Hi, I’m planning on solo traveling to Japan for 28 days and I wanted to hear some advice on the overall itinerary and possible solutions for the Hokkaido section of the plan. Some emphasis for this trip are general tourism, onsens, and anime sightseeing. Please note that I am using the JR pass as well. Here is what I have so far:
July 27 – Tokyo:
Arrive from airport, get some basic necessities (sim card, etc), rest at hotel
July 28 – Tokyo/Hakone:
* Visit nearby places from hotel casually
* Get other necessities
* Head over to Hakone by the afternoon
* Rest at Hakone onsens to get rid of jetlag
July 29 – Hakone
* Rest at Onsens, visit nearby places
July 30 – Osaka
* Afternoon: Start heading over Osaka
* Get settled down at a hotel
* Visit Dotonburi
July 31 – Osaka
* Osaka Castle
* Pokemon Center
* Goof off
* Dotonburi
August 1 – Osaka
* Universal Studios
August 2 – Osaka
* Osaka Aquarium
* Goof off at some arcade or something
August 3 – Okayama
* Early morning train to Okayama
* Morning: Kurashiki Canal Area
* Afternoon: Okayama Castle & Okayama Garden
August 4 – Kinosaki
* Early Morning: Train to Kinosaki
* Enjoy Onsens and relax for rest of the time
August 5 – Kinosaki
* Onsens in the morning
* Head over to Kyoto and rest there
August 6 – Kyoto
* Early Morning: Fushimi-Inari
* Afternoon: Kiyomizu-dera, Philosopher’s Path
* Evening/Night: Gion/Pontocho
August 7 – Kyoto
* Manga Museum
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
* Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka
August 8- Nara
* Morning: Kyoto -> Nara
* Day Trip to Nara Park
* Afternoon/Evening – Train to Nagoya
August 9 – Nagoya
* Osu Shotengai
* Inuyama
* Local sightseeing
August 10 – Tokyo
* Akihabara: Game shops, Anime shops
August 11 – Tokyo
* Comiket
August 12 – Tokyo
* Kawasaki City
August 13 – Tokyo
* Shinjuku
August 14 – Tokyo
* Shibuya
* Imperial Castle
August 15 – Hokkaido
*???
August 16 – Hokkaido
* ???
August 17 – Hokkaido
* ???
August 18 – Hokkaido
* ???
August 19 – Hokkaido
* ???
August 20 – Kanazawa
* Kanazawa Garden
* Omichou Market
* Ninja Temple
August 21 – Takayama
* Local sightseeing
* Maybe Onsen?
August 22 – Tokyo
* Light sightseeing,
* Last minute check if there are any nearby spots I missed
* Get souvenirs
August 23 – Tokyo
* Get ready for the flight back home
As you can see, the Hokkaido section is kind of blank because I am having a hard time thinking of what to do, and if it is even worth it to go with the short amount of time I have and how expensive it is (additional flights needed). I researched that unlike the mainland where I will primarily be traveling to, the Hokkaido region lacks the abundance of bullet trains/trains which makes it more difficult to travel across the region in a timely manner. Furthermore, I might consider coming to Hokkaido in the winter time in a later date, which makes me doubt whether I should go to Hokkaido even more.
To replace this, I have considered a few alternatives. I could add an additional day for Kyoto, or increase the variety of smaller prefectures/cities like extending Takayama to 2 days and visiting Chichibu to see the Anohana bridge. I could also replace the entire Hokkaido section with a plane ride to the Kyushu region, but this also contributes to more plane fees. Or maybe, my plan does not adequately evaluate the days needed for some cities so I could allocate more time to specific regions
How would you rate this itinerary and how should I deal with the potential 5 day supplement of removing Hokkaido? I also would like to note that my plan for Tokyo has been dividing each day to a specific city, and the activities yet are not as elaborate because I haven’t been able to plan it out as thoroughly yet, and I also prefer places like Akihabara to be more casual and explore the city without a strict schedule
3 comments
You could easily combine July 31 and August 2 in Osaka to give yourself another day in Kyoto. Also, if you want to stay out late, get a hotel room in Dotonburi/Namba. I found it to be centrally located and my hotel (Vessel Inn Namba) was reasonably quiet.
if you are having trouble filling the Hokkaido days, consider another couple of days in Tokyo. I liked DisneySea but you could add another district or two such as Ikebukuro or Roppongi.
I see that your problem is that Comiket is right in the middle.
I’d axe Hokkaido and add more days to Tokyo. Move the Nagoya day to chain with Takayama to give you an extra day in Kyoto. Do day trips to Enoshima/Kamakura, Yokohama, Nikko.
Take in to consideration that you’ll likely be accumulating stuff the whole time.
you probably want to add Nakano Broadway and Odaiba to your plans somewhere, maybe near the end because shopping.
I just did 28 days solo as well. Replace Hokkaido with Kyushu. I am planning my next trip all about Kyushu after having visited. It’s that awesome. It’s “free” if you have JR pass. Might want to rearrange so you’re going from say Osaka versus Tokyo.