Hey all – it will be our first time visiting Japan this year. We’re a group of 6 total, 3 couples in our early 30s. Some of us have dietary restrictions (halal meat only) and one (myself) allergic to shellfish. We don’t drink alcohol but other than that no limitations.
We wanted to take a bit of relaxed pace throughout the trip but still see/do/eat some of the things we should try on our first visit here.
Here’s a breakdown by day:
TOKYO
10/1 Sunday
* Land 3PM & Check-in @ hotel in Ginza
* Explore Akihabara area and eat here, maybe also visit a Gogo/arcade
10/2 Monday
* Asakusa area, breakfast etc
* Ginza area for lunch and shopping (and our hotel is nearby to go back for a break)
* Evening – free time TBD
10/3 Tuesday
* Teamlabs (\~9am)
* Lunch nearby TeamLabs area and back to Hotel
* Shibuya area and Shibuya sky booked for 4pm
* Explore Shibuya area after sunset and have dinner somewhere here
10/4 Wednesday
* Mt Fuji day trip placeholder (weather permitting)
* Back to hotel after this and free time in evening to explore
10/5 Thursday
* Backup for Fuji if weather is bad, free day otherwise
* Explore Shinjuku area in evening
10/6 Friday
* Free day in AM
* Pick-up rental cars to make a trip to Yokohoma for Gundam factory and Daikoku PA (some of us are big JDM fans)
10/7 Saturday
* AM – visit Mega Pokemon Center
* Free day / relaxed, pick up anything missed
KYOTO
10/8 Sunday
* Train to Kyoto & Check-in Hotel
* Kiyomizu Dera
* Nishiki Market
* Booked a tea ceremony in the evening together
10/9 Monday
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Lunch at Yosiya
* Explore Ninenzaka Street
* Nishiki Market
10/10 Tuesday
* Fushiri Inari Shrine in AM
* Check-out and Train to Osaka
OSAKA
10/10 Tuesday
* Check-in Hotel
* Explore Dotonbori
* Hozenji Yokocho
* Den Den Town
10/11 Wednesday
* Universal Studios
10/12 Thursday
* Nara deer park / Nara trip
* Onsen Solaniwa
* Explore Dotonbori
* Amerika-Mura
10/13 Friday
* Namba Yasaka Shrine
* Taito Station
* Shinsekai Area
* Kuroman Market
* Orange Street
10/14 Saturday
* Osaka Castle
* Free day / catch-up on anything missed
Would appreciate any insight on this itinary. Any suggestions for must do first timer activities or places to visit would be greatly appreciated as well for any of the three cities.
The other items we wanted to do but can’t find too much info on:
1. We are trying to rent some old school JDM cars or experience these. We looked into Fun2Drive but it’s completely sold out. Any alternatives to this? Is it worth it if 2 of us make a short day trip to Fuji for a track experience or another one maybe Tsukuba?
2. We want to see some Samurai history – where’s the best place to do this and how can we experience this? Any suggestion as well for ‘way of the samurai’ or samurai sword weilding activities could be fun for as well.
Thanks all!
3 comments
Itinerary looks good, make sure to have fun!
How in depth do you want to go for a Samurai experience? There’s a ninja and samurai museum in Kyoto. There’s also an in depth exploration of samurai history, with sword training and meditation at Waraku Kyoto. This requires an advanced reservation but you might be able to get in.
seems nice to me.. we share similar itinerary!