Itinerary Check/Advice

I’ve been a lurker for awhile and have found so many helpful tips so far on this subreddit. My boyfriend (29M) and I (29F) are taking our first trip to Japan in a few weeks and I’m hoping for some last minute feedback on our itinerary! This will be our first big vacation together and my first time travelling internationally so it’s been a bit overwhelming but very exciting.

With travel days, our trip is 14 days long. We are overall most interested in trying all the food and we also like to drink (esp sake/whiskey), and my boyfriend is a big fan of anime and manga. We are hoping to see as much as possible but also don’t want to plan too much and are okay with wandering and exploring a bit. I have over 120 pins saved in my google maps right now.. so any help on if we have too much planned on any particular day or what things we may be able to cut or rearrange if needed would be helpful. We are going in with the mindset of having things planned but not needing to stick exactly to an itinerary if we get tired. Thanks in advance!

We are also still figuring out whether or not to buy the JR Pass (would buy before price increase). One 3xpeirnece I don’t have yet but would also love to add if room is a whiskey tasting!

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* Thursday October 12th
* Travel Day (Flight leaves at 9:30 am EST)
* Friday October 13th
* Travel Day
* Arrive in Tokyo at 3:30 pm
* Take bus from Narita to Tokyo hotel
* Check in at Hotel Sunroute plaza Shinjuku
* Find dinner near hotel
* Saturday October 14th – Tokyo Day 1 (Shinjuku)
* Grab light breakfast somewhere
* Tokyo government building observation deck
* Gyoen Park
* Hanazono Shrine
* Meiji Shrine
* Harajuku shopping
* Dinner at omoide yokocho
* Golden Gai for a few drinks
* Sunday October 15th Tokyo Day 2 – Mt Takao Day Trip
* Take Keio Shinjuku line to Takaosanguchi Station
* Hike Omotesando trail up
* Yakuin temple
* Takaosan onsen
* Takao natural zoo and botanical garden
* Takao 599 museum
* Beer Mount for dinner
* Cable car back down and train back to Shinjuku
* Monday October 16th – Tokyo Day 3 – Akihabara and Ueno
* Train from Shinjuku to Akihabara – Chuo Sobu Line
* Kanda Myojin shrine
* Shop in Akihabara
* Ueno food stalls/koreatown (maybe?)
* Kaneiji shrine
* Back to hotel
* Explore Shibuya at night
* Shibuya sky (need to book tickets – trying for couch reservation)
* Tuesday October 17th – Tokyo Day 4 – Central Tokyo/Ginza
* Tsukiji Fish market for breakfast/lunch
* Walk to Imperial palace gardens
* 15 min walk to Ginza for Shopping/eating
* Pokemon Center DX (if we can snag tickets)
* Yasukuni Shrine
* Wednesday October 18th – Tokyo Day 5 – Asakusa/Odaiba
* Take JR Chuo line to Kanda station, transfer to Tokyo Metro Ginza line to Asakusa
* Kanarimon gate
* Nakamise dori shopping
* Sensoji temple OR tokyo skytree
* Sumida river boat ride to Odaiba
* Unicorn Gundam/shopping mall (Decks)
* Ramen museum – Aquacity
* Rainbow Bridge
* Forward bags from Tokyo hotel to Kyoto Hotel (will pack backpack for 1 day ryokan stay)
* Thursday October 19th – Day 6 – Travel from Tokyo to Ryokan – Hotel Kaneyamaen
* Can take Fuji express train from Shinjuku station to Kawaguchiko station, Call shuttle to hotel from Kawaguchiko station
* RELAX – dinner/breakfast included
* Friday October 20th- Day 7- Travel from Ryokan to Kyoto
* Take shinkansen to Kyoto
* Arashiyama
* Bamboo Forest
* Tenryuji Temple
* Daihikaku Senkoji temple
* Saga Toriimoto preserved street
* Sagano train ride
* Hozugawa River Cruise back
* Train back to Kyoto – Hotel Amanek Kyoto
* Saturday October 21st – Day 8 – Kyoto Day 2
* Fushimi Inari
* Toji temple/flea market
* Gekkeikan Okura Memorial museum and sake tasting
* Higashiyama district
* Kiyomizu dera temple – Benkei staff
* Honnoji temple
* Forward luggage from Kyoto hotel to Osaka (will bring backpack to temple stay)
* Sunday October 22nd- Day 9 – Travel from Kyoto to Temple Stay at Fukuchiin
* Nishiki Market for breakfast/lunch
* From Kyoto take train to Nankai Namba Station in Osaka, then Nankai Koya line to Gokurakubashi Station and then take a cable car up the mountain to Koyasan Station
* Check in at temple – dinner/breakfast included
* Night cemetery tour booked
* Monday October 23rd – Day 10 – Travel from Temple to Osaka Day 1
* Breakfast and morning prayers at temple
* Travel to Osaka
* Check in at hotel Dormy Inn Namba
* Explore Osaka station
* Nintendo Osaka store
* Umeda Sky building
* Tuesday October 24th – Day 11 – Osaka Day 2
* Tenjinbashi suji shopping street
* Osaka castle
* Osaka aquarium
* Explore Dotonbori
* Wednesday October 25th- Day 12- Osaka Day 3
* Kuromon Market
* Shinsekai
* Den Den town
* Explore Dotonbori
* Thursday October 26th – Travel Day
* Shinkasen from Osaka to Tokyo early in the AM
* Bus from Tokyo to Narita airport
* Flight home at 5:40 pm

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If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I’d love feedback!

1 comment
  1. October 14 – keep in mind that Omoide yokocho and the metropolitan building are in a similar ish area.

    October 18 – definitely Senso-ji over sky tree. If you guys drink, grab a drink at the Asahi HQ on the top floor. You get really good views of the area.

    Kyoto – your Kyoto days are extremely packed, and may not be feasible. Plot Kyoto attractions on a map and pick an area.

    Are you not wanting to go to Nara ?

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