Hi everyone!
Off to Japan in August for 2 weeks with my partner. I’ve been before but she hasn’t. I was pretty happy with this itinerary when I made it but now having second thoughts. I’m into photography and she’s really into food. Ironically, none of us are into anime or museums despite loving art, architecture and history.
Day 1: land at Haneda around 10pm. Make our way to the hotel in Roppongi. Late night food options in the area?
Day 2: start off the day with a morning gym sesh to loosen up after the long flight and breakfast/coffee at a Showa era cafe. hit up places that have most of the main things to do in central Tokyo (Mori Tower, Ginza, Harajuku, Shibuya, Golden Gai). I’ve already seen and had enough of these places but she hasn’t so it’d be good to tick them off the list.
Day 3: hit up places that have most of the main things to do in outer Tokyo (Asakusa, Ueno, Koenji, Tsukiji fish market)
Day 4: check out some photo galleries,catch up with acquaintances from my previous trip to Tokyo.
Day 5: trip to Mt.Fuji. We’re staying at Hotel Asafuji which was quite expensive to book so I am wondering if the Fuji view from room is worth it after all.
Plan is to cycle a lot and take in the sights around Mt Fuji. Last time the bikes I hired were terrible. Any recommendations on a good place to hire bikes from in Fujikawaguchiko?
Day 6: Fuji to Yokohama. How do we do this? Last time I took a bus but I remember it being hard to get a ticket for and there being only 1 bus a day for this route. Plan is to activate JR pass on this day so if there any train options from Fujikawagucjiko to Yokohama that would be preferable.
Not sure what we’ll do in Yokohama but it just seemed like a good place to stop over given we are going to Kyoto the next day on the Shinkansen. Any suggestions?
Day 7: Kyoto. Staying near old district. I really really want to avoid the areas packed with tourists as Kyoto is notorious for it. I did not enjoy Fushimi Inari for this reason last time. Wondering if the Higashiyama district suffers from the same overcrowding.
Day 8: Osaka. Staying near Dottonbori. Also want to stop by Shinsekai for the street food.
Day 9: Daytrip to Kobe and Wakayama , then back to Osaka. Wondering if we can fit both on the same day without feeling rushed.
Day 10: this is when I start second guessing myself if the trip to Gero onsen on this day from Osaka will be worth it. I have booked the Sumeikan in Gero (also v pricey) and it seems like a lovely place in winter. But I am not sure how I feel about hot springs in the heat of summer. The journey on the train will be quite long as well and I am questioning if that time can be better be spent elsewhere.
Day 11: late checkout from Gero, stop over at Nagoya for a bit and back to Osaka by midnight to catch the sleeper train (Sunrise Seto or Izumo) back to Tokyo. I plan on booking the JR pass on the official website so I can reserve the sleeper train a month ahead of schedule.
Given we’ve got all of the day time to kill I’m wondering if we could fit in a trip to Takayama before making it to Osaka at night for the train…
Day 12-15: back to Tokyo (staying in Ebisu). Ticking off what we didn’t get around to during our first few days in Tokyo. Also figured this would be a good time to do any shopping and fill up our bags since we won’t have to lug them around anywhere else.
Day 16: booked a stay in Shinagawa so it’s easier to get to Haneda for our early morning flight.
Day 17: fly back.