Hello everyone! I will be going to Japan relatively soon with a group of friends (4 of us total) and would like to have some more experienced travelers look over our (very extensive) itinerary as it will be our first time in Japan and everything will be a new experience. We are also more on the frugal end and we have made decisions to cut out some extra costs while also still enjoying ourselves. After calculating, we estimated that our 14 days in Japan will cost us around $1900 CAD if people think that is relatively accurate.
Below is our full itinerary, any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
**Day 1 (Wednesday July 5): Departure for Tokyo (YYC-NRT)**
* Direct flight from Calgary to Tokyo Narita with Westjet. Departure will be at 15:00 Local Time with estimated flight time of around 10hrs.
**Day 2 (Thursday July 6): Arrival at Tokyo Narita**
* Landing at around 16:00 Local Time.
* Pick up pocket wifi and exchange money for suica card
* Take the Airport Shuttle Express to our hotel. We will be staying at Hotel Emion Tokyo Bay for all 14 days.
**Day 3 (Friday July 7): Tokyo Station**
* More of a rest day as we recover from the jetlag and adapt to the timezone. Will be spending the day just exploring Tokyo Station as we will be going through it multiple timers over the next 2 weeks so it would probably be a good idea to memorize the station and its layout. Shopping and exploring food places in the area included too before transiting back to the hotel at the end of the day.
**Day 4 (Saturday July 8): Koto City**
* First stop will be at Joypolis for the first half of the day, might stop at the Trick Art Museum if time permits.
* Remainder of the day will be shopping and exploring at DiverCity Tokyo Plaza then heading back to the hotel afterwards
**Day 5 (Sunday July 9): Hakone**
* Will be up early to take transit to Tokyo Station hoping to arrive around 8 (yes this is rush hour so I’m open to alternate suggestions). From there we will take the Shinkansen to Odawara Station (we do not plan on booking reserved seating so if it’s going to be busy should we find alternative off hour times?)
* One at Odawara we plan on buying the Hakone Free Pass and taking the Hakone Tozan Railway up the mountain.
* We want to do the Hakone Loop and hit all the main attractions in the freepass, we would like additional advice on how to go about doing this since our priorities is sailing on Lake Ashinoko and going to the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun.
* If there is time we also want to visit Owakidani
* Planning to leave Hakone around 5pm back to Tokyo Station before returning back to our hotel.
**Day 6 (Monday July 10): Akihabara**
* Entire day will be spent exploring and shopping around Akihabara, we do plan on making a few special trips such as a Bunny Cafe and visiting a Maid Cafe.
**Day 7 (Tuesday July 11): TeamLab**
* Day will begin with TeamLab Planets first thing in the morning when they open, we expect to be there for a few hours.
* Afterwards will be a walk through Kiyosumi Gardens. Food will be in the area and if the day is done early, we will probably just walk around exploring before returning back to the hotel.
**Day 8 (Wednesday July 12): Tsukiji**
* Day will begin early in the morning with a visit to Tsukiji Market. Planning to arrive around 8-9am to avoid the big crowds. Will stay there exploring for a few hours and trying out the food.
* Afterwards, we will transit to the Yushukan Museum and spend a couple hours exploring their exhibits.
* Day will end with a visit to Red Tokyo Tower to experience their attractions and enjoy the scenery. Should be back at the hotel by 10pm.
**Day 9 (Thursday July 13): Tokyo DisneySea**
* Arrive at the park around 8am and wait until they open.
* I have heard how busy the park can be, we want to purchase one of those passes that offers faster admission into attractions. I have heard a mix of changes occurring at Tokyo Disney this year so any advice on what pass to purchase once we are in the park would be greatly appreciated.
* Planning to be at the Horizon Bay Restaurant for lunch and Yucatan Grill for dinner. Any alternative food suggestions are welcome.
**Day 10 (Friday July 14): Meiji Jingu**
* Start the day with a visit to Meiji Jingu in the morning and admire the shrine for a few hours.
* A visit to Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens after Meiji Jingu to conclude the first half of the day.
* After lunch, we plan to go to Kabukicho Tower and try out the Sword Art Online Conquest attraction.
* If there is still time, we want to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building and check out the observation deck they have there.
* Have dinner and end off the day in the evening by visiting the Sky Circus Sunshine 60 Observation Deck before returning back to the hotel.
**Day 11 (Saturday July 15): Shibuya**
* Arrive at Shibuya, check out the Hachiko Memorial Statue.
* Explore Village Vanguard for the first half of the morning then go for lunch.
* Afterwards we plan to explore the shops in Shibuya 109 then having dinner at Zauo Shibuya where we fish for our own dinner.
