Hi there. This is my first solo travel, ever! First time coming to Japan, too.
I’m mostly interested in Japanese culture, nature, history, and art. Here’s my first, rough itinerary. Any feedbacks are welcome, thanks in advance!
It’ll be in late July, and since many people say Japanese summer can be unbearable – well, So I’ll be sure to bring an umbrella and a bunch of drinks, and bring moisture-wicking clothes / other summer wear to defend myself from the heat.
Since I’m traveling solo, I’ll only bring one big backpack, a carry-on luggage, and a sling bag.
**19 Jul 23 – Flight to Haneda**
Tokyo
22:30 – Arrive at Haneda
23:30 – 00:00 – Check in at Hostel & rest
**20 Jul 23 – Tokyo**
09:00 – Check out from Hostel
10:00 – 10:30 Travel to Ueno station, leave baggage at coin locker
10:30 – 12:00 – National Museum of Nature and Science
12:00 – 14:00 – Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
14:00 – 16:00 – Gojoten-jinja Shrine, The Ueno Royal Museum
16:00 – 16:15 – Travel to Akihabara
16:30 – 17:30 – Akihabara Radio Kaikan
17:30 – 19:00 – GyuKatsu Ichi-ni-san Dinner
19:00 – 20:00 – Travel to hostel at Jimbocho, Check in
20:00 – 22:00 – Jimboco bar hopping
22:00 – 22:30 – Return to hostel, rest
**21 Jul 23 – Tokyo**
08:30 – 10:00 Breakfast
10:00 – 12:00 – National Museum of Modern Art
12-00 – 14:00 -The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace
14:00 – 14:30 Travel to Shinjuku
14:30 – 16:00 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
16:00 – 18:00 Isetan Shinjuku
18:00 – 21:00 Omoide Yokocho
21:00 – 22:00 Return to Jimbocho
22:00 – 22:30 – Return to hostel, rest
**22 Jul 23 – Mt Fuji**
_(Note : Will be staying at Hakone, not Gotemba.)_
Tokyo
07:00 – 07:30 – Checkout from hostel, depart to Shinjuku
07:30 – 08:00 – Odakyu Highway Bus from Shinjuku to Gotemba
Gotemba
10:00 – Arrive at Gotemba. Find a coin locker and leave luggage.
10:00 – 13:00 – Travel to Lake Kawaguchi
13:00 – 16:00 – Kawaguchiko Tenjozan Park
16:00 – 19:00 – Oshino Hakkai, Tōenji Temple
19:00 – 20:00 – Oshino Hakkai to Gotemba via Bus
Hakone
20:00 – 21:00 – Gotemba to Hakone via Bus, check in at hostel
21:00 – 22:00 – Dinner at hostel. rest
**23 Jul 23 – Hakone**
Hakone
07:00 – 08:00 – Breakfast at Hostel
08:00 – 10:00 – Hakone Shrine
10:30 – 13:00 – Hakone Open-Air Museum
13:00 – 14:00 – lunch near Hakone Open-Air Museum
14:00 – 15:00 – Hakone Ropeway
15:00 – 16:00 – Pirate ship, Togendai → Hakonemachi
16:00 – 18:00 – Onshigajibe park
18:00 – 20:00 – Dinner at Hakone Yashima
20:00 – 21:00 – Travel back to Hostel, rest
**24 Jul 23 – Osaka**
_JR Pass activates today_
Hakone
08:00 – 10:00 – Checkout, Breakfast at Hakone
10:00 – 11:00 – Travel to Odawara, Get on the Shinkansen train to Osaka
Osaka
