Hello!
I will be visiting Japan in September with my mom – first time for her and second time for me, I will also be staying a few days extra after she leaves.
I would love to get feedback on my itinerary so far, whether it is achievable and so forth. I think my Tokyo and Kyoto itineraries specifically can be optimized still.
**Can someone advise if the JR pass is worth it for this trip? Will it cover all of our destinations?**
**Would appreciate recommendations for restaurants that have vegetarian options (I’m vegetarian but my mom isn’t).**
**I would also appreciate advice regarding which areas to search for hotels in each city.**
**Regarding Ghibli Park in Aichi: how long in advance do I need to buy tickets? Is there a difference if I buy them or a local resident buys them?**
# Tokyo
Restaurants:
T’s tantan at Tokyo station
**Sept. 6th, Wednesday (Day 1)**
Arrive at NRT at 17:35
Get to Hotel in Tokyo and check in.
**Sept. 7th, Thursday (Day 2)**
Kamakura day trip:
\- Hokokuji Temple
\- Hase-dera temple
\- Kotoku-in
\- Sasuke Inari
\- Zeniarai Benten
\- Engakuji Temple
\- Meigetsu-in
\- Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine
\- Komachidori street
\- Ofuna Kannon-ji
# Hiroshima
Restaurants:
Nagataya near Peace Park
**Sept. 8th, Friday (Day 3)**
\- Leave Tokyo early morning and get to Hiroshima, leave luggage at hotel
\- Mitaki-dera and hike around shrine
**Sept. 9th, Saturday (Day 4)**
Miyajima day trip – visit shrines and main shopping street and take the Mt. Misen ropeway
**Sept. 10th, Sunday (Day 5)**
\- Hiroshima peach museum + park
\- Atomic Bomb Dome
\- Hiroshima Castle
\- Shukkeien Garden
\- Make way to Osaka in the evening
\- Go to Dotonbori to eat
# Osaka
Restaurants:
Rikuro’s cafe for cheesecake
**Sept. 11th, Monday (Day 6)**
\- Osaka Castle
\- Pokemon + Nintendo Store
\- Donguri Kyowakoku (Ghibli store)
\- Namba Yasaka Jinja
\- Shinsekai
\- Umeda Sky Building\\Abeno Harukas
\- Teamlab Botanical Garden
**Sept. 12th, Tuesday (Day 7)**
Nara day trip (either go back to Osaka for the night or continue to Kyoto for Nara)
**\* anyone know when the Uneme Festival will be held this year?**
# Kyoto
**Sept. 13th, Wednesday (Day 8)**
\- Kiyomizu-dera
\- Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka
\- Kodai-ji temple
\- Murayama Park
\- Chion-in Temple
\- Shōren-in Temple
\- Yasaka Shrine
**Sept. 14th, Thursday (Day 9)**
\- Arashiyama
\- Okochi Sanso Garden
\- Kameyama Park
\- Tenryu-ji Temple
\- Jojakkoji
\- Gioji
\- Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street
\- Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple
\- Daikakuji Temple
\- Kimono Forest
**Sept. 15th, Friday (Day 10)**
\- Kinkakuji
\- Ninnaji Temple
\- Kiyomizu-dera – SEIRYU-E: from 2 PM
\- Nishiki Market
\- Nijo Castle
\- Gion
**Sept. 16th, Saturday (Day 11)**
\- Fushimi Inari
\- Sekiho-ji Temple
\- Daigoji
\- Sanjusangendo Temple
\- Kyoto Tower
**Sept. 17th, Sunday (Day 12)**
\- Kifune-jinja
\- Ginkakukji (Silver Pavillion)
\- Philosopher’s Path
\- Eikando Temple
\- Nanzen-ji
\- Heian Shrine
\- Karasuma/Kawaramachi
# Takayama
Restaurants:
Heianraku
Sakurajaya
**Sept. 18th, Monday (Day 13)**
\- Leave Kyoto early morning and go to Takayama
\- Sanmachi
\- Hida Kokubunji Temple
\- Takayama Jinya
\- Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine
\- Higashiyama Walking Course
**Sept. 19th, Tuesday (Day 14)**
Kamikochi day trip
**Sept. 20th, Wednesday (Day 15)**
Shirakawa-go day trip
Go to Kanazawa after Shirakawa-go
# Kanazawa
**Sept. 21st, Thursday (Day 16)**
\- Myoryu-ji (Ninja Temple)
\- Nagamachi District
\- Kenrokuen Garden
\- Kanazawa Castle Park
\- Omicho Market
\- Higashi Chaya District
**Sept. 22nd, Friday (Day 17)**
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route: roundtrip
# Tokyo
**Sept. 23rd, Saturday (Day 18)**
\- Arrive from Kanazawa in the morning
\- Depart for Koma station after leaving luggage at hotel and having breakfast
\- Manjushage Festival in Koma
**Sept. 24th, Sunday (Day 19)**
\- Tokyo Skytree
\- Senso-ji Temple + Asakusa
\- Ueno Park
