This will be my first time visiting Japan. Would like to hear your thoughts on the Itinerary below for 11 days and 10 nights in Japan. (20th Sep – 30th Sep)
Just a rough draft for now and since the date isn’t that far away (it was a last-minute booked trip), I’m just going to use this not-so-detailed itinerary to book hotels ASAP before they get fully booked.
Would like to hear your opinions on whether the days spent in each place are enough/too much, especially in Matsumoto and Kamikochi. These two place doesn’t seem as common as other places so the resources can be a bit limited compared to other famous places.
We really love nature and Kamikochi seems a really perfect place for us to visit. (The lakes, the mountains). We however do not participate in any extreme sports, light hiking is fine for us, are there any particularly physically difficult to visit places in Kamikochi? We also do not plan on renting a car, since these are quite outskirts areas, are all the places reachable by public transport?
We also have an extra day (and 1 night) not planned yet in our itinerary that we could add to either one of the cities. Which city would be worth staying an extra night for?
**(Day 1) Osaka**
* Land at Kansai. 8 AM
* Drop luggage/check-in hotel
* \*Rest of the day is not planned yet
Hotel: Osaka
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**(Day 2) Osaka**
* Universal Studios Japan
Hotel: Osaka
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**\*\*\*\*\*Optional Day Osaka\*\*\*\*\***
\- Optional 1 extra day, either in Osaka, Kyoto, Matsumoto, or Tokyo
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**(Day 3) Osaka -> Kyoto**
* Commute from Osaka to Kyoto
* Drop luggage/check-in hotel
* Visit Nara (Deer Park)
Hotel: Kyoto
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**(Day 4) Kyoto**
* Sagano Scenic Railway
* Arashiyama
* Tenryuji
* Diorama Museum
* Togetsukyo Bridge
* Kinkakuji
Hotel: Kyoto
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**(Day 5) Kyoto**
* Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Kiyomizuderu
* Sanneizaka
* Hanamikoji
* Kamo River
Hotel: Kyoto
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**\*\*\*\*\*Optional Day Kyoto\*\*\*\*\***
\- Optional 1 extra day, either in Osaka, Kyoto, Matsumoto, or Tokyo
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**(Day 6) Kyoto -> Matsumoto**
* Commute from Kyoto to Matsumoto
* Drop luggage/check-in hotel
* \*Not yet planned
Hotel: Matsumoto
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**(Day 7) Matsumoto -> Kamikochi**
* \*Not yet planned
* Back to Matsumoto in the evening
Hotel: Matsumoto
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**\*\*\*\*\*Optional Day Matsumoto \*\*\*\*\***
\- Optional 1 extra day, either in Osaka, Kyoto, Matsumoto, or Tokyo
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**(Day 8) Kamikochi -> Tokyo**
* Commute from – Matsumoto to Tokyo
* Drop luggage/check-in hotel
* \*Not yet planned
Hotel: Tokyo
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**(Day 9) Tokyo**
* DisneySea Tokyo
Hotel: Tokyo
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**\*\*\*\*\*Optional Day Tokyo\*\*\*\*\***
\- Optional 1 extra day, either in Osaka, Kyoto, Matsumoto, or Tokyo
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**(Day 10) Tokyo**
* Random sightseeing
* Last minute shopping
* Flight Home from Haneda Airport. 11.40 PM
6 comments
I feel like Tokyo has so much to offer for you to spend a whole day in DisneySea, feels like the “least japanese” thing possible for a 1st trip, I would personally go to shibuya or shijuku, or asakusa to see at least a tiny portion of Tokyo, but that’s just me (I’m also in the processo of planning my 1st trip)
Hi, if you love nature so much (your choice of Kamikochi seems to back this up), why are you planning to spend 2 of your 11 precious days in theme parks ? No judgment here, I’m just curious 🙂
Here’s an alternative : since you’ve made the bold and respectable move of skipping Tokyo on your first Japan trip, why not go all in and skip Osaka too ?
That way you could split your trip between Kyoto (you seem to have specific sites in mind already, contrary to Osaka/Tokyo) and the Alps (stay in an onsen town ?), with only the last night in Tokyo just to get close to Haneda.
Just my 2 cents, the possibilites are endless.
I’m also interested in Kamikochi feedback.
I’m traveling for the 2nd time. First time we went to Tokyo for around 6 days, doing side trips (Nikko, Hakone) and 3 full days in Tokyo. Fell in love with Tokyo and planning to stay even longer now!
I didn’t visit Osaka though, so I’m planning to do that now, but given you do seem interested in a big city, I’d probably suggest rethinking the Tokyo part haha
Where would you be coming from? I wouldn’t necessarily say the various theme parks are worth it over their counterparts in other countries so if you have been to those I would skip (unless you love theme parks)
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Have been to Matsumoto (mainly to see the castle really and didn’t do much else) – would recommend but I love castles.
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I also would agree with another poster – consider skipping Osaka entirely (except for USJ if you must) and put that time towards Tokyo – Osaka to me is just another city really and the best parts of it are done better by others (call it a city – Tokyo is better, want to see the historical things – Kyoto/Hiroshima are better etc)
You can get from Matsumoto Station to Kamikochi Visitor center in about 2 hours by transit. We haven’t gone yet (our trip is in October) but I believe there’s about 4 hours worth of relaxed day hiking you can do at the park from the Visitor Center. You could stay overnight there to check out the night sky or you could find an onsen hotel at Hirayu Onsen.
If you like experiencing the outdoors but taking it easy, the Shin-Hotaka ropeway could be worth looking into.
Just as a thought: Perhaps you could go from Kyoto to Takayama, spend the night there, then make your way to Matsumoto via Kamikochi. Possibly you could forward your luggage to Matsumoto so you don’t have to deal with it.
Matsumoto has a nice castle, but you probably don’t need to spend a whole day in the city itself as there’s not much else there.