Planning a trip to Japan in Mid-November for two weeks and wanted a second opinion on whether my itinerary is too much or what can be improved. This will be my second time visiting Japan and my husband’s first visit. We are looking forward to seeing all the beautiful autumn leaves, sightseeing temples and architecture, good food, arcades, karaoke, anime (Sailor Moon), and some shopping. Hoping that we can see a lot without becoming too overwhelmed. Open to advice/suggestions! TIA
**Day 1 (Thursday) – Land in Tokyo around 3pm from USA – Staying in Akasaka**
Customs, grab Suica and possibly pocket WiFi (although Ubagi seems convenient)
Check into hotel
Thinking of traveling to Ginza to go to Itoya to obtain/look at Goshuincho for upcoming temple trips
Is it better to just purchase one directly from the first temple we visit?
Obligatory Uniqlo shopping
Dinner in Ginza
Crash at hotel
**Day 2 (Friday) -Shibuya and Shinjuku**
Shinjuku Gyoen Nat’l Garden
Meiji Jingu
Yoyogi Park
Takeshita Street
Omotesando Hills
Walnut (yarn and knitting store)
Shibuya Sky
Shibuya Crossing
Don Quijote?
Golden Gai
**Day 3 (Saturday) – Odaiba and Ginza/AzabuJuban (AM) and Shimokitazawa (PM)**
Tsukiji Outer Market
Thinking of a food tour (Airbnb experience – has anyone had a good experience?)
Teamlab Planets (possibly TeamLab borderless (on a diff. day) if it is open in Nov. in Azabu Juban)
Self-Guided Sailor Moon tour in Azabu Juban
Shimokitazawa late afternoon/evening for thrift shopping
**Day 4 (Sunday) – Akasuka and Akibihara**
Nakamise Street
Senso-ji temple
Ueno Park
Akihabara shops/claw machines
Is adding on the Imperial Palace and surrounding area too much?
Rikugien Gardens at night
**Day 5 (Monday) – Kamakura day trip**
Akasaka to Kamakura
Engakuji Temple
Meigetsuin Temple
Kenjochi Temple
Shishimai Valley/Tenen Hiking Course
Hokokuji Temple
Enoden Train to Hase Station
Hasedera Temple (autumn illumination)
Admission: Standard admission fee required
Last admission at 18:30 (6:30pm) / Closing time 19:00(7:00pm).
It might be canceled in case of rain or stormy night.
The best time to see the autumn colors is from late November to mid-December.
**Day 6 (Tuesday) – Mt. Takao (AM)/ Maybe Ueno Park/Imperial Palace (PM)**
Akasaka to My. Takao
Hike Mt. Takao with temple lunch at Yakuo-in
Open to ideas around Tokyo for PM. Is there a neighborhood to observe homes/residential life in Tokyo?
**Day 7 (Wednesday) – Hakone**
Romantic Train from Tokyo to Hakone
Open Air Museum
Pre-dinner onsen at the ryokan
Kaiseki dinner
Post-dinner onsen
**Day 8 (Thursday) – Hakone**
Morning Onsen
Breakfast at Ryokan
Hakone Free Loop — cable car, ropeway, pirate cruise, bus back
Onsen at Ryokan
Dinner at Ryokan
**Day 9 (Friday) – Kyoto**
Train from Hakone to Kyoto
Nishiki Market
Yasaka Shrine
Philosopher’s Path
Higashiyama Jisho-ji
Kiyomizu-Dera (autumn illumination)
Gion
**Day 10 (Saturday) – Kyoto**
Rent bikes
Fushimi Inari
Tofukiji
Nanzen-Ji
Shinnyo-do & Konkai Koumyouji
Yasaka Shrine
Kodai Ji through illumination
Chion-in illuminatoin
**Day 11 (Sunday) – Nara Day Trip**
Kofuku-Ji
Isuien Garden and Neiraku Museum
Nara Park
Todai-Ji
Kasuga Taisha Shrine
Higashimuki Shopping St.
Mochiiconocho
**Day 12 (Monday) – Kyoto**
Arashiyama
Bamboo grove
Daihikaku Senkoji temple
Tenryu-ji temple
Monkey Park (great)
Jojakkoji
Giō-ji
Otagi
**Day 13 (Tuesday) – Koyasan**
Check out of hotel in Kyoto (fwd luggage to Osaka hotel)
Travel to Koyasan
Kinkaku-ji
Ryoan-ji
Temple Stay
**Day 14 (Wednesday) – Osaka**
Travel from Koyasan to Osaka
Check into hotel in Dotonburi
Osaka Castle
Tenjimbashi Bridge
Tenjibashi-Suji
Tenmangu
HEP5 Osaka Station
Back to Dotonbori for street food and evening exploring
**Day 15 (Thursday) – Osaka**
Kuromon Market
Namba Yasaka Jinja
Umeda Sky Building
Dontonbori/Hozenji
**Day 16 (Friday) – Osaka/ Flight back to USA**
TIA!
4 comments
As someone who’s still on planning my *first* Japan trip but also does fibercraft (crochet for me), probably worth noting that the [Tokyo Yarn Crawl](https://tokyoyarncrawl.wixsite.com/yarncrawl) is Nov 11-26th, so if that Day 2 is specifically Friday the 10th it may be worth considering swapping it with one of the other Tokyo days since Walnut’s likely to have stuff like limited edition yarns and good sales and such – just found out about it the other day in a Ravelry thread and it happens to overlap my own trip plans too.
(Edited for formatting)
Some quick thoughts~Day 2 looks very big from a walking point of view, I think it’s doable, but you don’t allow much time to rest or really browse around the shops. Consider depending what you want to eat for lunch could be a wait as well which will eat in to time. I personally enjoy Meiji Jingu/Yoyogi park more over the Shinjuku Gyoen if you wanted to drop a garden/park potentially.You’re also going from Shinjuku, into Shibuya and then back to Shinjuku to finish your night. Could maybe start in Harajuku, go into Shibuya then finish up in Shinjuku?
​
Kamakura – this is what I actually got in, in a day…(noting didn’t start very early)
* Trained from Tokyo to Kamakura
* 9am-10am- Engaku-ji-
* Stopped for a coffee at Verve Coffee Roasters
* Meigetsu-in
* Walked to Tsurugaoka Hachiiman-gu
* Walked down and around Komachi-dori street
* waited about 40 mins for lunch at Oxymoron Komachi
* Got dessert at Mont Blanc Stand
* Walked to Kotoku-in
* Walked to Hasedera
* Walked back into Kamakura and back into Shibuya around 6pm I think (wanted to try to miss the busiest of the rush)
So provided you’re keen on the long day I think your Kamakura day is doable – but definitely found it quite tiring – so plan for a break in there (Oxymoron had seats to wait which was a godsend)
Hi!
I hope this is OK to say.
Unless you are staying in Hakone-Yumoto, I think it will take you longer to get a train to Kyoto than you think so that your travel from Hakone to Kyoto will take longer and make your tour plans for your 9th day harder. The Hikari that stop at Odawara only runs every 2 hours or so and I want to say one is around 8ish and the next is 10ish. Even trying to catch that one, could take longer than you think depending on where you are staying in Hakone (like Gora.)
I think Day 10 might be a little hard too and you might be exhausted.
Good luck!
For Day 13, did you mean you plan to go to Kinkakuji and Roanji before you head to Koyasan? Because both are located in Kyoto. You would need a day solely for Koyasan. Travel to Koyasan from Kyoto (train, cable car and bus) takes more than 3 hours and once you’re there you’ll need time to visit the main attractions such as Okunoin cemetery and Konkobuji temple.