Trip report: 11 days in April 2023 (Osaka, Kyoto, Hakone and Tokyo)

Hi everyone! We barely prepared for our trip, because it was our honeymoon and we were so focused on the wedding that we didn’t really plan for this trip. Before arriving, we only had our hotels and teamLabs Planets booked. The information on this board was very helpful so I’d like to pay it forward!

*Practical stuff*

– Luggage forwarding was amazing. We did it from Osaka to Kyoto and from Kyoto to Tokyo. The second hotel didn’t advertise this service, but when we asked they happily obliged. It cost about 2500 yen for a large suitcase. Our luggage would arrive the next day around 2pm.

– The JR Pass wasn’t worth it for us. We only went with the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Odawara and it was easy to book tickets with the machine. We did neglect to buy the base fare initially because we didn’t understand it, but after checking this board I realized the mistake. It was easily fixed at the ticket office. If we’re being honest, we didn’t find the Shinkansen all that special. It is convenient but not much different from other fast trains like the Thalys (we’re from Europe).

– We bought an ICOCA card at a train station. We tried to buy it at 7/11 first but were directed to the ticket machines where we could indeed but the ICOCA. When we recharged later we always needed cash to do it, although perhaps there are machines where you can do it with a credit card, we didn’t really look for those.

– Cash everywhere! First night we couldn’t get a crepe because you had to order it from a machine that only accepted small bills we didn’t have. Later we found out that at places like 7/11, or anywhere really, they don’t mind if you pay with a 10,000 note for a small purchase. Cash was easy to withdraw with our foreign card at Seven bank ATMs which were ubiquitous.

– Vegetarian food is a challenge. We needed to prepare by looking online to see if there was any vegetarian dish on a menu. We didn’t find the Happy Cow app so useful for this, that seemed to have mainly Indian restaurants in areas we were looking at. We did find that if we asked to leave an ingredient out of a dish to make it vegetarian (using Google Translate) that they’d be happy to do that.

– We had dinner early, at around 5pm, to be able to go to restaurants without making a reservation.

– Mouth masks were not compulsory, but were worn almost universally in Osaka and Kyoto (a bit less in Tokyo). We wore masks on public transport to be polite.

– We were amazed that there are so many public restrooms and that they are so clean.

– To dry your hands after using the restroom you need to bring your own tiny towel. We got a cute one at the Nintendo Store in Osaka but in general you can get them anywhere.

– The lack of trash cans is no joke! We made sure to eat any food close to where we got it so that we could dispose of the trash.

– All hotels had plenty of amenities like toothbrushes, razors etc, usually at an “amenities bar” near reception. Very useful, especially the tiny toothpaste.

– People were super lovely if we needed any help. Which was not often as there are explanatory signs everywhere!

– It was very sunny during our stay so after a few days we got umbrellas for sun protection. Looking back it would have been useful to bring more long sleeved clothing for layering.

– Even though we took the subway/trains whenever we could, we still walked a lot. About 20,000 to 25,000 steps a day. Bring good shoes.

*Experiences in the cities*

OSAKA – April 9-11

We took a taxi from the airport. This was a splurge (about 18,000 yen) but it was really nice after a long flight, and we didn’t want to bring large luggage on trains during rush hour.

We had been excited about visiting the aquarium but felt bad after our visit. The tanks for the whale sharks and dolphins looked really small.

The Osaka Castle looked nice from the outside. We didn’t go in because lines were long. Instead we spent a couple of pleasant hours on a nearby roof terrace.

We didn’t go to Universal as we read on here how busy it was.

We really enjoyed the Nintendo Store and Pokemon Center. We prefered the ones in Osaka over those in Tokyo, we felt the ones in Osaka had a better selection.

We had breakfast at Eggs ‘n Things once and just loved it. Great pancakes. We were there at opening at 9am and didn’t need a reservation.

The Cup Noodle Museum was a highlight for us. It was just so joyful! We first did the activity where you draw on your cup and then pick ingredients for the ramen. So fun. We liked it so much that we also asked to do the Chicken Ramen Factory where you make the noodles. We got a time slot for an hour later and had a blast. It was entirely in Japanese but we could follow along ok.

KYOTO – April 11-14

We enjoyed the chill vibe here.

A highlight was the Miyako Odori, a dance show by maiko and geisha. It was beautiful. We had the worst seats in the theater (as this was planned last minute) but still had a great view.

We also enjoyed walking around in Gion and having ice cream and later craft beer.

Fushimi Inari was like our worst nightmare, lol. It was so busy when we went during an afternoon. We had a quick look and then left.

The Botanical Gardens were stunning and so peaceful.

HAKONE – April 14-16

We were so unprepared that we didn’t even learn about the Hakone Loop until our second day there, when we traveled to Gora where it is kind of impossible to miss. Overall we liked Hakone the best of all places we visited and would have liked to stay another night.

First night was in a ryokan which was such a nice experience.

Second day we did part of the Hakone Loop and had a blast. It was very crowded but well organized. We left our bags in a coin locker at Gora. We had great views of Mt. Fuji. We did turn back after the ropeway as we were worried we would miss the last cable car at 16.45 otherwise. If you can, you may want to do the loop in “reverse” as that direction seemed much less busy.

Behind Gora station there is a place called Ninja Cafe which was tons of fun. They had two (!) vegetarian dishes on the menu.

Our second night we had a hotel with a private onsen in the room which was very relaxing.

We took the Romancecar to Tokyo. We booked the tickets online the night before and could still get some seats on the observation deck at the back of the train, which was awesome as it gave us some more views of Mt Fuji.

TOKYO – April 16-19

We went to teamLab Planets but didn’t like it so much. It was busy with many screaming children. That made it hard to really immerse. The exhibits were nice for sure. We spent about an hour there.

We did some nice shopping here for our hobbies (embroidery and woodworking), there were some great stores.

We did a tea ceremony which was super interesting.

We visited some of the neighborhoods and that was fun, but if I’m honest our feet were killing us at this point so we were not super active.

That was it! We had a great time and were able to do a lot despite barely planning anything. The only thing I wish we would have planned better for was the Hakone trip, we were spectacularly uninformed about the Loop and could have done more of it if we had started earlier. Other than that no regrets, we had a wonderful time.