Hi! Looking for feedback on my itinerary for late March 2024. Flights are already booked. I am a solo traveler (30F) visiting Japan for the first time, but experienced traveling internationally. I’m a pretty fast-paced traveler and move around a lot. I like trying food, souvenir shopping, sightseeing, history, nature, bike riding, light hikes, and taking photos.
**1 night at Haneda Airport**
* Day 0 – Land into HND at 9pm. Check into an airport hotel and send luggage to Kyoto
**1 night in Osaka (Namba area)**
* Day 1 – Early morning flight from HND-KIX. Direct train to Namba. Walk around Dotonburi and Shinsekai. Leisurely eating and shopping for the day.
**4 nights in Kyoto (Ace Hotel Kyoto)**
* Day 2 – Travel to Kyoto. Free day to just walk around town, shop, and eat.
* Day 3 – Arashiyama in the morning. Nishiki market.
* Day 4 – Day trip to Hiroshima and/or Miyajima
* Day 5 – Send luggage to Tokyo. Fushimi Inari Shrine in the morning. Bike ride along Kamogawa river?
**5 nights in Tokyo (all in Hyatt Centric Ginza or split with Kimpton Shinjuku)**
* Day 6 – Travel to Tokyo. Free day to walk around Ginza and Asakusa.
* Day 7 – Day trip to Hakone via Romancecar. Mainly want to do some short hikes and get a photo at the shrine. Not too interested in the open air museum. Should I do the whole loop?
* Day 8 – Free day in Tokyo. Tsukiji fish market.
* Day 9 – Day trip to Kawaguchiko. Fuji Five lakes? Oishi park? Chureito Pagoda for a photo. I just want to walk or bike some trails and get nice photos of Mt. Fuji if the weather is right!
* Day 10 – Harry Potter studio tour. Walk around Shinjuku and Shibuya
* Day 11 – flight out of Haneda at 10am
**Thoughts:**
* **Should I cut 1 night from Tokyo and spend 1 night in Hakone?** Primary concern is luggage and getting around back and forth to a hotel in Hakone.
* I am using credit card points for Tokyo lodging and have some free nights I can use at the Kimpton in Shinjuku. **Is it worth switching hotels in Tokyo** (3 nights in Ginza and 2 nights in Shinjuku)? Some of my day trips and the Harry Potter studio start in Shinjuku anyway. I cannot do all nights in Shinjuku unfortunately.
* I’m not including too many specific temples/shrines because I think I’ll just wing it and visit any I’m in the mood for. I’m primarily looking to just stroll around, eat, shop, and do some easy hikes
* Open to other day trips (Nara, Kamakura?) or even cutting Kyoto and Tokyo and **adding Nagano or Takayama**. Would love to go into the alps but not sure how annoying of a detour it would be.
* I will be back to Tokyo and Kyoto later in the year with my family, so I’m not concerned with seeing everything in those cities.
* I will have 1 large suitcase, 1 carry on, and a backpack.
* Cost/budget is not a huge concern.
* Day trips from Tokyo will be chosen based on weather, so I may switch around any of the last 5 days.
* I will be utilizing public transportation the entire time and likely will not rent a car or do a private tour since I am just one person.
* I did consider spending more nights in Osaka, but based on my interests, I think one night is enough? Also considered skipping 1 night in Osaka and just doing a day trip from Kyoto, but I’ll be landing in KIX anyway so figured I’d stay in Namba.
This is meant to be a rough, loose itinerary as I’m not really one to pack my schedule with activities, and like to wing some things. Just want some feedback on which route I should take (staying in Hakone, detouring to Nagano, more day trips?) so I can finalize accommodations. Thank you!
9 comments
If you like light hikes, the waterfall in Mino city is nice. It is about 30 minutes from Osaka- Umeda on the Hankyu Line. I think it is nicer than Arashiyama.
I liked Nara a lot. It’s definitely worth a visit for a day from Kyoto or Osaka.
The peace museum in Hiroshima is a thing one should have seen and Miyajima was really nice. It’s possible in one day from Osaka but that would be a long day.
