Hi Everyone. I will be travelling with my partner and as it is our first time in Japan, we would really appreciate if anyone can give some feedback or recommendation on our itinerary. We are not sure whether we are doing too much particularly on days with inter-city travels.
**General:**
* We will be getting the 14 day JR Pass (I have worked it out using the calculator and it is worthwhile for us as we will be doing a lot of inter-city travel)
* We are both early risers so, we will be starting our days as early as we can with the activities planned (depending on opening hours of course).
* My partner is really into the Ghibli films and thus we are doing both Ghibli Park & Museum (Hopefully tickets dont run out quick when they get released)
* We have not booked accommodations yet (will be booking next week), but we are thinking to stay in the areas listed below. Any recommendations are welcome:
* Osaka – Namba area
* Kyoto – Gion area
* Nagoya (Somewhere convenient to travel to Ghibli park)
* Tokyo – Shibuya area
* Hakone – (Not really sure but maybe a ryokan in Motohakone?)
**Questions:**
* Any new years eve countdown activities recommendation for Osaka?
* Is our Hakone itinerary do-able (or) too packed?
* Are we missing anything in Tokyo?
Itinerary:
|Date|Area|Morning|Afternoon|Evening|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Wednesday, 27 December 2023|Tokyo Arrival .Travel to Osaka|Arrive to Haneda. Get Suica card. Exchange JR Pass. Shinkansen to Osaka.|Check in to hotel. Explore area. Namba Yasaka Shrine. Kuromon Market.|Dinner and rest at hotel.|
|Thursday, 28 December 2023|Osaka|Sumiyoshi shrine. Osaka Castle. Osaka Tenmangu|(Optional – Explore fukushima if time permits after castle) Free afternoon for exploration.|Cooking class. Visit Don Quijote.|
|Friday, 29 December 2023|Osaka-Miyajima-Hiroshima|Shinkansen to Hiroshima.Take ferry to Miyajimaguchi. Explore Miyajima.|Explore Hiroshima. Atomic Bomb Dome. Peace Memorial Park|Back in Osaka. Explore shinsekai (Dinner). Tsutenkaku.|
|Saturday, 30 December 2023|Universal studios Osaka|Full day at Universal|Full day at Universal|Dinner at Dotonbori|
|Sunday, 31 December 2023|Osaka (New years eve)|Umeda Sky Building|Free day|Free day. Book countdown activites closer to travel date.|
|Monday, 1 January 2024|Osaka – Kyoto|Early morning at Shitenno-ji. Leave for kyoto. Explore nishiki market and shrine.|Free afternoon to explore.|Gion walking tour. Yasaka-jinja shrine & Maruyamacho at night.|
|Tuesday, 2 January 2024|Kyoto (Arashiyama)|Early morning – Bamboo grove. Tenryu-ji temple. Okochi sanso garden. Arashiyama monkey park.|Lunch in central arashiyama. Taxi to Kinkaku-ji (tea ceremony). Taxi to Daitoku-ji|Return to hotel. Exploration and dinner.|
|Wednesday, 3 January 2024|Kyoto – Nara|Early morning – leave for Nara Park. Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Todaiji temple.|Lunch at Higashimuki shopping street. Kofuku-ji temple.Explore naramachi on way back to station.|Train back to kyoto. Dinner and rest at hotel.|
|Thursday, 4 January 2024|Kyoto – Nagoya|Early morning – Kiyomizu temple. Explore Sannen-zaka and Ninnen-zaka.|Chion-in & Shoren-in temple. Shinkansen to Nagoya.|Check in at hotel. Explore Nagoya and dinner.|
|Friday, 5 January 2024|Nagoya – Ghibli Park – Tokyo|Ghibli park|Aim to leave for Tokyo around 3pm at the latest|Explore hotel area and dinner in Tokyo.|
|Saturday, 6 January 2024|Tokyo (Shibuya & Harajuku)|Shibuya sky. Meiji Jingu (Yoyogi park – optional)|Harajuku. Takeshita Street|Dinner back in Shibuya|
|Sunday, 7 January 2024|Tokyo-Hakone|Early morning – Senso-ji temple. Nakmise-dori street. Ameyoko Shopping street|Lunch in Akhihabara. Travel to Hakone.|Check in to ryokan. Relax at onsen.|
|Monday, 8 January 2024|Hakone – Tokyo|Hakone Open air museum. Hakone ropeway to Owakudani|Lunch at Owakudani. Cross lake ashi on Hakone Cruise. Hakone shrine & Torii gate|Gift shopping. Train back to Tokyo.|
|Tuesday, 9 January 2024|Southern Tokyo|Tsukiji Fish market. Daimaru Tokyo. Explore chiyoda (Imperial Palace – Optional)|Lunch at Tokyo Ramen Street. Sightsee Tokyo Tower. Explore Ginza|Look at rainbow bridge from Daiba Park.|
|Wednesday, 10 January 2024|Ghibli Museum – Shinjuku|Ghibli Museum (Hopefully get can tickets). Nakano Broadway on way back.|Explore Shinjuku city. (Gyoen National garden – optional)|Omoide-Yokocho. Golden Gai. Kabukicho|
|Thursday, 11 January 2024|Tokyo (Departure) :'(|Narita Airport|Â |Â |
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1 comment
Hi!
Are you sure the stores of Nishiki Market are open on 1/1? A lot of places are closed and being a sort of traditional area, it seems like the sort of place most things would be closed.
If you’re doing a paid Gion walking tour, I would make sure it is being offered on 1/1 because again, a lot of things are closed.