Hello everyone, first time traveling to Japan and internationally so I wanted some advice. My friend and I are visiting a 3rd friend who is teaching English. I’ve been doing most of the legwork for where to go and what to see but I’d love to see things off the beaten path, stuff you can’t find from Googling “Japan points of interest” and the like. Our main mode of transportation will be by train but we \*\*\*might\*\*\* have a car for the Iwakuni/Hiroshima portion. In the breakdown below, I’ve separated each day into 4 hour chunks just so there is wiggle room for travel time’s and for the unknown to happen and any blank spots are unplanned currently. Also, as for the Tokyo portion of the trip, each day can be interchanged (for instance, the day we want to go see sumo matches could be Day 8 or Day 11) and one of the nights we want to go and do some heavy drinking. Please let me know what you think and I’m open to advice. Thanks!
Overview:
Day 1: Fly into Tokyo then to Iwakuni
\- Touchdown in Haneda around 3:00, get processed and exchanged money, fly to Iwakuni @ 5:15
Day 2: Acclimation day, taking it easy
\-Morning: Sleeping on friend’s floor, ouch
\-Midday: Iwakuni Castle & Kintaikyo Bridge
\-Afternoon:
\-Night:
Day 3: Hiroshima
\-Morning:
\-Midday: Hiroshima Peace Memorial & Hiroshima City
\-Afternoon: Itsukushima Jinja
\-Night:
Day 4: Travel to Nagoya
\-Morning: Travel to Nagoya, 3.5 hours by train
\-Midday:
\-Afternoon:
\-Night:
Day 5: Takayama day trip
\-Morning: Travel to Takayama, 2.5-3 hours by train, hopefully make it to the morning market
\-Midday: Takayama – Showa Museum
\-Afternoon:
\-Night:
Day 6: ….Laundry day in Nagoya?
\-Morning:
\-Midday:
\-Afternoon:
\-Night:
Day 7: Travel to Tokyo
\-Morning: Travel to Yokohama
\-Midday: Life size Gundam and Cup Ramen Museum
\-Afternoon: Continue on to Tokyo and check into AirBnB
\-Night:
Day 8: Akihabara & Sumos
\-Morning: wait in line for sumo tickets (just in case we miss early ticket sales)
\-Midday: Akihabara
\-Afternoon: Sumo matches
\-Night:
Day 9: Shimoyoshida day trip
\-Morning: Travel to Shimoyoshida
\-Midday:
\-Afternoon: Return to Tokyo
\-Night:
Day 10: Open Day
\-Morning:
\-Midday:
\-Afternoon:
\-Night:
Day 11: Open Day
\-Morning:
\-Midday:
\-Afternoon:
\-Night:
Day 12: Fly back home in the afternoon
\-Morning: Find a Post office and ship gifts back
\-Midday: Last lunch and tearful goodbyes
\-Afternoon: Plane takes off at 3:45 to return home
\-Night:
1 comment
For a first trip you should really see Kyoto unless you have a lot of things you want to see elsewhere.