**Sept. 25th, Monday (Day 20)**
Kawaguchi day trip:
\- Chureito Pagoda \***is it better to visit it first or last? Is around 9 AM a good time?**
\- Fuji Sengen-Jinja Shrine
\- Oishi Park & Nagasaki Park
\- Kachi-Kachi Yama Ropeway
**Sept. 26th, Tuesday (Day 21)**
\- Shinjuku
\- Harajuku
\- Shibuya
\- Tokyo Tower
**Sept. 27th, Wednesday (Day 22)**
Nikko day trip:
\- Shinkyo Bridge
\- Rinnoji Temple + Shoyoen Garden
\- Toshogu Shrine
\- Futarasan Shrine
\- Taiyuin
**Sept. 28th, Thursday (Day 23)**
\- Teamlab Planets
\- Tsukiji Fish Market
\- Departure – mom’s flight is at 22:00
2 comments
https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/ to see if JR Pass makes sense. From what I can see a 7 day pass produces a small saving, a 14 day pass does not but a 21 day pass produces a good saving. You have a patch between day 9 and 16 where it will be not a lot of value. I assume when you do the Alpine Route you will use the pass to go to Toyama and then to return from Nagano or Matsumoto.
Consider moving one of your Tokyo days at the end to the start to settle in a bit more.
Consider Tokyo – Osaka – Hiroshima – Kyoto instead of Tokyo – Hiroshima – Osaka – Kyoto. Same travel distances but breaks up the long journey on day 3. Osaka and Kyoto are very close.
Consider stopping at Okayama when returning from Hiroshima. Okayama has one of the top 3 gardens in Japan with a castle next to it. It’s a ten minute local bus from the station and you can leave your bags in lockers at the station.
Rather than returning to Kanazawa after the Alpine route consider forwarding your bags to Tokyo hotel and staying overnight at Matsumoto. It’s a popular day trip from Tokyo for the Castle, you could wake up there before going to Tokyo. You could forward some luggage to the end of the Alpine route.
If you get a 21 day pass you mother can ride the NXT Express to Narita for free (3100 Yen). As could you and return if you want.
The order seems a bit odd to me. Why go Kyoto -> Takayama -> Kanazawa -> Tokyo? As far as I’m aware, there’s no easy, direct route between Kyoto and Takayama. You’d need to go through Nagoya and the total time is over 3 hours. On the other hand, you can take a limited express directly from Kyoto to Kanazawa (JR Thunderbird) which takes only about 2 hours.
Not only that, but Takayama is in between Kanazawa and Tokyo. There is a bus that goes between Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Takayama. So your best route would be: Kyoto -> Kanazawa -> Shirakawa-go -> Takayama -> Tokyo. I actually did this in reverse order several years ago. And I think it’s still the most efficient route.
Also, your days are really packed with places to visit. I think this will be a problem especially in Kyoto as public transit isn’t as pervasive as in Tokyo and Osaka. How do you intend to get around?
I love going to temples and shrines, and there are certainly many beautiful and significant ones in Kyoto, but aren’t you worried you might get burnt out on their appeal from going to several each day?
Some more notes:
* Why visit Kiyomizu-dera twice? I get that one time is for an event, so why not see the rest of the temple grounds on that day? Perhaps rearrange the schedule to put the other things that are nearby in Eastern Kyoto (Day 8) onto the same day?
* On Day 8, I think you mean Maruyama Park, not Murayama park. They both exist, but the former is a big park in Higashiyama, while the second is a small park in Minami.
* On Day 10, why go back to Gion at the end? It seems a bit out of order, since you’ll be right nearby when you go to Kiyomizu-dera earlier in the day, not to mention that you’ll be in that area on Day 8 as well.
* Some of the places you’ve chosen, such as Philosopher’s Path, are renowned for their cherry blossoms in spring or their autumn leaves. But as you’ll be there in late summer/early autumn, you won’t see those or the beautiful autumn leaves (they don’t usually start changing in Kyoto until November). Since your days are quite packed, you might consider this is a criterion for eliminating some from your itinerary.