Obviously in full awareness of how COVID-19 might spoil our plans again (we were going to travel to Japan in March this year), we have drafted a new itinerary for March/April next year, ideally to look for Sakura season. We are a couple in our early 30s, used to travelling in Europe and open to new experiences which is basically our main objective of visiting Japan.
**Timing (Sakura season):** We would be more than happy to find some Sakura starting to open, even better If they are in full bloom, but of course there is nothing we can do to anticipate that at this moment. For that reason we have reviewed previous years reports and are planning on the following route to max our chances of seeing Sakura in full bloom:
**Our interests:** We are basically interested in different aspects of Japanese culture which would of course include food (curry, sushi, street food, konbini food (!), tendon, tempura also maybe trying some Japanese tea and okashi), visiting temples, try to absorb some of the Sakura excitement If we are lucky enough to coincide with the season somewhere, also having some unique experiences (such as doing part of the Nakasendo or going to Koyasan). Our plan is indeed to combine larger cities such as Osaka and Tokyo which seem full of places of interest for us (very interested in visiting Manga, anime, videogaming shops (anything Pokemon-DBZ) as well as unique bookstores and stationery shops such as Itoya and Loft. We are also interested in more traditional Japan, and that´s why we thought of not only including Kyoto which will probably be beyond crowded but also go to Takayama, Kanazawa, Matsumoto and stay a night at Miyajima. We are really interested in photography as well, mainly landscape but also traditional towns photography. I´m also learning Japanese (lower-intermediate to intermediate) so will try to communicate in the language as much as possible.
**Budget:** We are targeting a low to mid-range budget I´d say, mainly staying in guesthouses, business hotels, private rooms in hostels with the occasional splurge in a Ryokan/Shukubo as you´ll see below:
March 25th: We would be arriving at Tokyo in the afternoon, this is a day we are planning to just relax, maybe talk a walk and eat something out at night near the area where we plan to stay (Ueno/Asakusa) but basically to take it easy as jet lag is probably going to hit us hard, having to fly all the way from Argentina.
March 26th to 28th (3 days): Tokyo. We divided Tokyo into two sections, in the beginning and at the end of the trip (to have some time to get used to the city after jet lag at first but also because it would be a good timing for Sakura, and then at the end to also unwind a little bit before returning home and because we plan on going to Fujisan at that time where Sakura is supposed to be blooming usually). During these 3 days our plan is to stay in Asakusa or Ueno, and probably take the time to visit some of the areas that are closer. These days would include sightseeing through Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara, probably also in the area around Tokyo station, Ginza and maybe visit Teamlab Borderless museum in the Odaiba area. Depending on Sakura status, Imperial Palace and Chidorigafuchi are a possibility. Day trip to Nikko is a possibility If time allows there but not yet “fixed” in our itinerary as we don´t really want to rush it too much.
March 29th-30th (2 days): Early train to Hiroshima (we might take the overnight train on the night before to maximize our time there, still to decide on that). Our plan is to visit Hiroshima in the morning/noon (visiting Peace Park and Museum, eating some Okonomiyaki) and then go in the early afternoon to Miyajima, which is the place we´d like to visit the most in this region. Rest of March 29th and March 30th until noon at least would be devoted to Miyajima, where we are planning to stay the night to have some quiet away from the daily crowds. In here we´d like to take it easy and take some walks, mainly around Itsukushima shrine. On the second day, we would be visiting Himeji castle for a couple of hours enroute to Kyoto where we´d just spend the night.
March 31st-April 1-2 (3 days): Kyoto, we plan on staying in the Gion/Higashiyama area, maybe as close as possible to Kiyomizudera. We are mainly interested in visiting Philosopher´s path, Gion district and Higashiyama area, trying to do some very very early mornings in Kiyomizudera/Gion to take some good pictures without heavy crowds. This we would also do in Arashiyama bamboo grove and we are wondering whether to visit Fushimi Inari shrine in the very early morning or at sunset. Apart from those, no particular interests at the moment but just to try to take it easy and not rush it a lot (main focus would be for sure in the Arashiyama area but especially in Higashiyama/Gion). We will probably also be visiting Nara as a day trip during this period.
April 3rd (1 day): Koyasan. We would be arriving at noon from Kyoto, as we know it´s kind of a long trip up there. The idea is to take some walks throughout the templates and stay the night at a Shukubo near Okunoin to be able to visit the cemetery at night and very early in the morning.
