February 2023 Itinerary (v4)

4 comments

1. Your Day 6 seems rather empty, if you don’t intend to do anything else in Hiroshima you can opt to go for Miyajima straightaway, i.e., pushing day 7 forward. I’d take the ferry before evening so you can try for an evening view of the shrine (and the island in general) as you check in at the ryokan. I say that because I didn’t find the island huge enough to warrant more than a day there.

   For Kyoto in general I’d recommend going *really* early for places like Higashiyama and Arashiyama. I’m not sure about crowds post-COVID but at least for Arashiyama it’s really tough to get good photographs of the groves even before the crowds roll in. This tip can be applied for almost every place you visit, but especially so in touristy Kyoto.

   If you find yourself weary of crowds easily, I’d watch out for that many days in Kyoto – the human traffic there can get pretty tough, even if you don’t account for foreign tourists. Same goes for Tokyo. As again, it may have gotten better post-COVID.

   For ramen in Tokyo, I recommend Tatsunoya (assuming it’s still open, fingers crossed), which serves tonkotsu ramen and tsukemen in Shinjiku. Good eats are everywhere in Tokyo but that’s the one place I consistently recommend for others.

   For Sensoji Temple at Asakusa, Tokyo, the ‘go early’ tip applies but this place is also rather pretty at night when they turn the lights on for the shrines, so you can opt for a night visit too.

2. The day you get to Kyoto, depending on your energy level you can for sure start to check around Higashiyama as you will stay just next to it.

   From Kawaguchiko to Tokyo, you can do it in 2h. Either take the [JR Fuji Excursion](https://www.jreast.co.jp/hachioji/fuji_excursion/en/) train, but note that it is not totally covered by the JR Pass if you use one and there is only 3 train each direction each day (in the afternoon, so ok for your late arrival in Tokyo, would be between 5pm and 7:30 arrival), or get the highway bus, takes about the same time (if not using a JR Pass, much cheaper, if using a JR Pass, then no big difference).

   As you plan to go in February, then you should look into plum blossom. For Kyoto, Kitano Tenman-gu and Imperial palace would be good spot. For Tokyo as you have some extra time, you should be able to fit one spot there too, for example Yushima tenjin, they usually have festival event every weekend in February, close to Ueno and Ameyokocho, Koishikawa korakuen, that is a lovely garden regardless and next to Tokyo Dome City that in bonus have a winter illumination usually up to the end of February, Kameido-tenjin, this one is a bit out of the way, but it is nice with the pond in front of the shrine and the red bridges, also have Skytree in the background.

   For Shibuya I would suggest going to Shibuya Sky.

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   Other than that, I commended on the Hiroshima part on my other comment.

3. Day 5 tsukiji is no longer a fish market. But there is still the outer street market to wander along. And team labs is closing down.

4. Would skip Kamakura. It’s hit or miss. And it’s easy to pick up skin infections there, which makes for an uncofortable trip…