Itinerary recommendations
Notes:
Second time in Japan. Traveling with my GF (her first time)
Have some good knowledge, did a lot of research. Know most if not all of the basics of traveling to Japan.
About myself:
I love cities, I like shopping and eating and exploring. I care less about sightseeing, I don’t mind visiting 1 shrine but not more than that.
My goal of this post is to solve some of the issues I am feeling about this itinerary and to hear some thoughts of others who relate to what I like based on reading this post.
– I feel like 7 full days in Tokyo is not enough. The list below is the time I would like to spend in each area.
Shinjuku 2 days
Shibuya 2 days
Ikebukero .3 days (sunshine mall:not sure if this is even worth going to but I went last time and had a good time)
Nakano .3 days (hit up some vendors, I know they have nice watches)
Shimokitazawa .5 days (thrifting)
Harajuku 1 day (shopping + food. I could probably use 1.5 days in this area)
Roppongi .5-1 days (from the research I have done, it seems this area really suits me. I like going out, so will try dinner + going out + roppongi hills +azabu Juban)
Ginza .5 days (planing to go on sunday when the street is closed)
Tokyo station .3 days( I may go early before the shinkansen to the west)
Akihabara .75 days (I like anime and stuff but probably won’t buy anything. I don’t want to look around though. Last time I came here was a really cool experience)
Asakusa .2 days (to be honest I heard they have good souvenirs, don’t care for shrines
Daiba .3 days (didn’t go last time, would like to check it out)
Yakult stadium (watching 1 baseball game one night)
Day 1: Saturday – Day 5: Wednesday AM
TOKYO
Arrive at 3:30 at Narita Airport.
– I am from east coast NA so I will be jet lagged
-plan is to stay in shinjuku for the first stay in Tokyo. (Easy to go around on day 1, get dinner etc..)
-plan is to fit in some of my Tokyo list mention above for these days. Going to try to avoid buying anything, and buy on the 2nd stay in Tokyo.
Day 5 Am: Wednesday – Day 6 am?: Thursday
HAKONE
-Dont have much planned here but really wanted to splurge on a nice ryokan that had a private bath in the balcony.
Day 6: Thursday – Day 10 AM: Monday
OSAKA
-Fell in love with osaka the last time I went. The people and the vibe are great and I vibe with everything about it alot. So even though I don’t have much planned, I want to spend these 4 days here.
-1 day will be at universal studios, plan to visit namba parks, plan to stay at a 5 star hotel, dotonbori, shinsaibashi.
-didnt explore around osaka station last time so maybe that.
-the goal is to to take it easy in osaka and really enjoy everything about it.
Itinerary recommendations
Day 10: Monday – day 12 am: Wednesday
KYOTO
-Not super excited about this, 2 days should be enough. As I said this type of city doesn’t interest me as much, but hopefully I prove myself wrong. Mostly going for my GF.
Day 12: Wednesday – day 16: Sunday ( flight is midday)
TOKYO R2
-Rest of the Tokyo stuff.
-I may want to stay around roppongi, I saw some nice hotels. I am not sure if this is the best option though.
Other things to note:
– for some reason the JR 7 day pass is not worth getting after calculating my trip on here:
-should I flip staying in shinjuku first and roppongi second? Or are there any other areas I should consider?
– is tokyo>hakone>osaka>kyoto>Tokyo for the amount of days listed optimal? Is there any adivce? Or does it just not matter
Let me know any of your thoughts, or questions.
Thanks,
2 comments
Generally looks fine. Kyoto is pretty neat to wander around and explore so I think you will enjoy your 2 days.
Maybe try and plan some things for the 4 days in Osaka. I find shopping and general exploring more interesting in Tokyo so you might want to add more time there if you struggle with an Osaka plan.
I love Kaiyukan and Umeda Sky Building when I visited Osaka last time.