Hello, everyone! My fiancé \[M25\] and I \[F24\] are going on a 2 week honeymoon next February, and we are SO excited.
[Here is a link to my full planning document](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PQ3UgnbvhMCIfg76zZ13T0drBmCHsRLtXkvbHgbP-Xw/edit?usp=sharing), which goes into greater detail with more exact times than what I have listed below. Please review if you’ve got a minute. All feedback on any part of it is greatly appreciated!
Itinerary:
* 2/4 & 2/5 – Travel days to get to Japan
* 2/6 – Fly into Haneda, Check into Shinjuku hotel, nap/rest, go out at night to see some Shinjuku & get dinner
* 2/7 – Hotel Breakfast, Sunshine City Mall / Pokémon Center & Sweets Café, Ameyoko for Lunch, Kappabashi for sampuru shopping, Senso-Ji Temple until sunset, Kirby Café for dinner / Tokyo Skytree & Pokémon center, Pokémon Center DX & GRANSTA Mall until they close for the night
* 2/8 – Eggslut Shinjuku breakfast, Gotokuji Temple, Hotel pit stop & lunch, Suga Jinja for Your Name pic, walk to Japan National Stadium tour, Harajuku, Shibuya
* 2/9 – Hotel Breakfast, Check-out / Forward Luggage, train to Grandberry Park, Snoopy Museum, Snoopy Cafe for lunch, train to Yokohama, Cup Noodles Museum, Yamashita Park, Gundam Factory & Cafe, Chukagai Chinatown (Chinese New Year activities tbd) & food
* 2/10 – Hotel Breakfast, train to Shinsaibashi Osaka, PARCO Building, Pokémon Cafe for lunch, Amerika-Mura & Shinsaibashi-Suji, Hotel check-in/rest, Dotonbori for dinner & nightlife
* 2/11 – Train to Kyoto, Station Starbucks breakfast, Fushimi Inari Shrine (not doing the whole thing bc I don’t like monkeys or boars lol), Kiyomizudera Temple, Sanneizaka & Ninenzaka, Kodai-Ji Bamboo until sunset, Yasaka Shrine for illuminations, Kyoto Station Dinner, Back to Osaka
* 2/12 – USJ Day, pending updated winter hours from USJ may go to Shinsekai, Kuromon, or more Dotonbori for dinner
* 2/13 – Check-out & forward luggage, Konbini Breakfast, train to Kobe, flex time in Kobe before lunch (Maritime Museum, Chinatown, etc.), Kobe Steakhouse lunch, train back to Shinjuku, hotel check-in / downtime, dinner and flex time out in Shinjuku/Harajuku/Shibuya
* 2/14 – Hotel Breakfast, National Art Center, Gonpachi Nishiazabu for lunch, Mori Art Museum & Sky Deck, Akihabara & more flex time wherever we feel for dinner
* 2/15 – Total flex day – looking into Tokyo Disney or Disney Sea, but keeping it open in case there’s anything we missed or would rather re-visit
* 2/16 – Early wake up / check-out, Haneda airport security etc., Haneda airport Onsen & last-minute shopping, fly out
* 2/17 & 2/18 – Travel days to get back home
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Areas that I still need help on:
* Trains / IC Cards / JR Rail Pass
* REALLY need help figuring out if the JR Rail pass will be worth it. Tried using a calculator and it kept coming out to “close call”. I saw on the website I can purchase a pass now at the pre-increase price as long as I indicate that the actual visit will be February (right?). At the current price – given my itinerary – would it save us a decent amount??
* (Given the new rules/shortage) Will a Welcome Suica card cover me on pretty much any train we’d need to get around Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto – or does this look like I should I buy a local pass for Osaka/Kyoto?
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* What would be first to cut?
* Are any of these activities/areas not worth it or don’t live up to the hype/time we’ve allotted? Any that I should dedicate more time to?
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* Forwarding luggage
* General advice on this very much appreciated! I’ve tried educating myself with online resources and am still super anxious about the process, hence allotted a lot of time on those AMs in case something goes wrong. I can’t seem to find any info or lists on which hotels do or don’t work with the services or which services they go through if they do.
* Does anyone know if basically all Hyatts work with luggage forwarding? Any specific company? Also need to know if our TBD hotel in Osaka (The Holiday Inn Osaka) works with anyone or would at least receive our luggage.
Thank you in advance!!
6 comments
Some general comments, did not read the detailed activities list although some days look really very busy.
