So I was going to do a group tour for my first trip to Japan (so I don’t have to worry about the transportation but the group tour including mainly accomodations and transportation is like $3500) but my friend said she is interested in going so we can go on our own which is hopefully cheaper. I am hoping we can figure out how to get around with google maps and google translate..still kinda nervous about getting lost!
I have been having a hard time figuring out the itinerary. We are trying to see Osaka, Koyasan, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Hakone, and Tokyo for 9 days in Oct 2024. TOTAL budget is $3500 or less (with a max of $5000) per person.
Day 1 Osaka-Arrive at Kansai airport, check-in at hotel & drop off luggage, get dinner (& breakfast for next day at convenience store)
Day 2 Osaka/Koyasan-Osaka Castle, Excelsior Cafe, Dotombori District walking tour, Don Quixote (souvenirs)
Day 3 Koyasan/Hiroshima-Oku-no-in, Torodo Hall, Itsukushima-jinja Shrine
Day 4 Hiroshima-Peace Park, Memorial Museum, *Miyajima Island?, Torii Gate?*
Day 5 Hiroshima/Kyoto-Nijo Castle, geisha district of Gion, ochaya (teahouses), Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
Day 6 Kyoto-Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine, Imperial palace\*, *Nara deer park\*?*
Day 7 Kyoto/Hakone-boat ride Lake Ashino-ko, Traditional Kaiseki meal, onsens at Hakone, Ryokan
Day 8 Hakone/Tokyo-Studio Ghibli Museum, Teamlab Planets, Shibuya walking tour, Harajuku & Ginza shopping\*, Shibuya Sky (sunset views)………………. *Imperial Palace East Garden\*?, Meiji Shrine\*?, Sensō-ji Temple\*?*
Day 9 Tokyo-Get to Haneda airport, get lunch nearby
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1. Does this itinerary seem doable? Will we need to cut one of these other days and make another day for Tokyo?
2. Due to the price increase in the JR pass, can we just get a Suica card and get train (like Shinkansen) tickets as we go instead of the JR pass? **(Trying to figure out the alternatives to the JR pass)**
3. Should the trip start with Tokyo and be flipped?
4. Can we plan where to eat once we get there?
5. Does anyone know any good Ryokans in Hakone?
I am nervous about figuring the transportation because we want to see a lot which means we will be moving around a lot. Any transportation tips or general tips are appreciated. Thank you for your help <3
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8 comments
I just booked a solo trip Japan in October
Three weeks
I look at your list and I recognize like 1 out of 4 names.
I’m having happy anxiety.
Google maps is a game changer for Japan travel. It works great.
You don’t need to plan dining unless you are picking trendy places. The best meals I have had in Japan were spur of the moment stops. Good food is *everywhere* in Japan.
My recs:
Day 2: Push Don Quixote to later in the trip so you don’t have to lug souvenirs around the whole trip.
Day 4: Skip Miyajima and spend the whole day in Hiroshima.
Day 6: Skip Nara and spend the whole day in Kyoto
Day 9: Haneda has a lot of decent, reasonably priced restaurant choices
Day 8 is overly ambitious. Ghibli museum is a further out from central Tokyo. It will take at least 4-5 hours including transport. Teamlabs take approximately another 2 hours. Shibuya will take easily half a day for mild exploration including Shibuya Sky.
Id say you can do 2 activities from the one you listed. Asakusa + Shibuya, Ghibli + Shibuya or TeamLabs + Shibuya, etc.
1. This feel extremely rushed. For that number of days, I would focus on Kansai (+maybe Hiroshima) or Tokyo region. Doing both you will barely have time to see each place. This will end up in spending more money on transit too.
2. There is no alternative to the JR Pass if you want it to cover Kansai to Tokyo, that is the only pass that cover it. The alternative is not using the pass at all. To cover other things like going to Hiroshima, tho, you could use th Kansai Hiroshima Pass that is cheaper than the round trip Osaka-Hiroshima. If you land if Osaka, then it will have to be an Icoca card (unless you have an iPhone, in that case you can get Suica in your Apple Wallet, unless your credit card is a Visa, in that case you will likely want to use Icoca that accept Vias (at least for now).
3. No, either is technically fine… but as I already said, I would only do 1 region. Doing both under 10 days is really rushed.
4. Yes, I never really plan food appart from searching what is the local dish of cities I visit.
Make sure you stop for air on your trip cause that’s a insane itinerary. 100% I’d be skipping the Tokyo stuff for Nara and Himeji castle. Osaka castle is basically a museum inside a rebuilt castle. Himeji is the real deal.
Get ready for a delightful mix of surprises and happy anxiety! Japan’s charm lies in its endless wonders. Enjoy your trip!
I had a great experience at Mount View Hakone! It was on the more affordable end for Ryokans, and they’re accommodating of dietary restrictions for their kaiseki dinner!
We enjoyed Himeji castle way more than Osaka castle. Himeji is about 30 minutes outside of Osaka, depending on transportation. The aquarium was way more fun than Osaka castle for my family, so you could consider doing Himeji castle + Osaka aquarium in a day.
If you are basing out of Osaka you could consider saving Tokyo for a future visit. Osaka and Tokyo are both offering the same things that most big cities do: food, shopping, and entertainment. Kyoto is the cultural captial and you could easily add more time at the Bamboo forest, monkey park, even a half-day trip to the match captial Uji.