Hello, my wife and I will be travelling to Japan in October and we have been working (read overworking) on our itinerary for a while now, and it’s clear that 14 days are not going to be enough!
We would appreciate any kind of advice on the itinerary, and reality check if that’s necessary. I think I am being overambitious with my plan, what do you guys think?
My wife and I don’t have any particular niche we would want to focus our trip on, as you might see, we are going for a bit of everything. If we had to pick something, it would be food, we would want to try lots of Japanese food, street food! We generally prefer couch surfing, but I am not sure if we are going to find hosts. Feel free to suggest any local joints!
Here is our itinerary:
-Wednesday Flight from Mumbai to Tokyo
-Thursday 11 pm: Check-in to hotel. Eat dinner at a nearby place. Go to bed.
1. **Friday – Day 1: Tokyo**
Start early head to Shibuya crossing scramble grab breakfast and coffee at Starbucks.
Take a walk at the Yoyogi park.
Head to Meji Jingu.
Head to Takeshita Street.
Lunch at Gyukatsu Motomura Harajuku.
Continue to explore Takeshita Street.
Sunset at Tokyo Metropolitan building. (last entry at 9 pm)
Grab some snacks at seven eleven and chill at Shinjuku Central Park. Or dinner anywhere and head back to the hotel.
2. **Saturday – Day 2: Tokyo**
Grab a bite from Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory and head to Tokyo dome city attractions.
Visit the Imperial Palace
Chill at Chidorigafuchi Park
Late lunch
Flexible evening
3. **Sunday – Day 3: Kawaguchiko**
Have breakfast, and rent a car from Tokyo/Shin-Fuji
Take the 9:30 (or earlier) Fuji Excursion from Shinjuku station.
Leave bags at the hotel.
Depending on the weather, visit Ubuyagasaki Shrine, Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway and Oishi park.
If cloudy, visit Itchiku Kubota Art Museum.
Have dinner at Hotokura Funari Kawaguchiko (Hoto).
4. **Monday – Day 4: Kyoto**
Leave early for Kyoto return the car at Shin-Fuji,
Leave bags at Kyoto station
Head to Fushimi Inari
Visit Kiyomizu-dera
Lunch
Explore the streets of Sanneizaka (Sannenzaka)
Head back to station grab bags and check in
Dinner
5. **Tuesday – Day 5: Kyoto**
Start at 8 am leave for Umahori from Kyoto Station. (San-in Line)
Walk to Torokko Kameoka Station and take the Sagano scenic train to Torokko Arashiyama Station
Walk to Arashiyama bamboo grove (2-5 mins walk)
Tenryu-ji temple
Walk to Arashiyama Station take the Randen to Kinkaku-ji
Lunch at 12
Tour of Kyoto Imperial Palace
Relax around the park
Head to Yasaka-jinja Shrine
Explore Hanamikoji Street / Gion Tatsumi Bridge / Gion District
Dinner
6. **Wednesday – Day 6: Kanazawa**
Leave from Kyoto for a 9 am thunderbird train to Kanazawa
Reach at 12 pm
Head to Tsuzumi-mon Gate
Shigure-tei tea house for some brunch (refreshments)
Visit the Kenroku-en garden
Try some Japanese craftsmanship at Kanazawa Bikazari Asano (optional)
Dinner
Head back to Kyoto – 7:47 pm thunderbird train from kanzawa to Kyoto. Reaches Kyoto at 10:02 pm
Back to hotel and rest
7. **Thursday – Day 7: Osaka City**
Leave Kyoto, Get to Osaka (Drop bags at hotel)
Light bite
Osaka castle
Kuromon Ichiba Market
Flexible evening – Tsūtenkaku tower / Shisekai Area
8. **Friday Day 8**: Osaka Universal Studios – full day
9. **Saturday – Day 9: Osaka City**
Shop at Minami & Kita district
Lunch
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan at 6 pm
Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel 8 pm
Dinner
10. **Sunday – Day 10: Hiroshima/ Miyajima**
Leave early morning at 6:30 am from Osaka breakfast at station.
Take the 6:50 am Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen to Hiroshima
Hiroshima to Hiroden-Miyajimaguchi Station (30 mins)
Omotesando Arcade, Itsukushima Shrine, Daisho-in Temple, Momijidani Park, Senjokaku Pavilion
Head back to Hiroshima by 3 pm
Peace Memorial Park, Peace Memorial Museum, Atomic Bomb Dome, Hiroshima Castle, Shukkeien Garden
Back to Osaka
11. **Monday – Day 11: Nara**
Leave for Nara
Nara Park, Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji Temple
Leave by 5 pm to Tokyo
Reach Tokyo, stay in Asakusa
12. **Tuesday – Day 12: Tokyo**
Tokyo Disney Sea – full day
13. **Wednesday – Day 13: Tokyo**
Senso-ji,
Nikko,
Akihabara
14. **Thursday – Day 14: Tokyo**
Team Labs planets
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation,
Odaiba Beach (optional),
Ginza for shopping
Friday Flight back to Mumbai at 11:20 am from NRT
I do have a few questions now:
1. I feel I need 14 day JR Passes, is it worth paying extra and booking online from the official website, just to be able to reserve seats?
2. Do entry ticket prices for DisneySea and Universal studios fluctuate? Or are they fixed for a specific date?
3. Is 2 months too early to pre-book things?
4. What should I definitely not pre-book, and why? (eg. Last minute offers or something?)
5. I think getting city day passes might be worth it for respective cities, your thoughts?
6. Can I get a car last minute for my trip to Fuji/Kawaguchiko? and return it at Shin-Fuji or some other station?
7. Is couchsurfng feasible in Japan? Anyone had any success? I typically like to stay with people who can afford time and efforts for cultural exchange.
