Hello everyone! I’ve planned an itinerary for our first trip to Japan for 2 weeks in May 2024 for a group of 5 people.
Feel free to share your thoughts and advice, thank you very much 🙂
# Day 1-5 : Tokyo
**Day 1 (Wed) Accommodation**
* Arrival in Japan at Narita Airport around 6:35 PM, so nothing special planned
* Heading to the accommodation to sleep
**Day 2 (Thu) Shinjuku**
*First day will be relatively light, considering jetlag, formalities, etc.*
* Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
* Shinjuku Gyoen Park
* Omoide Yokochō
* Godzilla
* Shinjuku Golden Gai
* Kabukichō District
**Day 3 (Fri) Central Tokyo**
* Hama-Rikyū Park
* Tsukiji Outer Market
* Kabuki-za
* Ginza District
* Tokyo Character Street
* Ōte-mon Gate
* Kikyō-mon Gate
* The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace
* Edo Castle
* Yasukuni-jinja
**Day 4 (Sat) Asakusa + Ueno + Akihabara**
* Asakusa
* Senso-ji
* Pagode 5 etages de senso-ji
* Hōzōmon
* Nakamise Shopping Street
* Ueno
* Tokyo National Museum
* Ueno Park
* Ameyoko Shopping District
* Akihabara
* Kanda-myōjin
* Mandarake Complex
* Kotobukiya
* Super Potato Akihabara Branch(Hayes)
* Akihabara Radio Kaikan
* Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Akiba (Yodobashi Camera)
* Game Center
**Day 5 (Sun) Harajuku + Shibuya**
* Harajuku
* Meiji-jingū
* Takeshita-dōri
* Yoyogi-kōen
* Shibuya
* Omotesando
* Shibuya Sky
* Shibuya Crossing
* Hachikō Memorial Statue
* Mega Don Quijote
* Pokémon Center Shibuya
* Nintendo Tokyo
# Day 6-10 : Kyoto (including 1 day in Nara)
**Day 6 (Mon) Train Station District + Fushimi-Inari-Taisha**
*Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto (approximately 10 AM to 12 PM), so a somewhat lighter day*
* Kyoto Tower
* Tō-ji
* Tōfuku-ji
* Fushimi-Inari Taisha
**Day 7 (Tue) Southern Higashiyama + Northern Higashiyama**
* Southern Higashiyama
* Sanjūsangen-dō
* Kyoto National Museum
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Ninenzaka
* Kōdai-ji
* Kennin-ji Temple
* Gion District
* Yasaka-jinja
* Maruyama Park
* Chion-in
* Northern Higashiyama
* Shōren-in
* Nanzen-ji
* Heian-jingū
* Philosopher’s Path
* Ginkaku-ji
**Day 8 (Wed) Central Kyoto + Imperial Palace and surroundings (May 15 = Aoi Matsuri)**
* Central Kyoto
* Kamogawa Odori
* Pontocho District
* Nishiki Market
* Kamo-gawa
* Imperial Palace and surroundings (May 15 = Aoi Matsuri)
* Kyoto Botanical Garden
* Shimogamo-jinja
* Tadasu-no-mori
* Kyōto-gosho
* Nijō-jō
**Day 9 (Thu) Trip to NARA**
* Nara Park
* Yoshiki-en
* Isuien Garden
* Tōdai-ji + Daibutsu
* Nigatsu-dō
* Kasuga-taisha
* Kōfuku-ji
**Day 10 (Fri) Northwest Kyoto + Arashiyama**
* Northwest Kyoto
* Kitano Tenman-gū
* Kinkaku-ji
* Ryōan-ji
* Karensansui garden
* Ninna-ji
* Arashiyama
* Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama
* Togetsu-kyo Bridge
* Tenryu-ji
* Ōkōchi Sansō
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
# Day 11-12 : Hiroshima (including 1 day in Miyajima)
**Day 11 (Sat) Hiroshima**
*Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima (approximately 10 AM to 11:40 AM)*
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
* Children’s Peace Monument
* Genbaku Dome
* Hiroshima-jō
* Shukkei-en garden
* Okonomimura
**Day 12 (Sun) Miyajima**
* Itsukushima-jinja
* Senjōkaku
* Miyajima Omotesandō Shopping Street
* Daishō-in
* Mount Misen
# Day 13-14 : Osaka
**Day 13 (Mon) Osaka**
*Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Osaka (approximately 10 AM to 11:30 AM)*
* Ōsaka Tenman-gū
* Osaka-jo
* Abeno Harukas
* Shi Tennō-ji
* Tennoji Park
* Tsūtenkaku
* Nipponbashi Denden Town
* Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping Street
* Kuromon Ichiba Market
* Dōtonbori
* Minami District
**Day 14 (Tue) Universal Studios Japan**
* Universal Studios Japan
# Day 15 : Hakone
**Day 15 (Wed) Hakone**
*Shinkansen from Osaka to Hakone (approximately 10 AM to 12:30 PM)*
* Hakone Open-Air Museum
* Hakone Gōra Park
* Ōwaku-dani Valley
* Lake Akinoko
* Hakone-en
* Hakone-jinja
* Hakone Checkpoint
# Day 16-17 : Tokyo
**Day 16 (Thu) Odaiba**
*Train from Hakone to Tokyo (approximately 10 AM to 10:30 AM)*
* Toyosu Market
* teamLab Planets
* Gundam base Tokyo
* Miraikan
* Tokyo Joypolis
* Rainbow Bridge
**Day 17 (Fri) Haneda Airport**
* Return flight at 1 AM
4 comments
Train from Hakone to Shinjuku takes about 90 minutes; it’ll take another 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to the areas you’re planning to visit on 16 May.
Consider skipping Mega Don Quixote: I was just there on Tuesday, and it’s become little more than a souvenir shop; Takeshita Dori is pretty much just a line of souvenir shops as well; Meiji Jingu is not particularly interesting architecturally, and the environs are pretty enough, but you’ll likely see more interesting things in Kyoto. Yoyogi Park is…a park.
I had a similar plan to stay 1 night in Hiroshima and 1 night in Miyajima. I ended up doing 2 nights in Miyajima instead and I’m very happy with how that worked out.
I got to do everything I wanted in Hiroshima during the day the first day then went to the island in the evening.
Day 7 is almost comically overcramped. These are 11 temples and shrines, 1 museums and 2 areas/activities.
I‘d plan a maximum of 3 or 4 temples a day!
Just got got back from second trip yesterday. Just about every day in this itinerary seems to be overly optimistic in terms of time required to do all these things, not to mention the amount of physical/mental exertion needed to accomplish all this. My suggestion would be to prioritize 50% of everything you listed for every day on this list and then consider the other half as “if we get to it” type of stuff. Either way, enjoy!