Hello JapanTravel Community! In 2020, I posted my first itinerary for a trip I was planning for September of that year. Needless to say that trip never happened. After three years of waiting and planning, we’re finally getting to make the trek! I’ll be going with my partner and one of my oldest friends on a trip to Japan in early December, from the 5th – 18th. We snagged one way ANA F & J tix to Tokyo using rewards, so we’re flying in and out of different airports.
We have a general itinerary but are having trouble filling in the details on specific things to do, it’s sort of overwhelming but we’ve done our best to choose things we want to see while also giving ourselves time for free roaming and exploring.
Wanted to see what you thought of the itinerary as it stands and if you have suggestions on how we’ve grouped things and how we’ve allocated our time in each city. Here’s what things look like right now:
**12/5 – Day One – Tokyo**
* Arrive at Haneda around 9 pm
* Go through customs, get Passmo Passport cards, SIM cards, Yen, etc.
* Take the train from Haneda to Shinjuku station – walk to hotel (The Knot Shinjuku – Booked)
* Check into hotel, find some food nearby, crash.
* *Notes: If we land around 9 pm, do you think we can realistically get to the hotel before 12 am for check in? If not, I suppose I can email them to see if they can work with us? We’ll be filling out the VJW docs in advance with QR codes in hand to speed things up.*
**12/6 – Day Two – Tokyo**
* Shinjuku / Shibuya
* Harajuku
* Nakano Broadway in the evening
* *Notes: We’re still finding some things we want to do in these areas outside of just wondering, but is it realistic to think we can cover this much ground in a day, especially the day after arriving where we might be tired?*
**12/7 – Day Three – Tokyo**
* Train to Odaiba area in the morning
* TeamLABs Planets (still need to reserve)
* Toyosu Market
* Explore Odaiba area
* Back to hotel in Shinjuku
* Omakase Dinner (if we can get a reservation)
* Evening reservation – Shibuya Skytree (hopefully, still have to reserve)
* *Notes: Any recommendations for Omakase near Shinjuku / Shibuya that are solid and easier to get reservations? We’re comfortable going up to around $150 per person or so, maybe $200 if it’s truly special).*
**12/8 – Day Four – Yokohama / Tokyo**
* Morning train to Yokohama
* Explore the city (Cup Noodle Museum, Gundam Factory, Queen’s Square, Ghibli Store
* Train back to Tokyo
* Ikebukoro in the evening
**12/9 – Day Five – Tokyo**
*Akihabara
*Imperial Palace and surrounding area
*Kappabashi
**12/10 – Day Six – Tokyo / Hakone**
* Forward luggage to Kyoto, keep one day of clothes with us
* Morning romance car to Hakone
* Explore Hakone during the day and use free pass (Gora, Open Air Museum, Lake Ashii, Hakone Ropeway)
* Check into ryokan in the afternoon (Kijitei Hoeiso) soak, eat, soak some more
* *Notes: We’ll have a decent amount of luggage, it makes sense to forward it to Kyoto, right?*
**12/11 – Day Seven – Hakone / Kyoto**
* Wake up early and soak one last time
* Check out of ryokan – bus to Hakone Station
* Take shinkansen to Kyoto Station
* Explore Kyoto near hotel until check in
* Check into hotel (Hotel Vischio Granava)
* Dinner and drinks nearby
**12/12 – Day Eight – Kyoto**
* Breakfast near hotel
* Philosopher’s Path in the morning – walking until we decide it’s time for some lunch
* Nishiki Market
**12/13 – Day Nine – Kyoto**
* Early morning Fushimi Inari for pictures
* Nintendo Building (we know you can’t go inside but we just want to see it so we can say we did)
* Kiyomizudera area
* Walk from there to Gion
**12/14 – Day Ten – Osaka Day Trip**
* Breakfast in Kyoto
* Late morning train to Osaka
* Explore Osaka – Osaka Castle (just the grounds around it), Tenmangu, maybe the aquarium, Dotonbori in the evening
* Late evening train back to Kyoto and crash at hotel
* *Notes: Any recommendations for daytime Osaka activities? We of course want to do Dotonbori but want to wait until the evening for all the neon and lights.*
**12/15 – Day Eleven – Nara Day Trip**
* Morning train to Nara
* Explore Nara for the day – Heijō Palace, Nara Park, Toshodai-ji
* Early evening train back to Kyoto
* Dinner / drinks nearby
**12/16 – Day Twelve – Kyoto / Tokyo**
* Breakfast in Kyoto
* Tokaido Shinkansen to Tokyo from Kyoto Station
* Make our way to Asakusa before check-in
* Check into hotel (Tokyo Kanzashi Asakusa)
* Explore Asakusa and Ueno a bit at night
* *Notes: It is possible to forward our luggage same day from Kyoto to Tokyo, or should we just plan to reserve seats in the Shinkansen where we can more easily store our bags?*
**12/17 – Day Thirteen – Tokyo**
* Early morning Senso-ji Temple
* Explore Asakusa and Ueno
* Kappabashi in the evening?
* Notes: We found out that the Hagoita-Ichi Fair will be going on when we’re staying in Asakusa. I’m assuming that’ll provide some more things for us to do, but will it also be incredibly packed because of that?
**12/18 – Leaving Japan**
* Forward luggage to Narita Airport
* Breakfast and final exploring in Tokyo
* Check out of hotel
* Train to Narita Airport
* Afternoon flight out
**JR Pass** \- Seems like it’s not worth it based on our itinerary, especially with the price increase, but let me know if that’s not the case!
So as you can see, we have some of it mapped out, but still wrapping our heads around trying to provide options without creating any pressure to do a ton of things each day.
We’re also not sure how to structure meals, whether we should just sort of explore what’s nearby using Google Maps or if we should have a list of potential options in advance in the area we plan to be in, I suppose a bit of both is the answer? Hoping we can get some reservations in for a couple meals.
Let me know what you think!