Hello all! I’m going for 15 Days in May (after Golden Week) with a friend and would like your opinion on the final draft of my itinerary below. Any advice would be appreciated.
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**Tokyo (Landing) (1 Day)**
May 9
* Landing @ Haneda Airport at around 7PM and pick up Pocket Wifi & SUICA card. Commute to Hotel (near Tokyo Station) afterwards and expected to arrive between 9 to 10PM.
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**Kyoto (3 Days)**
May 10 (North & Arashiyama)
* Depart to Kyoto in the morning and arrive before 10am. Leave belongings at our hotel which is very close to Kyoto Station.
* Kitano Tenmangu (may reschedule depending on arrival time) – Kinkaku-ji – Ryōan-ji – Ninna-ji
* Tenryu-ji – Arashiyama Area (incl. bamboo groves & monkey park)
May 11 (Higashiyama)
* Higashiyama Jisho-ji – Yasaka Shrine – Gion – Kennin-ji – Kōdai-ji Temple – Ryōzen Kannon – Yasaka Kōshin-dō (Kongō-ji) Temple – Hokan-ji – Nineizaka – Sanneizaka – Kiyomizu-dera
May 12 (Central)
* Fushimi Inari Taisha – Sanjūsangen-dō – Nishiki Market – Nijō Castle – Kyoto Imperial Palace
* Any destination that was missed the prior days.
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**Osaka (& Nara, Kobe) (3 Days)**
May 13 (Nara Day & Osaka Night)
* Depart from Kyoto to Nara in the morning. Leave belongings at Nara Station.
* Nara Park: Kōfuku-ji – Tōdai-ji – Kasuga-taisha – Nara Park (Deers) – Naramachi Street
* West Nara: Heijō Palace Remains (skippable if time doesn’t allow) – Tōshōdai-ji – Yakushi-ji Temple – Hōryū-ji
* Return to Nara Station and pick up belongings. Depart to Umeda Station in Osaka and arrive around 6/7pm. Check in and drop off belongings.
* Osaka Night: Umeda Sky Building – Dotonbori (Night) (We will return for the day during our third day in Osaka) – Hozenji Yokocho – Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street
May 14 (Kobe Day & Osaka Night)
* Depart to Kobe in the morning.
* Ikuta Jinja – Kitano Ijinkan-Gai – Kobe Chinatown – Nankin-machi – Meriken Park – BE KOBE sign – Kobe Harborland
* Return to Osaka late afternoon.
* Abeno Harukas – Shinsekai – Tsutenkaku
May 15 (Osaka Day & Night)
* Morning: Tenma (skippable) – Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street (skippable) – Osaka Castle
* Noon/Afternoon: Kuromon Ichiba Market – Dotonbori (Day) – Nipponbashi Denden Town – Shitennoji – Sumiyoshi Taisha
* Sunset/Evening: Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan – Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel
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**Tokyo (& Yokohama, Hakone, Fujiguchiko, and Departure) (8 Days)**
May 16 (Central area, Akihabara, and Shinjuku night)
* Depart from Osaka to Tokyo in the morning and arrive before 11. Leave belongings at Tokyo Station.
* Late Morning/Early Afternoon: Tsukiji Outer Market – Hamarikyu Gardens – Ginza
(area & department stores) – Imperial Palace (if able to get tickets)
* Late Afternoon: Akihabara (area & stores)
* Return to Tokyo Station and pick up belongings. Head to Shinjuku where our hotel is in and check in.
* Night: Kabukicho – Shinjuku Golden Gai
May 17 (Asakusa)
* Morning/Early Afternoon: Kaminarimon Gate – Nakamise-dori Street – Sensō-ji – Asakusa Shrine
* Early Afternoon: Asakusa Nishi-sandō Shopping Street – Shin-Nakamise Shopping Street – Kappabashi Dougu Street – Ōtori Jinja
* Late Afternoon: Ueno Park – Ameyoko Shopping District
* Night: Tokyo Skytree
May 18 (Odaiba)
* teamLab Planets TOKYO – Ariake Garden – ODAIBA Gamers – DECKS Tokyo Beach – Tokyo Joypolis – Aquacity Odaiba – Fuji Television Network, Inc. – DiverCity Tokyo Plaza – Unicorn Gundam Statue – Rainbow Bridge
* If end early, then Roppongi Hills – Tokyo City View – Tokyo Tower at night.
