Hi all, hope to get feedback on our upcoming Japan trip. We are traveling during the golden week (unfortunately this is the only time that works for us). We are also in the workation mode (i.e; working while traveling during EST hours – roughly from 11:00 pm JST till 5:00 am JST on weekdays )
We made the following reservations in advance to brace for the rush.
* Hotel reservations in Shinjuku, Kyoto, and Osaka.
* Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto
* teamLab planets
It would be great if you could review the plan below and share your feedback on the following
1. Is this plan realistic?
2. Anything we should add/remove? For example – any popular places that we are missing and any overrated places that we included in this list.
3. Any tips for the golden week travel?
**Saturday, Apr 29, 2023**
* Flight lands in NRT around 6 pm
* Shinjuku night life (Kabukicho, Omoide Yokochō) –> 8:30pm – 10:30pm
**Sunday, Apr 30, 2023**
* TeamLab Planets –> 8 am – 1 pm
* Tokyo Skytree –> 2 pm – 4 pm
* Asakusa \[Senso ji temple, Area exploration\] –> 2pm – 6:30pm
* Akihabara –> 7pm – 11:30pm
**Monday, May 1, 2023**
* Meji shrine + Yoyogi park –> 9am to 12:30pm
* Harazuku –> 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm
* Shibuya \[Shiubuya crossing, Shibuya sky, Shopping\] –> 3:30pm to 8:30pm
**Tuesday, May 2, 2023**
* Imperial palace + Ginza shopping district –> 1:00pm to 6:00pm
* If possible, anything else we could cover before the Shinkansen at 8:45 pm
**Wednesday, May 3, 2023**
* Arashiyama –> 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm
* Gion District –> 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm
**Thursday, May 4, 2023**
* Nijo Castle + Kyoto imperial palace –> 1:00pm to 3:00pm
* Kiyomizu-dera –> 4:00 pm to 8:00pm
**Friday, May 5, 2023**
* Kinkaku-ji –> 1:30pm to 3:00pm
* Fushimi Inari Shrine –> 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm
* Osaka – Dotonbori –> 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
**Saturday, May 6, 2023**
* Flight at 10 am from KIX
1 comment
TLDR: **You probably should skip Kyoto since your *workation* would interfere with any sane plans and you should focus on cities like Kobe or Osaka that somewhat support that kind of hours.**
Your plan for Sunday, April 30th is silly – in general if you start teamLab in the morning (10am-ish) it is doable to hit all those place, but you probably be better off visiting Akihabara during the early afternoon, then hitting off Asakusa and ending at Skytree in the evening. Akihabara is pretty much dead (save some sex businesses at night) and once the shops close – there is absolutely nothing to do since dinner options vary between awful and mediocre
Monday, May 1st: Harajuku should be hit as soon as possible – that will not save you much during Golden Week, but late morning is still less insanely crowded than afternoons.
Wednesday, May 3rd: I don’t know what you are planning for the morning, but hitting Arashiyama that late afternoon would mean that you will be rushed and the area will be extremely crowded. Also, unless you have reservations already set – there is not much point to spending that much in Gion during evening (even if looking for vibe and lanterns – 2 hours would be enough).
Thursday, May 4th: You will not get through Nijo-jo and Imperial Palace in 2 hours. Kiyomizu-dera would be also packed in the late afternoon with lengthy queues and closes at 6pm, you also pass on seasonal Joju-in garden viewing times.
Friday, May 5th: Both Kinkaku-ji and Fushimi Inari are likely to be extremely packed at those hours.