Hi all! My wife and I (both mid 30s) are planning our first trip to Japan this fall and would love any feedback on some of the areas we are considering visiting. There is so MUCH to do it’s hard to cut back, but I know we can’t do all of it, so would appreciate any input on the below and what things we should cut / add / adjust.
The trip is 15 days from mid-late October.
**Some info on us:**
Interested in culture, food, history, nature, and hiking. I’m also pretty nerdy and plan to enjoy that stuff! Since it’s not likely we’ll be back anytime soon, we want to make sure we’re seeing “enough” of Japan, but not feel like we’re sprinting the entire time.
I haven’t figured out the exact sequence of the activities during the days below, but this is a list of the things we’re interested in. Some days/areas are not that populated yet, so definitely appreciate suggestions on what to fill up. Particularly curious on if our days 7-11 aren’t realistic // are too crammed with travel & exploring.
Thank you!
**Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo**
* Land at NRT at 4:15PM
* We have a reservation at 7PM at Denkushiflori – will we be able to make this or is that unlikely given our arrival time?
**Day 2: Tokyo: “Traditional Tokyo on the east side”**
* Asakusa
* Senso-ji Temple
* Kagetsudo Kaminarimon nearby serves recommended sugary buns with optional ice cream on top
* Asakusa-jinja Shrine
* Ueno — park and museums
* Koishikawa botanical gardens
* Yanaka
* Tokyo station — lunch somewhere
* Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum
* Dinner in Shinjuku, Ginza, Marunouchi
* Sumo match
* Dinner TBD
**Day 3: Tokyo: “Modern Tokyo on the west side”**
* Meiji-jingu Shrine
* Nezu Museum (+ garden)
* Ghibli Museum
* Yoyogi Park
* Omotesando (higher end shopping)
* Harajuku (shop, explore, eat, people watching)
* Shibuya (+ lunch)
* Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
* Roppongi (dinner, night life)
* Shinjuku Goyen Nat’l Garden(?)
* Cat street
* Dinner at Narisawa
**Day 4: Tokyo → Kyoto**
* Toyosu Fish Market
* Train to Kyoto
* Ginkaku-ji Temple
* Philosopher’s Path
* Nanzen-ji Temple
* Nijo-jo Castle
* Karamon gate
* Ninomaru Garden
* Cherry trees
* Gion Neighborhood
**Day 5: Kyoto**
* Tenryu-ji Temple
* Bamboo Forest
* Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama
* Okochi Sanso Garden
* Lunch in Arashiyama
* Kinkaku-ji Temple
* Daitoku-ji Temple
* Ryoan-ji Temple — rock garden
* Dinner downtown
* Pontocho Alley
**Day 6: Kyoto**
* Kiyomizudera Temple
* Sannen-zaka Street and Ninnen-zaka Street
* Maruyama-koen Park
* Japanese-Style Starbucks
* Chionin Temple
* Shoren-in Temple and Garden
* Nishiki Market
* Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine – 5000 gates
* Dinner downtown
**Day 7: Day trip to Nara and Osaka, sleep in Kyoto**
* Is this too much for a single day?
* Hang out with deer in Nara, do other key Nara things TBD
* In Osaka we’re primarily interested in the Dotonburi area, though seeing Osaka castle might be nice too
* Open to other Osaka ideas
**Day 8: Kyoto → Kanazawa**
* • Kenrokuen gardens
* Higashi Chaya District
* Nagamachi
* Omicho Market
* Other things?
**Day 9: Kanazawa → Takayama**
* Old town area
* Hida Folk village
* Other things?
**Day 10: Takayama → Hakone**
* Stay at a Ryokan
* Spend time in Onsen(s)
* Hakone circuit? Do I have enough time for this?
**Day 11: Hakone → Tokyo “Cultural Tokyo”**
* Ginza
* Akihabara
* Don Quijote store
* Go to 7/11 and try everything
* Tokyo Tower
* Hamarikyu Gardens
* Kintsugi: Japanese Pottery Method?
* Kabuki-za Theater
**Day 12: Tokyo: “Food and Fun”**
* teamLab Borderless
* Mario Kart
* Shinjuku
* Golden Gai
* Kabukicho (Godzilla Tower)
* Hanazono
* Pokemon Café
* Jazz concert?
**Day 13: Tokyo Day Trip: Nikko**
* Visit Nikko
**Day 14: Tokyo TBD?**
* Anything we’re missing?
* Arguably we could spend another day elsewhere, or trim some things from other Tokyo days and put them here.
**Day 15: Depart Tokyo in evening**
* Flight from HND \~5:30PM
* No specific plans until then, open to ideas
5 comments
I suggest you don’t do the Mario kart on the street, it’s loud, disruptive, and dangerous. That’s all I can say! 🙂
Where did you find the info about sumo? Ill be there a little after you and would love to see sumo
I’d be inclined to advise against making such a short reservation when you arrive? The journey from Narita Airport to Shibuya alone is around an hour and 15 minutes (on the Narita Express), and that doesn’t obviously account for anything like a delayed flight, immigration, luggage pick up, jet lag, getting your bearings, and just general travel tiredness.
ETA: Not quite sure where you’re planning to see Sumo? The Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament is in September.
> Land at NRT at 4:15PM
> We have a reservation at 7PM at Denkushiflori
Incredibly tight. NRT-Shibuya is 1.5 hours and you should budget no less than an hour to leave the airport (walking to immigration, immigration, customs), quite possibly more as many US-NRT flights land at that time in the afternoon. This is without counting for time to store your bags or wash your face before going to an upscale restaurant.