May 19 (Ghibli Museum & Yokohama)
* Late Morning: Ghibli Museum – Kijichoji (area)
* Noon/Early Afternoon: Ramen Museum – Landmark Tower – Cup Noodles Museum
* Early Afternoon/Sunset: World Porters – Red Brick Warehouse – Gundam Factory – Yokohama Chinatown
* If end early, either stay in Yokohama for night view or return to Tokyo for Shibuya or Roppongi Hills.
May 20 (Hakone)
* Flex date depending on weather.
* Entire day in Hakone.
* Return to Tokyo before sunset (not staying overnight in Hakone).
May 21 (Kawaguchiko)
* Flex date depending on weather.
* Entire day in Kawaguchiko.
* Return to Tokyo before sunset (not staying overnight in Kawaguchiko).
May 22 (Shibuya shopping & others)
* Morning: Gotokuji Temple
* Late Morning/Noon: Hachikō Memorial Statue – Shibuya Crossing (Day) – Shibuya Center Gai
\- Koen Dori
* Afternoon: Yoyogi Park – Meiji Jingu – Harajuku
* Sunset: Shibuya SKY – Miyashita Park – Shibuya 109 – Shibuya Parco
May 23 (Departure)
* Morning / Early Afternoon: Any last minute locations or anything we’ve missed in the past few days.
* Arrive at Haneda at 6-7pm. Depart at 10pm.
7 comments
Looks very detailed and will be shamelessly stealing for a similar trip in June, thank you!
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Looks great! Remember to grab kushikatsu in Osaka lol
I think you’ve done a great job of breaking up activities by section of town for each day! You are trying to fit in *a lot* though. Make sure that on days when you have lots of things on your list, you hit the ones most important to you first, as it seems likely you won’t get to all of it. I’m not sure where your interests lie in terms of dining, but for some of your days it seems like you’d barely have time to pop into a 7-11 for snacks, let alone a sit-down restaurant. (And maybe that’s perfect for you and your friend! Just something to think about if you haven’t already.)
One recommendation for a small change I have would be not to hit Tsukiji Outer Market on your travel day. If you go earlier in the day, there will be fewer crowds, which will make the experience much more pleasant! Easier to do if you’ve spent the previous night in Tokyo.
Looks like a great plan. If you have an iPhone you don’t need a physical suica and can add it to apple wallet which is significantly easier since you can top up the card with apple pay.
For picking up your mobile hotspot, confirm that you can actually do that when arriving that late. We were delayed and landed at 6ish instead and we’re unable to pick up our mobile hotspot as the port office closed. Ended up doing an esim purchased the next day.
I am just finishing up my 12 day trip now and two things jump out:
Someone else mentioned it, but Tsukiji is a zoo after 930 AM or so. If you can make an earlier visit work, do so.
The part of your trip that seems the most over-loaded is Kyoto. I had 3.5 days there and maybe did half as much as you have down on paper for 3 days. Typically we would start at shrine opening (830-9 or so) and go until a 6-7 PM dinner before crashing. And while we did do some shopping strolls and tea house breaks, we were pretty actively siteseeing.
Now that said, we did at the back half of our trip and were a bit more worn out than our more packed Tokyo days. But especially as while all uniquely cool, the shrines do tend to blur after 5 or 6 of them, you will likely want to cut a few out. Fwiw our two favorites were Eikando and Kodaiji.
The other note is that Kyoto can be a bit slow to move around. Staying in Central Kyoto vs East can make it easier, but crossing certain parts of the city can take as much as an hour just due to slower or less direct transit