Hello!
My wife (28) and I (30) will be going to Japan soon for the first time. We created a rough draft of our itinerary but would really appreciate any feedback. Any days look too packed or not packed enough? We are fairly active and already live in a walkable city so we are used to walking around a lot. We also have a few dinner reservations already but we are huge foodies so please let us know if there are any restaurants you recommend! (We really like to immerse ourselves in the local culture when it comes to food if that helps!) Anyways… rant over. Here is our itinerary so far:
**Day 1 (Tokyo, Shinjuku)**
Arrive, travel to shinjuku
Check in at hotel
Wander Shinjuku in the evening
Dinner
**Day 2 (Tokyo, Shinjuku)**
Shinjuku area day
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Sompo Japan Museum of Art
Anything to add?
Omoide Yokocho
Golden gai bar night
**Day 3 (Tokyo, Shinjuku)**
Meiji Shrine
Yoyogi park
Lunch in Harajuku
Takeshita street
Design Festa Gallery
Explore harajuku and maybe wander into Shibuya
Dinner
**Day 4 (Tokyo, Shinjuku)**
Hakone day trip
**Day 5 (Tokyo, Shinjuku)**
Shibuya crossing and hachiko statue
Shop til we drop
Anything to add here?
Gotokuji temple if we feel like it – could be moved to am or skipped
Dinner in either Shibuya or shinjuku
**Day 6 (Kyoto)**
Check out of Hotel
Train to Kyoto lunch on Train
Check in at hotel
Walk around and see some temples/gion
Dinner in pontocho alley
Gion night walk if we’re up for it
**Day 7 (Kyoto)**
Arashiyama bamboo forest
Tenryu ji
Bridge to monkey park
Lunch
Cab or train to Otagi Nenbutsuji temple
Romantic train and then river boat ride back to area
Cab to kinkuju temple
Dinner near hotel
**Day 8 (Kyoto)**
Slow morning
Nishiki market
Make our way to gion
Tea ceremony in Gion / kimono dressing
Lunch in gion
Train to fushimi inari shrine in the afternoon
Dinner near hotel
**Day 9 (Kyoto)**
Morning walking tour of northern temples and philosophers path
Lunch – soba
Kyoto imperial palace and garden
Nijo castle
Dinner
**Day 10 (Osaka)**
Travel to osaka from Kyoto
Check into hotel – Namba
Lunch near hotel
Osaka aquarium
Dinner
Dotonbori
**Day 11 (Osaka)**
Rikuro Ojisan No Mise Shinsaibashi for cheesecake breakfast
Amerika-Mura
Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street
Namba Jinja
Dinner
**Day 12 (Osaka)**
Nara Daytip
**Day 13 (Osaka to Tokyo)**
Train to Tokyo (Eat on Train)
Check into hotel in Ginza
Lunch
Explore Ginza
Akihabara
Dinner
**Day 14 (Tokyo, Ginza)**
Asakusa in the morning
Lunch
Ueno
Dinner
Imperial palace if there’s time and we feel like it
**Day 15 (Tokyo, Ginza)**
Tsukiji market
Teamlab planets
Return to Ginza or Shibuya area for last minute gifts
**Day 16 (Tokyo, Ginza)**
Check out of hotel
Ginza Art Aquarium
Lunch
Travel to Airport
Fly Home
3 comments
Looks like a fun intinerary! I can’t tell this since the dates aren’t listed, but make sure on your Mondays that the place you want to go is open! A lot of places are closed on Mondays.
I’m going soon with my partner and are also big foodies. Where did you get reservations ? In Tokyo we’re going to go to Asakusa Teppanyaki, Kirby Cafe, Motenashikuroki (ramen), 3.93 score on tablelog, in Kyoto: famous matcha cafe originating from Uji – Nakamura Tokichi.
I just did a similar trip with my wife.
Day 6 – get an ekiben at Tokyo Station for your train to Kyoto. Try arrive in Kyoto late AM and visit Kiyomitzudera Temple while in Higashiyama/Gion. Walk ninnezaka and sannenzaka. One of our favs from Kyoto
Day 8 – we did Fushimi Inari in AM. Less ppl, more serene. We rsvp’ed lunch at Mouriya Gion for a teppanyaki Kobe beef experience. We ate rly well during our trip but this lunch was prob a Top 3 experience for us. $120/pp and rsvp via their website a mth prior.
Day 12 – Nara can be done in half-day if u do the usual tourist circuit: mochi man, deer park and Todaiji. You can spend some time in Uji (for matcha) as well, which is serviced by the same train line.
Enjoy your trip
My wife and I just finished a similar trip. Found the time in Tokyo to be too long as you may find your plans for day 3 and day 5 can be completed in under half a day each but it’s nice to take it at your own pace.
Day 6 – Highly recommend the night walk around Gion. It doesn’t take more than 45mins if walking from pontocho and a great way to start by walking down the canal.
A few restaurants to recommend:
1. Wagyu Yakiniku Waya in Gion, Kyoto. Google reviews show 5* from over 200 reviews. They aren’t wrong. The food, service and whole place is excellent. Set meals are ¥14K (2 ppl total) or ¥19K (2-3 ppl total) and one of the best meals we had. So good we made another reservation after finishing our first meal. They take reservations over their Instagram page.
2. Kishisushi Gion Kyoto – husband and wife run place with about 6 counter seats and some of the best sushi we had on our trip. Runs on the more expensive side for sushi places – one 8 piece omakase, 6 nigiri and 2 rolls cost equivalent of $55 but worth it
3. Udon-ya Gibitsumi Shinjuku, Tokyo – found this place after trying to get into Udon Shin and failing (Udon Shin have reservation process where you check in a get a ticket, scan qr code and shows your wait time). It’s a simple udon and tempura place that was excellent. The corn, mushroom and shrimp tempura were so good. Small restaurant with a great vibe. Udon set meals cost ¥900-1200.
Have a great trip