Three pieces of luggage seem quite a lot to me. One suitcase and a bagpack are not enough? But the sending luggage system works great, so everything is easily possible.
You can consider stopping by Hakone on the way to Tokyo, even spend the night and go to a onsen. Yes, would do the loop, Owakudani is pretty interesting. Next morning you can either go direct to Tokyo or spend more time in Hakone.
Harry Potter studio yes you can take the subway from Shinjuku, but maybe consider going to Ikebukuro to take the train instead, they have decorated the platform and they are running HP themed train.
Nara is an easy day trip from Kyoto, you could even use your free (day 2) for it an do Nara as a detour between Osaka and Kyoto.
I feel that you have kind of the minimum amount of time I would recommend to go both Tokyo and Kansai, adding Nagano or Takayama (or both) would cut a lot of time on the main cities. But yes, if you are considering returning to both cities soon, then spending 2-3 days to do a detour in the alps is a valid option.
Too much luggage. Carry as little as you can, bring minimum amount of clothes, do your laundry and do not bring “just in case” items.
I didn’t think waterfalls could compete, but now I’m team Mino City! Sorry, Arashiyama!
Why use Kansai International Airport (KIX) from Haneda (HND)?
Osaka Airport, which is closer to the city centre, seems more convenient.
As someone already mentioned, your day trip to Hiroshima will be quite long and I feel like it’ll be a bit rushed. If you’re not dead set on going to Hiroshima I’d advise you to swap it with going to Uji (where Matcha originated) and Nara (deers and big Buddha).
Osaka, why not castle and shinsekai, and then dotonburi for the night? no need to spend more time otherwise.
If you are in Kyoto, there’s a full day tour called Kyoto cycle or something similar that can help you get through most of the famous spots pretty quickly, including the golden pavillion, some temples, first few steps of fushimi inari and a few less known sides… maybe go for it and take cycling of your list.
Also Arashiyama, is very off the map for most of other kyoto activities, the bamboo grove itself is less than 50 metres in length and usually crowded unless early, it might be a bad spot to start your day in kyoto.
Hiroshima, peace museum and surroundigs, Miyajima are easy to do within a day, and be back on shinkansen
In tokyo, any area you stay is fine, no need to switch hotels.
Though I haven’t been to Hakone, my friends who did for one night spent the majority of the day actually traveling there and back. I think if you were considering Hakone it would be best to do two nights, unless you are set on only enjoying the Ryokan – but a nice Ryokan can also be achieved in Tokyo/Kyoto without the added travel time. Considering you want to hike in the area etc one day might be exhausting. If you are set on Hakone I would look to combine it with Kawaguchiko.
I also found Dotonburi to be a little overwhelming, I preferred Kuromon Ichiba Market for food which is very close by. Its great to see all the signs at night but I felt the crowd killed the vibe. Loved Shinsekai, really enjoyed the Kushikatsu joints there, especially the more authentic types. Personally I loved Osaka and would look to spend more than one night there, especially as you are visiting Tokyo and Kyoto with family in another trip. Maybe over Hiroshima too as that is treks for a day trip? However, my travel style is very much food and booze focused which is what Osaka offers.
If you do happen to do Kuromon Ichiba Market and Nishiki Market you could give Tsukiji fish market a miss. I found that Tsukiji fish market had the same food offerings as Kuromon and Nishiki market but was much more crowded. If it is close by in Ginza, if you happen to stay there, it could be worth the visit but you could favor another area of Tokyo instead – maybe Asakusa and Hoppy Street?
As for hotel switching in Tokyo, I actually did this throughout my trip and did enjoy it. I am very much a night owl though so the logic was to avoid the last trains and expensive Taxi’s and to get a feel of the different areas. I also found that taking a taxi between the hotels was cheaper than sending the luggage within the City.
Lastly, look to travel lighter. 10 days you should be able to get by easily with a large suitcase and a backpack – pack another soft duffel in your suitcase if you want space for souvenirs.
Nikko is also incredibly beautiful and achievable from Tokyo.