Hey all,
I (20M, will become 21 on the fifth day) will go on exchange this fall semester to Kobe University and I have 2 weeks from the date of entry to the date of the dormitory check-in, hence I have decided to travel around Japan for 2 weeks solo. I will enter Japan on September 15th, and I have to be in Kobe on the 29th.
I will skip Kansai region because I will have enough time to explore it later.
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**Day 1 Tokyo**
\- Arrive at Narita Airport and arrange sim card, luggage forwarding, etc.
\- I am probably very tired and jet-lagged from the 15-hour flight, so I won’t do much this day besides checking in to my Airbnb in Shinjuku/Shibuya, and exploring the surroundings a bit.
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**Day 2 Tokyo**
\- Shinjuku
\- Shinjuku Gyoen
\- Omoide yokocho
\- Kabukicho + golden gai
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**Day 3 Tokyo**
\- Akihabara
\- Kanda shrine
\- Asakusa
\- Senso ji
\- Walk to Tokyo Skytree
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**Day 4 Tokyo**
\- Meji shrine
\- Shibuya
\- Harajuku
\- Roppongi Hills Mori tower View
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**Day 5 Hakone**
**-** Travel to Hakone in the morning
\- Hakone shrine
\- Owakudani
\- Lake Ashinoko
\- Stay the night in a ryokan.
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**Day 6** **Onomichi**
**-** Long train ride, so not much doing this day, maybe visit Senko-ji + the streets of Onomichi?
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**Day 7 & 8 Shiminami kaido**
\- I am still doubting if I should do the Shimanami kaido in one or two days.
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**Day 9 Hiroshima**
**-** Travel from Onomichi to Hiroshima
\- Atomic bomb dome + Peace memorial museum
\- Shukkei-en
\- Okonomimura
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**Day 10 Hiroshima + Kagoshima**
\- Do something in the morning in Hiroshima?
\- Travel to Kagoshima
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**Day 11 Kagoshima**
\- Shiroyama park view
\- Sengan-en
\- Kagoshima castle
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**Day 12 Yakushima**
**-** Ferry to Yakushima
\- Should I rent a car or a bike there?
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**Day 13 Yakushima**
\- Hiking and exploring the island
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**Day 14 Kobe**
\- Travel to Kobe
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So I got a few questions.
1. Does anyone have any experience with the luggage forwarding service from the airport? I will want to store a suitcase for these 2 weeks and then have it forwarded to my dormitory once I have checked in there.
2. Should I do the Shimanamikaido in 1 or 2 days? I should say that I am Dutch, hence used to cycling, but I don’t know if this will really make a difference.
3. Any recommendations for day 10 Hiroshima?
4. Rent something on Yakushima?
5. I am not eligible for the JR rail pass due to my student visa, so alternatives or tips?
Really looking forward to this trip and I hope you guys can give me some tips, and share your experiences.
2 comments
I highly recommend going to Miyajima while you’re in Hiroshima!
Day 4 : could do Meiji-jingu, Harajuku and Shibuya (in that order) and you can change Mori Tower for Shibuya Sky.
Day 6 : Onomichi is one of my favorite place in Japan so I would try to be there not too late to explore a bit and eat some Onomichi ramen.
Day 9 : Not sure here, but you do plan to cycle back to Onomichi from Imabari ? Seems to me it would make more sense to take the bus from Imabari to Onomichi or do a detour via Matsuyama and go to Hiroshima by ferry.
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Shimanami kaido, you should be able to cycle it in one day, but take two if you want to do some detour to see attractions on the islands.
Hiroshima, for sure peace museum, but ideally you would want a bit more time and do Miyajima too.
Rent something on Yakushima, you mean rent a car ? could be an idea yes.
There is not really alternative to JR Pass, yes there is some regional pass that are available for foreign resident, but not JR West, so not any that cover most of your travel.
The other option is just to not cover such a larch territory in two weeks. For example, you can easily spend the two full weeks in Kyushu… I mean, I would be able to write an itinerary for a full month for Kyushu. I’ve done a trip covering a lot of territory in 3 weeks, but not I realize that I want to return to most of the regions where I already went as I went to fast and missed a lot. Now I prefer to do one region at the time and not feel the need to return again that early.