Itinerary Check: 13 Days in late May in Tokyo with day trips to Nikko, Hakone, and Kamakura

**Hotel**: Near Shinjuku station and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

**Locations**: Tokyo only with some day trips to Hakone, Nikko, and Kamakura

**Dates**: 13 Days; Arriving May 21 and Leaving June 2 (both travel days are not booked for anything but travel so really 11 days)

**Interests**: Food, Anime, History/Culture, Shopping, Nightlife

Taking my first visit to Japan in a couple weeks and just wanted to check for any flaws in my plan before I go as well as get some suggestions for some gaps I have in my itinerary. A few things to note, I’m not very well-versed in Japanese but I’ve more than learned the necessary phrases, learned all hiragana and katakana, and have beginner understanding of grammar and a few Kanji but not enough to hold a conversation. I’ll also be traveling solo but I’m no stranger to big cities and I understand the usual do’s and don’ts of being somewhere you’re not from. I’m also looking for nightlife experiences (bars/clubs/live music) so if anybody has recommendations on that front, that would be greatly appreciated. I’m in my mid twenties, very active guy who doesn’t mind doing lots of walking/hiking so days where I’ll be walking from area to area won’t bother me too much.

I don’t plan on scheduling each of these to any specific date, this way I can play it by ear on a day-to-day basis, but I do hope to use the pedestrian friendly days for Akihabara and Ginza, a day with nice weather for a trip to Kamakura, and fingers crossed that Mt Fuji will be visible on the Hakone visit. And I plan on revisiting Shinjuku and Shibuya on multiple nights for the bars/clubs. I also tried to organize these items in each day by the order I would go to them but willing to move things around if there is a quicker/easier/cheaper way to get things done.

**Shibuya**

– Breakfast at Eggslut in Shinjuku
– Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park
– Shopping (Mandarake, Nintendo, Donquijote, Animate, Tower Records, Miyashita Park)
– Lunch and Dinner options I’m looking at are BeBu-Ya Yakiniku, Ichiran Ramen, and Uobei Sushi
– Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko Statue
– Shibuya Sky and Shibuya Scramble Square
– Going back to hotel to drop things off, then back to Shibuya for Bars/Clubs/Arcades into late night
– TAITO Station and Adores Shibuya
– Ce La Vi Tokyo, Harlem, Womb, whichever seems to be the most foreigner friendly

**Roppongi**

– Breakfast in Shinjuku at Sarabeth’s LUMINE 2
– Zojoji Shrine
– Tokyo Tower and RED Tokyo Tower
– Honda Exhibit near Aoyama Station
– Eat lunch at Tokyo Midtown (Open for suggestions)
– If time permits, I’d love to visit one of the museums in the area, any common favorites?\
– Tokyo Midtown Shopping
– Roppongi Hills and Tokyo City View at night
– Dinner at Maruya-Honten Unagi

**Odaiba**

– Convenience Store breakfast
– Hamarikyu Gardens
– Tokyo Water Bus Cruise from Hinode Pier to Odaiba Seaside Park
– Walk the beach/parks to National Museum of Emerging Science
– Gundam Statue
– Lunch at The Grill on 30th
– DiverCity/Aquacity/Decks Shopping
– See the view at Hachitama
– TeamLab Planets
– Dinner at Ichiran Ramen in Shinjuku

**Ginza**

– Grab something quick to eat in Shinjuku
– Spending the morning walking the Imperial Palace and Royal Gardens
– Eating at Fluffy Pancake in Ginza
– Nissan Crossing Exhibit
– Art Aquarium Museum
– Ginza Six Mall
– More food at Kyushu Jangara Ginza
– Seiko Museum
– Walk Chuo Dori street and pretend I can afford things
– Dinner in Ginza (Any suggestions?)

