Hi there! My partner and I are travelling to Japan in late October for 16 days and it will be my first time visiting. We’re in our late 20s/early 30s, are huge foodies, love shopping/thrifting, video games/anime/manga, and architecture (big fan of SANAA and Tadao Ando).
This is our first itinerary check. Nothing is really booked yet besides our flights. My partner really wants to do 2 nights in Hakone and we planned it this way so we could really unwind near the middle of the trip and then spend Halloween in Tokyo, but otherwise, we’re pretty flexible. Please let us know if any of this looks like too much as we’re trying not to get too ambitious. Any suggestions for places to stay or other things to check out would be very appreciated!! Thank you in advance.
# Saturday, October 21 – TOKYO
* 4PM Land at Haneda
* Check into hotel
* Dinner somewhere nearby
* Rest and recover
# Sunday, October 22 – OSAKA
* Check out of Tokyo hotel
* Train to Osaka
* Check into Osaka hotel
* Kuromon Market
* Namba Yasaka Jinja
* Nipponbashi
* Shinsekai
* Harukas 3000
* (If there’s time) Dotonbori
# Monday, October 23 – OSAKA
* Cup Noodles Museum
* Minoh Falls/Minoh Park
* Umeda Sky Building
* Dotonbori if we didn’t get to it previously
# Tuesday, October 24 – OSAKA
* Osaka Castle
* Aquarium
* (Can skip) Tempozan Ferris Wheel
* Shinsaibashi
* Try fugu at Takoyasu?
# Wednesday, October 25 – NARA/KYOTO
* Check out of Osaka hotel
* Train to Nara
* Nara Deer Park
* Suntory Distillery – My partner really wants to check this out, but their tours might not be available by the time we go. We might skip this if so.
* Train to Kyoto
* Check in to Kyoto hotel
* Dinner somewhere nearby
# Thursday, October 26 – KYOTO
* Fushimi Inari
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Lunch at Kichi-kichi? Depends on if we can get a reservation
* Gion
* Nishiki Market
* Pontocho Alley
# Friday, October 27 – KYOTO
* Kinkakuji
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
* Rilakkuma Cafe/Miffy Bakery?
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
# Saturday, Oct 28 – KYOTO
* A tea ceremony? Nothing booked yet
* Philosopher’s Path
* Kyoto Imperial Palace
# Sunday, Oct. 29 – HAKONE
* Check out of Kyoto hotel
* Train to Hakone
* Check in to ryokan
* Rest and relax
# Monday, Oct. 30 – HAKONE
* Pretty much everything on the Hakone Free Pass loop..
* Open Air Museum
* Owakudani
* Hakone-jinja Shrine
# Tuesday, Oct. 31 – TOKYO
* Check out of ryokan
* Train to Tokyo
* Check in to Tokyo hotel – staying near Shinjuku?
* Ghibli Museum? Depends on if we can get a reservation
* Explore Shinjuku
* Omoide Yokocho
* Kabukicho
* Anything else we should check out since it’ll be Halloween?
# Wednesday, Nov. 1 – TOKYO
* Yoyogi Park
* Shopping around Shibuya/Takeshita Street
* Mipig Cafe? (Not a big deal if we don’t do this)
* Shibuya Crossing/Hachiko
* Nintendo
* Dinner at Den? Depends on if we can get a reservation
# Thursday, Nov. 2 – TOKYO
* Tokyo DisneySea
# Friday, Nov. 3 – TOKYO
* TeamLab Planets
* Tsukiji Outer Market
* Ginza
* Pokemon Center
* Try to eat at Tsujihan
* (If there’s time) Check out Shibaura House?
# Saturday, Nov. 4 – TOKYO
* Sensoji
* Kirby Cafe?
* Tokyo Skytree? Not really a must-do
* Akihabara
# Sunday, Nov. 5 – TOKYO
* Nothing much planned for this day – figured it would be best to keep it open for any last-minute shopping or things we didn’t get a chance to do yet
* Check out of hotel
* 7PM Flight out of Haneda
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