Itinerary check: Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka mid-late November
Hello!
Please excuse any formatting/typo, I am on mobile.
I’m planning a trip this November with my partner and it’ll be our first time in Japan. (For context we are both 28, moderate interest in nature, anime, harry potter, nintendo; my bf is into Naruto, I’m interested in temples and museums. I’m trying to learn Japanese, but not doing very well.)
Might be a bit early but I’m thinking of booking accommodation soon since Nov is supposed to be peak travel season. I’m also quite overwhelmed and would very much appreciate some advice.
Questions:
1. Where should we stay? (our budget is about $200/night)
– I’m thinking Ikebukuro for Tokyo since Shinjuku might be too expensive?
– For Kyoto should we stay in the Higashiyama district or near Kyoto station? I’ve read somewhere that the station area is more quiet (?) but as long as there’s food option it should be more convenient?
– Similarly, Osaka station vs Namba area?
2. Any food recommendation? We are not big foodie and I don’t plan to queue >20mins for food, but I imagine I’ve been seeing too much insta/tiktok famous places and normal stores queue are not that bad.
3. Which day trip from Tokyo?
I am thinking the view of Mt Fuji from Kawaguchiko is much better, but transport in that area seems to be a pain. On the other hand we might not get a view of Mt Fuji at all from Hakone, but there’s a lot more to do and it seems more convenient to travel. I’m also considering staying a night in Hakone/Kawaguchiko, but we have a 4th night free perk from our credit card and probably too lazy to pack up and move. Will it be worth it?
4. Is our Kyoto itinerary too packed? I see it’s a lot of temples and worry that we might be bored, but they seem slightly different from one another. If it’s too packed, which one should I drop?
5. Should I get the 1.5 day USJ ticket? Or express pass? I would like to see both harry potter and nintendo world, but express pass is so expensive…
6. There’s a day in Tokyo that I’m undecided on the itinerary- any advice?
Itinerary as follow:
15 Nov: land in NRT around 6AM – Yoyogi park Meiji Jingu – Shibuya PARCO – Shinjuku gyoen
16 Nov: Tsukiji fish market – Asakusa Sensoji (- visit a museum in Ueno if we have time) – Akihabara
17 Nov: Harry Potter studio/Ginza/Imperial east garden/Yokihama/Odaiba?
18 Nov: Kawaguchiko/Hakone?
19 Nov: travel to Kyoto – Nijo castle – pontocho alley
20 Nov: Kiyomizudera – sannenzaka – kodaji – kenninji – yasaka shrine – nanzenji – eikando – philosopher path
21 Nov: Fushimi inari – tofukuji hojo garden – ninnaji – ryoanji- kinkakuji
22 Nov: Arashiyama – tenryuji – monkey park – jojakkoji – gioji – otagi nembutsuji – daikakuji
23 Nov: travel to osaka – umeda/namba/half day USJ?
24 Nov: USJ
25 Nov: nijigen no mori – shinsekai – teamlab osaka
26 Nov: day trip to Nara
27 Nov: flight back from KIX around 3PM
7 comments
All I can say – Get the express pass at USJ the wait times for rides are 2+ hours average and they express guarantees you entry into super Mario world. Express means you can do the rides again if you really liked them or spend time in a line for a themed food cafe. Also book them early they sell out very quickly!
My thoughts on your questions:
1. With $200 a night you have free choice 🙂
My budget is around €50/night and I had no problems in finding decent 2 or even 3
star hotels in those 3 cities.
2. For food you could always visit the standard japanese chains like
Yoshinoya, Ichiran Ramen, Sukiya, Matsuya, Sendaikko, Saizeriya,
Coco Ichibanya Curry, Marugame Ugon and you should have no problems with long queue.
For me as a low budget traveler I like these places most.
3. I read about people quickly have enough of temples. I would read something about
the temples and then only choose the ones you are really interested in.
It can quickly become a “a working off” when you visit to many shrines.
4. The access to the nintendo world is very limited in USJ. If you really want to see everything and be save you
should go with the extra passes.
Some of these days are very packed if not impossible.
17th of Nov is nearly impossible unless you just want to drive by sight see those things. Harry Potter takes around an hour to get to (depending on where you’re staying), another 4-5 to get through, then an hour back to Ginza. If you’re definitely doing the HP studios, pick only one area to explore afterward, preferably either close to your hotel or close to HP (Ikebukuro, for example).
Southern Higashiyama should be done by itself. You could possibly fit Eikando in, only because of the illuminations meaning it’s open later than normal, but probably not Philosopher’s Path. Remember Japan starts getting dark around 5 PM in November, so you won’t even be able to enjoy the views if you try to force the path in after all of the other things.
Similarly 25th more than likely isn’t doable. Nijigen is a whole-day affair and isn’t always easy to get to and from. I wouldn’t recommend the 1.5 days in USJ. 1 is more than enough for Nintendo and Harry Potter, but I recommend splurging on the express pass.
This is subjective, but I think you have too many temples in here. You’ll more than likely get templed out in Kyoto halfway through this itinerary and won’t want to see one ever again. Arashiyama is way too many temples and too packed to fit them all in, anyway. Remember that you have to factor in travel time, eating time, and just take your time to sit down and rest your feet. Nearly everything in Japan opens late and closes early (not so much a problem in Tokyo, but is definitely a problem in Kyoto and Nara).
There’s no way you won’t get distracted by cool things in between all of these things so trying to pack this many points of interest per day is unrealistic. I’d recommend prioritising your days a bit more to 1-2 things, and then you can add an extra if you find yourself with more time.
Also, don’t worry about food. You can find great food everywhere in Japan with no lines and I’d go ahead and skip more of the insta famous places if I were you.
For places to stay, I always stay near Akasaka-Mitsuke station in Tokyo and get the 72 hour metro pass. You can get nearly everywhere either directly from that station, or within a few minutes walk to another station.
Hi! Me and my spouse went Kyoto last December and we noticed that taxi are not as expensive as Tokyo. So i think not necessary to stay really near kyoto station! Hope this helps a little!
My wife and I are making a very similar trip, but the 2 weeks at the start of November rather than the end! We have to redo our itinerary since this is a rescheduled trip originally planned in May of this past year. I’ll be using this write up as a reference, thank you! Shame our paths don’t intersect
thats ambitious. your schedule is very rushed, and you’re basically checking off a list instead of enjoying the actual activity.
I agree with another comment that 17 Nov is a bit too packed. Yokohama and Odaiba is also about an hour train ride from/between each location. When I went to Yokohama, it was about half a day’s time of exploring from Chinatown to the general downtown area. I luckily stayed at a hotel near Odaiba, but even then, I feel like it was a whole evening itinerary.
I can also imagine your time at HP Studios will not be just an hour or so.