Hi all, my husband and I are travelling to Japan for two weeks in August. I know, I know, we are aware of how hot and humid Japan is in August but this is l i t e r a l l y the only time we will be able to go for two weeks anytime in the next two years. We both hail from incredibly hot and humid places so are mentally and physically prepared.
I would love to hear all of y’alls thoughts on our itinerary! We will be arriving in JP after a very stressful week in our personal lives and are heading to visit family in another Asian country after, so we want to keep it light despite it being our first time in Japan. For reference, my husband and I plan on coming back to Japan some time in the future, so it is okay that we aren’t maximizing every minute of our time. Hoping to hit all the big spots and build in some rest and wander time.
Flights into Narita and out of Kansai are booked and hotels are reserved.
Other details: there’s not really a budget and we both like to eat! (particularly beef and sushi!) I am a fan of textiles and antique artisan works so checking out kimonos for purchase or antique fans would be cool.
**Days 1 – 7 Tokyo**
Day 1
– land at narita around 2 ish and then probably narita express and get to our hotel close to shinjuku station
– itll be late so just explore shinjuku and grab a bite to eat
– maybe ichiran or conbini stuff
Day 2
– keep it chill ish due to jet lag
– meiji shrine
– harajuku/omotesando st
– takeshita st
– shibuya
– rooftop view of scramble
Day 3
– teamlabs planets
– toyosu / tsukiji markets
– odaiba
– back to hotel to chill (probably still jetlagged)
– akihabara / ginza roaming
– dinner in the area
Day 4
– asakusa
– kaminarimon gate
– senso ji
– nakamise dori
– eat
– tokyo skytree
– rainbow bridge
– hamarikyu gardens
– museums near ueno
– ameyoko shopping street
Day 5
– imperial palace
– gardens
– anything we might have missed or skipped from previous days
Day 6
– Mt Fuji day trip in Hakone
– will be doing the Hakone free pass for ease
**Days 7 – 11 Kyoto**
Day 7
– drop off bags at hotel /check in
– explore downtown kyoto
– maybe try kyoto tower if its not cloudy and we feel like it
– sanjo meitan gai shopping arcade
– nishiki market and nishiki tenman gu shrine IF TIME
Day 8
– kyoto station to inari station
– fushimi inari EARLY
– lunch somewhere
– tofukuji
– nanzen ji
– and then wrap up day / evening in gion
– and pontocho
Day 9
– Arashiyama Bamboo
– tenryuji
– adashino nemutsuji
– kinkaku ji temple
– kyoto imperial palace
– nishiki market again
– gion again to find dinner
Day 10
– sannenzaka
– ninezaka
– find a place for tea ceremony
– kiyomizu dera
– jishujinja shrin
– kennin ji
– yasaka shrine in late afternoon
– shirakawa minami dori
– shimbashi
Day 11
– wander our favorite place before checkout
– head to osaka
**Days 11 – 15 Osaka**
Day 11
– hotel is near Osaka station
– check in and drop off stuff
– Dotonbori
– Umeda Sky if time
Day 12
– osaka aquarium
– tempozan marketplace
– tempozan ferris wheel
– glion showroom
– rilakkuma store
– umeda sky building (if we couldnt do it the day before)
– find a nice restaurant for dinner
Day 13
– osaka castle
– namba yasaka shrine
– amerikamura
– shinsaibashi arcade
– kuromon ichiba market
– dotonbori dinner
– dotonbori ferris wheel (i think this is the donki one??)
– hozen ji yokocho
– hozen hi temple
Day 14
– universal studios (this is the only day we can do this, since this will be a monday and we don’t want to go on a weekend)
– still need to figure out how to get the tickets since it seems like people were having issues with klook?
Day 15
– check out
– head to kansai for flight out of JP
Thanks, and I look forward to everyone’s comments!
1 comment
I don’t know enough yet to provide solid feedback on your itinerary, but just wanted to say, summer traveler solidarity! my partner and I are going to japan in the summer because it’s just the only possible season for us to go w/ our work schedules. we’re also mentally preparing for the heat and humidity and just planning to take the trip slowly with plenty of downtime. hope y’all enjoy!