11:00 – 14:30 – Shinkansen Travel from Odawara to Osaka
14:30 – 15:00 – check in to hostel
16:00 – 18:00 – Namba Yasaka Jinja
18:00 – 19:00 – Dinner at Hozenji Yokocho
19:00 – 22:00 – Explore Dotonbori river
22:00 – 22:30 – Travel Back to osaka hostel, rest
Osaka
**25 Jul 23 – Kyoto Daytrip**
Osaka
08:00 – 09:00 – Breakfast at Osaka
09:00 – 09:15 – Shinkansen to Kyoto
Kyoto
09:30 – 10:00 – Travel to Fushimi Inari Shrine
10:00 – 13:00 – Fushimi Inari Shrine
13:00 – 14:00 – Lunch, Travel from Fushimi Inari shrine to Kiyomizu-dera
14:00 – 16:00 – Kiyomizu-dera
16:00 – 19:00 – Philosopher’s Path
19:00 – 21:00 – Dinner, Pontocho park
21:00 – 21:30 – Trip back to Osaka
Osaka
21:30 – 22:00 – return to hostel, rest
**26 Jul 23 – Kyoto Daytrip**
Osaka
08:00 – 09:00 – Breakfast at Osaka
09:00 – 09:15 – Shinkansen to Kyoto
Kyoto
09:30 – 11:00 – Nijo castle
11:00 – 13:00 – Kyoto Imperial Palace
13:00 – 15:00 – Kinkaku-ji
15:00 – 18:00 – Haradani Garden
18:00 – 21:00 – Dinner, Nishiki Market
21:00 – 21:30 – Trip back to Osaka
Osaka
21:30 – 22:00 – return to hostel, rest
**27 Jul 23 – Nara Daytrip**
08:00 – 09:00 – Breakfast at Osaka
09:00 – 10:00 – Train to Nara
Nara
10:00 – 12:00 – Kofuku-ji
12:00 – 14:00 – Todai-ji Temple
14:00 – 16:00 – Nara Deer Park
18:00 – 20:00 – Dinner at Noborioji-cho
20:00 – 21:00 – Trip back to Osaka
Osaka
21:00 – 22:00 – Return to Hostel, rest
**28 Jul 23 – Hiroshima Day trip**
Osaka
08:00 – 10:00 – Breakfast at Osaka
10:00 – 11:30 – Train to Hiroshima
Hiroshima
12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch at Nagataya
13:00 – 15:00 – Hiroshima Castle
16:00 – 18:00 – Peace Memorial Park – Hiroshima
18:00 – 22:00 – Okonomimura
22:00 – 22:30 – Return to hostel, rest
**28 Jul 23 – Beppu Day trip**
(While Beppu looks pretty interesting, I’m not exactly sure about this one, but I’m putting it in anyway. I may change this to something else)
Hiroshima
07:00 – 08:00 – Breakfast at Osaka
08:00 – 10:30 – Travel to Beppu
Beppu
10:30 – 12:00 – Chinoike Jigoku
12:00 – 13:00 – lunch
13:00 – 15:00 – Umi Jigoku
15:00 – 17:00 – myoban onsen
17:00 – 18:30 – Okamotoya
19:00 – 20:00 – Explore Beppu City
20:00 – 22:30 – Travel back to Hiroshima
22:30 – 23:00 – Return to hostel, rest
**29 Jul 23 – Nagoya**
Hiroshima > Nagoya
07:00 – 09:00 – Breakfast at Hiroshima, Checkout from hotel
09:00 – 10:30 – Shinkansen to Nagoya
10:30 – 12:00 – Nagoya Castle
12:00 – 12:30 – Lunch at Nagoya
12:30 – 13:00 – Check in at hostel
13:00 – 15:00 – Nagoya City Science Museum
15:00 – 16:00 – Atsuta Jingu
16:00 – 22:30 – Nagoya City stroll
22:30 – 23:00 – Travel back to hostel, rest
**30 Jul 23 – Takayama – Shirakawa daytrip**
_JR Pass Ends today_
Hiroshima
07:00 – 08:00 – Breakfast, Checkout from hotel.
