Hello everybody,
my partner and I are travelling to Japan for almost the whole month of September. We are not well travelled, this is our first trip longer than a couple of days so… to be honest I am pretty anxious about the trip.
My boyfriend is more into gaming, anime, maid cafes and such. While I also really want to visit all these spots, I need some peace and quiet, nature and old temples. He also doesn´t really want to plan anything in advance, while I am anxious when there isn´t at least a single place to visit in a day. For this reason I tried to include a lot of “rest days” meaning nothing on the list of that day is essential to us and we should be fine if we decide to just roam around instead.
Could you please check its not completely insane (no day has too many spots too far away from each other), or suggest some crucial must see spots I have missed?
September 4 (Tokyo)
\- Arrival to Narita, travel to hotel in Tokyo, roaming around, dealing with jet lag.
​
September 5 (Tokyo)
\- Akihabara
\- Ueno park for same peace and quiet (maybe a museum if we feel like it)
\- Sun set at shinobazu no ike pondAsakusa sensoji at night
​
September 6 (Tokyo)
\- Gyoen garden and Meiji jingu
\- Harajuku (Takeshita street)
\- Shibuya, Shibuya parco, shibuya sky
​
September 7 (Tokyo – “rest day”)
\- early morning Tsukiji Market (shops at the old location)
\- 築地本願寺 中央区
\- Ginza, Kabuki-za
\- ART aquarium (if we feel like it)
​
September 8
\- Ride to onsen north of Tokyo
\- Check in 15:00
\- Rest in onsen
​
September 9
\- Ride from onsen to Takayama (1,5 hours, old town, maybe hide village if we have time)
\- Ride to Kyoto (4 hours)
\- Check in and go to bed
​
September 10 (Kyoto)
\- Innari taisha
\- Komyo in
​
September 11 (Kyoto – “rest day in Gion”)Pokemon center
\- Nishiki market
\- Gion
\- Studio Ghibli shop
​
September 12 (Kyoto)
\- Very early Arashiyama
\- Daihikaku
\- Scenic train from Saga Torokko to Kameoka, ride back on boats (if available)
​
September 13 (Kyoto)
\- Kinkakuji
\- Rjoandzi
\- Kyoto Imperial Palace or Philosopher’s path (depends on time and weather)
​
September 14 (Kyoto)
\- Ride to Nara (1 hour)
\- Nara park
\- Todaiji
\- Back to Kyoto
​
September 15 (Osaka)
\- Ride to Osaka
\- Dotonbori
\- Namba Yasaka
\- Amerikamura to Hozenji at night
​
September 16 (Osaka)
\- Sumiyoshi (if we feel like it in the morning)
\- Shinsekai
\- Keitakuen Garden
\- Shitenno-ji
\- Abeno Harukas
​
September 17 (Osaka – “rest day”)
\- Go to Kyoto anime fest
​
September 18 (Osaka)
\- Osaka castle
​
September 19 (Imabari)
\- Wake up in Osaka
\- Go to Onomichi (10:00 getting a bike in port)
\- Ride a bike to Imabari
\- Sleep in Imabari
IF rainy we should be able to cancel bikes and go to Hiroshima museum and late at night go to Imabari hotel
​
September 20 (Imabari)
\- Wake up in Imabari
\- Imabari castle
\- Imabari beaches
\- Ride to Toyo port
\- head back to Osaka via ferry
​
September 21 (Osaka)
\- Arrive in Osaka at 6:00
\- Breakfast in nanko port maybe checkout ATC?
\- Either Aquarium or Sumiyoshi taisha and Osaka museum of natural history or day trip to KobeBack to Tokyo
​
September 22 (Tokyo)
\- Yokohama China town
​
September 23 (Tokyo)
\- Tokyo game day
​
September 24 (Tokyo – “rest day”)
\- Gotokuji Temple
​
September 25 (Tokyo)
\- Hakone (Owakudani) or Nikko
Nikko
\- Shinkyo bridge
\- Nikko Tosogu
\- Imperial villa maybe
\- Kegon falls
\- ride to yudaki falls and go senjogahara to ryuzu falls
​
September 26 (Tokyo – “rest day”)
\- Batting center
\- karaoke
\- having fun in Tokyo
​
September 27 (Tokyo)
Hakone (Owakudani) or Nikko
\- check if we can ride to hakone yumoto then walk to motohakone ko take pirate ship to togendai ko to owakudani to gora
\- the open air museum
​
September 28 (Tokyo – “rest day”)
\- Shopping
\- having fun
OR day trip to Kanazawa OR Kawagoe
​
September 29 (Tokyo)
\- Shopping
\- having fun
​
September 30 (Tokyo)
Flight home
Thank you for any feedback 🙂
​
2 comments
Going all to way to Takayama for such a short time seems a waste to me.
I’d consider cutting some time in Tokyo and/or Osaka and spending some nights in Takayama/Kanazawa and visiting the likes of Kamikochi. Will give you some of what you’re looking for as the trip is city heavy just now.
The shimanamikaido is a decent effort so be aware of the time needed and how tired/saddle sore you may be, depending on fitness and how used you are to cycling. You can do it halfway and get a ferry back if needed though.
Onomichi itself is lovely to spend time in, if you’re able to make time for it. You could consider making the 18th your Osaka to Onomichi day and take a day to look around the town, then spend the night there to start the Shimanami Kaido the next morning. Or, if your ride gets cancelled due to rain, spend the day wandering Onomichi.
Have you reserved your bikes yet? Your date looks fine so far, but some of the days around that date are booked up on the public rental site.