> Transport
JR pass exchange vouchers have to be redeemed within three months of the purchase date, since the price increase is in October you are too late. In any case with no long day trips outside of Tokyo-Osaka/Kyoto it’s better to buy individual tickets so that you can use the faster and more frequent Nozomi trains.
> Luggage
I would be shocked if Hyatts and Holiday Inns don’t facilitate luggage delivery. Keep in mind it is not same-day service so you will have to keep a change of clothes with you. Earlier this year they were only promising two-day delivery (drop off on Day X, receive on Day X+2) between Kyoto and Tokyo, but mine arrived on Day X+1. If this is the case you might be better off using station lockers and taking your bags with you.
> Scheduling
As I wrote in another post I would move around the order if possible, to avoid Kyoto on a Sunday and Osaka/Kyoto over chinese new year / lunar new year. In 2024 this is on Feb 10 and there will be a surge in regional tourists who get a few days off then. Osaka and Kyoto are extremely popular and conveniently accessed from much of North and East Asia.
Honeymooning with a packed itinerary? Good luck, lovebirds! Just remember to have fun and take it easy. Congrats!
You have several days that have way too much. If those are options, fine, but if it’s all “must do”, then it’s unrealistic. Like 3-4 museum in a day is a lot. There is also some days with area really not that close like Ikebukuro and Asakusa, so it will also take time to move around.
With your current itinerary, no, there is no significant savings to be made using the pass at the current price and you would lose money with the new price. You won’t be able to “buy it now” to save as you only have 90 days to change the voucher for the real pass.
Welcome Suica is the same coverage as a regular Suica. So yes it will work in all the cities you plan to go. If you have an iPhone, you can use Suica/Pasmo/Icoca on your phone and not use a physical card at all. If you have a Visa credit card, then you would want to use Icoca as it’s the only that accept to be loaded with visa right now, but it work the same as the two other and same coverage.
Most hotel who can help with luggage forwarding are likely using Kuroneko Yamato that is the biggest courrier in Japan.
Cannot confirm if Hyatt does it as it’s not in my price range, but it’s the least I would expect from that level of hotel.
Congrats! I just got back from my honey moon in Japan, we are both 25!
To answer one question for you, suica will cover basically almost every transportation in the whole country from what I experienced. Every train accepted it and busses did too. Taxis may have been the only exception. We used it from Tokyo all the way down to Hiroshima with no problems. You can even use it at vending machines, convenience stores, and arcades too.
I do recommend getting a physical card though if possible because my apple wallet one was not working at all!
Wow! A very detailed planning – I love it! This is where this Subreddit can provide you feedback:)
**Feb 6**
Generally not recommended to nap in the afternoon. It will worsen your jetlag and you will not wake up until 9PM. Try to stay awake until bedtime at night no matter what cost
Shinjuku at night – be sure to check out Tokyo Kabukicho Tower and Omeide Yokocho (perhaps for late night snack)
**Feb 7**
Recommend moving Kappabashi to last day. There are so many things you can buy at Daiso (Dollar store) that it doesn’t make sense to buy at full price. Unless you are looking for something specific like knife?
I recommend re-arranging the day as follow to be as efficient as possible
Sensoji – 7AM/8M – beat the crowd! and it opens 24 hours 🙂
Breakfast in Asakusa – Yoshinoya, Mos burger, etc. (leave 9AM)
Ikebukuro – 10AM-3PM – be sure to check out Animate Ikebukuro (this is the largest Animate in Japan!)
Free Activity – Kappabashi? (time permitting)
Kirby Cafe
**Feb 8**
Shibuya – don’t forget to check out Shibuya Sky and Shibuya Miyashita Park (incl Shibuya Yokocho below). This is definitely night scenery
**Feb 9**
Cup noodle museum – consider getting advance reservation for Chicken Ramen experience (spot sells out quick and requires reservation)
**Osaka**
Don’t forget to hop on Tombori river cruise at night
If heading to Nara, take Aonoyoshi sight seeing train for nominal upgrade
Congrats!
Regarding your question on luggage forwarding
– Usually, as courtesy, you can let the hotel know that you will be forwarding luggage. This should be not an issue for major hotels (more of a question mark for airbnb since there may not be anyone to receive it).
– For peace of mind, you can just email them beforehand – but it is not necessary at all. Tak-Q-Bin works with all hotels (they pick up wherever).