> Days 7-11
Day 7 is fine if all you are doing in Osaka is Dotonbori, a few hours at night is sufficient, just leave in time to catch the last train/bus to your Kyoto hotel.
Days 8 and 9 are okay if you hustle (wake up early, don’t spend too much time having a leisurely sit-down lunch, check all the train timetables in advance).
Day 10 looks too tight, Takayama-Hakone takes several hours and ryokan check-in times are usually quite early, so you won’t have time for the loop.
> teamLab Borderless
Not open yet in 2023
IMO all the Tokyo/Kyoto days are pretty much overkill. You said you didn’t want to feel like you’re sprinting but honestly you would need to be Usain Bolt to do all of the things on the list.
General comments: Your itinerary basically assumes almost no transportation time, no time waiting in line and that you will never get lost (or give yourself the time to get lost). Travel vlogs/Youtube makes it seem like you can just walk in to any place but the reality is that a lot of touristy places (Skytree, Tokyo Metropolitan, museums) and a lot of the popular food places will have lines. This can take anywhere from 30-90 minutes and with how packed the itinerary is, every 30-90 minute wait basically means you have to drop the next thing on the itinerary.
Day 1: You didn’t mention which area you were staying. Narita express from Terminal 1 to Shinjuku station takes 1.5 hours. You will probably need to pick up an IC card at the airport before you leave as well. With the line to get IC cards, NEX tickets and walking to your hotel that probably adds 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then you have to go from hotel to restaurant. IMO, it might be hard to make the 7pm reservation but there’s too many variables to say for certain
Day 2: Way too much. I’d probably limit to three things here: maybe Ueno park (+Tokyo National Museum), botanical gardens, Asakusa or Ueno park (+museum), Asakusa, Sumo match. A lot of people also like to do Asakusa and Akihabara together since they’re pretty close transportation wise. Although if you’re not really into anime/gaming I would probably skip Akihabara entirely. Also, you didn’t mention where you’re coming from but you may be jetlagged for the first few days
Day 3: This is pretty packed. Do note that it takes 45 minutes by train to go from Shibuya to Ghibli museum and assuming you spend 2 hours (minimum) at the museum then that’s pretty much half the day gone. I also think Meiji Jinggu, Yoyogi park and Shinjuku Gyoen are all similar/redundant. I would probably suggest something like Meiji Jinggu in the morning (2 hours), Omotesando or Harajuku for shopping/exploring (2 hours), Shibuya or Metropolitan government in the afternoon (3 hours) then dinner/drinks at Shinjuku after. I personally think Harajuku is a skip, you’ll see more tourists in shorts/t-shirts than actual “weird” fashion there these days. If you want my suggestion spend a few hours strolling around Shimokitazawa instead.
Day 4: Toyosu is a skip in my opinion. There’s nothing really to see plus it’s out of the way. With how packed the itinerary already is, better to just catch an early train to Kyoto. Ginkakuji -Path – Nanzenji is probably 5-6 hours. Nijo-jo is 2 hours. Then dinner at Gion is another 2-3 hours depending on how busy it is. Also keep in mind that the trains in Kyoto are not as good as Tokyo/Osaka so you will have to rely on buses/taxis/walking to get around. So this itinerary is doable (if you skip Toyosu and take a really early Shinkansen) but it will be an extremely packed day.
Day 5: IMO Arashiyama area (bamboo grove, monkey park, temples) is already a whole day to explore. But if you’re just sprinting through all the sights then you may be able to fit Kinkakuji in the late afternoon. I would probably do Pontocho in Day 4 (while you’re in the Gion area) and just grab dinner somewhere close to your hotel
Day 6: Including transportation time Kiyomizudera plus the shopping streets leading to it is probably half the day (5 hours). I would skip the Starbucks (it’s literally a Starbucks with tatami mats) as I don’t think it’s worth it to wait an hour in line for mediocre coffee. Get lunch and walk around Nishiki market (2 hours) then Fushimi Inari in the afternoon (3 hours including transportation) then dinner.
Day 7: Nara is usually a daytrip but depending on how much you want to see you should be able to get back by late afternoon to Osaka. Osaka castle is probably not happening since they close at 5. My suggestion is to leave Kyoto early in the morning, stay in Nara until 4 then have dinner in/explore Dotombori area until about 8 or so. Keep in mind that Osaka to Kyoto takes 1-1.5 hours by local train so really you won’t have enough time to do anything in Osaka. I personally would just do Nara for this day and then do 2 days in Osaka instead of Takayama/Kanazawa but that’s just my preference.
Day 11: Not really familiar with a lot of these places but the usual suggestion applies. Try to pick 3 of these activities that interest you the most and go with that. For example, do you like to spend time (high-end) shopping in your home country? If you don’t then you’re probably not going to like shopping in Ginza so may as well skip it for something you’re more interested in like pottery or kabuki theatres. Same thing with Akihabara. If you’re not really into anime/gaming and you come there just because “you’re supposed to go to Akihabara when you come to Japan” then you’re just setting yourself up to be disappointed.
Day 12: Teamlab borderless is closed so I’m assuming you mean planets here. You can probably do Teamlabs in the morning, pokemon cafe in the afternoon and then Kabukicho/Golden Gai in the evening. If you skipped Ginza the day before you can probably fit it in between teamlab and the pokemon cafe since its on the way.
Keep in mind even with this revised itinerary, you are going to be rushing through a lot of the places. Your itinerary basically includes all of the places you’re “supposed to go to” which is fine for some travelers but it doesn’t really give you much time to just get lost, explore and visit places that don’t show up in the travel guides (which is the best part IMO). As usual, my suggestion is to limit to places that actually align with your interests rather than visit places just to check them off the list. Best of luck!