EDIT: since it keeps coming up, I know some of the days look very packed, but I listed all of the things we are interested in doing, but I don’t expect we’ll get to everything—if we decide in the moment to skip, we will, but I wanted to have too many options vs realizing that we don’t have anything to do and having to scramble to research alternatives while we’re actually there.
—————————
Hi all! My husband and I are going to be finally going on our honeymoon to Japan this fall, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Note that all hotels are booked so the date(s) we are in various cities cannot be changed.
A few caveats about us: we are located in NYC so very used to lots of walking/crowded cities/public transit, so although some days are heavy on walking, I think we’ll be ok as it is similar to our daily activity level. The main things I want to do are take baths, go to lots of shrines and other historical areas, anything anime/manga/video game related (especially the Ryu ga Gotoku series!!!), anything related to aquariums and fishkeeping. My husband loves samurai/swords, irezumi/Japanese traditional tattooing, and anime/gaming. If you have any interesting suggestions to hit any of those things I would be very grateful!
**Day 0: (Sat 10/28) Arrival day**
\- Land in Haneda at 4:30pm
\- Wander around before crashing at our hotel in Shinjuku
**Day 1 (Sun 10/29)**
\- Kabukicho, Tokyo Metro Gov’t Building
\- Shibuya pt1: scramble, look at shops, lunch nearby
\- Harajuku pt1 (via Miyashita Park): Meiji-jingu shrine, Yoyogi Park, look around
\- Dinner in Golden Gai
**Day 2 (Mon 10/30)**
\- 9AM: Teamlab Planets
\- Akihabara pt1: arcade, figurines, explore
\- Tokyo station area: character street
\- Afternoon/evening: Ginza/Roppongi
**Day 3 (Tues 10/31)**
\- Asakusa: Sensoji, Tokyo SkyTree
\- Ueno: Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Park
\- Ikebukuro: KitKat Chocolatery, Pokemon Center Mega, dinner nearby
**Day 4 (Weds 11/1)**
\- TBD, maybe Nakano?
\- Early afternoon: Travel to Takayama (\~4h), overnight ryokan stay
**Day 5 (Th 11/2) Takayama**
\- Sanmachi suji, heritage houses, lunch in Sanmachi, Takayama Jinya, Sakurayama-Hachimangu shrine, Higashiyama walkway, spend another night in Takayama
**Day 6 (F 11/3) Shirakawa-go**
\- AM: Travel to Shirakawa-go (\~1h)
\- Observatory, Ogimachi village, Gassho-Zukuri folk village outdoor museum
\- Evening: Travel to Kanazawa (\~1h)
**Day 7-8 (Sat 11/4 – Sun 11/5) Kanazawa**
\- Day 7: Higashi Chaya/Kazuemachi Chaya, Omicho market, Nagamachi
\- Day 8: Kenroku-en, Kanazawa castle, art museums (21st century contemporary art museum, DT Suzuki museum, Ishikawa prefectural museum)
\- Evening: travel to Kyoto (\~2.5h)
**Day 9-13 (Mon 11/6 – Fri 11/10) Kyoto**
\- Day 9: Kiyomizu-dera, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka, Kodai-ji temple, Maruyama-koen, Yasaka-jinja, Chion-in, Shoren-in, return to hotel to rest, dinner and walk around in downtown Kyoto *(We will skip any if we don’t feel up to it)*
\- Day 10: Arashiyama, Okochi Sanso garden, Tenryu-ji, Kinkaku-ji, Daitoku-ji, rest at hotel, dinner and walk around in downtown Kyoto
\- Day 11: Nijo-jo castle, (maybe) Manga Museum, Yasui Kompira-gu shrine, 3PM: Gion Odori (ticket bought), dinner in Gion area
\- Day 12: Kurama/Kibune hike in the morning, return to Kyoto, Samurai and Ninja museum, 4PM: Samurai Kenbu theater show (ticket bought)
\- Day 13: Fushimi Inari, Nanzen-ji, Eikan-do, Okazaki shrine, Philosopher’s path, Honen-in, Ginkaku-ji
\- Evening: travel to Hiroshima (\~2h)
**Day 14 (Sat 11/11) Hiroshima**
\- Atomic Bomb Dome, Peace Memorial Park/Museum, Hiroshima Castle, travel to Osaka in the evening (\~2h), explore Dotonbori area
**Day 15-17 (Sun 11/12 – Tues 11/14) Osaka + Day trips**
\- Day 15: Nara day trip, evening: TeamLab Botanical Garden
\- Day 16: (maybe) Osaka castle, Kaiyukan Aquarium, Kitashinchi/Umeda
\- Day 17: Travel to Himeji (\~1.5h), Himeji Castle, Kokoen Garden, (maybe) Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, afternoon: travel to Tokyo (\~3.5h), evening/night: Tokyo Tower
**Day 18 (Weds 11/15) Hakone**
\- Travel to Hakone (\~1.5h), Hakone loop, onsen stay
**Day 19-20 (Th 11/16 – Fri 11/17) Tokyo**
\- Day 19: Travel to Tokyo (\~1.5h), Shinjuku Gyoen National Park, Harajuku pt2, Shibuya pt2, Omoide Yokocho or Nonbei Yokocho, (maybe) Mogra nightclub
\- Day 20: Japanese Sword Museum, Sumida Hokusai Museum, Akihabara pt2
**Day 21 (Sat 11/18) Departure day**
\- Morning: Shinjuku pt2
\- Fly out of Haneda at 7PM
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I would be very grateful for any suggestions or tweaks you guys would suggest!