April 4th-5th (2d): Osaka. We are really interested in visiting Osaka as an alternative of a big city to Tokyo as it seems to have an interesting side to it, and seems to be a city full of a fantastic food scene, even regarding “street food” which we are really interested in. Sightseeing wise our main interest would be Osaka Castle and the Dotonbori area, probably extending these to some of the parks in case Sakura is in bloom in the area.
April 6th-7th (2 days): Kyoto. We would use this time to visit what we couldn´t in Kyoto during the first 3 days (please see description above), and maybe do a day trip to Okayama If time allows. We would also like to do some night photography where crowds are a bit more reduced, mainly in the Pontocho area. Note: We are “sandwiching” Osaka and Koyasan between two stays in Kyoto to avoid the weekend there and to maximize the chances of Sakuras in full bloom in Kyoto itself.
April 8th and 9th (2 days): Kanazawa and day trip to Shirakawa-go. In Kanazawa, our plan is to visit the old town, Higashichaya, but also spend some hours in Konrakouen. Maybe Kanazawa castle. As it seems to be a more extended/larger city compared to Takayama, we are devoting two days to do Kanazawa + Day trip to Shirakawa-go, going back to Kanazawa. I know that it would be backtracking as we would visit Takayama the next day but I understand Kanazawa would have more to us compared to Takayama.
April 10th (1 day): Takayama. Our plan is to stay near the station to be able to start our sightseeing as soon as arriving, probably as early in the morning as buses from Kanazawa would allow. Plan here is basically to visit the old town and pursue some good photography in the area, maybe try some Hida Takayama beef as well If we find a not-super-expensive option to try it. We are staying a night as we wanted to have some time away from the heavy crowds that´ll probably be during the day.
April 11th (1 day): Travel from Takayama to Magome, and start the Nakasendo walking trail up to Tsumago. Main interested here is to do something “different” with some photography of traditional houses and enjoy the walk itself through the forest with mountains views. Plan is to take as much of the day as needed for this, taking it easy, and stopping for breakfast/lunch as needed, and then go to Matsumoto to spend the night.
April 12th (1 day): Matsumoto. The idea is also to take it easy as we would probably be very tired from the day before (both the walk and the transportation itself). Our main objective here is to visit Matsumoto castle which we found super beautiful and unique, both in daylight and during the night. If we happen to coincide with Sakura blooming, we might visit some additional locations such as Koboyama park.
April 13th (1 day): Travel via Nagano to Jikogudani Monkey park where we plan to spend some hours. Probably eating some lunch in Nagano and then travelling to Tokyo in the afternoon/early night to spend the night there.
April 14th to 16th (3 days): Tokyo. Plan here is to stay in Shinjuku or Shibuya area to concentrate our sightseeing on the Western side of Tokyo. The idea is to visit Shinjuku and Shin-Okubo at night as well as going to Ghibli museum during one of the mornings. Additionally, central Shibuya (probably visiting Don Quixote, Shibuya 109 and some of the larger stores) and some of the parks in the area as Shinjuku Gyoen/Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine. In addition, a day trip to Fujisan is a possibility here, and we would be monitoring the “clouding” very closely to make sure we have a chance of viewing the actual mountain when we go there.
April 17th: This day we would be leaving Tokyo. Depending on which flight we take this would mean either an early morning flight or having a full morning and some extra couple of hours and flying out at around 4-5 PM.
I would love to know how you feel about this itinerary and you would tweak it based on your thoughts on each place but also taking our interests and timing objectives (Sakura season) into consideration. We are particularly interested in hearing about “how packed” you feel our itinerary is, and If it would represent a good overview of what Japan has to offer in line with what we´re looking for during this trip. We want to avoid running too much while at the same time visiting. Any advice on changes/places we can´t miss in your opinion but weren´t included in our draft itinerary or places you would take out for a specific reason, feel free to let us know, we´d appreciate your help a lot!
17 comments
fabulous! you’ve done a lot of research! just an FYI, just so you won’t be disappointed searching for sakura, Miyajima is not a place with lots of sakura. it’s great for fall foliage. but Miyajima is my fav place in Japan. i think you’ll still love it.
i recommend you take the ropeway to the top station and hike (20-30 minute hike) to the top of the island. nice view of the Inland Sea. then hike down and visit the small temples/shrines along the way.
you will probably miss the full bloom in Tokyo, but it is better to see the full bloom in Kyoto, which is highly likely with this itinerary. Himeji castle is also beautiful during the full bloom. there is a park at the base of the castle full of sakura trees.
