Hi all. This weekend will be when the things I have planned to book will begin going on sale so I feel I should get advice on my itinerary as it stands so I pick the right ticket days/time. I’ve been working at this for a while although I am by no means too proud to refuse criticism/advice so please feel free to re-order things or suggest alternatives or tell me to completely lose certain things for a better option.
* I am 33, male, from the UK, do not speak Japanese, first time visiting.
* As it’s first time, I really want to mark off a lot of the ‘must-see’ attractions (i.e. touristy) this trip. I am hoping to make a good mix between the historical/traditional (i.e. visiting shrines/temples, best green spaces) with modern attractions.
* I do want to experience as many sides of Japan as possible however things I don’t have as strong of an interest in are things like anime, manga etc. As I say, I wouldn’t mind seeing new things with an open mind though (hence at the minute having a general walk through Harajuku and Akihabara based on my research into those areas)
* I am active and will be up for a lot of walking.
* I do want to experience the nightlife in Japan however I am prioritising early starts as I was advised that I would get most out of the trip by starting early and having more daytime hours than night.You will therefore notice a few days maybe cut off early/mid-evening. On any nights where you would slot something ‘must-do’ to experience night-life, it would be appreciated. I’m also putting some hope into maybe having one or two nights where I can meet like minded travellers to do some of the night activities so I’m not on my own!
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Priority is:
\- Is the ordering of the attractions logical or can you spot anything that should be shifted?
\- Which days are currently too ambitious? Of these, which attractions would you take out/change?
\- Is there anything that I may not be considering going to which you have visited and enjoyed?
Please note the switch of hotel in Tokyo isn’t ideal, however the price of the capsule hotel I’m staying in rocketed when it hit the weekend, so I switched to a full hotel in Ueno. I thought this is OK as I am ‘one-bagging’ this journey and keeping all my things in a carry on backpack, so moving around will be easy. It also gives me the option of my own space and own shower room in case the experience of a capsule hotel wears off faster than I hoped!
# Day 1 – Tokyo (Hotel – Shibuya)
* Land at Narita mid-afternoon- Pick up and **activate 14 day JR Pass**. Pick up pocket WIFI
* Take N’ex to Shibuya to hotel
* Only plan is to grab dinner and if not struggling with jet lag, to ‘wander’ around Shibuya – nothing fixed in.
# Day 2 – Tokyo (Hotel – Shibuya)
* Meiji Jingu via Yoyogi Park
* Harajuku & Takeshita Street
* Lunch in the area
* Shibuya Parco (Nintendo Store) & browsing
* Miyashita Park
* Shibuya Scramble & Hachiko statue
* If not struggling with jetlag, an evening plan solo (**help/suggestions needed here for first night on my own in Shibuya – where would you go?**). If struggling, back to hotel for an early night.
# Day 3 – Tokyo (Hotel – Shibuya)
* Tokyo Olympic Stadium Tour (11am for 1 hour)
* Sushi making class in Shinjuku (1:30 to 3:30)
* Kabukicho late afternoon stroll
* Omoide Yokocho
# Day 4 – Tokyo (Hotel – Ueno)
* Nakamise shopping street and Sensoji temple
* Ueno Park for a few hours exploring – choosing 1 or maybe 2 museums
* Giants baseball game
I think it makes sense to add Nezu shrine on this day based on me being in Ueno. Is this best day for it (with potentially needing to shorten Ueno park?)
# Day 5 – Tokyo (Hotel – Ueno)
* Tsukiji Outer Market
* TeamLabs Planets
* Combine visiting Akihabara and getting a spot to watch Kanda Matsuri **(I have assumed Saturday is the best day to watch for the parade. Is this right or is Sunday better? What time would people advise and where is best to go?)**
* Ameya Yokocho night time for food and walking around
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# Day 6 – Tokyo to Hakone (Hotel – by Gora station)
* Take shinkansen to Hakone early
* Use the Hakone Free Pass to do a full one day itinerary of the sites before back to hotel
# Day 7 – Hakone to Kyoto (Hotel – 5 mins from Shijo station)
* Leisurely morning in Hakone enjoying onsen in hotel
* Shinkansen to Kyoto
* Currently have left the evening free due to length of train, however can add a night time in Kyoto activity (similar to first night in Tokyo, **help/suggestions needed here for first night on my own in this area – where would you go?**
# Day 8 – Kyoto (Hotel – 5 mins from Shijo station)
* Fushimi Inari
* Day trip to Nara and back
# Day 9 – Kyoto (Hotel – 5 mins from Shijo station)
* Nishiki market
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Higashiyama
* Kenninji Temple
* Kodaji Temple
* Evening generally walking around Gion
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# Day 10 – Kyoto (Hotel – 5 mins from Shijo station)
* Arashiyama day including (current order):
* Bamboo forest
* Tenryuji
* Togetsukyo Bridge
* Monkey Park
* Kinkakuji
* Ryoanji
* Ninnaji
# Day 11 – Kyoyo to Osaka (Hotel – 5 mins from Dotonbori)
* Early train from Kyoto
* Shittenoji Temple shrine
* Kuromon Ichiba market
* Walk via Tsutenkaku
* Abeno Harukas observation
* Dotonbori evening
# Day 12 – Osaka (Hotel – 5 mins from Dotonbori)
* Osaka Castle
* Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan & Ferris Wheel
* Namba Yasaka Jinja
* Open evening plan (**help/suggestions needed here for night on my own in this area – where would you go?)**
# Day 13 – Osaka to Himeji to Hiroshima (1/2 mile from Hiroshima Station)
* Shinkansen to Himeji. Off the train and visit the castle for a little while
* Back on shinkansen to Hiroshima
* Okonomimura for dinner
# Day 14 – Hiroshima to Tokyo (Right by Higashi Shinjuku subway station)
* As early as possible to Miyajima island (Itsukushima shrine, Mount Misen if time?)
