Hi all
We’re 3 young adults from Europe and planning to travel to Japan Mid April – beginning of May 2023. First time in Japan. We’re looking for a different vibe and like to have a “chill’ vacation. Don’t like to be stressed.
We’ve made a little itinerary and would love to reice some feedback
Day1 Arrival in Osaka (around 09.00 am)-> Hiroshima
•take a shinkasen to Hiroshima
• Hiroshima peace memorial park
•Mazda museum
•Probably drink a beer somewhere
Day 2
We’re thinking of going to itsukushima but don’t know if it’s doable as we’re planning to head to kyoto the same Day.
Day 3 Kyoto
Southern Kyoto (Fushimi inari Shrine, daigoji Temple, fushimi sake district)
Day 4 kyoto
Northern Kyoto (kankakuji, Kibune)
Day 5 Kyoto
Western Kyoto (Kokedera, yoshiminedera and bamboo forest in Arashiyama)
Day 6 Kyoto
Eastern Kyoto (Kiyomizudera and higashiyama)
Take a beer at night and explore the local nightlife
Day 7 Kyoto -> Osaka
See what we’re up to and heading to Osaka.
Day 8 Osaka
Day trip to Nara
Day 9 Osaka
Day trip to mount Koya
Day 10 Osaka
Not sure what we’re going to do yeti maybe Universal Studio’s or just stolling around a bit and doing some shopping.
Take a beer and explore the nightlife
Day 11 Osaka -> Kanazawa
Probably departing early.
Take a cable car to enjoy the view
Day 12 Kanazawa
Day trip to Tojinbo cliffs
Day 13 Kanazawa -> Takayama
We’d like to stay a night in a Ryokan and explore the old toen
Day 14 Takayama -> Tokyo
Depart early and stolling around in shibuya,Yoyogi Park
Day 15 Tokyo
Day trip to Fuji five lakes. We’re probably gonna rent a car as it’s kind of hard to reach fuji five lakes with train/bus.
Day 16 Tokyo
Day trip to Kamakura or Hakone
Day 17 Tokyo
Explore shinjuku and shibuya further, do some shopping.
Day 18 Tokyo
Explore central Tokyo: akihabara and the imperial palace.
Day 19 Tokyo
Day trip to Yokohama
Explore the nightlife in Tokyo
Day 20 Tokyo
Probably wake up late and do some more shopping
Day 21 Tokto
Departure Day 🙁
Any tips are highly appreciated.
If someone has some more adventurous tips i.e a nice mountainbike trail/route or something else.., please share it as well.
We don’t want our trip to be tiring/stressy. We’d like like to rally explore and have a chill vacation
Thanks all!
7 comments
I’d personally skip Hakone/Fuji in favor for exploring more of Tokyo especially when it’s your first time. You underestimate just how massive Tokyo is, as in you can plan 2 weeks worth of stuff to do and still miss out on a lot.
My recommendation if you do go for that extra day in Tokyo would be to visit Ueno and surrounding neighborhoods, Asakusa and Yanaka Ginza for a bit more contrast between old and new Tokyo.
Itsukushima to Kyoto can be done in 2h15, and considering most attraction close around 5 pm on the island, you can easily reach Kyoto before 10pm.
Daigo-ji is a bit out of the way, like 30-40 minutes. Not sure it is the most logical place to do on the same day, but ok if there is something you find special about it.
Well.. ok technically, Kinkaku-ji and Kibune are both “north” but also more than 1h away from each other.
Yoshimine-dera is also quite deep west, and also more than an an hour away from Arashiyama.
… I thought that this was a chill vacation.. not spend it in transportation. I would suggest to find things that are closer to each other.
On our second trip we stopped in Kanazawa just to eat gogo curry having stayed a few days the time before. Slow down your trip to see more
The schedule suggests that a good place to stay in Kyoto is near Keihan Sanjo.
Fushimi Inari Shrine is a popular spot and very crowded during the day.
Day 5 As you probably know, the moss temple must be booked in advance.
The bamboo forest is crowded, so early morning is a good time to visit.
For accommodation in Osaka, the Namba area, near Dotonbori and Kuromon Market,
is probably a good choice, considering that you will be visiting Koyasan and Nara.
I like that you’re already scheduling in beers, but whenever you feel like having a beer just duck into the nearest convenience store.
If you’re interested in a bamboo forest on day 5 then it would make more sense to go to Take no Michi (Bamboo forest muko city) it’ll be a lot less busy than Arashiyama and the bus to/from yoshiminedera stops nearby.
Personally I would do something like:
Day 4 – Kuramadera, hike to Kifune, Kifune shrine, kurama hot spring (you can either walk down the hill and take the train or hike back across)
Day 5 – Kinkakuji, explore arashiyama area- eg, otagi nenbutsuji, bamboo forest, gioji (moss temple vibe that doesn’t require an invitation)
Reasoning is that there is only one bus per hour to yoshimindera so if you want a mountain temple vibe then kuramadera would be less stressful transport wise.
>Day1 Arrival in Osaka (around 09.00 am)-> Hiroshima •take a shinkasen to Hiroshima • Hiroshima peace memorial park •Mazda museum •Probably drink a beer somewhere
You mention you’re from Europe. Not sure which part of Europe or what the time difference is from where you’re coming from, but I would just give some extra thought to the potential for jet lag (unless you’re all used to doing this type of travel and know your body handles it well). You mention you don’t want to be tiring or stressy, so I would argue it’s worth planning a bit light on day 1 when you land (as I’m guessing you’re doing an overnight flight).
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>Day 16 Tokyo Day trip to Kamakura or Hakone
Having been to both spots (from Tokyo), I personally think Kamakura is more manageable as a day trip from Tokyo than Hakone. While Hakone is doable in a day in terms of physical travel time, you’re really going to miss out on seeing a lot IMO, even if you wake up early. With an early start, you’re likely to feel satisfied doing Kamakura in a day vs. Hakone where you might feel you’ve been cut short. I personally would suggest if you’re doing hakone to at least do one night over.