Itinerary review request! October 20 – November 3

Hey y’all! First I want to thank the members of this sub as I’ve already learned so much from reading various posts since joining. It’s been an invaluable wealth of information and I’m super thankful it exists.

Four of us (American adults) plan to fly from the US to Tokyo for the first time later this year. Most of us have decent travel experience and varying (beginner to intermediate) levels of Japanese language comprehension. We chose this time of year to have nice weather but hopefully be not too crowded with other tourists.

We decided to stick with the typical Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka path, although originally we were thinking about going to Sapporo for a night or two, but ultimately decided against it. We are also hoping to squeeze a ryokan/onsen in somewhere, maybe around Kyoto/Osaka.

I’m thinking we’re not going to get the JR Pass, but open to change that if people think it’s worth it.

We’re also not super strict on the details of every day. I’m hoping we can somewhat decide what to do in any given area on-the-fly. With that in mind I’ve not necessarily filled every moment with activities. We’re very happy to just wander around and enjoy the local sights, or skip things if we’re not in the mood or short on time. I’ve included some train times/fees just to get a general sense of travel time/costs, but I left out details on most local travel.

I’d love to hear any kind of feedback, but some questions that pop into mind are:

* Does anything here look impractical?
* Did we overlook anything major?
* Is there a good place to squeeze in a Ryokan/onsen night?
* Is it okay that we’re doing a 4/3/3/3 day split in each location (Tokyo twice) ?

Thank you!

**Friday, October 20**

* Boston
* Depart from Logan Airport

**Saturday, October 21**

* Tokyo
* Arrive in Narita Airport
* Depart Narita Airport
* Narita Express Narita -> Tokyo
* 1h train ride, ~$30
* Check into AirBnB

**Sunday, October 22**

* Tokyo
* Local train to Shibuya
* Shibuya
* 109 shopping
* PARCO shopping center
* Tower Records
* Shibuya Crossing
* Meiji Jingu Shrine
* Usagi Ramen Shop

**Monday, October 23**

* Tokyo
* Local train to Shinjuku
* Shinjuku
* Samurai Museum
* Shinjuku Gyoen Garden
* Square Enix ARTNIA store

**Tuesday, October 24**

* Tokyo
* Subway to …
* Akihabara
* Square Enix / Eorzea Cafe
* Asakusa
* Asakusa Shrine
* Sumida
* Sky Tree
* Chuo
* Hamarikyu Gardens

**Wednesday, October 25**

* Tokyo
* Depart from Tokyo station
* Shinkansen Tokyo -> Kyoto
* 2h15m train ride, ~$150
* Kyoto
* Arrive in Kyoto station
* Eat at Moritaya
* Check into AirBnB
* Free afternoon

**Thursday, October 26**

* Kyoto
* Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Kiyomizu temple
* Philosopher’s Path
* Nishiki Market

**Friday, October 27**

* Kyoto
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Arashiyama Monkey park
* Hike?
* Togetsu-kyo Bridge
* Kinkaku Temple

**Saturday, October 28**

* Kyoto
* Depart from Kyoto station
* Shinkansen Kyoto -> Osaka
* 15m train ride, ~$32
* Osaka
* Arrive in Osaka station
* Get to AirBnB
* Chiyomatsu lunch
* Osaka castle
* Eorzea Cafe

**Sunday, October 29**

* Osaka
* Depart from Osaka station
* Osaka -> Nara JR
* 45m train ride, ~$10
* Nara
* Nara/deer park
* Botanic gardens
* Todaiji Temple
* Depart from Nara station
* Nara -> Osaka JR
* 45m train ride, ~$10
* Osaka
* Get back to AirBnB

**Monday, October 30**

* Osaka
* Day
* Eat Okonomiyaki
* Canal walk
* Umeda Sky building
* Night
* Don Quixote ferris wheel

**Tuesday, October 31**

* Osaka
* Depart Shin-Osaka Station, Nozomi train
* Osaka -> Tokyo
* 2h30m train ride, ~$160
* Tokyo
* Arrive in Tokyo Station
* Check into AirBnB
* ? Free afternoon?
* ? Check out Halloween events?

**Wednesday, November 1**

* Tokyo
* Depart to Yokohama
* 1h train ride
* Yokohama
* NISMO Museum
* Depart to Tokyo
* 1h train ride

**Thursday, November 2**

* Tokyo
* Free day
* teamLabs?

**Friday, November 3**

* Tokyo
* Local train to Haneda airport
* Depart from Haneda airport