Much love and thanks to this sub and community for all the tips I’ve gleaned from lurking. From that, my partner and I are planning a 21 day winter honeymoon at the usual major cities. We’re looking forward to hot ramen on cold days, onsen, and the quiet serenity of temples in Kyoto. We generally like an equal balance of adventure and relaxation. Our plans each day are fairly loose, but we have (mostly refundable) hotels already booked for each night. Questions and notes are listed in italics. Overall, there are only some days on the itinerary feel a little rushed, but there aren’t any places where we stay less than 2 nights. Any tips beyond our questions are welcome!
**Zipair flight**
Day 0 Saturday Travel
Fly Zipair business class to NRT
*\[It’s our first time flying this airline and class. Checking 1 bag and bringing 2 small carry ons and not sure if that might be too much for a winter trip. I hear it’s cold on Zipair flights and they don’t provide blankets unless you pay for it. Anyone have experience flying from west coast US on Zipair business class and can attest to how cold it is? We want to be comfortable for 11 hours, but also don’t want to pack anything unnecessary :)\]*
**Tokyo**
Day 1 Sunday Travel
Land NRT 20:00.
Settle in. Get some food and depending on energy, stay out for drinks or sleep.
Day 2 Monday Tokyo
Walk around East Tokyo.
Asakusa and Sensoji
Handle travel logistics if necessary (JR passes, cell coverage/SIM, etc)
Adjust to jet lag
Day 3 Tuesday Tokyo
Walk around west Tokyo.
Uniqlo for any needed layers
TeamLab?
Adjust to jet lag
Day 4 Wednesday Tokyo
Imperial Palace and Shinjuku
Dawn Cafe (to book)
Ghibli Museum
Remaining Tokyo activities
**Kyoto**
Day 5 Thursday Kyoto
Check out of Tokyo early
Travel to Kyoto (3-4 hours)
Check into Kyoto hotel
Go out for lunch
Ippodo tea house (if it’s open by mid December)
Central Kyoto
*\[Ippodo’s website says their cafe and teahouse will be closed until the winter, so we might miss this. I’m a bit of a tea enthusiast and love matcha, so would appreciate any tips for traditional tea houses that serve delicious matcha and wagashi. We’d make the trip to Uji if we had a little bit more time, but may have to stick around Kyoto proper.\]*
Day 6 Friday Kyoto
West and North Kyoto
Arashiyama early morning
Maybe a meditation session at Taizo-in or Shunko-in (reservations required)
Kinkakuji
Ship luggage to Naoshima hotel
Day 7 Saturday Kyoto
East Kyoto
Dinner in Higashiyama
Gion District at sunset
Remaining Kyoto activities (Temples, shrines, tea houses, nature walks, gardens)
**Osaka**
Day 8 Sunday Kyoto
Day trip to Osaka
Osaka Aquarium early
Dotonburi
PARCO Shinsaibashi + No Face picture 😐
Take train back to Kyoto before last trains
**Naoshima**
Day 9 Monday Naoshima
Check out of Kyoto early
Travel to Naoshima \~4 hours
Check into Naoshima, Stay at Benesse House
Travel to and see Teshima (since most of Naoshima is closed Mondays)
*\[This day seems a little tight given nearly a full day of travel from Kyoto, then another leg of travel between islands, but if we wanted to see Teshima, this and Wednesday morning might be our only options since Teshima things are closed Tuesday. Note also we’ll be spending Christmas here. Will Teshima be worth it here if we get there around the earliest 16:00?\]*
Day 10 Tuesday Naoshima
(Teshima is closed Tuesdays)
Benessee Art Museum
Chichu
Ship luggage to Hakone hotel
**Hiroshima**
Day 11 Wednesday Hiroshima
Check out of Naoshima
Travel to Hiroshima \~4 hours
Check into Hiroshima
If time, Hiroshima Museum of Art, Shukkeien Garden, or Hiroshima Castle
Get some okonomiyaki
Rest / stay out
*\[My partner has a shellfish allergy and I worry some okonomiyaki uses oyster sauce. Is this common for Hiroshima style okonomiyaki?\]*
Day 12 Thursday Hiroshima
Atomic bomb dome and peace park in the early morning
See Peace Memorial Museum before closing (8:30-17:00) \~2-3 hours
Ferry to Miyajima island \~40 min
Miyajima Omotesando
Early dinner in Miyajima
Ferry back to Hiroshima hotel
*\[This could be a really filled day. Not sure if it’s better to do Peace Memorial Museum etc in the morning or Miyajima instead. Tourists tend to fill Miyajima in the afternoon, but the Museum opens fairly early. Alternatively we could do the museum the next morning and spend a whole day in Miyajima this day instead. If we were to do it all one day, should we go to Miyajima first or the historical Hiroshima sites first?\]*
**Hakone**
Day 13 Friday Hakone
Leave Hiroshima for Hakone. (4-5 hour train).
Check into Hakone late.
Relax, onsen
Day 14 Saturday Hakone
Hakone Open Air Museum
Get some food in town
Relax, onsen
**Tokyo**
Day 15 Sunday Tokyo
Check out of Hakone late
Travel to Tokyo \~2 hours
Settle into Tokyo hotel in Roppongi Hills
Rainbow bridge at night
Day 16 Monday Tokyo
Do any Tokyo things we missed on the first leg
Day 17 Tuesday Tokyo
Find “locals” things to do like journal at a coffee shop, late night izakaya with salarymen, live music.
Day 18 Wednesday Tokyo
Tokyo DisneySea
Start Grand Hyatt Club Access
*\[Will Tokyo DisneySea be insanely crowded the first week of January or do people start going back to school/work a couple days after New Years? What’s the best day between New Year’s eve and a few days into the new year to go to Tokyo DisneySea to avoid the biggest crowds?\]*
Day 19 Thursday Tokyo
\[alternative day for Tokyo DisneySea\]
Last chance for souvenirs, light shopping around Roppongi
Day 20 Friday Travel
Breakfast at hotel
Check out of Roppongi hotel (hopefully with later checkout)
Travel to NRT for an evening flight
Hang in lounge for 2-3 hours and dinner at airport
3 comments
So for Teshima and Naoshima – getting to Teshima at 4pm is pretty much pointless imo, not sure on ferry timetables but I remember them finishing quite early when I was there . Teshima and Naoshima were the highlights of my trip and I do recommend giving them a full day each if you can .
I personally would skip Hiroshima this time if I was you – you’re having to spend a lot of time getting there and back and don’t have much time there anyway.
I think the extra time would be better spent in Kyoto / Osaka / Naoshima / Teshima honestly . I really loved Uji when I went to Kyoto so I can recommend that also!
Fellow tea addict here. (On my last trip l even went to wazuka a tiny tea farm village for a tour) there’s lots of uji tea places in higashiyama across the bridge from pontocho. Anyway, the Camellia Garden in Arashiyama has a wonderful tea ceremony. The women there was very nice.
Why would you want to go back to Kyoto on day 8? Isn’t it a good idea to head to Okayama instead and start your day 9 from there? You will be able to save a lot of time by doing so.
If I were you, I would go straight to Teshima on day 9 and spend the entire day in the island. I would then move onto Naoshima late in the afternoon or even in the evening. I would then spend a whole day in Naoshima the following day, and take one of the last ferries to Uno. I would either stay at Uno or go straight up to Okayama.