After my very successful trip in 2017 for the same duration, I’m going back and want to take a slightly different line for something new. Last trip was Tokyo->Hakone->Kyoto->Osaka->Tokyo, so this time wanted to mix in some new spots.
I’ll be travelling with a family member for this main 2-week itinerary (it is their first time), then I have an extra solo week to myself which I’m going to keep completely unstructured. Our interests (30M, 58F) include food, shopping, historical architecture, and getting lost down random streets. Personally also love gaming, anime, and music, but unless it’s super convenient to hit something, I’m going to wait for my solo week to scratch that itch (already planning to try to do Ghibli Museum following these dates).
Day #|Date|Day|Start City|End City|Notes
:–|:–|:–|:–|:–|:–
1|9/14|Thursday|N/A|Tokyo|Travel day, arrive NRT, light exploration and rest
2|9/15|Friday|Tokyo|Tokyo|Free day, adjust to time change
3|9/16|Saturday|Tokyo|Tokyo|Shibuya/Shinjuku, shopping, snacking, exploring
4|9/17|Sunday |Tokyo|Hakone|Activation day for JR, Travel to Hakone, overnight ryokan stay
5|9/18|Monday|Hakone|Kyoto|Travel to Kyoto, check in/store luggage, Arashiyama (lunch), explore surrounding areas, possibly Sagano railway, possibly monkey park
6|9/19|Tuesday|Kyoto|Kyoto|Fushimi Inari early, Nijo Castle, Nishiki Market (lunch/snack), Kiyomizudera, Gion area (evening)
7|9/20|Wednesday|Kyoto|Kyoto|Possible Nara day trip (open to suggestions for a Kyoto day instead)
8|9/21|Thursday|Kyoto|Miyajima|Travel to Miyajima, check in/store luggage, Itsukushima, walk around, hike if feeling like it, overnight ryokan stay
9|9/22|Friday|Miyajima|Kanazawa|Ferry to Hiroshima, find temporary luggage storage (JR station?), Peace Park, Peace Museum, then proceed to Kanazawa
10|9/23|Saturday|Kanazawa|Tokyo|Kenrokuen, Ninjadera, explore, then travel to Tokyo; JR pass deactivation day
11|9/24|Sunday |Tokyo|Tokyo|Asakusa, Skytree, Akihabara
12|9/25|Monday |Tokyo|Tokyo|Imperial Palace, Tsukiji Outer, Odaiba, teamLab, open to suggestion for an evening area after this!
13|9/26|Tuesday|Tokyo|Tokyo|Free day, revisit any highlights from Tokyo, etc.
14|9/27|Wednesday|Tokyo|N/A|Family member depart from HND
What do you think? Seem relaxed enough? Biggest risk probably Day 9, but curious for thoughts. Primarily right now just want to nail down the transit logistics so I can square away some of the lodging, but if you have general suggestions, I’m super open to any itinerary changes, even if that means completely flipping something around! Thank you for your time.
2 comments
not sure what your plans are for Hakone, but JR pass can only get you to Odawara station, if you plan on getting the Hakone pass, it might be worth it to activate the JR pass the next day which would let you do a day trip on the day you are back in Tokyo, or to just extend the time you are away from it.
You would need to go back to Shinjuku instead of Odawara before going to Kyoto I am pretty sure,
I would reconsider day 8-9-10. Although I believe it is doable, it is a lot of travel and luggage handling. My suggestion would be to activate your JR pass one day later (travel to Hakone without JR pass) and use an extra day in Kanazawa or Miyajima.