Booking this holiday has been quite the challange for me. I will be travelling to Japan solo and this will be my first time doing this.
My original holiday was 10 days (april 17 -> april 27). I fly from Amsterdam to Tokyo with a transfer in Shanghai, China. This is were the problem occurs. I did not know that a PCR-test was recuired to enter China, especially because I had a transfer of 3 hours there. Therefore I got denied entering the plane. Luckily I got to change my ticket to next saturday and now have 14 days in Japan (april 22 -> may 6).
Because of my original 10 day stay in Japan I bought a 72 hours subway ticket in Tokyo and a 7 day Japan Rail Pass. Now I have 4 extra days without a Rail Pass. I can’t change my ticket or refund it and I dont want to buy another 7 day pass. I still want to travel around Japan and don’t want to be stuck in one place for the remaining 4 days.
I will post my original itinerary. If you have any recommandations, tips and advice, PLEASE let me know. I myself am not a person that wants to plan out everyday with all kinds of activiteis. Some days will have things planned, but others will be empty because I also like to figure stuff out there. But you are more then welcome to give me recommendations and advice. I have booked an hotel from april 23 to april 25 in Tokyo. All my other days I will search for a sleeping place there. These could be hostels or capsule hotels or anything else. I want to go out of my comfort zone and start socializing more. And by spending less on my sleeping place I can spend more on activities. So any recommandations on sleeping places in the area I will stay in are also very welcome.
**April 22**
* \- At 12.50 my plane leaves from Amsterdam to Tokyo.
**April 23**
* At 12.50 I arrive in Tokyo (stated on my ticket, but I know it will be later then that).
* Activate my 72 hours subway ticket in Tokyo. (for this itinerary I will active the ticket at 14:00)
* Travel to my capsule hotel (close to Ueno Station).
* Settle in, explore the area close to my hotel, nothing special because I will be really tired of the flight.
**April 24**
* Travel to Shibayu to explore.
* Yoyogipark and Meji Shrine.
* 14:00 – 48 hours left on subway ticket.
* Sakura street.
* Cat street.
* Shibuya crossing.
**April 25**
* Travel to Chiyoda.
* Owl cafe Fukurou ?
* Shiba cafe ?
* 14:00 – 24 hours left on subway ticket.
**April 26**
* Early travel to Hakone (2 days free pass Hakone).
* Search for a sleeping place to leave my baggage behind.
* Use all sorts of transport and walking around. There is one circle path that they recommend using all sorts of transport.
* Stay the night.
**April 27**
* Early leave to Kyoto (activating my Japan Rail Pass) (for this itinerary I will activate the Pass at 08:00)
* Search for a sleeping place to leave my baggage behind
* For my stay in Kyoto I have not planned anything so if you have recommandations I’d like to hear them
**April 28**
* Stay in Kyoto
**April 29**
* Very early leave to Hiroshima
* 08:00 6 days left on JR Pass
* Search for a sleeping place to leave my baggage behind.
* Visit the Miyajima island, visit Daisho-In temple and walking around
* Afternoon/evening visit the Atomic Dome and Peace Memorial Park (with history I was always most interested in the subject WOII so I look forward to visiting the Park)
**April 30**
* If there are things that I missed in Hiroshima I will visit them, if not I will travel to Osaka. I am not in a rush this way and don’t want to miss precious things in Hiroshima.
* 08:00 5 days left on JR Pass
* Travel to Osaka
* Search for a sleeping place
* Walk around close to my hotel
**May 1**
* Explore Osaka I have not planned anything so recommandations are welcome
* 08:00 4 days left on JR Pass
**May 2**
* From this point I am stuck on what I’d like to do
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* I heard some good things about Takayama, which is a possibility for me.
* Maybe go to Kanazawa aswell.
* What is the most beautiful place for cherry blossoms close to where I stay?
* Not really interested in Nara.
* Thinking about spending the last 3 days in Tokyo again, because it ofcourse is really big and I can buy another 72 hours subway ticket.
If you have come to this point, thank you for reading all of this. If you have any tips, advice, recommandations or anything you are more then welcome to leave them in the comments. Thank you!
3 comments
If you can also do the Fuji Shibazakura festival on April 26 that could be fun — haven’t done it yet but looks nice, this is my plan early May
I’m not sure your aware but April 29th-May 5th is Golden week, so it will probably be more crowded and it might be more difficult to get accommodation.
Also some touristy things need to be booked in advance.
Also, booking.com allows you to make reservations and has free cancellation
Hi, few notes :
– I will travel in the same date as you (24 to 8), be careful of Golden week that could make transport busy and hotel in touristic area overpriced
– I think you should not stress that much on transports pass. The main cost is the Shinkansen , so please just be sure to return in Tokyo area within the 7 days of your JR Pass, as you seems to travel on a budget. Where in big city, just the Suica or Passmo card is enough and not really more expensive than the pass, if you are not moving every 5 minutes. Biking and getting lost in the neighbors of Tokyo is also a cool thing if you can spend time doing it.
– your time in each location seems very tight, I really enjoyed getting lost wandering when I was travelling alone in japan. If you do not have enough time, it will only be a rush of experiences to check, without time for discovery.
– even cheapest hotel or bnb rooms in Japan are usually clean. And business hotels will not be rushed at during golden week (but not charming) Just avoid the breakfast
– make some research to locate the kind of neighbor you would like to see. I have really enjoyed the « japan hipster » ones like Shimokitazawa in Tokyo.Easier also to find Japanese speaking English in those areas, made some nice encounters.
– you can also make really nice hikes if you like it, from nearly anywhere
– you do not specify your interest in travel in your post (food, cultural, nature, anime/manga, shopping, medieval japan, onsen, car racing… ) by doing this redditors will be able to give your better ideas. Please be sure that for any interest you could have, even the weirdest, you will find some very strange Japanese totally dedicated to it !!!