Hi everyone, I need help whether my plans are feasible and if there’s more activities I should do at Kyoto & Nara. I had finalised my plans last month but recently decided to remove Osaka.
This is my first time in Japan, I will be travelling solo. The locations on the dates in bold are unmovable, tickets has been paid. My 14 day JR Pass will be activated on the 5th September. I don’t plan to take the nozomi as I am on a limited budget. I’ll be taking it easy on the Tokyo days as I will be jetlagged.
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|Date|Location|Activities|
|:-|:-|:-|
|**27/8 Sunday**|London|Fly from LGW|
|**28/8 Monday**|Tokyo|Arrive at HND at 22:30, buy Welcome Suica Card, try catch the last train to Anamori Inari station to get to my hotel (or taxi if I don’t make it)|
|29/8 Tuesday|Tokyo|Ueno Park, Sensō-ji, Ameyoko shopping street|
|30/8 Wednesday|Tokyo|Meiji Jingu, Shibuya Crossing, Tower Records, Shibuya Sky, Harajuku|
|31/8 Thursday|Tokyo|Tsukiji outer market, Ginza, shopping, Tokyo Tower at night|
|01/9 Friday|Mitaka/Tokyo|Studio Ghibli museum, Shinjuku|
|**02/9 Saturday**|Yokohama|Yokohama day trip- Chinatown, Cupnoodle museum? Attend a concert (should finish around 18:00), night bus from Tokyo to Toyama|
|03/9 Sunday|Toyama|Arrive at Toyama at 05:00, relax and have breakfast, Kurobe Gorge, onsen, Kaze no Bon festival starts at 19:00|
|04/9 Monday|Kanazawa|Omicho Market, Higashi Chaya District|
|05/9 Tuesday|Kanazawa|Kanazawa Castle, Kenroku-en|
|06/9 Wednesday|Mount Fuji|Travel to Lake Kawaguchi, Mount Fuji Ropeway|
|07/9 Thursday|Mount Fuji|Cycle around Lake Kawaguchi, arrive late at Himeji|
|**08/9 Friday**|Himeji/Kurashiki|Himeji Castle and gardens, travel to Kurashiki, attend a concert at 16:00|
|09/9 Saturday|Kurashiki/Nara|Explore Kurashiki old town, train to Nara, Todaiji Temple, Deer Park|
|10/9 Sunday|Nara|Kasuga Taisha Shrine|
|11/9 Monday|Kyoto|Kiyomizudera, Fushimi Inari Taisha, To-ji Gojunoto|
|12/9 Tuesday|Kyoto|Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, monkeys, Gion|
|13/9 Wednesday|Kyoto|Kyoto Imperial Palace, Philosopher’s Path, travel to Hiroshima|
|14/9 Thursday|Hiroshima|Hiroshima Memorial Park, Museum, travel to Kitakyushu|
|15/9 Friday|Kagoshima|Kagoshima day trip- Sakurajima, travel to Ibusuki, volcanic sand bath|
|**16/9 Saturday**|Kitakyushu|Free in the morning, attend a concert at 16:00|
|**17/9 Sunday**|Kitakyushu|Shopping, attend a concert at 15:00|
|**18/9 Monday**|Osaka|Travel to Osaka, Dotonbori, last minute shopping, arrive at KIX at 20:00|
*I also have some questions:*
1, Is Ueno a safe area for a solo female traveller?
2, How safe are the night buses? Is it possible to sleep on the night bus? In videos I’ve watch, the buses seem to pull in frequently and has announcements.
3, Can I use the onsen in the Kurobe region if I’m not a guest?
4, Which is the best way to travel from Kanazawa to Mount Fuji?
* Kanazawa -> Tokyo -> Shinjuku Station -> Otsuki Station -> Kawaguchiko Station
* Kanazawa -> Tokyo -> Mishima Station -> bus to Lake Kawaguchi
* Kanazawa -> Nagano Station -> Matsumoto Station -> Kofu Station -> Isawaonsen Station -> bus to Kawaguchiko Station
* Kanazawa -> Takayama -> Nagoya -> Mishima Station -> bus to Lake Kawaguchi
5, Will I have to prebook the bus tickets before I’m at Mount Fuji? I’m unsure about my timings. I would like to pay when I’m boarding.
6, Where can I buy official sanrio & ghibli figurines?
Thank you for reading 🙂
*edit: the question numbers keeps messing up*
1 comment
Hi!
I felt safe when I was a solo female traveler in Ueno night? I think overall Tokyo is very safe, just don’t follow any touts.
I have several female friends who have done night buses. They never felt unsafe. They also couldn’t sleep well and arrived in Tokyo very groggy. I guess if you take a fancy enough night bus or you are the sort of person who sleeps well anywhere, it’s fine? I know I would personally not be able to sleep one, but it would depend on you.
For Kurobe onsen, it would depend on the specific onsen. As an example, this one allows day guests. [https://yamanoha.orixhotelsandresorts.com/contents/onsen/](https://yamanoha.orixhotelsandresorts.com/contents/onsen/) (I have not been there, I just clicked on the link of the first onsen resort listed by the tourist authority. )
Said list: [https://www.kurobeunazuki.com/hotel_hotspring/](https://www.kurobeunazuki.com/hotel_hotspring/)
Many places open to day guests, but you can’t necessarily do all of them because of transport times.
If you have any tattoos that will affect whether you can use the onsen. You would need to see an individual onsen’s rules about it.
The best route is Kanazawa to Tokyo to Kawaguchiko. But all the routes suck. If it were me, I would either skip Kawaguchiko or skip Kanazawa. I really like Kanazawa, but it’s not convenient to Kawaguchiko at all and Kawaguchiko is not convenient to trying to do anything in Himeji.
If it were me I would do Toyama to Nagano, then Nagano to Matsumoto (see the castle) and then go to Kawaguchiko. I would then do Kawaguchiko to Okayama (yes I know it is further but it is closer to Kurashiki) and see the garden there and have Matsumoto Castle be your original castle.
The bus from Kawaguchiko to Mishima is reservation only and you will need to check the times it runs. (Japan Guide has the schedule) The shinkansen only stops once every 2 hours at Mishima unless you use a Kodama which will take significantly longer to Himeji/Okayama/Kurahiski. Many Kodama also end in Nagoya and so you would need to transfer there. You would also then possibly have to transfer again in Shin-Osaka.
There are lots of Sanrio stores. I am not sure what you mean by figures. I got a few absolutely adorable Sanrio gapshom from a machine last trip in July. There is also usually some official Sanrio merch on the children’s floor at some of the big department stores. I remember there was quite a bit in the Nihombashi Takashimaya. There were definitely older teens and young women looking at the merch there.
For Ghibli figures, outside of the museum, there are a ton of official Ghibli shops. There is a relatively large one in Skytree. I know there are others. I’ve been to the one in Shinshine 60 in Ikebukuro multiple times. I found the merch selection better in the shops than in the museum when I last went to the Museum in 2018.
Your September 11th in Kyoto looks exhausting. Your feet are going to hate you. I would move some of those things to your Nara day possibly, since I don’t think it will take that long to see Kasuga Taisha on the 10th.
Good luck!