**Ueno**

– Starbucks in Ueno Park
– Ueno Zoo
– Tokyo National Museum
– National Museum of Nature and Science
– Shinobazunoike Bentendo Temple
– Toshogu Shrine
– Hard Rock Cafe
– Ameyoko Shopping District
– Ending the night with a baseball game at Tokyo Dome
– Any time leftover I will spend browsing through Akihabara

**Asakusa + Akihabara**

I don’t plan on spending much time in Asakusa and wanted to split the day with shopping in Akihabara.

– Breakfast at Kirby Cafe
– Tokyo SkyTree
– Sumida Aquarium
– Tokyo Solomachi Mall
– Sensoji Temple
– Nakamise-dori Street
– Hoping to find some good street food between Asakusa and Akihabara
– Then mostly just shopping and exploring in Akihabara for the evening/night
– Mandarake, Animate, Don Quijote, Super Potato, amiami, Sofmap, GiGO, Akihabara Radio Kaikan (and more)
– Dinner at Gyukatsu Ichi Ni San Tonkatsu

**Shinjuku**

Since my hotel is so close to Shinjuku, I plan to spend multiple nights going around exploring for different restaurants, izakayas, stores, and just things to do. So this list will be vary vague but there’s a lot of stuff to see here. More than likely, my first day will be spent in Shinjuku so I can get a bit more used to the city before getting on any public transport.

* Golden Gai
* Kabukicho
* Omoide Yokocho
* Shin-Okubo Koreatown
* Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
* Shinjuku Central Park
* Shinjuku Gyoen
* Your Name stairs location
* Shopping Malls/Department Stores (Lumine, Mylord, Isetan, etc.)

**Hakone**

– Take the Tokaido line to Odawara Station
– Up to Gora via Hakone Tozan Railway
– Open Air Museum and Gora Park
– Cable Car from Gora/Sounzan up to Owakudani for views and souvenirs
– Ropeway down to Togendai and Pirate Ship Ferry back to Hakone-machi
– Walk to the Hakone Checkpoint, Detached Palace Garden, and Ancient Cedar Ave
– Hakone Shrine and Heiwa no Torii Shrine
– Leave via bus from Moto-Hakone to Hakone-Yumoto
– If time permits, I plan to use one of the hot springs in Yumoto (Any suggestions?)

**Nikko**

– Taking the Limited Express train from Asakusa to Tobu-Nikko Station via Nikko-Kinugawa line
– Walk through Nikko to Shinkyo Bridge
– Shoyoen Garden –> Rinnoji Temple –> Toshogu Shrine –> Taiyu-in Temple Hall –> Tamozawa Imperial Villa
– Kanmangafuchi Abyss
– Nikko Botanical Gardens
– Nikkowanoshiro Onsen Hot Springs
– Bus back down to Nikko and train back to Asakusa

**Kamakura**

– 1 hour train to Enoshima using the Romancecar
– Breakfast at Eggs ‘n Things
– Enoshima Aquarium
– Enoshima Station to Hase Station using Enoden line
– Hasedera Temple and Kotoku-in Temple
– Huge fan of the beach so I plan to spend some time enjoying the view
– Lunch at Kua Aina Sandwich Shop
– I would like to visit as many temples/shrines while I’m here, but being that they’re so spread out, what are some of the favorites and what should I just skip altogether? I would at the very least like to visit Hokokuji Temple and the bamboo forest experience.
– Explore Komachi-dori Street
– Grab dinner at a local restaurant (Any suggestions?)
– Take the train back via Yokosuka Line

**Free day**

Leaving myself an extra day in case things go wrong at places and I need to revisit on another day to actually experience them. In the case that everything goes well, I’m hoping to pick up on some things that are a little spread out throughout the city and explore some residential areas.

– Ghibli Museum
– Nakano Broadway
– Sunshine City and Sunshine 60 Observatory
– Spend some time in Ikebukuro
– Street Karting
– Tokyo Sea Life Park
– Sumo Wrestling Match

**Questions**

What here is worth skipping?

Are these days too overpacked?

Anything I should add?