Hi everyone, my girlfriend and I are planning our first trip in mid-March next year. We are both very excited but trying to find a balance between doing as much as we can without being stressed with timekeeping when we are there.
We would appreciate some feedback or any suggestions. We haven’t booked any hotels yet so happy to change the order of places around. We just need to start and end in Tokyo because of flights. We will be staying for 13 nights in total.
**Day 1: Arrival and wander in Tokyo**
Arrive in Tokyo (Land at 07:35, hotel by 12)
**Day 2 (Shibuya and Harajuku, Tokyo)**
Shibuya crossing
Haciko statue (Outside Shibuya station)
Cherry blossom gardens (Yoyogi park)
Meiji shrine
Shops in Harajuku and Shibuya
Metropolitan governmnet building (Viewing deck)
**Day 3 (Tokyo)**
Nezu shrine tokyo
Yanaka Ginza Shopping Street
Nihonbashi Takashimaya department store with pokemon centre and cafe
Sensoji temple
Rikugien Garden
**Day 4 (Tokyo)**
Teamlabs borderless
Tokyo Disney sea
**Day 5 (Kyoto)**
Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto
Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)
Fushimi Inari Shrine
**Day 6 (Kyoto)**
Kiyomizu temple
Arashiyama bamboo forest
**Day 7 (Osaka)**
Shinkansen from Kyoto to Osaka
Osaka Castle (Osakajo)
Shinsekai district
Dotonbori
**Day 8 (Himeji and Nara)**
Train to Himeji castle
Train to Nara
Nara deer park
**Day 9 (Nara)**
Todaiji temple
Kasuga-taisha
**Day 10 (Hiroshima)**
Shinkansen from Nara to Hiroshima
Atomic Dome/Peace Park/Museum
Shukkeien Garden
**Day 11 (Hiroshima)**
Miyajima Island
Itsukushima Shrine
**Day 12 (Tokyo)**
Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Tokyo
Tokyo national museum
**Day 13 (Tokyo)**
Arakurayama Sengen Park
Tokyo imperial palace
**Day 14 (Flight home, to the UK)**
Thoughts –
I’m not sure if it makes more sense to get to Hiroshima earlier in the trip so that it breaks up the trip back up to Tokyo.
I did want to go to the Hakone shrine and get some views of Mt.Fuji from around here but the current itinerary looks pretty packed. Is there anything you would cut out or condense days into 1 so that this trip could be possible?
Kobe was also on the original list but not sure there will be time for this.
Thanks in advance, looking forward to the feedback and advice!
5 comments
I did a full day at Disney Sea and didnt think it was enough time. Team lab takes about 3 hours so best to tack that onto a different day
Hello, I’m Japanese who knows the Kansai area well.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Your itinerary in Kyoto is unreasonable. You want to pair Arashiyama with Kinkaku Ji as well as Fushimi Inari with Kiyomizu Dera. Look at the map, and it will make sense to you.
2. You don’t want to go to Himeji and Nara in one day. Again, take a look at the map. It will be more efficient and make more sense if you visit Himeji and then Hiroshima.
3. You don’t have to take Shinkansen between Kyoto and Osaka. The local lines are good enough.
4. No, you don’t have enough time for Kobe. Pick two cities among Kobe, Nara and Hiroshima.
>hotel by 12)
Most hotel check-in time is 2pm. Did you check with your hotel if you can check in early?
>Day 5 (Kyoto)
For this part of your trip I would suggest getting a hotel near Shin-Osaka station (or Kyoto station) until it’s time to go back to Tokyo. Unless you like changing hotels. I actually chose Namba Station (because wanted to be close to Dotomburi) when I visited Nara, Kyoto, Himeji and Osaka. While I didn’t go to Hiroshima this time, other people here say they have done it from Osaka, it’s only a 1 hr 25mins to Hiroshima on Shinkansen.
On the back half, unless you wanna change hotels a bit, staying at Osaka is a good hub to see Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima and anything near. The regular train from Osaka to Kyoto is 30 minutes and runs every 5-10.
Also, Nara is really half a day. I wouldn’t plan for anything heavy as well as it but you’ll over estimate how much time you’ll spend there.
1.5 days in Kyoto is not enough speaking from personal experience (the Kyoto part of my trip got shortened because of the typhoon unfortunately). Especially when you’re spending 1.5 days in Nara (should be a daytrip at most) and 2 days in Hiroshima. The attractions in Kyoto can be spread out so keep that in mind. For example, I see that you have Arashiyama+Kiyomizudera in one day and Fushimi Inari+Kinkakuji in another day. These are almost on the opposite sides of Kyoto. Keep in mind that trains in Kyoto are not as good as in Osaka/Tokyo and you would have to rely on buses/taxis a lot which are slower and don’t come as often. Many of these places also have lines/crowds which they don’t show in the travel vlogs so keep that in mind as well.