Traveling for the first time to Japan with my wife and four friends, and I couldn’t be more excited! I think we have a rather busy itinerary, so I just want to get some feedback on if you think we’re over-doing it, if we should re-organize or otherwise alter some plans! Maybe add a day or two to see additional sights if you think they would be worth it! Without further ado, here’s the rough draft:
**10/29:**
Land in Narita at 14:30
Pick up JR Line 14-day pass and Suica cards
Head to hotel in Shinjuku, drop off luggage.
Visit Teamlab Planet
See the Shibuya crosswalk
Have dinner in Memory Alley
**10/30:**
Explore Shinjuku, some of the things the group wants to see/do/eat:
Tsunahachi Tempura, Menya Musashi, Tokyo Skytree, Matsumoto-yu Sento, Rokkasen, and Karaoke. (plenty of food options today)
~~Mario Kart Go Kart Tour of Shinjuku~~
**10/31:**
Conbini Breakfast (just explore and experience convenience stores in general)
Check out Akhiabara, in particular:
Pokemon Center
Cafe Mugiwara (and Tokyo Tower in general)
Dinner and Drinks at Golden Gai
Explore in general for Halloween
**11/1:**
Take the Fuji Excursion Train from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko
Drop off luggage at Hotel in Kawaguchiko
Visit the Ropeway
Go to an Onsen, relax and unwind.
No specific food plans here, I imagine we’ll check out some street vendors
**11/2:**
Take the bus from Kawaguchiko station to Mishima Station, take the Shinkansen to Nagoya
Store luggage at Nagoya station
Explore Nagoya, try to see Nagoya Castle, get lunch somewhere casual
Pick up luggage, get back on the Tokaido Shinkansen and head to Kyoto
Check into hotel, generally take it easy, find somewhere local for food (not sure exactly how much time we’ll have at the end of the day)
**11/3:**
Go on the walking tour from Ichinenzaka to Ninenzaka to Sannenzaka
Visit the Village around Kiyomizu-Dera, as well as the temple itself
Visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine
Head back to Hanamikoji for tea and exploring, maybe see Yasaka Shrine too
Nishiki Market
Kyoto International Manga Museum
Nijo Castle
Kyoto Imperial Palace
(sounds like a lot but a lot of these locations are close to each other, with the exception of the Fushimi Inari shrine)
**11/4:**
Day trip to Nara, take the JR Nara Line seeing as we’re paying for the tickets
Todaji Temple, Kasuga Taisha, feed some deer
Get some Nakatanidou Mochi and watch them just wreck that rice
**11/5:**
Visit the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, and Tenryu-ji Temple
Iwatayama Monkey Park
Toei Kyoto Studio Park
Maybe visit Eikan-do Temple if we’re not too tired
**11/6:**
Visit Kinkaku-Ji
Go back to hotel to pick up luggage before heading to Osaka via Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line
Stop at hotel and drop off luggage
Visit Osaka Castle
Relax and recouperate
**11/7:**
Go to Universal Studios/Super Mario World
**11/8:**
Forward luggage to hotel in Tokyo (bringing a change of clothes)
Head to Himeji Castle via Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line
Visit Himeji Castle
Head to Hiroshima via Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line
Visit Hiroshima Museum
**11/9:**
Explore Hiroshima a bit before heading back to Tokyo
Explore Tokyo a bit
**11/10:**
Fly home
**THE END**
Again, I’m looking for a little feedback on if this sounds like too much, if there’s other stuff you think we’d like given our existing plans, or if you think maybe we should insert a day elsewhere to explore a certain area a bit more! Maybe the trip would be better starting at Hiroshima and working our way north? Do we really need a 14 day JR Pass? Is there an oversight I’ve made with traveling and transportation? Nothing is set in stone yet, seeing as we’re 8 months out, but this is basically everything everyone wanted to do, fit into a 12 day itinerary. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!!
3 comments
To go to Kawaguchiko, you can get on the Fuji Excursion train, it won’t be totally covered by the pass, but at least the part up to Otsuki will be. It will also be a direct train. Just check the schedule as there is not many train every day. It would also probably be better to book seats for it.
Kiyomizu-dera is a temple, not a shrine. All the places that have names finishing by ji, dera, in, do (to name some) are Buddhist temples, places that finish by jinja, jingu, taisha (just to name some) are Shinto shrines.
Taking the shinkansen from Kyoto to Osaka might not be the best. It always depend from where to where exactly you are moving, but the shinkansen can make the route much more complicated.
I would forward luggage direct from Osaka to Tokyo, just bring a change of clothes with you. Luggage delivery is not same days, especially for longer distance.
JR Pass, I think you would be close to breaking even, like little to no savings, so it’s kind of up to you. Sometimes it can be better to not have the pass, for example you can ride the nozomi shinkansen and you don’t have to force yourself to use JR. If you want to see the potential savings, then calculate the cost of all transport that would be covered by the pass. You might want to calculate it manually as Narita you can get the round trip discount ticket for the NEX.
>Mario Kart Go Kart Tour of Shinjuku
Please don’t do this.
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>Dinner and Drinks at Golden Gai
Drinks, sure, but get dinner somewhere else.
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>Do we really need a 14 day JR Pass?
Probably not. Check out [https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/](https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/) and keep in mind that having the JR pass doesn’t necessarily make things more convenient.
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In general, it’s a lot of traveling. Many people love that type of trip, but I’d say consider cutting some travel down and giving yourself more time to enjoy each of these places.
Consider changing Kyoto > Osaka > Hiroshima > Tokyo to Kyoto > Hiroshima > Osaka > Tokyo.
Same travel time overall but removes the long journey from Hiroshima allowing more time there especially as your stopping off on the way. Sunset will be 5pm when your in Hiroshima so that may impact. More time in Hiroshima would allow you to do Miyajima Island with your JR Pass covering the train and JR Ferry. You could do Miyajima Island in the morning, finish up Hiroshima by latish afternoon and be in Osaka for dinner.