Hi, one of my dreams is to visit Japan, I worked hard for the past 2 years and I now want to fulfill my dream. I have created 15 day – 13 nights itenerary, I’ve been researching about it for a year. Here is my itenerary:
I arrive at 8:50 am in Narita airport around middle of June. I will pickup my 2 week JR pass from there and a sim card with unlimited data for 2 weeks. Them I am off to Tokyo with the train. I will go check in the hotel which should be around Nihonbashiningyocho. I will be in Tokyo for the next 2 nights. It will be my first 14-15h flight I have ever taken in my life and I don’t know how the jetlag will impact me, but I will try to explore the **Ueno park** and the **Museum of Nature and Science**, then I will walk to **Senso Ji** and then to **Tokyo Sky Tree** (preferably at night, I will book it beforehand). I will be buying a suica card and topping it up with 25$.
Second day I will be in western tokyo. I will be at **Shibuya** at 10am, then I will start walking towards **Harajuko and park Yoyogi.** If I have time I will go to **Chiyoda park** or go watch a football game.
Third day I am off to **Matsumoto**, I will catch a train and will arrive around 12:30, I will check in the hotel and will go explore the **Matsumoto castle**, then I want to just walk around a smaller city, eat at a 7/11, maybe go climbing in a gym.
4th day, I will catch a train to **Kanazawa,** I will cach a train at around 9 and will be there at around 12. I will check in the hotel and will go see the **Kenroku-en** and some shrines around it. Then I will go to the seaside, it will be my only team near the japan sea.
5th day, I am going to **Kyoto**, train at 9 to 11. Check in the hotel and then off to **Nijo castle** and **Kyoto imperial palace.** I am going to the **Nishiki market.**
6th day is Kyoto again. I will go to **Fushimiinari shrine** at around 9. Then I will start walking towards **Higashiyama district** and **Kiomizudera.** Then I am off to the **railway museum** with a train.
7th day I am catching a train at 9;30-11 to **Hiroshima**. I will check in the hotel and will go explore the peace park, afterwards I want to see a japanese shopping mall.
8th day I am going to **Miyajima** for a day trip, I will be exploring the Island and hiking though it’s mountains. I am going back to Hiroshima in the evening.
9th day will be in Osaka. Train from 9:30 to 11. I will explore the **castle** and then I want to check the **aquarium**.
10th will be entirly for **universal studio**.
11th day I am going for a day trip to **Nara**. I will see the **Nara park** and feed the deers. Then I will check the **Todi-ji** temple and after I will catch a train to Osaka.
12th I am still thinking about it, I want to go to the seaside for the beach.
13th day I am back in **Tokyo**. I will check the **military museum** and the **science museum** near the **imperial palace.** I will go to a fancy dinner and next day I am catching a train
Now my questions, this will be my first time 10k kms from home. I don’t know about the jetlag.
1. suica card, I read that I can use it in some cities outside Tokyo. I walk a lot and hike, but I will take trains. I saw that there are some cards for the other regions, but I guess it’s probaly better to just get tickets.
2. the weather. The thing I am most unsure is definately the weather I know that June is probably the worst month to go in japan, but I have found a deal in June. What do you think, will I be able to walk a lot, I don’t mind the rain tho.
3. Time, will I have the time to explore everything I want. I am good with geography and getting around places I don’t know. I have traveled around Europe, but only with friends.
4. Will I feel only, this is the other big park. I decided to buy a camera and capture some vlogs so I can talk with somebody, I know that locales aren’t very keen on talking and exploring together.
I feel nervous, which is normall I guess and I want to ensure everything is like how I plan (Probably isn’t 😀 ).
5 comments
June isn’t that bad per say, I definitely wouldn’t say it’s the worst month. It raining more could actually be a good thing.
You’re young so jet lag will be a non issue. And at worst maybe you feel bad one day.
For this itinerary you only need a week JR Pass and Suica Card. Use the saved money to do something a little extra. You can use the Suica in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Hiroshima for local transit. The first day of arrival kinda pace yourself and see things close to your accommodation.
Do the math on the exact train routes you’re expecting to take to see if jr pass is right for you. Lots of people are surprised when it isn’t quite worth it.
Use navitime for japan or hyperdia to get cost estimates.
Also, June isn’t the worst month. Just be ready for lots of humidity, heat, and rain.
The train stations all have English all over the place, and Google navigation will point you to the right train/platform at the right time. Japanese trains always run on time.
Congrats on solo traveling. Besides the point listed by other people regarding JR pass/IC card and timing, make sure you don’t overpack your days. Go with what you feel like that day and see if you can follow your schedule, and if not, change your plan on the dot.
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If I am can make some suggestion with your travel plan:
1) group your location (esp Kyoto/Osaka/Nara} together, and pick either Kyoto or Osaka as your base. That way you won’t get rushed moving, plus you can potentially use some tourist pass (like Osaka Amazing Pass or Kansai Travel Pass) to save some money on travel and tourist attractions.
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2) Always get IC card (Suica, Pasmo, Icoca, etc), all the IC card are interchangeable and you can use it almost anywhere in Japan (ex, you can use Pasmo or Suica card in Osaka without problem), get it on day one and put it on your phone so you don’t have to worry about losing the card.
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3) use Google map to plan out the trip a bit, list out the location that you want to visit (esp Kyoto, since the main tourist locations are really spread out), and add in the travel time to see if you have time to make the locations you wanna go in the time frame.
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4) Google translate/map is your friend, in the major city, you can definitely get by with google translate, and google Map can tell you the direction plan, down to what train to take at what time.
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5)if you have heavy/big luggage (which I assume you do), consider sending the luggage ahead between major locations with either JALABC or Tac-Q-Bin (luggage delivery service) (like from Tokyo to Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto/Nara) region) (hence point 1). Since most Japan station don’t have that many esculator/elevator, its a pain in the butt to move your heavy luggage around stations (I did that when I carry two suitcase around Shimbashi station in 2019…never again). See if your hotel can do that for you.
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Lastly: ENJOY IT, you literally can do things on your own time, without worrying about planning for others. Solo travel might be scary, but its fun at same time.
By my count you are changing hotels 6 times in 13 nights. Preparing to check out, checking out, navigating to new hotels and checking in is time consuming and uses more time and energy than you maybe expect.
In my opinion 7 different hotels for 13 nights is wasteful and will eat up too much of your trip. I recommend restructuring so you have no more than 4-5 hotels over 13 nights.