Itinerary Help For First-time Travelers 12 Days Tokyo, Hakone, Nara, Kyoto, Osaka

Hey everyone! I’m (25) going to be traveling to Japan for the first time with my sister (23) from the beginning to mid-March. All the stuff to do is in the order we are planning to do them. I might have underestimated the wait times for the restaurants we’re planning to visit and the train schedule so I’m not sure how feasible the itinerary is so far. Would love and appreciate some insight/advice/tips! Thanks so much for taking the time to look over this! 🙂

Does anyone know how far in advance I should forward the luggage? Also would love to hear anyone’s upscale dinner recommendations for our final night in Tokyo on the 14th.

Staying at these locations at the following dates:

Mar 3-5: Hotel Gracery Shinjuku

Mar 6: Madoka No Mori

Mar 7-11: The Blossom Kyoto

Mar 12-15: Nippon Seinenkan Hotel Shinjuku

Picked up the 7-day JR Pass

**Fri, Mar 3 – Arrival**

* pick up IC/suica card/activate JR Pass
* check in hotel/recharge
* Dinner fuunji tsukemen
* Walk around city/neighborhood
* visit japanese 7-11/convenience store and load up on snacks 😀

**Sat, Mar 4 – Ginza**

* Geshary Coffee
* Tsukiji brunch
* teamLab Planets
* Unicorn Gundam Statue/Gundam Base
* Bongen Coffee
* Itoya
* Uniqlo Ginza
* Godaime Hanayama Udon
* Jazz spot intro
* Omoide Yokocho

**Sun, Mar 5 – Shibuya**

* forward luggage to hotel in Kyoto
* bricolage bread & co
* Mori Art Museum
* Gyopao Gyoza
* Kith Tokyo, Ambush
* Shibuya Sky
* PARCO: Pokémon center, Nintendo, APC, Human Made, Issey, Vivienne Westwood, Undercover
* Hachiko Memorial Statue
* Shibuya Crossing
* need sushi dinner recs around shibuya!
* Walk around Center Gai

**Mon, Mar 6 – Hakone**

* Amazake teahouse
* heiwa no torii/hakone shrine
* hakone open air museum
* relax at ryokan + kaiseki dinner

**Tues, Mar 7 – Kyoto Day One**

* lunch at yamamotomenzou udon
* kennin ji temple
* walk around/ shop at Hanamikoji Dori + coffee at Arabica Kyoto Higashiyama + Hokan-ji Temple + Kiyomizu-dera/sannenzaka + green tea dessert
* dinner at Jukusei Buta Kawamura tonkatsu
* bar or explore around the hotel? depending on how tired we are lmao

**Wed, Mar 8 – Nara Day/Osaka Evening**

* travel to nara
* feed deer and visit todai-iji and see mochi pounding Nakatanidou
* lunch 戸隠そば 沙門 soba
* travel to osaka
* shinsekai/tsutenkaku/dotonbori
* okonomiyaki, kushikatsu, takoyaki
* bar nayuta

**Thurs, Mar 9 – Kyoto Day Two**

* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (early in the morning around 7am)
* walk to tenryu-ji/Arashiyama Monkey Park
* rikkakuma teahouse
* lunch at Okonomiyaki Katsu
* can revisit osaka or explore kyoto more
* forward luggage back to tokyo hotel

**Fri, Mar 10 – Kyoto Day Three**

* Fushimi Inari Shrine (early)
* Nishiki food market brunch
* Get coffee/explore Manga Museum/Kapital clothing store/Pokemon center kyoto
* need dinner recs around Kyoto!

**Sat, Mar 11 – Ueno/Akihabara**

* visit ueno park and akihabara
* revisit places?
* free day after traveling back from Kyoto

**Sun, Mar 12 – Yokohama:**

* nissan gallery
* cup noodle museum
* Gundam Base
* Bape Store Yokohama
* walk around Yokohama Chinatown
* yoshimuraya iekei ramen for dinner

**Mon, Mar 13 – Harajuku**

* morning: Fuglen Coffee; Walk around Yoyogi Park/Meiji Jingu Shrine
* Breakfast Happy Pancake
* Shopping/Views/Food (In order)
* Nike, Tokyo Plaza (Mirrors), Vivienne Westwood, Asics, New Balance, Stussy, Thisisneverthat, Kicks Lab, Bape, MEDICOM TOY PLUS, Visvim + FIL, Chop Coffee, Shiro (Perfume), AMORE Vintage, Needles, APC
* Purikira (Photo Sticker Booth)
* Lunch Gyukatsu Motomaru: beef cutlets
* Dinner: Kushiwakamaru

**Tues, Mar 14 – Daikanyama and Nakameguro**

* Daikanyama
* Vintage shops
* Tsutaya book store
* Nakameguro
* Coffee: Onibus
* Meguro River (cherry trees)
* Nakameguro’s Starbucks Reserve
* Restaurants: Totorou, Udatsu Sushi, kushiwakamaru, samon
* Desserts: I’m Donut?, Daiwa Nakameguro (fruit sandwiches)
* Evening: New York Bar at Park Hyatt Tokyo

2 comments
  1. there is no point to going to arashiyama at 7am. nothing else in that area will open till 10am

    your harajuku day should be combined with your shibuya day, they are right next to eachother and can both be easily seen in an afternoon

    also why are you wasting a full day in ginza? that place has some nice restaurants but overall super boring, odaiba is just a run of the mill shopping mall. not worth wasting time there.

  2. You look like you’re visiting several places for fashion. Have a look into Shimokitazawa for vintage clothing.

    Also there’s a second hand luxury department store called Komehyo that has several branches across the country.

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