I will be visiting Japan for 14 days in early March 2024 with my nephew for the first time, we have begun to put together an initial itinerary and would love some feedback.
We are both active and want to fit in as much site seeing as possible and nightlife, but would like some feedback in whether the below is too busy.
We live in London so we are both used to tube/bus/taxi travel.
We haven’t focused on food/restaurants or clubs/bars as we are trying to build the backbone of the trip first.
I’ve enjoyed reading other posts and the suggestions that you have given, so thank you in advance in anything you can help with for our trip.
06/03 (Tokyo, Day 1)
– Land Tokyo Haneda @ 07:55
– Travel to Hotel close to Shimbashi Station.
– Store luggage at hotel until check in 15:00
– Explore surrounding area, eat, drink
– Sleep.
07/03 (Tokyo, Day 2)
– Relaxed start
– Explore Shibuya & Shinjuku
– Shibuya Crossing
– Shibuya Sky
– Lunch Local
– Eat – Drink
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 2
08/03 (Tokyo, Day 3)
– Explore Akihabara
– Explore Asakusa
– Shrines
– Tokyo SkyTree
– Lunch Local
– Explore Local
– Eat – Drink
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 3
09/03 (Hakone/Mt Fuji, Day 4)
– Hotel check out
– Train from Tokyo Station > Odawara -> Hakone
– Hotel Check in Hakone
– Explore – Hakone Area
– Lunch Local
– Lake Ashi – Cruise – Mt FUJI – tour
– Hakone Komagatake Ropeway
– Dinner locally
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 4
10/03 (Hakone/Kyoto, Day 5)
– Check out Hotel @ 11:00 – Store luggage?
– Explore Hakone AM
– Lunch locally
– Train – Kyoto Station
– Hotel Check in – Kyoto @ 15:00pm
– Explore locally
– Dinner locally
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 5
11/03 (Kyoto, Day 6)
– Explore Kyoto – Higashiyma Ward
– Higashiyma Ward Kiyomizu-dera
– Sanneizaka
– Nineizaka
– Maruyama Park
– Lunch Local
– Chion-in Temple
– Gion Corner
– Gion
– Nishiki Market
– Dinner locally
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 6
12/03 (Kyoto, Day 7)
– Explore Kyoto – West – Nakanoshima Area
– Arashiyama Park Nakanoshima Area
– Tenryu-ji
– Lunch Local
– Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
– Arashiyama
– Kinkaku-ji
– Dinner locally
-Back to Hotel and end of Day 7
13/03 (Nara Park,Osaka Day 7)
– Check out Hotel
– Leave Kyoto – AM for Nara-shi
– Store luggage
– Explore Nara Park
– Depart Nara-shi PM for Kintetsunippombashi – Osaka.
– Arrive Osaka PM
– Check in Hotel
– Dinner locally
*l- Back to Hotel and end of Day 8
14/03 (Osaka, Day 8)
– Explore Osaka Castle
– Move across to Kita District
– Umeda Sky Building
– O-Hatsu Ten-jin
– Eat lunch in the area
– Travel to Minami
– Dotombori to see the riverside lights
– Eat – Drink
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 9
15/03 (Osaka, Day 9)
– Visit Osaka Aquarium Kaiyuken (3 hrs)
– Aim to watch Sumo Tournament
– Take the Metro to Abeno Harukas
– Visit Shitennoji Temple
– Walk across to Den Den Town
– Dotombori for food
– Drink
– Return to Hotel
16/03 (Hiroshima, Day 10)
– Check out from hotel AM
– Take train from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima
– Check in to Hotel – leave luggage.
– Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
– Children’s Peace Monument
– Lunch locally
– Atomic Bomb Dome
– Hiroshima Castle
– Shukkeien Garden
– Dinner locally
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 10
17/03 ( Hiroshima, Day 11)
– Visit Itsukushima Jinja
– Visit Itsukushima
– Leave Hiroshima Early PM – Tokyo
– Tokyo Station
– Check in at hotel
– Explore Local
– Dinner locally
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 11
18/03 ( Tokyo, Day 12)
– Gundam Statue
– Team Lab
– Explore Local
– Dinner locally
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 12
19/03 ( Tokyo, Day 13)
– Explore areas we may of not seen in Tokyo Part 1.
– Dinner locally
– Back to Hotel and end of Day 13
20/03 ( Departure, Day 14)
– Wake up early
– Travel to Haneda airport for London Heathrow.
6 comments
Teamlab planets will likely close at end of 2023
What kind of transportation youre going to take from Hakone to Kyoto? Thanks!
Itinerary looks good and not too ambitious. Enjoy Japan!
Only heads up I would give is to do Asakusa first on 08/03 because a lot of the shops in Akihabara don’t open until later in the day. In general, most shops in Japan don’t open until 10 or 11. Senso-ji in Asakusa first thing in the morning is super peaceful before it gets bombarded with tourists 🙂
That is so close to the trip I’ve planned for wife and two teenagers in December. Early days still but I’d love if you’d reply with how your trip went when you return!
I did study abroad in Tokyo for a few months, then lived/worked in Osaka after graduation for about 3 years. Now I go back and forth now every couple of years.
While you’re in Tokyo, be sure to check out the store called Don Quijote. They’re all over Japan but my favorite one is in Shinjuku. Also check out an area called Daikanyama. It’s like the Brooklyn or the Abbot Kinney of Tokyo. There are many boutique shops and cool cafes near the train station. There’s also a plaza called T-Site which is about a 15min walk from Daikanyama station that has books cafes an some interesting shops.
While you’re in Kyoto, check out a restaurant called Katsukura. There are multiple locations in Kyoto. They specialize in tonkatsu and ebi katsu. One of my favorite places to visit in that area. Also while in Kyoto, try the Japanese sweet called yatsuhashi. You’ll see them everywhere.
It looks like you’re going to take the Kintetsu line from Nara to Nipponbashi. You may want to hop off the train (or backtrack after you stash your luggage) to Tsuruhashi. It’s a Korean-Japanese community and it has some of the best yakiniku in Osaka. You can literally smell the yakiniku when the train doors open at Tsuruhashi. You can just walk around the restaurant area just below the train platform and find a ton of restaurants.
Osaka DenDen town in Nipponbashi may be a bit underwhelming after you’ve seen Akihabara in Tokyo. It’s pretty much the same thing but about 1/5 the size. You may not want spend too much time there because there are other cool things to see in Namba which is one station over. You should just walk from DenDen Town to the Namba/Shinsaibashi/Dotonbori area. Try some Okonomiyaki at Fugetsu. While you’re in that area, you may as well walk across the street, walk through America Mura where you can see all kinds of funky vintage shops. Then keep walking toward Shinsekai and try some kushikatsu. If you still have free time then walk over to Tachibana Dori which is a shopping street full of boutique shops.
One more tip. You’ll be in Japan during baseball season. You may want to see if you can check out a game.