Hi,
I will be travelling to Japan for 14 days in October. I am trying to plan my trip to Japan but am a bit stuck on how long I should stay in each area and the best way to get between places. We fly in to Osaka and fly out from Tokyo so we are not thinking of buying the Japan rail pass.
I am travelling with another person and we like to experience a combination of things, food, the usual sightseeing, a lot of nature/hiking (this is probably our favourite thing to do when travelling) and some theme parks. We want to minimize dragging around our luggage with public transport.
**Questions:**
1. We were thinking to use the major cities as our base and occasionally hire a car for a day and bring it back the same day as we like to hike as it looks like we have some spare days. Would this be a sensible idea?
2. Is the best way to get from Osaka to Hakone to get to Odawara first and then Hakone by public transport?
3. Can a short visit to Kobe and the hike in Mount Rokko be done in one day?
4. I feel like we have a lot of time in Osaka and Tokyo, would it be worth changing some of the Tokyo exploration days in exchange for another area? Or would that become too rushed?
This is the itinerary we’ve got so far:
**Day 1 – Osaka**
Arrive early afternoon at Kansai international airport
In the afternoon/evening Umeda Sky building, Dotonbori
**Day 2 – Osaka**
Nara day trip
Osaka castle in the evening
**Day 3 – Osaka**
Kobe day trip and Mount Roko
**Day 4 – Osaka**
Kyoto day trip with main activity Fushimi Inari Taisha. Planning to do the full hike.
**Day 5 – Osaka**
Kyoto day trip with main activity Arashiyama bamboo forest
Osaka aquarium in the evening
**Day 6 – Osaka**
Hire a car for the day and do some hiking in south Kansai, we were thinking part of the Kumano Kodo trail.
Return the car in Osaka in the evening on the same day.
**Day 7 – Travel from Osaka to Hakone**
In the morning travel to Odawara to then get to Hakone
Half of the Hakone loop
**Day 8 – Hakone**
The other half of the Hakone loop
Visit an onsen
**Day 9 – Travel from Hakone to Tokyo**
Travel to Tokyo in the morning
Explore Harajuku
teamLab Planets
**Day 10 – Tokyo**
Studio Ghibli
Explore Akihabara area
**Day 11 – Travel from Tokyo to Nikko**
In the morning hire a car to drive from Tokyo to Nikko
Hiking at Nikko national park
Stay overnight at Nikko
**Day 12 – Nikko**
Another day hiking at Nikko national park
Stay overnight at Nikko
**Day 12 – Travel from Nikko to Tokyo**
Drive back to Tokyo in the morning and return the car
Hike Mount Takao
**Day 13 – Tokyo**
Tokyo Disney Sea full day
**Day 14 – Tokyo**
Explore a few areas like Roppongi, Shinjuku and Koenji
**Day 15**
Fly out from Narita international airport