My husband and I had an opportunity to travel to Japan in February with my in-laws who were there for work and we had 1.5 months to plan our trip. It was my first time and my husband had been to Tokyo 2 times previously. We had a lot of airline points so used those to book our flights and also used hotel points to book a nice hotel in Kyoto for 3 days on our own. I consulted r/japantravel a few times for inspiration, so thought I would share our itinerary and experience. When we travel we like to focus on culture, history, food and walking. We have a 1.5 year old daughter who wouldn’t be joining and haven’t travelled since 2019, so preparing for this was more mental than anything. I’m sure there were more economical ways to have planned this trip as well – most days we bought a 24 hour metro and subway pass when we needed it. We splurged on a few meals since we didn’t pay for our flights our hotels. A warning that this was a jam-packed itinerary and a LONG post.
**Feb 15th** \- arrived at Narita airport around 6pm after 14 hours of flying. Picked up our prepaid JR pass and Kyoto tickets. We did not opt to purchase a pocket wifi and instead use our cell phones roaming plan on my phone for the entire trip. Took the Narita express train to Tokyo station and transferred lines to get to our hotel the Intercontinental Tokyo Bay in Tokyo Bay. Although there wasn’t much in that area, it was a nice hotel. Passed out immediately.
**Feb 16th** \- Woke up early due to jet lag. Went to Asakusa for a 3 hour free walking tour with Tokyo Localized that gave a great tour of the area. I really wanted to collect goshuin at various temples and bought a goshuincho at senso-ji temple. Hopped on the metro and went to Kikanbo for spicy ramen, which was delicious. We walked to the Imperial Palace and enjoyed a walk among the gardens while we digested our lunch. It was so peaceful and serene in the city. Took the metro to see Kanda Myoujin Shrine and walked among Akihabara. Stopped for a coffee near Ueno park as the jet lag was hitting us hard but I had booked a food tour through an Airbnb experience for 7pm. Walked around Ueno shopping streets until then and we were feeling pretty fried. Thankfully the food and alcohol on the tour helped a bit and we had some good conversation with the other attendees. It finished at 10pm and we went back to our hotel and passed out.
**Feb 17th** \- Woke up very early again but had a shinkansen to Kyoto at 8:30. Arrived in Kyoto and went to our hotel to drop off our luggage, Hotel Mitsui Kyoto. We used all our hotel points to treat ourselves to this hotel, which was one of the nicest hotels we’ve ever stayed in. Took the JR line to Hanazono station and walked to Ryoan-ji and Kinkaku-ji temple. Both temples were so beautiful and peaceful – a definite highlight. For ease we then decided to take a taxi to Arashiyama and headed to Arashiyama monkey park. Had a good climb up and enjoyed watching the monkeys at the top. Went down and walked the cute main street and got some fried squid balls at a popular line. We then went to Tenryu-ji temple and had a lovely walk through Arashiyama bamboo forest to jojakkoji temple. We didn’t go in the temple grounds but walked through the peaceful quiet streets back to the bamboo forest and passed Nonomiya-jinja temple. Headed back to the main street for some shopping and to grab a coffee until our dinner reservations at Unagi Hirokawa at 6:30pm. The area was pretty much empty by this time, it was so strange how quickly it shut down. We had a good dinner and then took the streetcar and metro back to our hotel where we promptly passed out.
**Feb 18th -** Ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine. I had to purchase another gochuincho as I forgot my first book at the hotel. We walked to the summit of the shrine and I was amazed to see all ages climbing to the top. We were a bit faster than anticipated so decided to head to the Kyoto imperial palace. Walked around the grounds and we thought we could enter to see the palace, but we must have misunderstood something and only saw tours for other areas on the grounds. We decided to walk to Nijo castle and stopped at the Ippodo tea store on the way. We quickly went through Nijo castle as we had a walking tour to go to. It was a bit underwhelming as some areas were under construction. Headed to Gion for 1:30 for our free Kyoto Localized walking tour. The tour brought us to Yasaka Shrine, Hokan-ji, around sanneizaka street and ended at Kiyomizu-dera temple. It was very beautiful and we walked through the temple and meandered back through sanneizaka and purchased some souveniers. Took a longer walk back to the transit and headed back to the hotel to enjoy the onsen before our dinner at 7:30. Had dinner reservations at the restaurant Toki at the hotel, which was probably one of the best meals we had on our trip. Won’t be surprused if they get a michelin start in the future.
