Hey all,
My spouse and I are traveling to Japan for the first time next week (mid-March, so very excited about Sakura!). We’re interested in the culture, the food and generally experiencing something new. I’ve planned our itinerary as follows. I can change some things around but we’ve booked hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto so I can’t change the # of days we’re in each (and I realize it might not be enough time for Tokyo, so hopefully we’ll go back again!).
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Now I’m looking for feedback on:
1. Whether this itinerary is okay, missing some really good places, or it’s too packed and I should let some things go?
2. I haven’t reserved any restaurants. I’ve saved a whole bunch, and I was thinking depending on where we end up at when we’re hungry, we just look around and pick something. But I don’t know if we do actually need reservation in advance for all the good spots. Should I reserve at least a few places, or just play it by ear?
3. I mentioned we are really excited about the food, but one thing I really want to make sure we try at a really good place is Wagyu beef, so if you have any recommendations for really good Yakiniku places in Tokyo/Kyoto/Nara/Osaka please let me know.
Thanks a lot!! I look forward to sharing my trip summary with this group when we’re back.
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Itinerary:
* Day 0 – Arrive in the evening, just sleep and hope for no jetlag
* Day 1 – Harajuku, Meiji and Yoyogi park. Shibuya crossing and Shibuya sky in the evening/night
* Day 2 – Tsukiji Outer Market in the morning then Imperial palace until evening, then Shinjuku + Golden Gai later in the evening/night
* Day 3 – Explore Ginza before going to Tokyo station. Spend some time at Tokyo station before heading to Kyoto
* Day 4 – A 6 hour guided tour of Kyoto (Niji-jo castle, Kinkaku-Ji temple, Yasaka shrine and Kiyomizu temple). Have dinner in Gion and walk around a bit
* Day 5 – Day trip to Nara. Nothing planned except for hanging out at Nara park so this is a bit of a chill day
* Day 6 – Day trip to Osaka. Planning on spending the evening at Dotonbori, but depending on how we’re feeling we might explore other places including Osaka castle
* Day 7 – Fushimi Inari shrine and Nishiki market. Hoping to have some good Yakiniku for dinner
* Day 8 – Head back to Tokyo early in the morning. Our hotel is in Asakusa so planning on spending a few hours in Akihabara and then exploring Asakusa for the rest of the day
* Day 9 – This should be around peak cherry blossom so planning to walk around Ueno park most of the morning and then head to the airport for our flight back.