Hey all,
I’ll be traveling to Kamakura tommorow for the first time and was looking for some feedback on my itinerary. This is my first time in Japan, so apologies if it seems rough or doesn’t make much sense. My sense of time isn’t the best so let me know if this is unrealistic. Also, if there’s anything I’m missing that you’d reccomend then please let me know!
Day 1:
Leave Airbnb around 7:00 AM, walk to konbini and grab breakfast. Then, visit Moto Hachiman and Yakumo shrine on the way to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu.
Visit Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, then head towards Hokokuji temple. Consider checking out Sugimotodera and/or Jomyoji, then head to start of Tenen trail (I’ve heard you can either start from Zuisen-ji or Myoou-in, any thoughts?)
Hike Tenen trail, stopping partway through to take a break and snack
After finishing trail, stop at Hansobo shrine and Kencho-ji (I’ve also heard good things about Meigetsuin and Engakuji, would those be better?), then head to Kita-Kamakura station and take train to Kamakura station.
Walk around Komachi street to visit stores/street food and grab lunch, then go back to Airbnb for an hour or two and rest.
Then, walk back to Kamakura station and take Enoden train to Enoshima. Walk over bridge and up Enoshima main street to Enoshima shrine (anything else you’d suggest on Enoshima?)
Take train back to Kamakura, grab dinner then head back to Airbnb.
Day 2:
Leave Airbnb around 5:30 AM, walk to konbini and grab breakfast, then grab train from Kamakura station to Kita-Kamakura station.
Hike Daibutsu trail to Kuzuharaoka Shrine, then walk to Genjiyama park to take a break and eat.
Walk to Sasuke Inari Shrine, then continue hiking the rest of the Daibutsu trail
Walk to Kotoku-in (I assume it’ll be 8:00 AM by then?), then visit Hasedera
Walk to Hase station, consider stopping by Goryo shrine on the way.
Take train/walk back to and check out of Airbnb, then depart Kamakura
This is the first stop on my first trip to Japan, so I’m still learning how to plan things, but I nevertheless want my visit to Kamakura to be great. Again, any help would be super appreciated! Thanks in advance
2 comments
A lot of things may be closed by the time you make it to Enoshima. It went there last time around 430-5 and a lot of things were closing. The whole Enoden train journey was really nice, the sunset along the water, the famous train crossing (from anime). I rode the whole thing from Kamakura to Fujisawa and then from there, a JR train back to Ikebukero
I did a similar path as you starting from tsurugaoka at around 1300, then hokokuji followed by zuisenji and the zuisenji entrance to the Ten’en path. This entrance is kinda shoddy but just follow the sign beside it and you won’t have issues.
In the interest of time as I wanted to visit the daibutsu before closing, after visiting hansobo and kencho-ji at almost 1600 I walked all the way down to kamakura station again and took the enoden line to the station near the daibutsu, then did the daibutsu hiking trail after, visiting zeniarai baiten and exiting by jochiji followed by Kita kamakura station.
If you start the temple visiting early I’d think you can afford to have lunch right after finishing kencho-ji. I did jog a fair bit of the Ten’en course though after reaching the peak and only took a <5 min break at one point, while I did spend a fair bit of time at hokokuji drinking their ticket bundled green tea and also at zuisenji exploring the area above the small hill, so your timings might differ depending on how much time you spend on those.
If you don’t want to risk attractions on enoshima being closed by the time you reach there, I’d recommend doing the Ten’en hike followed by daibutsu hike from jochiji to kotoku-in on day 1 instead and push enoshima to day 2.
As long as you start as early as you planned you should be able to see most things before closing. [I also suspect you’ve already seen this but heres the link to a nice version of the combined routes.](https://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/visitkamakura/en/routes/hiking1.html) I can’t comment on the other shrines you mentioned, but I’d say the shrines and temples covered as part of this route are worth the visit. Enjoy!
I’d like to recommend this place called [kiku sushi](https://maps.app.goo.gl/DDM999Qfw3h6mVBa7) near kamakura station if you happen to be in the area. I had lunch there before my hike and felt their chirashi don and sushi platters were reasonably priced and of high quality. Fatty tuna was absolutely spot on.