* Peace Park
* Atomic Bomb Dome
* Memorial museum
* Late shinkansen to Tokyo **(final day of 14 day JR Pass)**
# Day 15 – Tokyo (Right by Higashi Shinjuku subway station)
**- On this day, the plan is to go to the Grand Sumo tournament. Although I can go in the morning, I have read that realistically I should be going down at around 1pm/2pm for the ‘main’ bouts. I’m willing to take advice on this – should I actually go early? Or alternatively, is it reasonable to choose something in the morning I may not have included before going to the sumo?**\- I have no idea on realistically when this will be finishing. I suppose the plan would be to have the final night in Shinjuku (as it is the area I am staying in). Any tips on where you as a solo traveller would spend their final night in Shinjuku to top off the trip? Would Golden Gai make sense here? Alternatively, I could slot in one of the views – Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Metropolitan Govt Building or Shibuya Sky for night time view?
# Day 16 – Depart
* Pay for transfer from Shinjuku to airport for a 2:30pm flight.
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# Additional
These are the activities/interesting things I had originally listed as going to which I currently believe I am too busy to fit in. Can any of these reasonably be added (if recommended)
* Tokyo Imperial Palace
* One of Shibuya Sky, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Metropolitan Govt Building, Tokyo Skytree
* Ghibli Museum
* Art Aquarium Ginza
* Explore Tokyo Train Station and Ramen St for food
* Gundam Statue (and potentially extended walk around Odaiba)
* Hama Rikyu Gardens
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Thanks so much for any and all advice.
4 comments
Hi!
I will look a little closer at your itinerary but just wanted to make sure you were aware of the G7 Conference taking place in Hiroshima on May 19-22. I would not want to be anywhere near Hiroshima on those dates and possibly some of the surrounding dates.
For Kyoto, might I plug a short visit to Uji? Uji is the home to Japan’s best matcha, has a lot of old school candy shops, the Tale of Genji Museum, and is located on the train to/from Nara. You should be able to reach some good matcha ice cream shops from Uji station, at the very least, and Byodo-in is not far away either (Byodo-in has a sister temple built as a near replica in Oahu).
While you’re in Tokyo, if you’re American, I recommend visiting Yasakuni Jinja for a very surreal experience. Use Google Lens to translate the stuff if necessary, it’s going to be a must see. Yasakuni is across the street from the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda City. It’s something to best see yourself, and not read about, so you really get it. You may also be able to see traditional sumo here also; since Yasakuni was the main State Shinto shrine and State Shintoism was fundamental in the Meiji formula for nation-state building, sumo and other budou became formalized and unified in this era to create a pan-Japanese identity. Yasakuni is really the nexus of that nation building process.
Your itinerary looks fun! I’m taking notes. I’ll visit the exact same cities (slightly different order) in May as well (20 days solo trip, M33 LUX). My evenings are pretty open as well, I plan to start early, but in case I still have some energy left, I might join some bar hopping tours or similar in the evenings.
Overall your plan looks good. But I recommend marking some things as optional as some places have huge crowds and it’ll makes everything go slower. Try not to do too many things at once.
A few notes on specific days tho:
Day 8: it takes a while getting up and down from Fushimi Inari and Nara is a definite full day trip.
I recommend moving Fushimi Inari to day 9 because it’s right next to Kiyomizu-dera.
Day 9: Gion has a little theatre which is aimed at foreigners and it has a mix of Japanese theatre culture. I can recommend it.
Day 12: Osaka Castle is a museum inside. I recommend saving the money and just visiting the park around it. You’re already going to Himeji castle which is much better.
Day 14: Miyajima itself is usually a full day trip. It’s gonna be a stretch to do all of Hiroshima in one day.