Hi all,
Japan has been one of my top bucket list destinations for the longest time and I’m finally going in late September/early October! This is my first time travelling to Japan and I want to see as much of it as I can in 12 days. I will be travelling solo and I tend to create very ambitious travel plans, so I just wanted to get a sanity check on whether this itinerary seems doable. I’ve tried to group places by location, but sometimes it’s hard to get a sense of how close things are from looking at a map alone. I also have some questions that I was hoping to get clarity on. I’ve booked all my hotels, will get an eSIM, and I will be using a 7-day JR pass (Day 3 to Day 9).
**Day 1 – Arrival (hotel in Asakusa area)**
\- Arrive in Tokyo HND (7pm)
\- Check in to hotel in Asakusa area
\- Walk around Senso-ji in the evening (if not too jetlagged)
**Day 2 – Tokyo (hotel in Asakusa area)**
\- Ueno park
\- Yanaka Ginza
\- Senso-ji (if skipped last night)
\- Skytree **–> I’ve heard mixed reviews: is it worth it to go up?**
\- Akihabara
**Day 3 – Tokyo to Kyoto (ryokan in Gion area)**
\- Leave for Kyoto early in the morning, arrive around noon
\- Kiyomizu-Dera, Sannenzaka, Ninenzaka, Starbucks, Kodai-ji
\- Gion, Maruyama park, Yasaka shrine
\- Stay in a ryokan in Gion area
**Day 4 – Kyoto (hotel near Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station)**
\- Wake up early for Fushimi Inari **–> Is 6am arrival early enough? Is it worth hiking to the top or do people only do it to avoid crowds? I’m thinking of skipping the hike to save my feet the pain from all the walking I’ll need to do later on.**
\- Philosopher’s path, Higashiyama Jisho-ji
\- Nishiki market
\- Kinkaku-ji **–> What else is worth doing in this area?**
**Day 5 – Kyoto (hotel near Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station)**
\- Arashiyama, Sagano Romantic train, Tenryu-Ji, Nonomiya Shrine, monkey park
\- **(Could probably add one more activity here… any suggestions? Or should I move something from Day 4 down here?)**
\- Same hotel as Day 4
**Day 6 – Kyoto to Osaka (hotel near Osaka-Umeda station)**
\- Head to Osaka early in the morning
\- Shinsekai, Harukas 300, Namba Yasaka shrine
\- Dotonbori in the evening
**Day 7 – Day trip to Nara (hotel near Osaka-Umeda station)**
\- Kofuku-ji, Isuien Garden, Todai-ji, Deer Park, Kasuga-Taisha
\- Return to Osaka and visit Umeda sky building in the evening
**Day 8 – Another Day trip (hotel near Osaka-Umeda station)**
\- Option 1: Himeji Castle + Kobe
\- Option 2: Hiroshima (peace museum/park) + Miyajima (I realize this is ambitious, but with JR pass prices increasing in the future, I don’t see myself going out of my way to visit Hiroshima in the future)
**- I’m struggling to decide between the two options. Anything I should consider when deciding?**
**Day 9 – Osaka to Tokyo (hotel in Shinjuku)**
\- **Is a half day trip to Kobe doable if I go to Hiroshima/Miyajima on Day 8? Are there lockers at Kobe or Osaka I could use to store my luggage since I’ll be switching hotels this day?**
\- Return to Tokyo in the afternoon
\- Shinjuku (Golden gai, tokyo kabukicho tower, Kabukicho)
**Day 10 – Tokyo (hotel in Shinjuku)**
\- Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Takeshita street
\- Shibuya crossing, shopping, Nintendo store, Pokemon center, Tokyo plaza Shibuya
\- Shibuya sky at sunset
**Day 11 – Day trip to Hakone (hotel in Shinjuku)**
\- Buy the Hakone Freepass **(I might switch this around with Day 10 depending on weather)**
\- Amazake Chaya, Motohakone-ko, Hakone-jinja Shrine, Lake Ashi, Togendai-ko, Owakudani, Gora, Open-Air museum, Hakone Yuryo
**Day 12 – Final Day in Tokyo**
\- Tsukiji fish market
\- TeamLab Planets **–> I’m a bit hesitant about doing this on the last day since I heard it can be gross walking through the water, and I won’t be able to shower until after my flight. Is this a valid concern?**
\- Ginza
\- Tokyo tower
\- Shiba park/Zozo-ji
\- Evening flight out of HND at 10pm
**Questions:**
1. What should I book in advance? My current list is: Shibuya Sky, Sagano Romantic train, Harukas 300, Umeda sky, and optionally Skytree, TeamLab Planets if I decide to go there. I’d reserve the long distance JR trains to/from Tokyo in advance as well. Anything I’m missing?
2. If I take the Hiroshima + Miyajima day trip on Day 8, is there any way I could squeeze a trip to Kobe as well?
3. I’ve heard restaurants in Japan tend to have long queues. I’m usually the type of person to just search for food nearby whenever I get hungry. Is that a valid strategy in Japan or should I plan out meals as well? Do restaurants accept reservations for 1 person? Do I need to reserve in advance?
4. Is there anything I’m missing? I intentionally skipped things like USJ, Ghibli museum, go karting as I feel like they’ll take up too much time. But if there’s other small places worth marking a short detour for, please do let me know!
Any and all advice/comments/thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a lot!
6 comments
>- Kiyomizu-Dera, Sannenzaka, Ninenzaka, Starbucks, Kodai-ji
Ah, yes, the holy quintet of Kyoto landmarks.
In all seriousness, why not go to a local cafe instead of the biggest coffee chain in the world? Japan’s third wave coffee scene is one of the best in the world.
Otherwise, I feel like you may have too much going on in your Kyoto days, but I’ll let Kyoto experts chime in on that.
On a macro level, I think you’re doing too much traveling. You only have 10 full days on this trip and 5 or 6 of them are travel days. You only have…2 full days in Tokyo on this itinerary and only 1 full day in Osaka.
So a few suggestions- I would go with Kobe over Hiroshima just so you can spend more time exploring. And less time traveling on day 8. Your itinerary is VERY travel heavy, so cutting it down might be a smart idea.
I have not been to Kyoto, but from what I’ve heard, you might have a lot of things planned for those days. Just with how crowded things can get and what not.
My Biggest piece of advice- you want to do a day trip to Hakone from Tokyo, but you are passing by it to get back to Tokyo anyways. Would it be possible to take your day trip to Hakone on your way back from Osaka? That would save you a few travel hours.
Go to the top of the government building in Tokyo vs Skytree (it’s free and you get the view of city with Skytree in it)!
Popular noodle shops can certainly have lines. There are many excellent ones that will have short or no lines however. Making a reservation for one will be fine at many restaurants. They often seat people at counters instead of tables.
Look into luggage shipping between cities https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html
If you are interested in green tea and matcha, maybe consider a stop at Uji before going to Osaka? Otherwise have a great trip. I’m also solo travelling around the beginning of of October
What’s your budget? I’m going around the same time and I’m just curious what to expect budget wise