**Feb 19th -** had room service breakfast, checked out and got on the shinakansen for 9:30 back to Tokyo. Truthfully, by this point our bodies were hella sore from so much walking so it was nice to sit. Got back to Tokyo, went to our hotel to drop off our luggage and relax until our TeamLab Borderless tickets at 2pm. Super fun experience. We then took the metro to Shinjuku to the Keio Department store as I saw online it had kids toys. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was a typical large department store. Was only there quickly to buy something and we left and walked around omoide yokocho streets. Stumbled on Himawari Sushi Shintoshin for conveyer belt sushi which was delicious. I wanted to go to Ben Fiddich in the areas as it’s ranked in the 50 best bars in the world. Unfortunately they weren’t open, but their sister bar in the same building was open. Drinks were awesome and it was a really cool little bar. Stopped at the massive 24/7 Don Quixote in the area to pick up treat souvenirs and headed back to the hotel.
**Feb 20th** \- ate breakfast at the hotel and made our way to Harajuku. Stopped at Hoshuin temple for a beautiful goshuin and Azabu Hikawa shrine. Unfortunately Azabu Hikawa shrine was closed for some reason so I did not get a goshuin. Continued to Meiji Jingu shrine and enjoyed the beautiful grounds. Walked down Takeshita street and enjoyed rainbow grilled cheese and the super fun shops along the way. Stopped at the Sanrio store and bought some cute cinnamoroll dress up doll and hair clips for our daughter Also went to Togo Shrine in that area – I really loved walking in this area and especially Cat St. Went to Kiddyland and it was SUCH a fun store and exactly the type of kids store I was looking for! Continued walking south and stopped at an Okonomiyaki restaurant called Harajuku Okonomiyaki Yai-yai which was tasty. Continued down Cat street and enjoyed the trendy and upscale shops and bought some souvenirs along the way. Headed to Shibuya crossing to watch the hustle and bustle and stopped for a starbucks to sit and watch. Walked around the area and took the metro back to our hotel with a quick stop at Hie Shrine. We relaxed at the hotel until our dinner reservations at 8:30 at Ginza Kojyu. We were really looking forward to this restaurant as it was a 2 star Michelin restaurant and the most expensive restaurant we would have ever visited and we were unfortunately disappointed. The chef and all staff were very friendly, but we expected more from a restaurant of this price point. Some dishes were tasty but others were just fishy. We also thought perhaps the context behind the scarcity on some of the ingredients may not have been shared with us due to language and that perhaps decreased our appreciation. We headed back to our hotel full but disappointed.
**Feb 21st** \- our last day. Ate breakfast at the hotel and thought we could walk around and use some temples and shrines to direct our walk. Headed to Ono Terusaki shrine above Ueno and got the most beautiful shrine seals. We then walked down to Ueno park and enjoyed walking through the park on the sunny day. Stopped at a few temples and shrines in that area as well. Took the JR line back to our hotel and stopped at Karaumori shrine in Ginza and decided to walk the remaining 30 minutes back to our hotel. Got there around noon and made the trek to Narita airport for our 5:30pm flight. It was certainly a packed trip, but we were ready to head home and see our daughter.
**My takeaways:**
\- we walked almost 100km on our trip. I wore running shoes but my body was feeling it
**-** of all the places I’ve travelled to, Tokyo was one of the cleanest and safest feeling cities I’ve ever been in. Although not stroller friendly, I would be completely comfortable bringing my daughter here (aside from the long haul flight)
\- Japanese people are incredibly friendly, respectful and a lot of the design and functionality of items make a lot of sense
\- I come from Canada with harsh winters, so I understand cold weather, but Tokyo felt really COLD! My husband and I had gloves and hats, but hardly any Japanese people wore either and I even saw many girls in skirts
\- I loved collecting goshuin as it was the perfect way to explore new areas you may not have had a reason to visit. My goshuincho will be a treasured souvenir
\- Japanese people are also all so fashionable. I think one of the reasons everyone looks so well put-together is their hair. No one has thin hair or fly-aways. I saw maybe one person with messy hair
\- Although a quick trip, I look forward to visiting again one day and bringing our daughter with a more slower pace
1 comment
I heard it snowed in Tokyo in February and looks liks it might have been a cold spell for a while. I was in Tokyo in january and i thought the weather was really mild coming from ny.