I am planning on flying there in the morning of the 17th March to start my trip here and go North, finishing in Tokyo. This also seems to fit the cherry blossom forecast a little better
* I don’t mind missing out a few things if it means getting to relax a little more and enjoy my must-sees on some days, so I have highlighted my must-dos with an asterisk \*
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|Dates|Place|Nights|Things to do|Notes|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|16 – 17 March|Tokyo Haneda Airport|1 night||Flight arrives at 10.35pm, so will stay over nearby the hotel airport|
|17 – 19 March|Nagasaki|2 nights|Nagasaki Peace Park\*, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum\*, Nagasaki Museum of History & Culture\*, Gunkanjima\*, Mount Inasa night view\*, Glover Garden, Dutch Slope, Chinatown|Early morning flight to Nagasaki on 17th March. 2 week JR Rail Pass activated on 19th March|
|19 – 22 March|Hiroshima|3 nights|Peace Park\*, Peace Memorial Museum\*, Atomic Bomb Dome\*, Miyajima Day Trip\*, Hiroshima Castle, General wander around downtown area||
|22 – 24 March|Osaka|2 nights|Day trip to Nara\*, Dotombori at nighttime\*, Shinsekai at daytime\*, Osaka Aquarium, Osaka Castle, Museum of History if I have time/energy||
|24 – 29 March|Kyoto|5 nights|Kiyomizudera Temple\*, Higashiyama\*, Ginkakuji\*, Kyoto National Museum\*, Fushimi Inari Shrine\*, Arashiyama with Monkey Park and Bamboo Groves\*, Philosopher’s Path\*, Gion with teahouse visit and wander around Shirakawa\*, Maruyama Park\*, Kinkakuji\*, Nanzenji Temple, Nishiki Market, Nishjin Textile Centre, Kyoto Railway Museum, Yasaka Shrine|Potentially going to rent a bike in Arashiyama|
|29 March – 31 March|Kanazawa|2 nights|Kenrokuen\*, 21st Century Museum\*, Ninjadera, Higashi Chaya District, Kanazawa Castle, Omicho Market, DT Suzuki Museum|Mainly going here for cherry blossoms and nice scenery – not sure if it’s too much of a detour|
|31 March – 8th April|Tokyo|9 nights|Day trip to Kawaguchiko for Mount Fuji\*, Akihabara\*, Ginza, Teamlabs Planets\*, Tokyo National Museum\*, Tokyo Skytree\*, Asakusa\*, Sensoji Temple\*, Ueno Park \*, Yasukuni Shrine – visit Yushukan museum at same time\*, Shibuya\*, Shinjuku\*, Meiji Shrine\*, Harajuku\*, Chidorigafuchi\*, Shinjuku Gyoen Government Building – observation deck if I’m in the area, Tokyo Tower – not for observation\*, Shibuya Sky, Odaiba with visit to National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Potential day trip to Nikko?, Animal cafes – Mipig cafe\* and Dog Heart from Aquamarine\*, Scalp cleaning spa\*|Most of these are must-dos for me. I’m not sure if 9 nights is too long. I fly to South Korea on 8th April in the morning.|
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Questions:
1. I want to rent bikes somewhere where there are good cherry blossom spots – does anyone recommend anywhere other than Arashiyama?
2. Is 9 nights too long in Tokyo for my list of things to do? If so, is it perhaps recommended to fit another city into my itinerary? Perhaps Nagoya? Or are there any cities I should stay longer in? Apologies if this is quite vague, but hoping maybe someone could recommend somewhere that aligns with my interests.
3. Nagasaki is of course a bit further away and takes some travelling – is it worth fitting it in or should I focus on other cities further north?
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Thank you in advance for the help! 🙂
4 comments
I want to congratulate you on your itinerary, its spot on, and even well presented.
Some thoughts:
– Hiroshima: I think your itinerary is very light. I fully expect you be able to fit the castle in, even the garden Shukkei-en, and you still may have some time left.
If you havent heard of it, look at Okonomimura, I suggest (some would even say its a crime not to) its worth to go to for at least one dinner.
– Osaka: may be a bit full. If you have seen the Hiroshima castle, and Osaka will get too full, I suggest not going to or even inside the castle
– Kyoto: I suggest you take a map and draw in all your POIs, then you can make daily area plans and not accidently travel to three areas twice on different days, when it could have been combined. That would also help with seeing if you are trying to do too much. I think it looks good, but I did not plan it out in my head.
One thing, I see you may want to take a bike in Arashiyama, but you have the monkey park and bamboo grove there. Those two do not go well with bikes. A bike would become very interesting when you want to spend the whole day, and explore more of the area (which I can fully recommend as long as you dont dislike seeing temples/shrines). I think you also should see Tenryuji (also wont need a bike).
Do not miss Nishiki Market. When you are in Gion, you will be able to see Yasaka shrine, even in the evening.
Sounds like a very good itinerary. Thoughts:
The Peace Museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are extremely similar. You might not want to do both of them only a few days apart. With your interest points, it might be better to add an extra night to Nagasaki (doing the Peace Museum there) and take it from Hiroshima. The boat tour to Gunkanjima takes half a day, so you might otherwise not have enough time for your other points. Even though Nagasaki is out of the way, I wouldn’t skip it. It’s different from the other cities in a way that makes it interesting imho.
9 nights in Tokyo is a lot, but then again, there’s no need to completely fine tune your itinerary yet. Your first days in Tokyo are still covered by your JR pass, so you could do day trips if you feel like it.
Nice
As a history buff, what about Okinawa? My son and I are going to visit it on our trip, it is a small flight though but looks amazing.