Hi all, another Itinerary check! My wife and I will be travelling in September. Feeling relatively comfortable enough now to start prebooking everything we need. We’re avid food and culture travellers but we’ve spent the last 2 years travelling Asia so are a bit templed out if our itinerary looks a bit temple-bare! Thrown in a few touristy things for entertainment but hope to come away with a feel for Japan, the food and the people. We havent schedules: Sumo wrestling (its on whilst we’re in Tokyo so hope to grab a booking), kabuki, Cooking classes or Food tours yet – any recommendations welcome! Anything in \[brackets\] we’ve left as optional incase we don’t have time or are tired/want to wander elsewhere
17/09 – Arrive Haneda 17:15, Travel to Shinjuku check in to our hotel and go find some dinner then sleep
18/09 – Imperial palace \[and Yushukan Museum\]
Tokyo Station for Lunch (Kitchen Street or Ichiban Gai?)
\[Teamlabs Planets – not sure on this as just seems like somewhere to take photos and worried it will be too busy to feel immersive or moving\]
Drinks in either Shinjuku or Ropongi Hills – Perhaps a cooking class or Food tour today instead
19/09 – Asakusa Senso-ji and Asakusa-Jina and walk towards Kaminarimon Gate
Walk around Ueno, go to the park maybe a museum
Akibahara
14:00 – Cultural experience with Matcha tea ceremony, Japanese Dance show, Kimono dressing, Calligraphy and origami
Street Go Karting
Kabukicho Tower for some dinner and drinks, Golden Gai if we want to continue the drinking
20/09 – Shibuya for the spectacle crossing, Hachiko, Shibuya Sky for the view
Check out Harajuku \[Yoyogi park\]
Roppongi hills for dinner
21/09 – Day trip to Nikko
Temple, Edo Wonderland, maybe a private onsen/Sake or Cycling Tour
22/09 – Leave Tokyo to arrive in Kyoto at 14:00 staying 10 mins walk from Nishiki Market
Check out the Market and Shinkyogoku Shopping Street
Gear Non-verbal Theatre show
23/09 – Early morning head to Fushimi Inari
Then over to Gio-ji Temple
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove if we haven’t had enough yet
\[Arashiyama Monkey Park\]
Fine dining for dinner if we can get a reservation – Recommendations welcome 🙂
24/09 – Nara day trip
25/09 – Self Walking tour of Higashiyama taking in the hits of Gion and a bunch of temples/scenic street and sights
Ending at Jisho-Ji
Dinner nearby
26/09 – Head to Hiroshima to arrive around 15:00 staying near the train station
Okonomimura for dinner \[or two\]
27/09 – Souffle Pancakes for breakfast (Recommendations welcome!)
A Bomb Dome, Peace Memorial Museum
Kagura Performance in the evening
Any recommendations for dinner?
28/09 – Miyajima for the day have a relaxed/early evening for a chaotic 2 days of travelling ahead
29/09 – Head to Mt Koya for a tempe stay (Around 5 hours travelling)
30/09 – Wake up early for the morning Rituals then leave around 10:00 back To Tokyo Haneda Airport hotel
01/10 – Say goodbye to our first, but hopefully not last, trip to japan!
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We know the stay in Mt Koya is hectic but we are prepared for it. We will travel for around 5 hours there arriving around 14:00, our temple has no curfew so we will hopefully enjoy 3 or so hours daylight exploring and then the evening explore the cemetary/area. We will then wake up again for about 05:45 and be leaving just after 10:00 so will see a bit more before leaving and then a 6 hour slog to our airport hotel!
Any critique, criticism or suggestions welcome! We’ve had our trip cancelled 4 times due to covid (Having originally planned it all in 2019) so changing and adapting everything has been a bit disheartening and overwhelming at this point so we are worried we might miss some glaring issues. We are comfortable with the travel and amount of hotel changes we have done this on previous trips utilizing domesitc/international flights without issue – albeit the issue of leaving somewhere and wanting more but thats what second and third trips can be for!
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Main questions:
\-Would you cut anything?
\-Would you add anything?
\-Any recommended cooking classes or Food tours in either of these locations?
1 comment
Did more or less the same itinerary this March-April, would recommend going to Koyasan after Kyoto, then Hiroshima. Koyasan might not be far from Kyoto, but it’s a bit of a hassle to get there (you need to take a combination of 3-4 trains + bus).
It will allow you to make the most of Koyasan and rush it less, spending time in Okunoin and even do some hiking. We did Miyajima / Haneda, travel time is 7 hours door-to-door.
Also, browse Tabelog to book restaurants in advance in Kyoto.