hello everyone!
me and my mom are planning to travel to japan this upcoming july, and we are looking for a relaxed trip that focuses more on historic/traditional and nature spots. i would really appreciate some feedback, as well as some suggestions on other temples/restaurants/ect. that we could visit in the area as well.
this is my first time putting together a travel itinerary, so apologies if some parts of it may seem unrealistic. i feel as if i overestimated our time a bit too much, but not all the locations on these daily lists are exactly mandatory- i would like our schedule to be flexible. thank you in advance!
August 12th
\- flight from Cebu to Osaka (Japan)
arrive in Osaka by 2:15pm
\- ride train/bus from Osaka to Kyoto (approximately 50 minutes)
\- check- in to hotel (check-in starts at 2:00pm)
\- rest and explore local area
August 13th
\- Arashiyama
arashiyama bamboo grove (depart at 9:00am)
rilakkuma tea house (eats)
arashiyama monkey park
\- jojakkoji temple
\- nonomiya shrine
\- kimono forest (if time allows)
August 14th
\- Gion district
Shirakawa lane
Hanamikoji Street
Musoshin Ramen
Gion Tanto (good okonomiyaki)
\- nishiki market
\- kenninji temple
\- yasaka koshindo temple (if time allows)
August 15th
\- kyoto gyoen national garden
\- kyoto imperial palace
\- goojinja shrine
\- kyogashi confectionary museum
\- kaboku tea room
\- funaoka onsen
August 16th
\- bus from Kyoto to Tokyo (3.5hour bus ride)
\- teamLAB museum
\- shimokitazawa (thrift district)
Florida
New York Joe Shimokitazawa
HAIGHT & ASHBURY
ROSE Shimokitazawa
\^\^all thrift strores
August 17th
\- saiho-ji temple and moss garden
\- shonan tei temple
\- Shishinan tea room (茶房 至心庵)
\- suzumushi-dera temple
August 18th
\- flight from Osaka to Cebu (Philippines)
6 comments
None of this says “relaxed” to me. You’re going to some of the most heavily visited areas of Kyoto and Tokyo. Expect everything to be very crowded.
It also appears you’re going to Tokyo for a single day and then back to Kansai just for Teamlabs and Shimokitazawa. Why? This is the very opposite of relaxed. You can stay in the larger Kyoto region and find lots of nature if you leave Kyoto. Nara. Mie. Lake Biwa. Osaka is a large city and an easy day trip from Kyoto.
Also, a bus from Kyoto to Tokyo is NOT three hours. It takes about six to seven hours to drive between the two in a normal passenger car on toll roads. Are you confusing the bus with the Shinkansen?
How are you getting back from Tokyo to Osaka for your flight?
Shimokitazawa is not a place to find deals on vintage clothing. It’s heavily gentrified now. Expect to find ¥12,000 UCLA sweatshirts from 2009.
>bus from Kyoto to Tokyo (3.5hour bus ride)
No. That is much much longer by bus. That’s about how long it takes by shinkansen.
And if you are only planing to go for a single day in Tokyo, I would save my time and money and stay in Kansai only, try to find thrift stores in Kyoto or Osaka for example.
Just in case you scrap off Tokyo in your itinerary, there’s the TeamLab Botanical Gardens in Osaka that can be an alternative to the Tokyo one.
Day trip to Tokyo!? Wow. The round trip alone is 6hrs+ ($600 for two with Shinkansen). I would not even consider it.
This itinerary is nowhere near a relax trip. You are only there for 7 days, why not just enjoy it at 1 region instead of crossing from a region to another? Kansai region has so much to offer.
Day trip to Tokyo just for the hipster neighborhood is illogical and not relaxing. Overpriced and overhyped imo. By bus sounds miserable and almost impossible for a day. By bullet train is possible but that’s an easy $500+ for round trip.