Hi Everyone! Excited to say that my wife (F32) and I (M31) will be going to Japan for the first time this May. This is a dream location for the both of us and we are excited to experience the culture and country! We will be going from May 13 to May 31 (but May 13 is lost in flight).
All hotels and airfare are booked. We will be booking attractions and restaurant reservations this week. We plan to get the 14-day JR pass mid way through the trip to cover the second half of the trip.
From past travels, we have come to realize that we like smaller/slow paced cities over large metro cities. We also prefer daytime activities over nightlife. I’ve listed the following itinerary to breakdown the areas/wards that we will visit and some options in that area. We try not to overpack days (hopefully) because we like taking our sweet old time everywhere we go. We are not worried about covering absolutely everything as we will definitely try to go back in the future. Although I grew up watching Anime, I am not super interested in doing all the anime themed activities/restaurants/shops. Also not interested in Disney/Universal Studio.
I have researched sights/activities (mostly shrines, museums, parks, streets, window shopping, eating) in each of these locations and we will end up doing a few of them while spending most of our time walking around, people watching, and visiting shops/restaurants. We are planning to wake up around 6 am and sleeping around 10 pm. We have kept our options open on some days to rest, if needed, but can plan to fit in another area if we are not tired.
Also, we are vegetarian (no fish and no meat) and do not drink alcohol. I still need to find a few food options in each area so we don’t have to travel far to eat.
I’d appreciate any wisdom/advice/recommendations on our itinerary. Thanks in advance!
\——– Tokyo (hotel in Ginza) —————
* Day 1 (May 14) – Arriving in Haneda around 4pm. Check in and hang out near Ginza.
* Day 2 (May 15) – Shinjuku / Gyoen Park
* Day 3 (May 16) – Imperial Palace / Tokyo Station / Shibuya / Shibuya Sky
* Day 4 (May 17) – Akihabara and Ginza (in morning) / I have booked tickets to the Basho in Ryogoku Kokugikan (around 12:30 pm) / Back to Akihabara for the night / TeamLab Planet (maybe)
* Day 5 (May 18) – Asakusa / Kappabashi / National Museum / Kabukiza in the evening (maybe)
* Day 6 (May 19) – Buffer day in Tokyo to cover anything we found interesting/didn’t get time to check out – OR – day trip to Nikko
\——- Fujikawaguchiko (hotel near Oishi Park) ———
* Day 7 (May 20) – Train from Tokyo / Kawaguchiko
* Day 8 (May 21) – Kawaguchiko / Train to Kyoto (\~4 hour trip) / hang out around Higashiyama district
\——- Kyoto (hotel near Higashiyama district) ———
* Day 9 (May 22) – Gion / Ginkakuji / Philosopher’s Path
* Day 10 (May 23) – Arashiyama / Bamboo Forest / Arashiyama (just in the city) / Monkeys
* Day 11 (May 24) – Photo session day (hiring someone to take family pictures lol) / Optional day to cover things or rest / hangout or picnic at a park
* Day 12 (May 25) – Nara (Day Trip)
* Day 13 (May 26) – Fushimi Inari (Hike) / Kyoto National Museum / Nishiki Market area
* Day 14 (May 27) – Osaka (Day Trip)
* Day 15 (May 28) – Arashiyama / Private boat ride / Nagano Scenic Railway / Anything missed in the area the first time
* Day 16 (May 29) – Osaka (Day Trip) – OR – other possible day trips (Himeji Castle, Uni City, Kurashiki, Hiroshima/Miyajima Island, or Takayama)
* Day 17 (May 30) – Kyoto Chilling/Shopping
* Day 18 (May 31) – Train to Tokyo in morning / Hang out in Tokyo / Flight from Haneda at 6 pm
5 comments
Waking up at 6, you won’t have a lot of options of things to do. Most attractions start to open at 9am, sometimes 10. Shops only open at 10-11am.
For example kind of useless to go to Akihabara in the morning when nothing ois open justo return in the afternoon.
14 days pass is more expensive than individual tickets unless you go to Hiroshima.
You have to get your JR pass set up and mailed to you before you get to Japan. Then you bring the paperwork that they mail you and turn it at a train station and they give you your train pass.
Here’s a few really good restaurants with vegatarian options you should hit up in Tokyo:
* T’s Tan Tan – Tokyo JR Station ( I think it’s within the train gates )
* Vegan Bistro Jangara ( Harajuku )
* Jikasei MENSHO ( Shibuya )
* Few other Veg ramen options: https://ramenbeast.com/blogs/news/tokyos-best-vegan-and-vegetarian-ramen
The are many vegatarian options around in tokyo, you’ll have more trouble in smaller towns. I’m not sure how strict you are at being a vegetarian, but Japan likes to sneak fish into everything (benito broth), if you mention you’re vegatarian some places might think you still eat fish too.
T’s Tan Tan sell instant cup noodle in their store, so you can grab a few for a snack / meal if you get caught out in the country.
Disclaimer that I’m less than a week into my trip but I also came into it wanting to do a 10pm-6am sleep schedule. As others have pointed out, most stuff doesn’t open till 10.
I saw these warnings before my trip and thought people were being dramatic.. they’re not. The only thing open is Starbucks.
Days that I want to do stuff that doesn’t have an “opening time” I’ll still keep this schedule, fushimi Inari, gion without crowds, tsukiji etc.
I’d suggest checking what time things open and planning to go an hour ahead.
This worked GREAT with senso-ji in particular.. I got to walk the grounds, get my fortune & take it all in without crowds, right when the shops opened at 10am the crowds came with it. This way I got to experience it without the crowds but didn’t miss out on all the shops once they opened! same with
Osaka castle, showed up at 8 & walked around until it opened.
I’m there for those days too. You better have already bought team lab tix already if you’re wanting to go.