Itinerary Check – Tokyo, Kawafujiko, Kyoto, Osaka

Hi everyone! I am putting together a 16 days itinerary and would appreciate to hear some advice.

To give some context, I (25M) will be traveling to Japan with my parents (55F & 60M) from 28 March – 13 April during the cherry blossom season, we are all able-bodied but I try to reduce the amount of walking due to my parents’ age. We will all be carrying 1 piece of small/medium sized luggage.

This is my first time in Japan, and I aim to go to the popular tourist spots, go to places with amazing cherry blossoms, and immerse myself in their culture. I did not really plan much for food, I figure that any restaurant would serve delicious food at a reasonable price, but it would be amazing if anyone has recommendations, or could point me to a food/restaurant mega-thread with all the recommendations!

A general question: I have not made any reservations (food & activities), but I plan to do so after figuring out my itinerary! How do I figure out which restaurant/activity requires a reservation? Do people usually make a reservation on their site? (I’m unable to call Japanese phone numbers)

I have already booked the hotels/Airbnbs! We are not getting the JR Pass as it’s cheaper to buy the tickets individually. Another thing is that we plan to start our day as early as 6am! To avoid the crowd and get as much daylight as possible!

**Tues, March 28th – TOKYO**
\- Reach Kansai about 3.30pm
\- Make our way to from Kansai to Tokyo with Shinkansen, we will all carry our luggages with us (We’re going Tokyo because cherry trees blossom first in Tokyo, followed by Kyoto then Osaka)
\- Staying near Shinjuku Central Park

**Wed, March 29th**
*Morning*
\- Meiji Jingu Gaien
\- Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
*Afternoon*
\- Shibuya Crossing – We’ll likely walk around and shop around this area
\- Starbucks Reserve @ Meguro River (my mom wants to come here for the beautiful stretch of cherry trees just outside Starbucks)
*Evening*
\- Shinjuku Golden Gai for late-night drinks and food

**Thurs, March 30th**
*Morning*
\- Imperial Palace
\- Tsukiji Outer Market (We are skipping Toyosu because the fish auction seems underwhelming now, we’re here for the food)
\- Uniqlo Ginza
*Afternoon*
\- Akihabara (Need to get some Anime Gacha for my girlfriend, and we plan to visit a maid cafe — Any recommendation? I heard that reservations are really competitive)
\- National Sumo Arena

**Fri, March 31th**
*Morning*
\- Ueno Park
\- Senso-ji
\- Nakamise-dori Street
*Afternoon*
\- Kappabashi Dougu Street
\- Shinjuku (Shopping at Isetan and more)

**Sat, April 1 – KAWAGUCHIKO**
*Morning*
\- Send 1 luggage to Kyoto (collect after 2 days) and send 1 luggage to Osaka (collect after 6 days) using luggage delivery services, we are staying in Airbnb so we’ll most likely collect from the train stations!
\- Travel to Odawara to collect the car (we have a 48 hour car rental from 2PM), reason for renting from Odawara is so that we can pass by Hakone, and there are cheap transportation options from Tokyo to Odawara (Odakyu Line costs 970JPY per person)
\- Toyota costs \~20,000JPY and Orix costs \~17,000JPY for the cars that I’m renting (the better compact cars), I am okay with paying more for Toyota as Orix’s location is a 1km walk from the train station
\- Staying near Mt.Fuji Station
*After collecting car*
\- Hakone Shrine
\- Owakudani
\- Hakone Open-Air Museum (might drop this activity)

**Sun, April 2**
*Morning*
\- Mt.Fuji 5th Station
\- Oishi Park
*Afternoon*
\- Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine
\- Arakurayama Sengen Park
\- Ide Sake Brewery

**Mon, April 3 – KYOTO**
*Morning*
\- Oshino Hakkai
\- Nagaike Water Park
*Afternoon*
\- Return car
\- Make our way from Odawara to Kyoto with Shinkansen
\- Staying near Kiyomizu-Gojo Station

**Tues, April 4**
*Morning*
\- Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
\- Kyoto Imperial Palace
\- Nijo Castle
*Afternoon*
\- Kinkaku-ji
\- Kiyamachi Dori

**Wed, April 5**
Morning
\- Fushimi Inari Taisha
\- Toji
*Afternoon*
\- Arashiyama (we might consider to take the Hozugawa Kudari, river boat ride)

**Thurs, April 6**
*Morning*
\- Maruyama Park
\- Yasaka Shrine
*Afternoon*
\- Hanamikoji Street (I figure there will be a lot to shop and eat around this area)
*Evening*
\- Kiyomizu-derae (coming in the evening as the night view looks stunning)

**Fri, April 7 – OSAKA**
\- Make our way from Kyoto to Osaka with the Keihan Main Line
\- No activities planned, but probably free and easy

**Sat, April 8 – NARA Day Trip**
Is it better to do the Nara/Kobe day trips on the weekends or weekdays?
Any other day trips worth taking?
\- Nakatanidou for the mochi pounding
\- Todai-ji
\- Nara Park
\- Kasuga-taisha
\- Ukimido

**Sun, April 9 – KOBE Day Trip**
\- Kobe Motomachi Shopping Street
\- Kobe Chinatown Nankin-machi
\- Kobe Harborland
\- Buy Kobe Magic Pot Pudding

**Mon, April 10**
*Morning*
\- Osaka Castle
\- Kuromon Market
*Afternoon*
\- Dotonbori
\- Shinsaibashi
*Evening*
\- Hozenji Yokocho

**Tues, April 11**
*Morning*
\- Kema Sakuranomiya Park
\- Mint Museum (Cherry Trees)
*Afternoon*
\- Nipponbashi Denden Town (How does this compare to Akihabara in Tokyo? Is it worth visiting?)
\- Shinsekai
*Evening*
\- Jan Jan Yokocho Alley

**Wed, April 12**
*Morning*
\- Minoh Park
\- Shitennoji
*Afternoon*
\- Can’t figure out what else to do here, maybe we’ll go to Dotonbori again? Since we live nearby, plus we can do shopping for souvenirs

**Thurs, April 13**
\- Make our way to Kansai Airport and byebye Japan!!!

Thanks for reading until the end!!