Hi everyone. Me, my wife, and one of my best friends are visiting Japan for the first time this October. We’re excited, obviously, but I wanted to get a gut check on our (tentative, loose) itinerary.
We’ll be flying out from the US on 10/17, arriving 10/18, and staying until 10/27. Here’s what we’ve got so far:
**10/18: Arrival**
* Get through the airport
* Get to lodging (already booked)
* Chill, do a little bit of exploring
**10/19: Tokyo**
* Asakusa
* Senso-ji
* Kikanbo ramen for lunch
* Pokemon Center Tokyo
* Hamarikyu Gardens
* Tokyo Tower (aiming for sunset)
**10/20: Tokyo, Day 2**
* Starbucks Reserve Roastery (my wife used to work at Starbucks and wants to go)
* Yoyogi Park
* Shinjuku Toho Building
* Muscle Girls (my best friend’s idea)
* Omoide-Yokocho
* Shibuya SKY
**10/21: Tokyo, Day 3**
* Starbucks Kawagoe (see above)
* Wood Works Kawagoe (to make custom chopsticks)
* Coedo Brewery/Restaurant
* Ghibli Museum (maybe?)
**10/22: Tokyo -> Hiroshima -> Kyoto**
* Board early morning train to Hiroshima (arrive by 10:30/11am)
* Peace Memorial Museum & Atomic Dome (2-3 hours)
* Explore Hiroshima?
* Board evening train from Hiroshima to Kyoto lodging
**10/23: Kyoto**
* Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Kyoto Samurai Experience
* Nishiki Market
* Gion
* Kennin-ji Temple
* Arashiyama (maybe – I’m seeing a lot of “it’s a tourist trap” stuff, but it looks neat)
**10/24: Osaka**
* Train from Kyoto to Osaka
* Cup Noodle Museum
* Osaka Castle
* Dotonbori/exploring
* Kuromon Ichiba Market
* Evening train from Osaka to Kyoto
**10/25: Kyoto -> Tokyo**
* Early morning train from Kyoto to Tokyo
* No concrete plans as of yet
**10/26: Tokyo, Day 4**
* No concrete plans as of yet
**10/27: Tokyo, Day 5**
* Pack, check out by 11am
* Flight home departs around 6pm
* Not sure how to fill the hours between check-out and departure
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**Questions:**
1. Considering we’re traveling between Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Osaka — and that some of our travel within these cities may require trains between destinations (ex. Kyoto hotel to Fushimi Inari) — **what rail pass should we purchase?**
2. **Is Uber/Lyft gaining popularity in Japan? Is there another rideshare/taxi service we should look at?**
3. **Do you have any recommendations for our (currently empty) days in Tokyo (10/25 and 10/27)?**
4. **How early should we plan on arriving at Haneda for our flight home?**
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Thanks for your help!
2 comments
Tokyo to Hiroshima is a schlep and a half by train — I absolutely would not recommend it for a day trip, even if you’re only gonna double back to Kyoto. If you must go, it would probably be better to take a flight for that leg — it looks like it would run you around $50-100/person.
This seems like a lot
Skip Osaka castle imo. You should probably skip Hiroshima all together as well if you want that many days in Tokyo. I think you’re underestimating how exhausting your 10/23 is going to be.
I really really loved Hiroshima, but I think only going there for the peace museum is a bad use of time sadly.