* After dinner we will conclude with another sunset observation of the city at Shibuya SKY before returning to the hotel.
**Day 12 (Sunday July 16): Senso-ji**
* Begin the day by checking out the vendors at Nakamise-dori street, then walking our way up until we hit senso-ji.
* Grab lunch then visit either a Shiba or Capybara Cafe until dinner.
* After dinner, check out the skyline with a visit to Tokyo Skytree before returning back to the hotel.
**Day 13 (Monday July 17): Yokohama**
* Take the train down to Yokohama and spend the day checking out the Hakkejima Sea Paradise Aquarium.
* Transit back to Tokyo Station afterwards, explore for the evening before returning back to the hotel.
**Day 14 (Tuesday July 18): Shibuya**
* Slower start to the day with a visit to Tokyo Ten Shibuya for sushi, then checking out Mega Donki and Tokyu Hands. Spend the remainder of the afternoon shopping around Shibuya City.
* Have dinner then transit back to the hotel area and visiting the Oedo Onsen.
**Day 15 (Wednesday July 19): Yokohama**
* Second trip down to Yokohama, this time checking out the Cup Noddle Museum and the Yokohama Ferris Wheel.
* After lunch, explore Yokohama Chinatown for the afternoon and evening before going back to Tokyo and to our hotel.
**Day 16 (Thursday July 19): Narita**
* Leave hotel in the morning and depart for Narita with expected arrival before noon.
* Drop off pocket wifi and exchange any extra money.
* Spend the extra time exploring the airport and doing some planespotting.
* Departure at 18:30 Local Time back to YYC.
If you have somehow gotten this far and read this entire thing, thank you so much and I will happily consider any feedback and advice on this!!!
4 comments
That’s a lot of travel.
DiverCity is a pretty standard mall and doesn’t really have much that you won’t find elsewhere, so don’t plan on it being a major destination. Focus on the theme park side.
For Hakone I think you’re being a bit overambitious since it does take you two hours each way to get there from your hotel and that’s already kind of tiring.
Tsukiji will already be very busy by 8am.
Village Vanguard will not take half a morning, it’s not very big. But of course there’s many shops nearby so you’ll be fine.
General points:
Japan starts their day late. Most shops and attractions don’t open to 11am, other than of course the ones you’ve been able to book for earlier. That’s something to keep in mind, there’s no real point heading to places like Ginza or Akihabara early in the morning.
The animal cafes are run on Japanese welfare standards, which will be much lower than what you’re used to in Canada. Prepare to be disappointed, depressed or distressed. Wild animals aren’t magically happier in Japan at being cooped up in tiny buildings.
Seems to be a very very relaxing itinerary. Most people will squeeze a bit more in there.
Hakone – doable. But it will be a rush.
DisneySea – tickets costs around $100 SGD, with fast passes going for $15-20 each. You can purchase fast passes using the Disney app to skip lines. Table service restaurants need to be booked in advance – Eg horizon bay
Narita – airport prices tend to be more expensive than City. I would do my shopping in town.
Animal cafes – I do not support animal cruelty and will skip them.
Budget – you mentioned 1900 Cad. Does that include flights and hotels? 1900 CAD per person excluding flights and hotels is fairly comfortable.
I agree that this is a very relaxed itinerary and with opportunity to squeeze some day trips (even if you intend to stay in Tokyo all the way). Nikko, Kamakura and Ito are great candidates just to experience a different pace of Japan
I would say the only reason you want to stay in Tokyo that long is to go shopping – which I don’t think you have that in the budget.
Some days doesn’t have enough activity. Day 3 for instance is dedicated to Tokyo Station. Although it has interesting architecture and even some really cool shops (Character street), it probably doesn’t justify a day. It is in close proximity to Ginza which you can easily walk and combine with.
Shibuya – you have two days dedicated but itinerary is very light. Might consider Shibuya Parco, Miyashita Park, Tokyo Foodshow, Shibuya Stream, etc. I think a day is frankly enough
I am not sure $1900 for 14 days – does this include hotel? Looks very low to me…
Hello fellow Canadian! Some of your days are pretty light and could likely be combined, like Team Labs planets + Diver City. Like others have pointed out, most things open much later in the day, the key exception being shrines and temples that open with the sun, so I recommend putting those as your first stop of the day. The catch is they also close early! Other than shopping and getting a feel for the city, what kind of experience are you looking for? During my trip, while I enjoyed Tokyo, it was my least favorite place we stayed, but then again, I’m not into shopping, nightlife and my trip focused around nature and history.