First time to Japan next March. Will be going with my friend (both of us 28M). We’ve put together a rough outline but wanting a sanity check to make sure we’re not being too ambitious. Many thanks in advance!
**Day 1 – Arrive HND Monday 7pm (Mar 4)**
* Booked at APA Yokohama Bay Tower
* We’re doing one bag travel; won’t have checked luggage so it should be quick enough to get through customs and out the airport.
* He’s doing e-sim and I’m planning on getting one mailed to me before we go so we can skip figuring that out upon landing.
* Find some food, maybe walk around a bit. sleep cuz jetlag.
**Day 2 – AM in Yokohama, PM travel to Hakone (Mar 5)**
* Check out Cup Noodle Museum, Gundam Exhibit, Chinatown (maybe), Yokohama Bay area in general
* Afternoon – train to Hakone
* Booked at Hakone Onsen Ryokan Yaeikan
* Chill around the Hakone-Yumoto area
**Day 3 – AM Hakone, PM travel to Kyoto (Mar 6)**
* Probably throw our bags into a locker at Hakone-Yumoto station and then do the Hakone Round Course loop.
* Grab our stuff from the station and then back down to Odawara to take the JR to Kyoto
**Day 4 – Kyoto (Mar 7) ->no hotels booked yet from this point forward**
* Wake up early and do Kiyomizu-Dera & Fushimi Inari Taisha before its too crowded
* Kyoto Railway Museum
* Check out Gion & Higashiyama
**Day 5 – Kyoto – Nara – Osaka (Mar 8)**
* Finish up any leftover points of interest in Kyoto in the morning (Iwatayama Monkey Park!)
* Stop by Nara cuz deer, why not, and Todai-ji
* Loop down to Osaka in afternoon/evening – probably check out Namba district
**Day 6 – Osaka (Mar 9)**
* Osaka Aquarium
* Osaka Castle
* Dotonbori + general area
**Day 7 – Osaka – Himeji – Onomichi (Mar 10)**
* Finish up leftover points of interest in Osaka (morning)
* Stop by Himeji/Himeji Castle on our way westwards
* Spending the night in Onomichi
**Day 8 – Onomichi (Mar 11)**
* We’re planning on doing the Shiminami-Kaido so this is our chill day before we cycle. Also read a lot that people who do the cycle often wish they spent more time in Onomichi, so here we are!
* Senkoji
* Cat Alley
* Temples
* Chill
**Day 9 – Cycle Day 1 Onomichi to Setoda (Mar 12)**
* Use bag forwarding to send our main bags to wherever we decide to book in Imabari (looking at Guesthouse CYCLO NO IE right now). Cycle with day bags.
* Kousanji
* Whatever else we see along the way
* Still deciding which hostel to stop at in Setoda – I have my eyes on Juicy Fruits right now…
**Day 10 – Cylcle Day 2 Setoda to Imabari (Mar 13)**
* Cyclist Sanctuary on Omishima
* Yoshiumi Rose Park & Hakata SC Park (he really wants that ice cream)
* Check in in Imabari (wherever we end up booking)
**Day 11 – Imabari – Matsuyama – Hiroshima (Mar 14)**
* Take the train down to Matsyama; check out the stuff there
* Matsuyama Castle
* Dogo Onsen, etc…
* Take early evening ferry over to Hiroshima
**Day 12 – Hiroshima (Mar 15)**
* Atom Bomb Dome + Museum
* Mazda Museum
* EAT THAT OKONOMIYAKI
**Day 13 – Hiroshima (Mar 16)**
* Itsukashima Shirine
* Mt Misen hike
* Other leftover points of interest
**Day 14 – Hiroshima – Tokyo (Mar 17)**
* Take the JR into Tokyo in the morning. Arriving probably early afternoon.
* Still figuring out this afternoon/evening out, particularly which part of Tokyo to stay. (Maybe Shinagawa?)
**Day 15 – Tokyo (Mar 18)**
* Go to Akihabara sometime. Need to stop at Shosen Book Tower specifically cuz model trains. Probably check out an Astop as well too see what stuff is around.
* Teamlab Planets?
* Bicycle Culture Center?
* Toyosu Fish Market
* Small Worlds Tokyo
**Day 16 – Tokyo Departure (Mar 19)**
* We fly out of Narita at 4pm (check-in at 1pm) so there’s some time in the morning to check out some stuff and get some last minute souvenirs. Might just go straight to the airport cuz Japan has their airports built like a shopping center.
Some notes:
* We’re not buying JR pass. The new price increase is too much.
* Neither of us plan drink (I’m allergic, he’s not a drinker) but I know Japan has a really unique night life/bar culture that would be neat to experience (sans alcohol). Especially with all the wacky themed bars I see on Youtube.
* He likes bikes,trains and cars. I’m in it for the food. Neither of us are too big into anime, we enjoyed it enough in our teens but he was never that into it and i’ve switched to only reading manga for many years now. Anime stuff is fun, but more of a bonus.
* We decided to not spend too much time in Tokyo cuz we figured its a city that’s relatively easy to stop by if we’re ever travelling in East Asia again in the future, whereas the other cities you have to go more out of your way to get to.
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Day 4 – Kiyomizudera is next to Higashiyama. So I would go to Fushimi Inari in the morning, then go to Gion and walk to Kiyomizudera (you will walk through Higashiyama to get there). I haven’t been to the train museum but if you start early you should be able to fit it in after Fushimi Inari.