Hiroshima has sakura along the river next to Peace Park. i would set aside at least 3-4 hours for Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. there is also the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims which is worth a peek.
ki o tsukete!
This itinerary is very similar to what mine was when I back in march/April 2018! I lost a few days in the middle as I went to Philippines for 5 days and came back to Japan, but this looks great!
Near the end of my time I wanted more time.in Osaka and Tokyo. So I ended up staying in Osaka am extra day and then going back to Tokyo and staying an extra 2 days there which was something I didnt anticipate!
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I am not sure about the night train, because bed are not covered by JR Pass, not sure if you have checked price, I have not so it might not even be worth it, especially as some part require bus or would be easier to do on non JR train.
What I would suggest to do is take the train during the day to Kyoto. If you are ok to wake up a bit early, take the train in the morning, sleep in Kyoto 2 nights. That will give you 2 full days to visit. Next morning take the train to Okayama, visit and go spend the night in Miyajima. Next Morning for Miyajima, rest of the day to Hiroshima and sleep there, it’s an option to return to Miyahima, but that would add 2 hours of transit, so not that interesting. Next morning stop by Himeji on the way to Osaka. After Osaka, Mount Koya, then Kyoto.
I think that this would split travel time more evenly and avoid the Kyoto-Okayama round trip that is a good 3 hours wasted in the train as you previously had passed by (also cost more on transit)
You can do Fushimi Inari on the way to or on the way back from Nara when you do it as a day trip from Kyoto.
I would not do Shirakawa-go as a day trip, but as a stop between Kanazawa and Takayama. Also if you stay 2 days and do one as a day trip… it’s really only one day (ok, might depend on when you go and leave… First day I would spend it all in Kanazawa, second day morning in Kanazawa, afternoon in Shirakawa-go and sleep in Takayama. No matter what you do, it’s about the same time in the bus in and out of Shirakawa-go, but if you return to Kanazawa, you add a 2h ride in the train to reach Takayama the next day (and cost more in total too).
Takayama to Magome is less natural to do if you use train, but there is a bus between the two.
Nagano Monkey will be a good 3 hours go go from Matsumoto and a good 3 hours to go to Tokyo after. I mean 3 hours to the closest train station.
So, in general, it’s mostly considerations about the order and logistic of the transit. While you seems to be somehow conscious of budget for accommodation, you seems to not care at all about how much you will pay for train an bus.
>March 31st-April 1-2 (3 days): Kyoto, we plan on staying in the Gion/Higashiyama area, maybe as close as possible to Kiyomizudera. We are mainly interested in visiting Philosopher´s path, Gion district and Higashiyama area, trying to do some very very early mornings in Kiyomizudera/Gion to take some good pictures without heavy crowds. This we would also do in Arashiyama bamboo grove and we are wondering whether to visit Fushimi Inari shrine in the very early morning or at sunset. Apart from those, no particular interests at the moment but just to try to take it easy and not rush it a lot (main focus would be for sure in the Arashiyama area but especially in Higashiyama/Gion). We will probably also be visiting Nara as a day trip during this period.
I would recommend doing Kiyomizudera in the afternoon for sunset instead of early morning. The walk up through Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka is filled up stores that won’t be open early, and IMO the walk up is a big part of the experience going to Kiyomizudera. The bamboo forest and Fushimi Inari are 2 places that I recommend going early in the morning. Watch out when you take photos in Gion, as there is a photo ban in some of the private streets in the area due to bad tourist behavior.
>April 3rd (1 day): Koyasan. We would be arriving at noon from Kyoto, as we know it´s kind of a long trip up there. The idea is to take some walks throughout the templates and stay the night at a Shukubo near Okunoin to be able to visit the cemetery at night and very early in the morning.
You don’t really need to stay that close to Okunoin, I stayed on the opposite side of the town near Danjo-Garan and it was only a 30 minute walk there, even less if you ride a bike. I think most temples have bikes for rental. Enjoy Okunoin though, I’ve been to so many other places in Japan and it is still one of my favorite places.
