When we’re visiting: Late March-early April 2024 for our honeymoon. Hoping to see Cherry Blossoms.
What we like: exploring neighborhoods, unique cultural experiences, shrines, nature, architecture, food and alcohol (izakayas, iconic cocktail bars, distilleries, tastings, etc.), shopping (not really malls, more like high quality goods unique to Japan, home goods, and cool souvenirs), a bit of anime and otaku culture
Itinerary:
Day 0 – Arrive:
* Stay in Asakusa or Ueno. Check into accommodations, explore nearby areas
Day 1 – Tokyo:
* Harajuku — *Takeshita Street*
* Shibuya — *Shibuya Parco (Nintendo store, Pokemon store) / Tokyo Hands / MEGA Don Quijote / Shibuya Crossing / Hachikō Statue / Lunch at Uobei Shibuya Dogenzaka Store*
* Shinjuku — *Explore. End the day at Golden Gai or Omoide Yokocho*
Day 2 – Tokyo: **Is this too light of a day? I suppose I could kill some time exploring Shinjuku more if needed. Any suggestions?**
* Meiji Shrine
* Exit through back of Meiji Shrine, grab lunch at convenience store, walk to Shinjuku Gyoen to chill and eat lunch
* Kurand Sake Market reservation (all you can drink sake)
Day 3 – Tokyo: **Does anyone recommend against visiting Yanaka? My fiancé read an article online about how it’s great for cat lovers, and she loves cats. It also seems like a nice relaxing area to stroll through.**
* Asakusa — *Kaminarimon gate / Nakamise-dori Street / Sensō-ji / Denboin Street / Hoppy Street for food*
* Ueno Park to see cherry blossoms
* Yanaka ‘Cat Town’ — *My fiancé is a huge cat lover. Yanaka Ginza / try to spot the seven lucky cat statues / cat cemetary*
Day 4 – Tokyo
* Akihabara — *@ Home Maid Cafe / Radio Kaikan / Super Potato*
* Ginza — *Uniqlo store / Muji store / Itoya stationary store / dinner at Kirby Cafe / cocktails at Bar High Five*
Day 5 & 6 – Tokyo flexible days: **Any suggestions based on what we like or what we may be missing?**
Day 7 – Hakone: **Does it make sense to go through Hakone on the way to Kyoto?** **Any suggestions of light activities to do during the day in Hakone?**
* Travel to Hakone, stay in Ryokan with private onsen
Day 8 – Kyoto:
* West Kyoto — *Fushimi Inari Taisha / Kizomizu-dera / Sanjūsangen-dō temple / Gion / Pontocho Alley*
Day 9 – Kyoto: **Is there anything we’re missing or should hit instead in East Kyoto? Besides the monkey park, I’ve heard it’s a hike to get there and doesn’t really sound like we’d enjoy it.**
* East Kyoto — *Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple / Arashiyama Bamboo Grove / Okochi Sanso Garden / Tenryuji garden / Togetsukyo Bridge*
Day 10 – Kyoto:
* Philosopher’s Path
* Matsui Sake Brewery
* Kōdai-ji Temple
* Kinkaku-ji
Day 11 & 12 – Flexible days. Day trips to Osaka or Nara, or more time in Kyoto:
* Osaka — *eat food / Osaka Castle / Dotonbori / Tempozan Ferris Wheel*
* Nara — *see deer / Tōdai-ji / Kasuga Taisha Shrine*
Day 13 – Travel back to Tokyo and fly home
Additional questions:
* **We really want to hit the “unmissables” in Japan since it is our first time visiting. Is there anything that seems obviously missing in our itinerary?**
* **Thoughts on day 8-12? I’ve read advice online to stay in either Kyoto or Osaka as a hub since they’re easy to get to from one another. I’m being flexible on Osaka and Nara since they feel optional to me (from what I’ve read, I think I’ll enjoy Tokyo and Kyoto way more than Osaka, and I’m not super excited to see the deer in Nara)**
2 comments
If you like visiting izakaya and bars/pubs it might make more sense to base yourself in Osaka as there’ll be more night life. I think Kyoto is pretty quiet at night though I might be wrong.
Sakura will also bloom in the south before the north so take that in consideration if you should swap it around. It’s hard to say as it depends entirely on the forecast for the year as this plan will work for an early bloom.
Not sure If Super Mario World is of any interest to you at USJ in Osaka.
In terms of must sees: Himeji Castle is a UNESCO site and one of the finest castles in Japan. Nara was Japan’s first capital and has impressive Buddhist temples so it’s of huge historical and cultural significance, but I get if you’re templed out by that point.
I’m not into cats but the Yanaka area is awesome. It’s old and atmospheric and reminds me of older cities like Kyoto while still having that Tokyo vibe (if that makes sense – bc you’re just a station or two away from super busy areas).
Japan has a lot of “unmissables” but it really just depends on your preference. For my 1st trip 10 yrs ago I knew I wanted to see Kyoto and Koya-san, and those were my only two “must”. The rest I just winged. Same w my trip w my husband 5 yrs ago. I found that I really enjoyed mid sized/smaller cities this way – Fukuoka and Kanazawa are my two favorites and they weren’t even part of the itinerary (thanks JR Pass!) There are many others like Nikko (haven’t been but for sure will in my lifetime assuming I don’t die an early death), Miyajima, Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome etc but it’s impossible to fit them all into a 2 weeks trip. Your itinerary looks solid.
I personally would choose Nara over Osaka any day. IMO Osaka isn’t really a “tourist” city, there’s no must-see sights and at first glance it looks like any other city on the planet. It’s fun and all but that time is better spent going to Nara which has that “Japan” look you’re probably thinking about when you think Japan.