Itinerary review

7 comments

1. Depending on where you’re coming from, don’t forget jetlag – you might not have your usual energy level the first few days.

   Kyoto: Arashiyama is usually more of a half day. The bamboo grove isn’t particularly large and full of tourists. I assume with “Tori gates?” you mean Fushimi Inari Taisha? Lovely, but also more of a half day. If these are the only things you want to do in Kyoto you might as well skip the stay in Kyoto and do them as daytrips from Osaka. That way you have to change hotels one less time.

   If you happen to have an extra day, consider staying in Hiroshima for two days and visit nearby Mijayima island.

   Your Tokyo day trips right now just mention neighbourhoods. This is a good way to structure a plan, so you don’t travel through half the city each day. However, now comes the fun part: what do you want to do? Choose a couple shops or activities per time of day (morning, afternoon, maybe night depending on opening times) and write them down. Also Ikebukuro might be interesting if you’re into anime.

   I’m sure people have done it, but doing either Naoshima or Koyasan as daytrips from Osaka sound exhausting to me. These journeys are 2h+ each way, so you’ll be on trains a lot.

2. For day 4 in Tokyo you might want to add something. Akihabara is fun, especialyl if you’re into anime and arcades, but filling an entire day there would be hard I feel, it’s not that big. For Hiroshima I would add a day to visit Miyajima island.

3. Going to Takaragawa onsen for a day trip… nah, go to Kawaguchiko instead, there is onsen there and if you want to stay for the night for the ryokan experience, then it would be possible. It’s not the most straightforward to go to Kyoto next, but make much more sense than to spend a minimum of 5h in the train just to bath in some onsen (on top of the time to go, keep in mind the cost of the train).

   Nara is a day trip from Kyoto or Osaka, or a stop between the two, but does not really require a night.

4. You can go to Nara after doing the fushimi inari hike. This will give you a day back. Look into the JR Nara line.

5. Naoshima as a daytrip from Osaka doesn‘t make sense. You’ll barely have time to see any of the museums or artworkds. Stop there on your way to Hiroshima and spend a night on the island.

6. Skip Kobe and add a day to Hiroshima

7. My most recent trip we did Tokyo then went to Hiroshima and worked our way back through Kyoto and Osaka.

   I love Tokyo, so I always like to backload the trip with a good chunk of time there. So I’d actually shift one or more days from the start to the end. I also think 4-5 is probably too much for Osaka. I’d rather spend more time in Kyoto personally. I think Osaka is easily doable in a 48 hours if you’re not doing theme parks.

   I would also be real wary of day trips that involve more than an hour of travel. You’re just spending too much time in transit that way. I don’t know how feasible Naoshima is from Osaka. You’re probably better off actually going to Hiroshima, staying there and then visiting it on the way back.

   I also think Koya-san is kinda rough as a day trip. I see it a lot and I know it’s doable. But you’re getting there is time-consuming. And I stayed over the time I went and it was worthwhile because you can visit the various temples at night. Really unique place that deserves some time.