Hello everyone, my wife and I are finally planning our long-awaited first trip to Japan. We had originally planned to go a couple of years ago during cherry blossom season but our plans were stopped by covid, and now we’re traveling for the holidays!
We recently went to Europe and found that while we enjoy being on our feet and exploring, we had some difficulty factoring in time to rest and relax. I’m looking to avoid that this time by taking things slower but still having plenty of time to experience the things we like. Here’s my rough itinerary, modified from our original plans. Let me know how I did!
Without any further ado:
* **Day 0 (12/18): Travel from US to Tokyo**
* **Day 1 (12/19): Tokyo – Shibuya, Shinjuku, Golden Gai/Omoide Yokocho**
* Arrive late afternoon/early evening at Narita
* Get our bearings, eat/drink
* Have our “holy s\*\*\* we’re in Japan moment”
* Accommodation: Shibuya or Shinjuku, open to recommendations on other areas during our stay in Tokyo
* **Day 2 (12/20): Tokyo – Shimokitazawa, Harajuku, Omotesando**
* Shop for vintage clothes (any good recommendations for stores?)
* Wander around and take things in
* Work off the jetlag
* **Day 3 (12/21): Tokyo – Tsukiji Outer Market, Teamlabs Planets, Imperial Palace?, Ginza**
* Eat food, explore the outer market
* Go to Teamlabs (I’m not sold on this one yet though, personally)
* More shopping/wandering/eating in Ginza
* Maybe we can squeeze in a visit to the Imperial Palace?
* **Day 4 (12/22): Tokyo – Asakusa, Tokyo Skytree**
* Visit Sensouji Temple
* Visit Tokyo Skytree, take in the view
* Open day to take things slow/do things we didn’t get to on other days
* **Day 5 (12/23): Tokyo – Akihabara, Ueno Park**
* Gifts shopping in Akihabara (my wife and I collect anime figures if anyone has some good places to recommend)
* Hang out and eat in Ueno Park
* Do things we didn’t get to on other days or revisit some favorite locations
* **Day 6 (12/24): Ryokan stay**
* Wander and explore
* Do lots of resting, bathing, and eating
* Accommodation: I am deciding between staying in Hakone, Shuzenji Onsen, or another place. We were thinking of staying somewhere on the way to Kyoto, but could use some recommendations here.
* **Day 7 (12/25): Kyoto – Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu-dera, Gion, Nishiki Market**
* Check out of ryokan
* Explore/walk the places listed above
* Shop for souvenirs
* Accommodation – somewhere centralized, probably near Kyoto Station
* **Day 8 (12/26): Kyoto – Kinkakuji Temple, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest**
* Explore/walk the places listed above
* More souvenir shopping
* Open day to do things we didn’t get to yesterday
* **Day 9 (12/27): Day trip to Osaka**
* Visit Osaka Castle
* Do Dotonbori/Shinsaibashi/Namba
* Find some good takoyaki/okonomiyaki to eat
* Return to Kyoto in the evening
* **Day 10 (12/28): Return to Tokyo – Nakano Broadway, Ikebukuro**
* Last chance for souvenir shopping
* Revisiting our favorite places/things we didn’t get to do during the Tokyo leg
* Accommodation: haven’t decided yet, probably somewhere near central Tokyo to make the trip back to the airport easier
* **Day 11(12/29): Tokyo + fly home**
* We fly out of Narita in the evening so maybe we can do something in Chiba to kill some time?
Let me know if there’s anything I should consider or change. I haven’t put too much thought into food and drink yet, so I would love recommendations for where to eat at any of our locations. Neither of us are picky eaters, we both love Japanese food, and we’d be willing to splurge once, so nothing is off-limits! Also, if you know any Christmas-y things to do while we’re there, that would be cool. I’m aware Christmas is not nearly as big in Japan as it is in the west but it might be fun to experience it through a different lens, and we might get a little homesick as this would be my wife’s first Christmas away from home.
If you made it this far, thank you! I know this sub gets lots of posts like these every day so I appreciate you stopping to read this one.