Hi, we are a group of 3 travelling for the second time in Japan in July from France. Last time we stayed in Osaka for 10 days and traveled around the kansai region. We planned too many things and were exhausted. This time, we would like to move across Japan and discover Tokyo !
We studied japanese at university so we can manage basic conversations and move around quite easily.
We already booked the hotels and Ryokans and did tons of research but we wanted to make sure something is not “off” in our itinerary. It is possible to change our booking.
**Day 1 Tokyo – 19 July**
* Land around 7 PM in Haneda and buy either a suica or metro pass + retrieve JRpass
* Check in at our hotel in Shinjuku
* find somewhere to eat (it will be my Bday!)
* walk around shinjuku
**Day 2 Tokyo – 20 July**
* Visit Akihabara and harajuku (walk+ shopping)
* Visit the Tokyo tower
**Day 3 Kamakura – 21 July**
* Take the train to Kamakura (I don’t want to miss the temples !)
* Spend most of the day visiting Kamakura.
* Have a swim in Kamakura (?)
* Go back to Tokyo
* Spend evening / night around our hotel in shinjuku
**Day 4 Tokyo – 22 July**
* Visit Asakusa
* Visit Ueno Park
* Visit Tokyo station area
**Day 5 Kyoto – 23 July**
* Take the Shinkansen to Kyoto
* Leave bags at hotel near Kyoto station
* Visit Kyomizudera (in renovation when we visited last time)
* Walk around Gion
* Visit Fushimi Inari by night
**Day 6 Kyoto/Osaka – 24 July**
* It’s the last day of Gion Matsuri so there should be a parade (?)
* Enjoy the matsuri
* Spend the evening in Osaka (matsuri day) with a friend who lives there.
**Day 7 Kyoto – 25 July**
* Go early to Arashiyama and Iwatayama park
* ?? We don’t know yet how to complete this last day in Kyoto, just rest and chill ?
**Day 8 Hiroshima – 26 July**
* Leave for Hiroshima in the morning
* Check-in at the hotel
* Walk around historical parts of the city
* Visit shopping/food streets
**Day 9 Miyajima / Hiroshima – 27 July**
* Take the ferry to Miyajima
* Visit the Island and take the ropeway to Mt. Misen
* Go back to Hiroshima and visit the castle if we have time
**Day 10 Kanazawa – 28 July**
* Take the shinkansen early to Kanazawa
* Eat around the maret
* Visit the Kenrokuen garden
* Explore the samurai district
* Visit the castle area
* Enjoy the Hokkoku fireworks near the sea (last saturday of July)
**Day 11 Takayama – 29 July**
* Walk a last time in the central area
* Take the train to Takayama
* Leave bags in our Ryokan
* Enjoy the old town
* Visit the Sakurayama shrine
* Do a sake brewery tour
**Day 12 Takayama – 30 July**
* Enjoy the market in the morning
Difficult to choose at this point :
* (?) take the train to visit Gero onsen and enjoy different onsens
* (?) Take a bus to the Hotaka ropeway
* (?) Plan a nature hike
**Day 13 Tokyo – 31 July**
* Take the train back to Tokyo
* (?) Make a stop near Fuji ? (I would love to bike around Kawaguchiko but dont know how to fit it in my itinerary…)
* Visit Akihabara
**Day 14 Tokyo – 1 August**
* Go to the TeamLabs in the morning
* Eat around Tsukiji market
* Visit sumida aquarium + skytree
* Visit something we missed in Tokyo (?)
**Day 15 Airport – 2 August**
* Plane back to France leaves at 11AM !
It would be very cool if you could tell us what you think of this itinerary !
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Cheers !
6 comments
I will say, this was my own personal opinion I guess, but TeamLabs felt…very underwhelming when I went a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t realize it was basically just a few rooms for people to take social media pictures in. That’s about all it felt like to me, at least. The water room was definitely really cool though.
depending on what time you clear customs and immigration at HND, the JR office closes at 8PM, so you might not be able to retrieve the JR Pass. If you can’t, the Shinjuku JR office is also possible.
I would skip TeamLabs Planet and suggest Small Worlds instead!
Sounds amazing, hope can go one day!
Last day in Kyoto, try visiting Uji and doing a tea ceremony lesson. It’s Japans most famous matcha region.
Hi!
This is not meant to be rude.
I am just going to throw out there July and August are very hot and humid in Japan. I’ve noticed a lot of Europeans in particular seem to find it just stifling because of the heat and humidity. It’s totally survivable, I tend to go in June, just be aware of that because it could affect your energy levels while sightseeing if you’re not prepared for it.
I probably would not pick the Hokata Ropeway as my activity when in the Okuhida regions because of this:
[https://shinhotaka-ropeway.jp/2022/11/30/%e3%80%902023%e5%b9%b45%e6%9c%888%e6%97%a5%ef%bc%88%e6%9c%88%ef%bc%89%ef%bd%9e8%e6%9c%889%e6%97%a5%ef%bc%88%e6%b0%b4%ef%bc%89%e3%80%91%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%86%e3%83%8a%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b9%e5%b7%a5/](https://shinhotaka-ropeway.jp/2022/11/30/%e3%80%902023%e5%b9%b45%e6%9c%888%e6%97%a5%ef%bc%88%e6%9c%88%ef%bc%89%ef%bd%9e8%e6%9c%889%e6%97%a5%ef%bc%88%e6%b0%b4%ef%bc%89%e3%80%91%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%86%e3%83%8a%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b9%e5%b7%a5/)
I love onsen but Gero is going to be quite hot during the day. If you want to go to an onsen look at Hirayu since it is further into the mountains and perhaps look into a day trip to Kamikochi. You might be able to fit both since Hirayu is the transfer station for Kamikochi.
I think trying to get from Takayama to Kawaguchiko is going to take a very long time because they’re not very close to one another at all. You could take a bus from Takayama to Matsumoto and then the train to Otsuki and then transfer or you can go via Takayama to Nagoya on a Hida and then the shinkansen to Mishima and then a bus to Kawaguchiko.
You would need to cut something out to really give yourself any time in Kawaguchiko. Do be aware June, July and August are among the 3 worst months for viewing Mt. Fuji and it does tend to be snow free (as July and August are the main climbing season.)
From Hiroshima to Kanazawa is going to take you like 5+ hours. You can take a Sakura shinkansen between Hiroshima and Shin-Osaka and then change for a Thunderbird but that will be around a 5 hour trip.
I get wanting to see the fireworks. I personally found Kenrokuen disappointing in June and I am not sure it is that much better in July. It will be quite green and ice cream of course tastes better when it is super hot and humid, If you look at their flower/plant calendar you will see mid June to August is kind of a bummer compared to March-May.
[https://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kenrokuen/e/season-koyomi.html](https://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kenrokuen/e/season-koyomi.html)
I went in November in ’09 or ’08 and had a great time but despite loving Kanazawa in general, understood why my tween preferred other gardens when we went in late June..
Good luck!
I did a day trip to Kamakura last week and loved it. If you want an early breakfast go to Cobakaba just around the corner from the station, really great traditional breakfast.
And go to Enoshima via the Enoden (Enoshima Electric Railway) if you’ve got the space for it! I only spent the last hour or so of my time in Kamakura there, it doesn’t need much time but the train is charming if you’re into that kinda thing.