Cherry Blossom 2021 Itinerary v2

7 comments

1. If anything, I would do Hakone as the night on the way back to Tokyo as it’s much easier to access than Kawaguchiko. (EDIT : note that the next sentence is about Kawaguchiko) And one days should be enough to relax around the lake, if you do two days, make plans of things to do otherwise it might be a bit boring.

   If you want to see both, I would consider is 18, get in the train a bit early to be in Hakone in the morning (should be easy to be at Hakone Yumoto between 10 and 12). From there, go to lake Ashi, can check a bit around, take the boat to the other side of the lake, ropeway to Owakudani, get to ryokan near Gora station. Next morning you can check things around Gora station, like open air museum, then in early afternoon get in the but to reach Kawaguchiko. That day check around Kawaguchiko, it really depend of what you want to do, go see the caves or just relax around the lake. At the end of afternoon, go to Tokyo. The only downside of doing that is that you do not have as much time for shopping, so if you want a bit of time for that, move all the Hiroshima/Kyoto part one day earlier and spend a full day in Tokyo, even if it’s the Shibuya Shinjuku day, that would give plenty of shopping options.

   If you don’t like the intense city life that much, why are you considering staying in Shinjuku ? It’s the busiest station of all Japan and a really busy neighborhood. Unless you plan to be out in bar and izakaya in Shinjuku after the last train, I do not see much reason to stay there. Also, looking at your plan, there is no visible advantage for that area compared to a less busy area, with station that are not as big, like Ueno (that is still a decent size) or Asakusa.

2. On your question of accommodation between Shinjuku and Shibuya, I’ve stayed at both. While I thought Shibuya would be much more interesting than Shinjuku, I will have to say as a general tourist Shinjuku offers more dining and convenience stores. It was really hard to find breakfast/morning options in Shibuya as it is more of a retail scene with most shops not opening until 10am or so. Shinjuku on the other hand had restaurants/cafes opening as early as 6am, and sometimes 24×7.

3. Make sure to check out Jigokudani Monkey Park. It’s in Kyoto and a hike but it’s full of monkeys and you can feed them!

   There’s also a deer park in Nara which is beautiful and you can feed the deer.

4. Iwaso Ryokan on Miyajima is friggin delightful, really good call. Not a lot of folks stay overnight on Miyajima but it’s really nice to wander around in your yukata after everyone has gone home.

5. Shojoshinin! That’s the temple I stayed out too, absolutely lovely place! I spoke absolutely no japanese at that time and arrived late because of taking the wrong train so I was scared about not being able to check in but everything was fine, still had supper, and enjoyed the morning ceremony quite a lot.

6. >How is the balance between city / scenic? We typically prefer the quieter spots and tend to grow weary of intense city-life

   Give yourself more time in Kyoto so you have time to rent bikes or do some of things in the outskirts of the city like Kurama/Kibune, Ohara, Mt. Hiei, Takao, Uji, or even Omihachiman, Hikone, Kurokabe, Miyama, or Sakura (in Nara). There are really a ton of different options relatively nearby if you give yourself ample time.

   Between Hiroshima and Osaka you might also consider a night in Onomichi.

   Having said all of that, your time is already pretty constrained given the ground you’re trying to cover, so adding some of these things would mean cutting a lot of other stuff–maybe all of Kanto, for example.

   >Should we take a day-trip to Hakone from Tokyo?

   If you’re doing it, I would just spend a night on the way to/from Kansai.

   >Should we stay around Shinjuku or Shibuya?

   Shinjuku. Don’t expected it to not be “intense” though.

   >Is it worth spending the second day at Five Lakes? Is the one night enough? Worth trading for an extra day in Tokyo?

   It’s a resort area, so having time to kick back and take it easy is generally worth it if you’re making the trip. That said, on a first trip covering this much territory with these time constraints, I wouldn’t go to Fuji Five Lakes at all.

   >Is there anything or anywhere else I’m really missing out on that I can trade for existing days?

   If it’s at all possible, cut Seoul. You’ll spend more than half your time just getting to and from the airport (Incheon is well outside Seoul proper), and you’ll be able to do so little in the time that you have that it would definitely be better to give yourself another day or two in Japan.

7. my wife and I will be there around the same time, I’ve been following these posts to help me plan. thanks all the organization and posts. everything has been helping us plan