Previously I made [a thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/16m0qgu) of my itinerary plan for the upcoming trip, but I’ve made some revision. The main changes is that I will stay in Osaka while also visiting Kyoto instead of staying in both Osaka and Kyoto, and the plan after Osaka
What do you think of this itinerary?
___
**TOKYO**
15/10
* Shinjuku
* Shibuya
* Harajuku
16/10
* Asakusa
* Sensoji temple
* teamLab Planets (6PM)
* Odaiba
​
>**Start JR Pass**
**OSAKA/KYOTO**
17/10
* Tokyo – Kyoto (Morning)
* TOEI Park
* Kyoto – Osaka
18/10
* Osaka – Kyoto (Morning)
* Fushimi Inari Shrine
* Kyoto – Nara
* Todaiji Temple
* Nara Park
* Nara – Osaka
19/10
* Osaka – Kyoto (Morning)
* Kinkakuji
* Ryoanji
* Kyoto – Osaka
* Osaka castle
* Exploring the city at night/afternoon
20/10
* USJ
* Exploring the city at night/afternoon
21/10
* Osaka castle
* Osaka – Tokyo (Noon)
**TOKYO/HAKONE/KAWAGUCHIKO**
22/10:
* Tokyo – Hakone
* Hakone Shrine
* Hakone cruise
* Kawaguchiko Lake
* Chureito Pagoda
* Hakone – Tokyo
**YOKOHAMA**
23/10:
* Gundam Factory
* Cup Noodles Museum
>**JR Pass expires**
​
**TOKYO**
24/10 – 26/10:
* Ashikaga Flower Park (night)
* WB/Harry Potter Studio
* Free Days
___
I have some questions and need your thoughts about this itinerary
1. Is kinkakuji and ryoanji worth visiting? Or can I visit them after Fushimi shrine before heading to Nara?
2. Is visiting Hakone and Kawaguchiko in the same day make sense? I saw someone made an itinerary like [this](https://jprail.com/sample-itineraries/1to3-days/fuji-hakone-one-day-trip-sample-itinerary-you-can-visit-both-lake-kawaguchi-and-hakone-by-day-trip-from-tokyo.html)
3. Is there a way to visit Ashikaga before the JR Pass expires?
4. In the previous itinerary I posted I was considering to visit Takayama or Koyasan, so here’s the alternate plan I made
​
– Visit Universal studio at 19/10
Alternate Plan 1:
– Exploring Osaka in 20/10
– Go to Takayama in 21/10 and spend a night there
– Go to Tokyo in 22/10
Alternate Plan 2:
– Visit Osaka Castle in 20/10 morning or noon then going to Hakone/Kawaguchi
– Stay in either Hakone or Kawaguchi and split the activity into two days
– Leaving to Tokyo in 21/10
– Visit Ashikaga in 22/10
Alternate Plan 3:
– Visit Koyasan as a day trip in 20/10
– Ship my luggage to Tokyo and go to a day trip in Hakone/Kawaguchiko in 21/10
– Visit Ashikaga in 22/10
Alternate Plan 4:
– Visit Koyasan as a day trip in 20/10
– Explore Osaka in 21/10
– Go to Tokyo in 22/10 morning and going to Ashikaga at the afternoon
___
I need your thoughts on this, the important thing is I want to relax and enjoy my trip without stressing about the schedules and itinerary, but I also don’t want to regret of not visiting thing.
3 comments
17/10 18/10 and 19/10
What. The. Flop.
Don’t jump around cities every day. I struggled with the train system between kyoto/osaka so much I spent 6 hours just on travel in one day between them. Even if I got it right the first time it would still be 3 hours.
It looks like your traveling to Kyoto 3 times.
My advice – go to Kyoto once, do everything you want to do, and go to your residence in osaka. Next day, go to nara, visit everything you want to do, and go back to osaka. Then spend 19/20/21 doing osaka.
Use the JR pass to go to Ashikaga Flower Park instead of Yokohama. Yokohama is a cheap day trip by non-shinkansen trains.
Hakone/Kawaguchiko day – while this is possible I wouldn’t do it (even the itinerary you link says it’s not recommended.) This itinerary will have you skipping over top sights in each location and spending a lot of time on public transit or waiting for connections. Either choose one between Hakone and Kawaguchiko, or take one of the package bus tours from Tokyo that visits both locations in a day.
Hi!
While normally I think you should jsut commute between Kyoto and Osaka rather than changing hotels, the majority of your morning stuff is all in Kyoto and the majority of stuff you are doing is all in Kyoto so.. I’m not sure what you mean by Kyoto has limited things to do. Your Osaka days seem to consist of USJ and….Osaka Castle? I mean maybe you plan to stay out late every night, but that is going to make it much harder to get a start in the morning going to Kyoto each morning.
Like u/cruciger said, I would switch out Yokohama and Ashikaga. That way Ashikaga is covered by the pass and Yokohama, which is a very cheap trip is not. I’ve heard Ashikaga’s light ups are great, but I’ve also heard it is very long trip from Tokyo from a few people. Also be prepared for crowds. Light ups are very popular.
I’m also going to agree about the Kawaguchiko and Hakone one day being tough, particularly since you have: Hakone to Kawaguchiko back to Hakone and back to Tokyo vs. the website you linked to did Tokyo to Kawaguchiko to Hakone to Tokyo. You could do Tokyo to Hakone to Kawaguchiko to Tokyo as well but it’s a minimum of 2 hours between Kawaguchiko and Togendai/Sengoku part of Hakone and can be longer.
If you really want to do this you need to spend the time to get the bus schedules from Togendai or Sengoku to Gotemba and then Gotemba up to Kawaguchiko. There are only 1 to 2 buses per hour and I do not know if they timed for easy transfer. I would go into this with all bus times written down and I would plan to enter at Hakone or Kawaguchiko and not try to back track to exit from the same one you entered by. I get that there are plenty of things you can skip if you want in both, but to me the issue is more transport times and transport frequency.
Do be aware that the train from Otsuki to Kawaguchiko is not covered by a JR Pass and you need to pay a supplemental fee (which varies in price depending on the type of train you take) For Hakone, once you get off at Odawara you are also paying out of pocket since you will be on the Odakyu or Tozan line or a bus or the ropeway or the boat or the cablecar. There are various Hakone Passes but you would need to calculate out if any of them are worth it.
It’s not an authentic onsen by any means, but for the more modest who want to experience something but wear a bathing suit, there is always Yunessun in the Hakone area. It does offer more traditional naked baths and if you wanted to pay for the naked side and then pay for a private bath, it has some of the lowest rates for a private bath rental. But most people go there for the bathing suit side and the cheezy themed baths, like wine or coffee and you can be there when more wine or coffee is added. I was for the coffee.
Good luck!