Itinerary Check – Tokyo / Kyoto (June 30-July 8) – Should I drop Mt Fuji?

Hello all,

I will be going to Tokyo at the end of this month with my new cutiepie girlfriend – we funnily enough have the same birthday on July 3 and wanted to do a big trip together for it.

I will go through my itinerary here (some of it is pretty loose so far), but my main question is if I should drop the Mt Fuji part of the trip… it looks like there isn’t a super easy way to get there from Tokyo and then go to Kyoto, where we could just take a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto in 2\~ hours. For reference, the Fuji hotel is “[La Vista Fuji Kawaguchiko](https://www.google.com/maps/place/La+Vista+Fuji+Kawaguchiko/@35.5296567,138.7601977,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!3m8!1s0x60195e5b3a054b2f:0xe14f41521aef9e84!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d35.5296567!4d138.7627726!16s%2Fg%2F11bt_gghll?entry=ttu)”, which is to the north of Fuji and not near any trains. Also, on July 5, my girlfriend has something personal to attend to and will not want to travel, so I was going to spend another day in the Fuji area to avoid travelling, but that feels like too much, so I think it might be best to cut it and just spend more time in Kyoto. Anyways, I’ll list the itinerary with both options below:

June 30th – Land in HND at 3:25PM. Check in at Ginza hotel ([Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier](https://www.gardenhotels.co.jp/ginza-premier/eng/)). Relax a bit, then do dinner at [Suigian](https://suigian.jp/en/) which has a really cool cultural Geisha show going on while you eat.

July 1st – Day in Asakusa (Senso-ji Temple, Hoppy Street, etc.) At 4:20PM, we will take the [Tokyo Cruise](https://www.suijobus.co.jp/en/price/) sea-bus from Asakusa to Odaiba. At Odaiba, we will get dinner, relax and watch the sunset from the beach there, and potentially do the [teamLab Planets](https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/) exhibit.

July 2nd – Day in Shinjuku – Start with Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, and make our way down to Harajuku, where we will spend a few hours so she can go shopping for cosmetics, and check out the [Sailor Moon store](https://www.laforet.ne.jp/kr/shop_search/shop307) (her favorite anime). We will then make our way over to Shibuya for the evening, starting with a quick trip to Shibuya Parco (for the Pokemon store), then a reservation for the Shibuya Sky rooftop (reserved a couch seat / drinks). Afterwords, we will check out the Shibuya Crossing and get dinner in the area.

July 3rd – This is our birthday! We will be starting with a Tea Ceremony (I have a couple of reservation inquiries in flight, but please let me know if you can suggest one where Kimono-wearing is available). Then, we will make our way to Akihabara to check out a bunch of anime stuff and spend time in an arcade. We then have dinner reservations at 8PM at the [Towers in the Ritz Carlton](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g14129743-d2248008-Reviews-Towers-Akasaka_Minato_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html) (has an amazing, romantic view). Let me know if you have any other suggestions that I could surprise her with for our birthday – maybe something nice and relaxing.

Here is where the timeline splits…

Timeline A–

July 4th – Currently the plan is to travel to La Vista Fuji Kawaguchiko, and spend the day there relaxing, and exploring the town nearby.

July 5th – Another relaxation day at La Vista

July 6th – Head to Kyoto, (currently booked [Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rihga+Royal+Hotel+Kyoto/@34.9863853,135.7526951,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x469c370f6f1f1b0b?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirt6q_07__AhVtMlkFHb8vAJkQ_BJ6BAhuEAc)) get there in time to see Kiyomizu-Dera temple and the surrounding area of Gion

July 7th – Bamboo forest, exploring some other parts of Arashiyama, and then Fushimi Inari at night (I find it less crowded then…)

July 8th – Bullet train to Tokyo in the morning, flight at 5:50PM

Timeline B–

July 4th – Head to Kyoto, get there in time to see Kiyomizu-Dera temple and the surrounding area of Gion

July 5th – Relaxation day in Kyoto (walk by river at night)

July 6th – Day trip to Nara, perhaps Fushimi Inari when we return at night

July 7th – Bamboo forest, some exploration, and then take a Bullet Train back to Tokyo to spend the night

July 8th – Explore some neighborhood of Tokyo we didn’t get to yet, then flight at 5:50PM

​

I am definitely leaning towards Timeline B here. I think Timeline A is a bit cramped and the only way we can get some good time in Kyoto is to save the trip back to Tokyo on our flight day, which I think is a bad idea.

Please though give me any insight you have and any tips! Also, any restaurant suggestions as I still need some of that! Thank you!