>April 8th and 9th (2 days): As it seems to be a more extended/larger city compared to Takayama, we are devoting two days to do Kanazawa + Day trip to Shirakawa-go, going back to Kanazawa. I know that it would be backtracking as we would visit Takayama the next day but I understand Kanazawa would have more to us compared to Takayama.
I would recommend just going from Shirakawa-go straight to Takayama instead of back tracking. There’s tons to do at Takayama. There are some really good restaurants and bars in the area near the train station. Also it has 2 morning markets that end around noon time that you will probably miss if you bus there in the morning. The old town has a few Sake breweries that you allows you to sample multiple types of sake with just a few hundred yen. The architecture are really nice.
If you dont know about lodging yet let me know what you’re looking for it’s my specialty to find places for people and I have a lot of YouTube reviews on hostels and hotels in japan
This looks like a wonderful itinerary! I actually have a question for you though. The last couple of times my girlfriend and I went to Japan we used Osaka as a home base and visited Kyoto and Nara from there. This worked fine obviously as they are close together. However this next time we plan on seeing more places, that are more spread out like you. Are you doing that while having a select few home bases to move from? It sounds more like you’re jumping from spot to spot. How do you move all of your stuff? Or are you doing more backpacking than anything?
Just taking a glance, the trip to Nagano from Matsumoto and then back to Tokyo is too packed. Spend at least a night in Nagano. Just walking to the entrance of the monkey park is about 20 mins and you will have to take a local bus from the main train station of Nagano to get there. Most challenging aspect of visiting in Japan is that it pretty much is a non-english speaking country. Try to find where the bus is? Know how to feed the meter? Want to order food? All of the basics are a feat in itself. It is not like Europe at all. Build in time for getting lost or trying to figure something out.
If you are planning on travelling light and happy to take luggage with you then consider travelling from Kanazawa to Takayama via Shirakawago on April 9th and stay in Takayama that night. If you can spend 2 full days in Kanazawa then I think it is worth it. Kanazawa is a great small city to just walk around and explore.
Also the trip to Jikogudani Monkey park does take a while so April 13th is doable but will be a really long day.
While you’re in Asakusa, a good budget sushi chain is [Magurobito](https://sites.google.com/eitocorp.com/asakusa-magurobito). It’s in Shin-Nakamise and is a step up from most of the Sushi Zanmai you’ll find.
If your jetlag coincides being up til later in the evening, that area gets nicer for street photography and scenes of the different parts of the temple without all the people there.
Teamlab Borderless or Teamlab Planets are both amazing. Borderless is more sheer sensory overload and getting lost in the craziness, but Planets is more immersive and guided. I feel like if I could only choose to go to one I’d do Planets. What I’d do is go to Tsukiji Outer (make sure it’s open that day) early in the morning before it gets super busy so you can get some great street food (the sea urchin bun is a must try), then you can swing by one of the Teamlabs after. You can round this out by going to the Tokyo Station area which is a bit of a labyrinth itself and will occupy lots of your time. They’ve got a character street there where you can find a shounen jump store and other stores and an incredible amount of food. I enjoyed walking through the Imperial Gardens in the evening as well. Very serene and beautiful, and the air felt very nice.
For Shinjuku, Nakajima is a must visit. It’s a 1* michelin place that specializes in iwashi dishes that cost 880yen for lunch. It opens at 12, both times I’ve gone I’ve started lining up at 11:30 and by the time it opened the line went up past the stairway. You can get them fried, as sashimi, simmered in soy sauce, or as a ‘yanagawa nabe’. The sashimi is best, and you can do a half order of the fried if you’d like.
For kombini, please have a pudding a day. That is non-negotiable. Ohayo is my favourite.
If you have time you should take a hike up to chureito pagoda, they also have Sakura. I went early April and it was still in full bloom. That place was the highlight of my trip. You can take pictures of the pagoda with Sakura and Mount Fuji in the back ground. I also had the best Katsudon at the train station there. Also during the hike they have this little ice cream hut that sells Sakura flavored ice cream, try it, you won’t regret it.
https://travel.gaijinpot.com/chureito-pagoda/
I started my sakura-viewing trip this year on exactly the same day you have planned, March 25. This year’s bloom was one of the earliest. For example, full bloom at Nakameguro along the Meguro river in Tokyo this year was the latter half of the fourth week in March. I went on March 26 and most blocks were already full bloom. In 2019, I visited on April 6 and it was full bloom. In 2018, I visited on April 2 and it was a few days past full bloom. So, you will definitely NOT miss full bloom in Tokyo, nor anywhere else. In fact, your timing in my opinion is superb.