EDIT: I also have a custom google map with things to do/see in various areas, and I figured we could decide in the moment what we want to prioritize or see the most.
8 comments
My only comment would be about your Kyoto days. Unless you plan to take cabs everywhere, majority of Kyoto transportation is buses which adds a bit of travel time from location to location. Your days there look really packed overall so its something to keep in mind.
Some other days look to be a lot (to me at least, fellow NYC’er) It’ll depend on how much time you end up dedicating to certain locations, but plan some breaks. Despite being able to walk a lot (10-15k steps/day is average for me) jumping from spot to spot daily can wear on you. Plus you want to be able to just wander and find stuff unexpectedly too. I don’t plan more than 1 or 2 things daily, but thats just my preference since I like to keep plans open to a whim. Should be a nice trip though (I’ll actually be there around the same time) and hopefully the weather is nice!
This all seems very reasonable and doable to me. Some days are a little packed, but you can drop stuff. And you’ve got the rare plan that seems to understand how Kyoto is laid out.
Kokoen Garden is not worth the time, especially if you’re going to Shinjuku-Gyoen and Okochi Sanso and Kenroku-en. It’s very small garden with 12 sections for different styles and does not compare to any of the others you’re going to be seeing.
For Day 4, most Nakano stores open at noon, so it’s not a great morning destination. Maybe swap its place with Harajuku/Meiji Shrine on Day 1?
Hello, I’m Japanese.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Switch day 14 with 15. Then, put Fushimi Inari on the way to Nara as it’s literally on the way. By doing so, you will have more time in Higashiyama area in Kyoto.
2. Stop by Himeji on your way to Hiroshima from Kyoto or from Hiroshima to Osaka because the city is between them. Then spend a half day or so there. That will save your time as well as the cost for the transportation.
3. If I were you, I would cut off day 19 in Tokyo and add the day to Hiroshima or Osaka stay, and also get rid of Takayama visit and go straight to Kanazawa from Tokyo. I would then visit Shirakawago from Kanazawa. (I guess there’s a bus.)
4. Your Kyoto itinerary is a bit ambitious. My recommendation is 3-4 places/day + lunch and tea time. Otherwise, you are not enjoying each place but more like passing it through.
In terms of taxi in Kyoto, I have heard that it’s sometimes hard to catch one these days as there are too many tourists. Keep that in mind.
In regards to Kibune, I recommend spending a whole day there. It’s a beautiful place, and you will be enjoying a walk. It will be refreshing especially when you are going up from the city.
5. I understand that you want to go to as many places as possible, but don’t be greedy. Enjoy what each place offers including the food scenes. By rushing, you will likely miss out great stuff.
I always post this: skip Osaka Castle if you are going to Himeji. Not worth your time.
Your itinerary initially looked packed but I read your other comment and it seems great if you have one or two main goals that day and be okay with missing other things if need be.
I also had a similar itinerary but in the end we ended up only being able to do one or two things per day not because we couldn’t walk it but because we really enjoyed just taking our time.
For example we spent a whole day just exploring the whole Arashiyami area. The Bamboo Forest didn’t take long to walk through but the whole area was so fun to just slowly walk around.
If you want DM me, I have spent a lot of time in Japan across numerous trips. Have some suggestions on a November trip and some things you are missing or maybe should look past. Either way hope you have a wonderful honeymoon
Of course I don’t mind. I’ll DM you.
My wife was the same. She’s doesn’t mind what we do so I did all the planning. She liked being surprised and I loved seeing her enjoy what I’d plan.