Hello!
Planning to visit Japan late November this year and would appreciate any of your tips / advice on my itinerary 🙏 I will be travelling with my parents and looking to keep it at medium to slow pace.
A few main things I’m wondering:
* Based on the season (late Nov / early Dec), any recommendations for sights that are great for the autumn colours, or other particular seasonal activities?
* At the moment the itinerary is have majority temple sites I feel, we’re keen to see these but I’m not sure if they are all worth visiting, could be great too diversify the type of sighting a bit. Any recommendations / where to check?
* Interested to go to a concert (perhaps in Tokyo), I’m also looking into this at the moment, if anyone has some suggestions feel free to share
* Have still a couple of free days, looking for potentially one/two day trips from Kyoto to fill it
Below is my itinerary so far:
Day 1 Tokyo 12:30 Arrive in Tokyo
Day 1 Tokyo 14:00 Check in Sotetsu Grand Fresa Takadanobaba
Day 1 Tokyo 15:00 Explore Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, 2 Chrome Shinjuku
Day 1 Tokyo 17:00 Explore Kabukicho
Day 2 Tokyo 7:00 Visit Nezu Shrine
Day 2 Tokyo 8:30 Visit Yushima Tenjin Shrine
Day 2 Tokyo 10:00 Visit Tokyo National Museum
Day 2 Tokyo 15:00 Visit Sensō-ji
Day 2 Tokyo 17:00 Explore Nakamise-dori
Day 2 Tokyo 20:00 Visit Skytree
Day 3 Tokyo 7:30 Visit Meiji Jingu
Day 3 Tokyo 9:30 Explore Yoyogi Park
Day 3 Tokyo 10:30 Visit Nezu Museum
Day 3 Tokyo 13:30 Explore Omotesando
Day 3 Tokyo 16:30 Explore Shibuya Central-Gai (Hachikō Memorial Statue)
Day 4 Hakone 8:00 Leave Tokyo, heading to Hakone
Day 4 Hakone 11:00 Visit The Hakone Open-Air Museum
Day 4 Hakone 13:00 Take Hakone ropeway
Day 4 Hakone 14:00 Explore Motohakone, Owakudani
Day 5 Hakone 10:00 Explore the Hakone Checkpoint area, Hakone Shrine, Boat rude
Day 5 Hakone 12:00 Visit Sōun-ji
Day 5 Hakone 16:00 Head back to Tokyo
Day 6 Tokyo 8:00 Visit Suitengu Shrine and/or Tomioka Hachiman Shrine
Day 6 Tokyo 11:00 Visit Toyosu Market
Day 6 Tokyo 13:00 Visit teamLab Planets
Day 6 Tokyo 13:00 Explore surrounding area Shin-Marunouchi Building
Day 6 Tokyo 15:30 Explore Ginza Wako and surrounding area
Day 7 Tokyo 9:00 Visit Imperial Palace
Day 7 Kyoto 13:00 Leave Tokyo, heading to Kyoto
Day 7 Kyoto 15:00 Check into Rokyan Tori
Day 7 Kyoto 16:00 Explore the surrounding area, light dinner
Day 8 Kyoto 8:00 Visit Kinkaku-ji
Day 8 Kyoto 11:00 Explore Arashiyama
Day 8 Kyoto 15:00 Visit Nijō Castle
Day 9 Kyoto 9:00 Visit Higashiyama Jisho-ji
Day 9 Kyoto 11:00 Visit Tetsugaku No Michi
Day 9 Kyoto 14:00 Visit Nanzen-ji Temple
Day 10 Kyoto 8:00 Visit Fushimi Inari Taisha
Day 10 Kyoto 11:00 Visit Tōji Temple
Day 10 Kyoto 14:00 Visit Nijō Castle
Day 11 Nara 8:00 Head to Nara
Day 11 Nara 10:00 Visit Todaiji Temple, Isuien Garden
Day 11 Nara 13:00 Visit Nara Park
Day 11 Nara 16:00 Visit Kasuga Taisha
Day 12 Kyoto 9:00 Visit Kiyomizu-dera
Day 12 Kyoto 11:00 Visit Yasaka Shrine
Day 12 Kyoto 13:00 Visit Nishiki Market
Day 12 Kyoto 14:30 Viisit Kyoto Imperial Palace
Day 13 ?
Day 14 ?
Day 15 Kyoto 9:00 Visit Heian Shrine
Day 15 Kyoto 13:00 Head to KIA
​
Thanks in advance for your comments!
2 comments
For autumn colours recommendations check out Japan Guide:
Tokyo
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3061.html
Kyoto
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3953.html
For non-temple recommendations for Kyoto there’s: Nishiki market, shopping around Kyoto Station/Kyoto Tower, Kyoto National Museum, relax in a cafe or by the river.
For Kyoto, I’d take a look on Google (if you haven’t already) and rank all the temples on your list to see which ones you and your parents are most interested in. And for the ones at the bottom of your list you could leave as optional.
For your free days, there are a couple of ways you could go.
* I’m not sure how old or fit your parents are, but might be nice to have a more relaxing day between your other Kyoto days or use it as a back-up day for other spots you missed.
* For easier day trips you could look into Himeji (Himeji castle), Amanohashidate, Osaka.
* Also consider having a more relaxing day then exploring some temples or interesting areas at night.
I feel like your Nara and Hakone trip is longer than necessary. You can cut it to two days and visit a different city.