Itinerary Review (15 Days in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo)

13 comments

1. ​

   I think your Tokyo itinerary is at the moment very light. Day 6 is for instance dedicated to travel to Hilton Tokyo from Shinjuku. I am not sure if changing hotel here is necessary, but if you do change – you do not need an entire day for this exercise.

   Day 2 – Asakusa for instance. I am not sure if you need an entire day to explore Asakusa. If you explore in the morning, you’d be done in the afternoon after some shopping / lunch in the area.

   Day 3 – I think my comment here also cascade to your other days. But this day is just lacking detail / plan. Shinjuku is a vast area and you can certainly take advantage of the myriad of activities there (Omeide Yokocho at night, Godzilla, Disney Flagship Store, Shinjuku Goen, etc)

   Day 11 – This is just impossible. Your itinerary here is probably doable in 2 days (rushed) or a more realistic 3 days.

   I think my comment is – try to refine your Tokyo plan, be more efficient, see if you truly need that many days. I think you can easily pare 2 days there and allocate to Kyoto overnight stay.

   For 15 days, I generally think an efficient itinerary goes like this: 8 nights Tokyo (with day trip to Yokohama/Hakone/Kawaguchiko), 4 nights Osaka (incl day trip to Nara), 3 nights Kyoto.

2. Not sure if by Donkey Kart, you mean the go karting through the city but if so I highly suggest you rethink doing this. They’re super disruptive and smell terrible plus they’re super dangerous too. Such a big nuisance.

3. Skip any Komodo rental – it’s just not worth it and you look like a total fool doing it

4. Have fun!

5. Your day 11 for Kyoto isn’t going to work. It’s all too spread out. I would skip the Bamboo forest and Kinkakuji. Get to Fushimi Inari first thing in the morning (like between 7-8am). If you hike the whole thing to the top of the mountain, expect 2 hours at least, maybe a little more if you want to check out the shrines. Then you could hit up Yasaka later in the day and explore Kyoto streets. I would keep it to that.

6. Family of 4 here leaving on the 19th for 10 days to Tokyo. I have some similar plans to OP, but since reading the comments and great suggestions, have changed plans. Thank you all! With this said, I plan on booking a trip with Expedia that is a 10 hr tour, for $114 each. Includes a Tokyo Skytree tour, Tokyo Bay cruise, explore Asakusa (even though that’s where we’re staying) Edo castle in Tokyo and Edo-bashi Bridge and the Imperial Palace in Asakusa among other things. Do you all think this tour bus would be worth it???

7. Just came back from a 17 days trip from Japan, here some advice and feedback (i’m french, so sorry if my english suck) :
   – You’re planning to spend 3 days in Osaka, i think it is good, and that what i did (i did my first 2 days in Osaka and my third day in Kobe then took the train directly for Kyoto)
   – Only 1 day in Kyoto ? There is a lot to see here ! Like others said, i think the minimum of the minimum is 2 days but the best are 3 days ! Go to Fushimi Inari early in the morning (i took the first train at 6 am in the morning and for taking photos there is almost no crowd !)
   – Are you travelling alone ? I was, so if you are, tell me and i can give you some advice if you want !

   I personnally prefered the Kansai over Tokyo (more traditionnal, smaller than Tokyo and less people)

   Have fun to prepare your trip !

8. Mostly repeating what others have said, but Days 3-4 are not full enough. Day 11, as others have said, is WAY too full. Transit around Kyoto is not nearly as good as in Tokyo (or even Osaka), and that accounts for most of the discrepancy in what you have scheduled vs how much you should have scheduled.

   Consider taking time in Tokyo to explore Shinjuku, Shibuya, and/or Akihabara. Ginza is also good I have heard (but could not fit it in on my trip).

9. I would try a standing sushi bar, and shibuya sky during sunset!

10. Don’t forget to get teamLab Tokyo tickets early, they sell out fast. You might as well visit some of the other spots in that area if you’re gonna go to teamLab Tokyo. Poop Museum?

    Skip the eki-ben, they’re not worth the price. Just find something to eat before and after the train ride.

    Pick up the Osaka tourist pass. There are 1 or 2 day options, and it includes all Osaka metro (but not JR) rides, bus rides, and most of the entrance fees for what you listed. There is also an all day Osaka metro pass (break even if you take about 4 rides). Some of the tourist attractions like the river cruise should be reserved ahead of time.

    If you travel between Osaka and Kyoto on the weekends on the Hankyu line, certain times will use the train with a special decor.

    Riding the bus can be a bit different between these cities. In Tokyo, it’ll be the more common, get on at the front and pay format. But in Kyoto, you get on from the back, mark your start, and pay as you get off the front.

    It’ll be very apparent when you arrive, but when using escalators, you stand on the left (and walk on the right) while in Tokyo but opposite in Kansai.

11. If you don’t need a tonne of data, just download an esim to your phone.

    I got one through the Airalo app (I’m from Aus, but I assume you’d have something similar if you’re from the states) and downloaded it a few weeks before the trip. Definitely what I will be doing from now on.

    Also if you’re swapping hotels to be closer to Disney or team Labs, it’s not really a huge issue, it is all very accessible by train.

    If you’re looking for something else to add to your list, the sky tree and Shibuya Scramble square lookouts are both really cool.

12. It’s been pointed out already, but Kyoto itinerary is too much for one day. We are here now and have done basically all those things in 3 solid days. We went all the way up Mt Inari though so that took some time (pro tip, there are a TON of the orange arch walkways, so don’t feel like you need to get a picture right at the beginning. That stuff stresses me out and realizing that the other route or juuuust a bit further up is much more clear saved me from losing it just to take another picture.) Consider adding in Kiyomizu. Just got done with that today and we enjoyed it (and we’ve seen our fair share of temples so far lol). We’ve enjoyed bopping in and out of shops in the Nishiki Market area too.

    Also, we had a blast up in Nagano/Yudanaka going to the Snow Monkey park. They make it super easy on you too. When you get to Nagano you can buy an all inclusive pass for 2700 JPY that gets you round trip on the subway, bus, entrance fee. It took up most of the day though from Tokyo.

13. Following closely! We’ll be doing a similar trip in October, but for 10 days!