Itinerary check (23 days, March to April)

Hi all!

This will be my first trip to Japan with some friends, and just want to get some extra eyes on my itinerary. We don’t have an exact schedule for most of the days, just a general idea of where we want to be and what we want to do. We are planning for a pretty wild third week, hitting multiple different cities, staying a day or two at a couple of places. That’s probably the busiest / most worrisome week.

# Day 1 (03/13/2023)
– Land in NRT

# Day 2 (03/14/2023)
– Exploring Shinjuku and Shibuya

# Day 3 (03/15/2023)
– Akihabara

# Day 4 (03/16/2023)
– Gundam Factory Yokohama
– Tokyo Skytree in the evening

# Day 5 (03/17/2023)
– Explorting Odaiba, some places are closed but the following should be open:
– Gundam Base Odaiba
– teamLabs Planets
– Small Worlds Tokyo

# Day 6 (03/18/2023)
– Pokemon Centre DX
– Ghibli Museum (tickets purchased)

# Day 7 (03/19/2023)
– Train to Nara, and stay at Gyokuzoin temple ryokan

# Day 8 (03/20/2023)
– Train to Osaka, leave luggage with hotel, train to Kyoto
– Fushimi Inari shrine
– Train back to Osaka for the night

# Day 9 (03/21/2023)
– Train to Kyoto again
– Arashiyama + Iwatayama
– Train back to Osaka for the night

# Day 10 (03/22/2023)
– USJ (tickets purchased)

# Day 11 (03/23/2023)
– Shopping and experiencing Shinsaibashi

# Day 12 (03/24/2023)
– Day trips to Himeji and Kobe
– Only wanted to see the Castle in Himeji and the zoo in Kobe

# Day 13 (03/25/2023)
– Hoshida Park and Minoh Falls
– Osaka Aquarium in the afternoon / evening

# Day 14 (03/26/2023)
– Expo Park and Museum of Instant Noodles

# Day 15 (03/27/2023)
– Train to Hiroshima
– Visit Memorial Museum and Park
– Stay the night

# Day 16 (03/28/2023)
– Train to Fukuoka
– Lalaport Mall
– Tenjin Underground Mall

# Day 17 (03/29/2023)
– Fukuoka day 2
– Nanzoin Buddha
– Uminonakamichi Seaside Park / Nokonoshima Island
– Maybe more shopping at night

# Day 18 (03/30/2023)
– Train all morning and afternoon to Hakone (6 hours …)
– Stay in Ryokan

# Day 19 (03/31/2023)
– Hakone `Rene Lalique` Museum
– Stay in Ryokan

# Day 20 (04/01/2023)
– Train to Tokyo
– Asakusa and Sensoji Temple

# Day 21 (04/02/2023)
– Shopping frenzy

# Day 22 (04/03/2023)
– Last minute shopping

# Day 23 (04/04/2023)
– Head to the airport (fairly early flight back)

One thing we’re not sure if we should get the 14 or 21 day JR pass – I’ve done some rudimentary calculations via [Japan Guide](https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/), and it looks like the 14-day will almost certainly pay off, and the 21-day might. This is assuming we activate the JR pass on 03/19, day 7 of the trip, which would last until the end of 04/01, day 20 of the trip.

From the looks of it, the 14-day can cover all of our traveling on the trains, given our plans. The 21-day pass would save us the train fare from the airport, the first 6 days in Tokyo, and one extra day in Tokyo again near the end (04/02, day 21).

With some napkin calculation, the pass would cover, 3200 YEN (airport to hotel), and using an average of roughly 1500 YEN a day (based on Google Maps), would be 13,700. Given the price difference of 13240 YEN between the 14-day and the 21-day, it would **barely** be “worth it”. What do others think? Should I even try to factor in Tokyo in the calculations?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! This sub has been great in learning and planning this trip!