Solo trip for 18 days

7 comments

1. For day 5/11 I’d recommend either:

   – Day trip to Kobe. Lots to do there (Meriken Park, Earthquake Musuem, Nunobiki Herb Garden and Ropeway, Mount Maya night view, Kobe beef)

   – Day trip to Himeji. See the castle, see the gardens. Lunch in Himeji and then train back to Osaka. Checkout Dotonbori.

   ~~- Day trip to Nara. See the temples, see the deer. Lunch in Nara and then train back to Osaka. Checkout Dotonbori.~~ Missed that this was on day 7

   Regarding day 13 and 14, you’ve picked things that are on different sides of Tokyo and really packed the days. I’d recommend reconfiguring it:

   13)

   * Imperial Palace
   * Asakusa / Sensoji
   * Sky tree

   ​

   14) Shibuya/Shinjuku

   * Meiji Jingu- Harajuku
   * Shibuya Crossing
   * Daikanyama
   * Shinjuku I Land
   * Shinjuku Gyoen
   * Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

   ​

   17)

   * Odaiba
   * Ginza
   * Tsukiji fish market
   * Tokyo Tower

2. I know you mentioned you’re taking a tour of kyoto so maybe it’s faster guided but those four things are all in opposite areas of the city and take a decent chunk of time. I’d maybe move one of you’re free Osaka days to kyoto

3. So, your plans are too ambitious. Do you have much experience with international solo travel? I just ask because I think you’re underestimating how much of your day can get eaten up by travel time between places. Between your itinerary and your initial comments at the start of your post you are interested in visiting: Tokyo, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Osaka, Kyoto, Shirakawago, Takayama, Kanazawa, Koyasan, Mt Fuji/Hakone; and then frankly I would consider Disney Sea and USJ almost like city-sized attractions in their own right. This is way too many major destinations for an 18 day trip. Hell, this would keep you busy for a 30-day trip. Since you are planning this far out (which is good! This is good!) definitely look at extending the length of your trip if you can. I’ve been blessed to take two 30-day trips to Japan in my life, both flew by, and on both trips I think I visited too many cities. Don’t make my mistake. In general I don’t advise that travelers spend fewer than 2 nights in any place. One-night stops create a situation where you end up spending a significant chunk of your day just going between cities, checking in and out of hotels/hostels/airbnbs, etc. Day trips are okay, but only when they are truly easy to get to. For example, a day trip from Osaka/Kyoto to Nara is very doable. A day trip to Shirakawago from Osaka on the other hand is a terrible idea. Do your research, read about Takayama and Shirakawago. If you decide that they interest you, plan to budget several days to exploring that region (I think two nights in Takayama and one night staying at one of the farmhouse inns in Shirakawago is well worth it). Same with Kanazawa, Kanazawa is a full-sized city worth investing your time if it interests you. It’s also a fair trek from Osaka/Kyoto. Remember that when you travel between major cities there’s a lot more to transportation then you might think. For example, you will have to check out of your accomodation, then walk to the closest bus/train station, take the local train/bus (or 2) to the main shinkansen station, catch the shinkansen going to your next destination, catch a local train/bus (or two) from the main train station to the part of town you’re staying in, walk from that station to your actual accomodation, check in to that accommodation. Overall that can take up a huge portion of a day (we’re talking 6-8 hours). And with each of those major jumps, you eat up more and more of your trip. My advice would be to pare your trip down to maybe 4 major locations for an 18-day trip (5 tops). Also, if you’re from the US and have experience attending theme parks in the US, skip USJ and Disney Sea. You’re in Japan, go see things that are unique and special, not attractions that are replicated around the world.

   Also just to single out one day in your itinerary, on day 6, these are all wonderful sights to see, but they are all in different parts of Kyoto, and it’s not particularly realistic to see and fully enjoy all of them in one day.

4. Move one of your Osaka days to Kyoto. Those things you want to see are not close to each other at all. It’ll be difficult to squeeze them into one day.

5. Here in japan rn, you have too much on your plate already. Ueno and Akihabara are in separate districts, and you’ll want to allocate several days for each. Learn the subway system and plan out your routes accordingly, you’ll need to allocate travel time in between each and also time to find out where things are. Plan specific stores if you can, it usually helps. We took 3 days in Akihabara alone due to the amount of stuff that was there.

6. Your chat gpt prompt totally failed if it thinks those last Tokyo days are designed to minimize travel. Do it the old fashioned way with pins on google maps

7. Your day trip on Day 9 is too much. I don’t see how you can make it back to Nagoya after all that.

   I don’t understand why you go back to Osaka on Day 10-11 since you were already there on Day 5. Why not stay in Nagoya?