Itinerary Check – 14 Days in Golden Triangle (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto)

Hello friends, after many years of saving we’re finally going to Japan! We’re planning to go mid-October for two full weeks, and we wanted to get some opinions on our travel itinerary so far. If you’ve gone to any of the hostels we’re planning on staying at, please share your experiences! Our travel plans are very flexible.

We are a group of three and I think it’s important to share what kind of interests we have: I personally love culture and history, and would like to see at least one history/culture museum during the trip. My husband likes the culture as well, but is not as much into history and wants activities to do besides site seeing. He is also heavily into photography. Our friend is similarly interested in getting immersed in Japanese culture, and wants to find a fun place to drink, as well as visit sentos/onsens as much as possible. And of course all of us love anime and manga.

October 14 & 15: Fly out from Ontario to Narita Airport. Grab Suica card (maybe JR Pass). Check in at the hostel: Plat Hostel Keikyu Asakusa Station.

October 16: Explore Asakusa area (Senso-ji, Nakamise-dori, Denboin-dori, etc.) and Tokyo Sky Tree area. I’m also thinking of exploring the area to the south of Sky Tree, where the sumo training yards are.

October 17: Explore Akihabara area and maybe Ginza area. The one place we really want to visit is teamLab Planets. I’m also curious about the Art Aquarium Museum, and if it’s worth visiting.

October 18: Day Trip to Nikko: visit Rinnoji Temple area, go to Edo Wonderland, and maybe visit a day onsen (Akebi Onsen). Also, my husband and I have tattoos, so if we list an onsen/sento that does not accept tattoos now please let us know!

October 19: Explore Shibuya & Shinjuku areas. Maybe check out Harajuku?

October 20: Day Trip to Hakone: visit local shrines, take ropeway to Owakudani, visit Open Air Museum, and visit a day onsen (Tenzan Onsen).

October 21: This is one I need some help with – my friend really wants to see the life-sized Gundam statue at Odaiba, but I’ve heard there’s not too much to do in that area now. Would you guys suggest a ride down to Yokohama to see the other Gundam instead? We would also have fun visiting the Cup Noodle Museum.

October 22: Take train to Kyoto, check in at either Hotel Lantern Gion or Hibari Hostel & Books. Spend rest of day exploring historical area of Kyoto.

October 23: Explore Arashiyama area. Bamboo Forest (taking into consideration it will probably be very busy) and Iwatayama Monkey Park.

October 24: Day Trip to Osaka: explore Dotonbori, Osaka Castle, and eat, eat, eat.

October 25: Explore the big shrines in Kyoto – Fushimi-Inari, Kiyomizu-dera, perhaps more.

October 26: Day Trip to Nara: visit temples and run from hungry deer.

October 27-29: ???

October 30: Return home.

As you can see, we have some extra days that we don’t know what to fill with so there’s a lot of planning wiggle room. I was thinking a day trip to Hiroshima, but my husband and friend seem worried there won’t be enough to do there if we go. Are we putting too much stuff to do in one day? Are there other places or day trips you would recommend seeing?

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, and to any future commenters thanks for your input!

3 comments
  1. I would consider booking a full day tour of Tokyo and/or Kyoto. It allows you to see the major tourist sights without wasting time figuring it out yourself. Then you have the rest of the time for self exploration

  2. The Unicorn Gundam is near Team Lab Planets (one or two train stops, not sure the walk). We saw it from the train. I’d recommend trying to do the two on the same day

  3. Get a Pasmo because you will want to use the Keisei Sky Access to Asakusa, and Keisei sell the Pasmo, not Suica. Both work the same. That hostel is fine, stayed there for my first days on my trip.

    Did you consider staying in Hakone for a night instead of doing it as a day trip? From Asakusa it’s a longer to reach if you want to use cheaper train than the Shinkansen.

    “Historical area of Kyoto “…. That is vague, most of what tourist go see around Kyoto is historic.

    Osaka, your order is wrong, Dotonbori is a good nightlife spot and lot of light at night.

    Hiroshima there is enough to see to not get bored. Start early in the morning, stop by Himeji, try to be there around when the castle open, get lunch to eat in the Shinkansen, peace museum/park in the afternoon. Next day Miyajima, you would have time to hike to mountain if you want, return to Tokyo at the end of the day. That would be JR pass 22 to 28, 29 shopping in Tokyo.

    If you get the pass, do not exchange at the airport unless there is no line (unlikely) just exchange it in Ueno, h go o when the office open then instead of Ginza (unless you want to go shopping for luxury items), do Tokyo National Museum in Ueno park for your history museum.

    teamLab could be done same day as Odaiba, that yes, now there is mostly shopping centres there.

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