Hey guys,
my girlfriend (1st time) & me (2nd time) will travel to japan in the end of November.
I have a rough itinerary that I’d like to get checked, maybe I can optimize a few things. Hope you guys can help me out.
* Mon, Nov 20
* arrive at Osaka airport at \~3 pm
* travel to Accommodation in Kyoto
* relaxed evening, check out Higashiyama District or Gion?
* Tue, Nov 21
* Fushimi Inari in the morning
* Toji Temple & Tofukuji Temple afterwards
* Kyomizudera Temple
* maybe Gion in the evening?
* Wed, Nov 22
* Arashiyama in the morning
* Half a day Trip to Uji
* Philisophers Path in the evening
* Thu, Nov 23
* Labor Day in Japan – will this be a problem for this days plan? So far I read that major tourist attractions & shops are still open.
* Day Trip to Nara
* Fri, Nov 24
* Check out & travel to Tokyo (activities not planned yet)
Few questions:
* What do you think of the itinerary so far? Is one day too packed or is there anything I should switch? Or anything worth seeing that forgot?
* We haven’t booked any accommodation yet, as I’m still unsure where. I’m leaning towards somewhere in Higashiyama District or near Gion.
* I wasn’t too impressed with Osaka the last time, so I intentionally left it out. Since my girlfriend will be in Japan for the first time, should we spend some time in Osaka?
* We would like to go to an tattoo friendly Onsen (day or half a day trip). I was planning to look for a place near Tokyo rather than Kyoto. Would you agree?
Thank you in advance!
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4 comments
Your areas are all over the place, you need to reshuffle your spots using a map:
* Fushimi Inari (Southeast) is half way to Uji (South Southeast)
* Uji is half way to Nara (South South Southeast, mostly just South at this point)
* Arashiyama is Northwest
* Philosopher’s Path is in the Northeast.
Day trip to Nara makes sense depending on how much you want to do in Nara, group Fushimi Inari and Uji together. Tofukuji can group with Gion and Philosopher’s path.
The Toji Temple buildings and trees should be lit up for night autumn illuminations when you are there, for you to check. Very close to Kyoto Station via a short train journey or walk. Consider visiting at night instead of in the morning.
the general impression is, its not optimized. especially going to arasghiyama, then uji, then philosophers path… thats silly
before we talk about the details of the reshuffle. with 4 days and “so much” to do, it can help to know where you will be staying. so get and pick your place to stay…
higashiyama / gion are both good areas to stay in. more important than how pretty the area is could be how close it is to a train/subway station.
also, on the question of osaka. it will be hard to squeeze it in here, and unless you really have something you want to do there, I would ignore it. sure dotonbori is nice, but you cant do everything…
additionally, you will be getting big city and neon lights in tokyo, so I really think omitting osaka is not a sin here…
so now, when you land at 3pm and travel to the hotel in kyoto, you can check in and explore the area. if its in walking distance to yasaka shrine, you can explore gion and yasaka.
day 2. higashiyama (south). you can start very early with kiyomizudera. stay in higashiyama, working your way up and then along the philosophers path
day 3. arashiyama. you can do kinkakuji before and or after. you can also do nijo or nishiki market if you dont stay in arashiyama all day
day 4. start with fushimi inari, then head to nara. if you make it back before like 3pm you can stop in uji on your way back
I dont see much opportunity to see toji/tofukuji unless you let go of something else. day 3 would be suitable but I think kinkakuji, nijo castle and arashiyama are all better options…
edit: november? there might be nighttime illuminations where you can visit some places after the normal 4.30 closing time. check on that.
Aye! Ill be in Japan those days too! But will probably be in Tokyo since im doing the 8th to the 24th. Going there for my birthday (20th) so will be an interesting time. Might take some hints from your Itinerary since ill be in Kyoto the first few days.