Day Trip
08:00 – 11:00 – Travel to Takayama
12:00 – 14:00 – Takayama
14:00 – 16:00 – Shirakawa
16:00 – 19:00 – return to Nagoya
Nagoya
19:00 – 20:00 – Dinner at Nagoya
20:00 – 21:30 – Nagoya station – gather baggage, Shinkansen to Tokyo
Tokyo
22:00 – 22:30 – Check in at Hostel, rest.
**01 Aug 23 – Tokyo**
Tokyo
08:00 – 08:30 – Breakfast
09:00 – 12:30 – Travel to & explore TeamLab Museum
12:30 – 14:00 – Travel to Tokyo Tower & Enjoy the observation deck
14:00 – 14:30 – Travel to Harajuku
14:30 – 18:00 – Yoyogi Park, Meiji Jingu, Ōta Memorial Museum of Art, Blue Bottle Coffee
17:00 – 20:00 – Shopping at Takeshita Street, Design Festa Gallery
20:00 – 21:00 – Dinner at Roast Beef Ohno Harajuku
21:00 – 22:00 – Travel back to hostel, rest.
**02 Aug 23 – Tokyo (Last Day)**
Tokyo
08:00 – 09:00 – Checkout from hostel, breakfast
09:00 – 10:00 – Travel to Tokyo station, leave baggage
10:00 – 11:00 – Travel to Daikanyama T-Site
11:00 – 14:00 – Shopping at Daikanyama T-Site
14:00 – 16:00 – Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo^
16:00 – 18:00 – Stroll around Daikanyama
18:00 – 19:00 – Travel back to Tokyo station, collect baggage
19:00 – 20:00 – Travel to Haneda Airport
^ *I know it’s weird to travel to japan and go to a Starbucks, but a friend gave me a taste of some “Reserve beans” from this particular starbucks and it blew my mind!*
2 comments
Oooooooh…. Yikes…. Honey nooooooo.
I hate to tell you but this plan is a -1/10 at *least*
For two weeks you should really aim for just Tokyo/Osaka with a few day trips to like Hakone/Kyoto.
Putting fuji-hakone, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Takayama, BEPPU?! and Nara on a 14 day trip is a huge mistake. I really hate to tell you this but absolutely 100% revise your trip. Most of these are not daytrips. Hakone/Fuji can be an overnight from Tokyo. Nara can be a daytrip from Osaka. The rest not so much. Allotting one city a day just about with the constant time wasted on transit is way too much. Most of your trip will be commuting rather than exploring. I didn’t see your interests being sitting on trains and busses looking out the window but rather ‘ culture, nature, history, and art.’. You will barely be able to enjoy your trip with how much you have to spend on transit.
Starting off strong. Your Fuji/Hakone day has you going to Gotemba from Shinjuku? Why? It would be better on time to just go straight to Kawaguchiko from Shinjuku. Gotemba is on the opposite side of Fuji from Shinjuku basically. You would be going to Gotemba for no reason only to back track to where you were kinda. Instead of doing 1, 2, 3, you’d do 1, 3, 2.
It would be better to do Shinjuku -> Kawaguchiko -> Hakone.
Beppu is not a day trip from Osaka. Maybe from Hiroshima but Osaka? No. It takes roughly 4 hours to get there so that’s 8 hours of your day on a train.
Cut out Nagoya, Cut out Beppu, Cut out Takayama. I’d even cut out Hiroshima if you’re not staying overnight tbh. Stay in Tokyo and Osaka for the additional days you get from taking those places out. Then you can do your overnight trip to Hakone and your day trips to Kyoto and Nara with ease.
To add onto what u/Its5somewhere said, this trip is not just a yikes on a macro level, but on a micro level, as well. Scheduling every single hour of your trip is a fool’s errand. All you’re guaranteeing is a schedule you will never achieve and a pointless anxiety to hit the next mark on your checklist. Give yourself the time and freedom to wander, to waste time exploring, and to do something unplanned on a whim.