Hi all, looking for some feedback/advice on my below itinerary. Traveling to Japan for the first time with my partner this July (I know it’s intensely hot & humid but we’re going for a wedding so this is the time we have to go). Will gladly take any advice on how to stay cool.
Below is our tentative itinerary:
Day 1/Sat: Arrive at Haneda Airport around 1pm. Travel to hotel, settle in, have dinner
Day 2/Sun: Tokyo: Explore Shibuya/Shinjuku areas (Meiji Jingu, Takeshita Street, etc.)
Day 3/Mon: Take the train to Tokyo DisneySea for the day
Day 4/Tues: Tokyo: Akihabra Day (arcades, shopping, etc.)
Day 5/Weds: Looking at potentially booking a day trip to Mt. Fuji through Viator
Day 6/Thurs: Tokyo: Undecided but maybe teamLab Planets or Ghibli Museum/Shrio-Hige’s Cream Puff factory (I read that the Ghibli Museum is not worth it for English speakers. If anyone has been let me know your thoughts)
Days 7 & 8/Fri & Sat: Wedding in Mito
Day 9/Sun: This is where it gets tricky. We will be with the wedding party still during the day. Option 1 is take a late afternoon train to Tokyo then an evening train down to Kyoto to arrive late at night but be able to experience the Gion Matsuri Festival Parade at 9am the next morning. Option 2 is to stay this night in Tokyo and then travel to Kyoto the next morning to arrive in the afternoon. Will miss the parade but will be way less rushed. Will the trains be packed this day with the festival?
Day 10/Mon: Kyoto: either wake up and see Gion Matsuri parade if we traveled the previous night OR arrive in Kyoto this afternoon. Plan for the afternoon was to see Fushimi Inari Shrine and go to Maccha House. Is this possible the afternoon of a festival day or will the entire city be shut down/jam packed?
Day 11/Tues: Kyoto: Arashiyama Monkey Park, Bamboo Forest, Tea House. Will this again all be insanely crowded the day after a festival?
Day 12/Weds: Kyoto: Morning doing anything we didn’t fit in the last two days. Afternoon travel back to Tokyo
Days 13-14/Thurs & Fri: Tokyo: undecided, anything we didn’t get to; maybe Toshima/Taito City areas. Maybe stay in Kyoto one more night and do a daytrip to Hiroshima or Nara.
Day 15: Travel home
If anyone has any insight especially on the days in Kyoto/time around Gion Matsuri please let me know.
I am also looking for recommendations for hotels along the Yamanote line in Tokyo and Ryokan in Kyoto. For travel days after we check out of hotels is it possible to leave large luggage in coin lockers?
Thank you!
*edited for formatting, on mobile