Hi Reddit, hope y’all are doing well. I’m planning my first trip to Japan this november, and I have some questions that someone can hopefully answer.
I’m arriving in Tokyo nov 11 at night, so the 1st day there is 12th. I’m leaving on the 26 on the morning, making the 25 the last full day.
Here’s what I got:
1) **Tokyo Nov 12-Nov 16 (5 days) – including a day trip to Chureito Pagoda/Mt Fuji**
Day 1:
\-Tokyo Tower
\-General shopping in Akihabara and Shibuya
Day 2:
\-Tokyo Imperial Palace
\-SensoJi Temple and exploring Asakusa
Day 3:
\-Tokyo Skytree
\-Yoyogi Park & Meiji Shrine
Day 4:
\-Day Trip to Chureito Pagoda/Mt. Fuji
Day 5:
\-Ueno Park, Tokyo National Museum
\-Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
2) **Travel from Tokyo to Nagoya on Nov 17 morning, then staying the night in Nagoya – day trip to Ghibli Park**
Day 1: Ghibli Warehouse
3) **Travel from Nagoya to Kyoto on Nov 18 morning, then staying in Kyoto from Nov 18-Nov 19 (2 days)**
Day 1:
Kyoto Imperial Palace
Day 2:
Bamboo Forest in Arashiyama
Golden Pavillion
**4) Travel from Kyoto to Osaka on Nov 20 morning, then staying in Osaka from Nov 20-Nov 21 (2 days)**
Day 1:
Osaka Castle
Dotonbori
Day 2:
USJ
**5) Travel from Osaka to Fukuoka on Nov 22 morning, then staying the night in Fukuoka**
**6) Travel from Fukuoka to Hiroshima on Nov 23 morning, then staying the night in Hiroshima**
Day 1: Hiroshima Peace Museum and surrouding area
7) **Travel from Hiroshima back to Tokyo on Nov 24 morning, then staying on Tokyo from Nov 24-Nov 26 and taking the flight back home**
Day 1: Open
Day 2:
Roppongi Hills
Ghibli Museum (if I somehow get a ticket)
Now, I know some of these trips are very tightly scheduled, but there’s so much I want to do and not much time. The one thing I can see myself taking off that list is Hiroshima, as on the original schedule I had Nagoya on the back end of the trip, making each leg of train ride smaller. But right now I’m considering dropping Hiroshima and taking a flight from Fukuoka back to Tokyo.
My questions are:
\-Is this manageable? Most of it relies on me getting on the earlier trains to arrive in the next city by lunch at the latest, so I guess I want to know what’s the general train availability.
\-Do I have to book the train trips all in advance?
\-The JR Pass (standard) is a good option?
5 comments
Your daily activities are doable. Very relaxed actually which is good for a first timer.
Just expect to get tired and go to bed early since you have so many early mornings.
Use a JR pass cost calculator to see if it’s worth it for you.
personally… I’d cut a few days out of Tokyo and add them to Kyoto. I’d also add on Nara to the list.
If you have a license, strongly strongly strongly suggest getting an IDP and renting a car to drive to fuji.
Did it last week, and I originally was going to take public transport until a friend talked me out of it.
Best decision ever.
Definitely grab the JR pass, beauty of Japan is the spontaneous travel on shinkansen. The unreserved cars will almost always have seats available, even during rush hours when the reserved cars are sold out. Worst case scenario, seats will open up after a stop or 2 when Japanese commuters get off.
You may be overestimating how much time it takes for some of the things. For example the Tokyo government building if going in the morning is worth 1 hour the most.
In Kyoto, imperial palace, golden pavilion (skippable, it’s a golden building in the middle of lake) and bamboo forest can be done in the same day in that order.
Use the extra day to visit the many shrines in Kyoto, other imperial palace locations, fushimi Inari or Gion.
Skip Osaka castle, spend the time in Nara in the morning, before going to dotonbori in the afternoon/evening. Visit Himeji on your way to Fukuoka instead, much better castle, original instead of rebuilt.
There’s plenty of time to take the train from Fukuoka to Hiroshima in the morning and visit the memorials in the afternoon.
Everyone should visit Hiroshima memorial park and museum at least once in their lifetime.
Miyajima is also close by Hiroshima, with a private ferry available from the memorial park.
Assuming you get the JR pass, consider visiting Kagoshima using the extra day saved from Tokyo. Instead of terminating Fukuoka, take the shinkansen to Kagoshima, it’s a compact city with great food, onsen, and an island with an active volcano.
Fukuoka, while a cool town, is mostly known for it’s night life. The shinkansen train station has a ramen street with ~10 shops if ramen is the main reason to visit.
Past Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, most smaller cities along shinkansen have their main attractions close to the station. Ship your luggage from Osaka to Tokyo with takkyubin (specify the delivery date of when you’ll be in Tokyo the second time), pack a day pack with a few days worth of cloth and embrace unreserved seats.
Unless you’re traveling during peak season, hotels can be booked the day of, wherever you end up in.
Im just interested in Japan and checking various itineraries. Safe travel though. Would you mind to write of your experience in this channel time to time r/WorldTravelInsider. Im sure that would be interesting to get your insights there.