My head is spinning just as I type this out, I appreciate it if you read the whole of it. I am sorry I am asking for a lot, I will definitely give it back in the form of a trip report, and pass it forward! Sincerely appreciate this thriving community for travellers, we wouldn’t have made it this far without r/JapanTravel. Thank you!
Edit: improved formatting
5 comments
The best thing you can do for yourself is decide right now that 14 days is obviously not enough, and you’ll be coming back. Having this understanding will take a lot of pressure (and FOMO) off your back, and allow you to be more flexible with your itinerary,
* Randen doesn’t really go to Kinkakuji (?), it’s quite a looong walk.
* Kiyomizudera is usually paired with Yazaka Jinja and Gion as a single long walk, via Ninnenzaka and Sannenzaka.
* Nikko is not in Tokyo, and would be a full day on its own.
* In general, I think most days are around 20% overzealous, to a couple that are maybe 50% overzealous. But at the same time, you did mention train times, so you’re apparently prepared for days that start at 6 and end at 8. If you’re committed to a schedule this tight, I salute you.
* Pre-book anything and everything you can. Paying a bit more than the cheapest possible price is always better than not able to secure a ticket at all.
That looks exhausting, and really requires 3-4 weeks.
Missing out is an intrinsic part of time-limited trips. You’re going to miss out on stuff and that’s okay/you don’t really have a choice.
I don’t think Kanazawa should be done as a day trip. I’m a big fan of the place, but you’re just wasting time that might as well be put into Kyoto, which in places has a similar vibe.
Day 13 is iffy. While Nikko can be a day trip – it’s a whole day trip. You should be going as early as you can and by the time you get back I doubt you’re going to be up for more touristing.
I don’t think couchsurfing is viable, but there might be some places advertising themselves as “homestays”. Given how full you’re packing the schedule though, I’m a bit sceptical of whether that would be a good idea vs just staying at places that are central or have good transport connections.
1. You can make this day a whole lot easier if you skip on Tokyo Metropolitan building. Shibuya also has a viewpoint, albeit not a free one. Look up Shibuya Sky. You could start the day at Harajuku, visit Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi, Takeshita Street, lunch, then train to Shibuya afternoon, view the crossing, do some shopping, visit Shibuya Sky around sunset and enjoy Shibuya some more at night or just go back to hotel. Shibuya and Shinjuku are not all that different in terms of atmosphere so I would focus on visiting one of them instead of both.
2. Again I would probably switch the order here. Start at Imperial Palace, explore the area. Tokyo Station, despite of all the crowds, has become an interesting place to visit of itself with lots of underground shopping and food streets. In the afternoon you can head to Tokyo Dome, which is basically a shopping and entertainment district. It’s fun to visit once but definitely not a must visit. You could also consider another area here at night, like Ginza or Akihabara which are nearby.
3. No comments
4. This day will be a lot more comfortable without Fushimi Inari shrine. Focus more on the area around Kiyomizudera on this day. There are so many temples there to enjoy, you will not miss Fushimi.
5. Focus this day on Arashiyama + Kinkakuji and omit the other stuff or try to pair them with the day 4 itinerary. Kyoto Imperial Palace is not super interesting imo.
6. Going up and down to Kanazawa for a day is really not time well spent. You still have so much to see in Kyoto. Give yourself some breathing room and stay in Kyoto another day. You could do Fushimi Shrine in the morning, maybe do the North-Eastern corner (Ginkakuji, Philosophers Path) in the afternoon. Or visit the downtown area and Pontocho alley.
7. No comment. Looks fine.
8. No comment.
9. I’m going to suggest another switch up. On day 9 you will do the Nara day trip, then the next day you will travel to Hiroshima.
10. Travel to Hiroshima on this day, book a night at a hotel. Explore Hiroshima
11. Miyajima, then travel back to Tokyo (long travel day), check in hotel in Tokyo at night.
12. No comment on Disney Sea day.
13. Asakusa + Akihabara seems fine, but forget about Nikko.
14. This day looks fine. Nice way to end the trip with Odaiba and shopping at Ginza 🙂
I think my rearrangements will make your trip a bit more enjoyable and less hurried. Taking out Kanazawa and Nikko is a necessary evil imo. You can spend more time in Kyoto that way. You can spend less time in Osaka to not have to hurry in Hiroshima so much. As a result you wil have one day with a long train travel back to Tokyo but personally I think that’s better then two days in a row medium train travel.
Overall this is over ambitious and I agree with feedback to cut Kanazawa and Nikko. Some specific feedback:
1. Shinjuku Gyoen closes at 7pm if your plan was to be there after the Metropolitan Museum
2. Unclear where your hotel is, but as far as I know both branches of Shiro-Hige are west in Kichijoji and Shimokitazawa. If your hotel is in either of these areas, fine, but I can’t see why you’d head there and then cross over to Tokyo Dome if not. Shimokita / Kichijoji are nice places so maybe worth spending your morning there if you want to do this.
3. You will definitely not be able to couch surf in Kawaguchiko, so book accom now. A car is definitely essential if you want to get around the area quickly and see all the attractions because the public transport around the lake is pretty slow. That said, be mindful of traffic and timing driving in and out of Tokyo.
I have used Toyota Rent A Car for most of my trips and it’s been great for the flexibility of being able to drop in multiple locations. Check that out now and I’d advise you book it if you want to have the more affordable options. I believe you can change drop off locations post booking if your plans change.