Tokyo to Hiroshima
As far as I know, the sole overnight train is the Sunrise Izumo/Seto, which will drop you off at around 6:30am in Okayama. Then you’d have to transfer to the Sanyo Shinkansen. The basic bed on the Sunrise is covered by rail pass, but it is a carpeted floor with a single light blanket. If you don’t sleep well on hard surfaces, you will not have a good night.
Kyoto
This year (keep in mind it was early), the majority of Kyoto, including Philosopher’s Path and across Higashiyama, as well as Arashiyama, was in full bloom by April 2. You will not miss full bloom.
Pontocho is the most busy at night because people are going to dinner. The next street over, Kiyamachi, is also crowded at night because nightlife and dinner. But in my humble opinion the best photography in Pontocho alley itself is during nighttime. Kiyamachi is fine during daytime when sakura is in bloom, but it is crowded in daytime too because it’s in downtown.
Himeji/Okayama
If you plan just to see Himeji Castle and Korakuen Garden in Okayama, you can do this very comfortably in a single day while traveling from Hiroshima to Kyoto/Osaka. You can breakfast in Hiroshima and dinner in Kyoto very easily. I have done this before, while also spending two two hours in Kobe.
If you are serious about timing sakura, then you should make flexible arrangements, so you can adjust your plans. There will not be an accurate forecast until the beginning of the year, and will only get more accurate as March approaches. But, overall the strategy is what you have planned: start in Tokyo, go as south as you want and move north, finally hit the mountainous spots last like Nagano, Matsumoto, Fujisan.
If you could, I would move up your plans a week or so. Sakura was in full bloom this year on March 23, it would be really tragic in my opinion to miss your one chance at seeing them by a couple of days.
Sure, you can always go north and chase the full bloom, but Tokyo has so many great places to watch the bloom. And Japanese people are so open and friendly and inviting during those couple of days.
Showing up to Tokyo a couple days after the bull bloom would be like going to New Orleans two days after Fat Tuesday.
Hey, OP here, just as a general idea of how we planned our timing depending on the Sakura reports from previous years, we took 2016 up to 2020 reports (2020) from Japan Guide and from JNTO websites, and from what we could see there our itinerary would be coinciding in the following way (also in case it´s helpful for other people planning):
**Tokyo:** We would be there in full bloom If it was 2018 or 2020 or with the Sakuras opening If it was 2016, 2017 or 2019.
**Kyoto**: We would be coinciding with at least one (but most years multiple) day(s) of full bloom in every year from 2016 to 2020 based on the fact we are splitting Kyoto in half to max those chances.
**Osaka**: We would be there in full bloom If it was 2016 or 2019 or with the Sakuras opening If it was 2017, 2018 or 2020.
**Kanazawa**: We would be there in full bloom for every year from 2016 to 2019 and at the tail end of full bloom in 2020 it seems.
**Fujisan**: We would be there in full bloom in Kawaguchiko as per 2016, 2018 and 2019 reports (would be missing it If the year is like 2017 where it bloomed one week later), and I couldn´t find info on when it bloomed on 2020.
I´m probably overthinking it and stressing too much about it considering how nature will do what she wants of course 🙂 But If we can at least get full bloom somewhere and some Sakuras opening in other places, we will be more than happy to be honest. The idea is also to keep our days open to day trips as needed from Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto for example so we can reach places in full bloom If we feel like it (such as Himeji for example when we are in Kansai – we could do it from Osaka or Kyoto instead of enroute from Hiroshima If the full bloom changes dates).
It seems we may be going at the same time, haha. Best of luck to us that this trip is possible. I still need to work on my schedule especially in transportation.
I’m gonna see how much mileage I can get in Tokyo and if it;’s possible to take 1-2 days trips to different places without exhausting myself to death the next day. (this is a solo travel)
Depending how flexible you can be it might be worth it to plan most things a bit loosely. The ideal time to see the cherry blossoms can be such a narrow window that being able to move your locations around even just a few days can make a huge difference! If you can’t maintain flexibility then maybe try to do a few days north and a few days south at the start and end of your trip – this way you can have a higher likelihood of timing it perfectly 🙂
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