Hey guys this is our first time in Japan and I would definitely like your recommendations / any adjustments I should make. I am a bit worried I may have over packed some days so definitely let me know if any are just too crazy. We are going for 14 days: Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Kinosaki Onsen -> Osaka.
**October 7**
• Land at 3PM, get jr pass only if its short line
• Get Sakura Mobile
• Get Welcome Suica or Passimo card
• Go to hotel, (near Tokyo tower)
• Tokyo Tower (closes 10:30)
**October 8**
• Ginza Walk around (Ginza Itoya stationary store)
• Akihabara
• Ueno Park
• Pick up jr pass if we didn’t at airport
**October 9**
• Disney Sea
**October 10**
• Harajuku (Meiji Shrine, Takeshita Street)
• shibuya (Shibuya Crossing, Shibuya Parco, Shibuya Loft)
• shinjuku (Stroll Down Memory Lane, Golden Gai)
**October 11**
• Check out of hotel
• Train to Kyoto, see fuji while in train (right side)
• Hotel check in (near Kyoto tower)
• Explore if time
**October 12**
• Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
• Monkey Park
• Travelers Factory Kyoto ( Shop)
• Gion Shirakawa
• nishiki market (Shop)
• Yasaka Shrine
• studio ghibli store (Shop)
**October 13**
• Day trip to nagoya (leave early since commute is long)
• Ghibli Park (2PM)
• Nagoya Castle (head over closer to 4PM)
**October 14**
• Fushimi Inari Taisha (before 8AM)
• Nijo Castle
• Kiyomizu temple
**October 15**
• Day tip to Nara, see the deer!
**October 16**
• Check out & Head to Kinosaki Onsen
• Check into hotel
• Explore and enjoy onsens in town
**October 17**
• Check out & head to Osaka
• check into hotel
• Shinsaibashi suji Shopping Street
**October 18**
• shitonnoji temple
• shinsekai
• osaka castle/castle park
**October 19**
• Kaiyukan Aquarium
**October 20**
• Flight back home
5 comments
It’s a busy schedule and you might get tired, but it doesn’t look crazy. As long as you’re not out partying at night and can get a good sleep adjusting to jetlag you should be fine
I think that you haven’t really overpacked your schedule, except possibly in Kyoto. Kyoto is much bigger than people realise, and walking all over with the crowds can take longer than you think. A couple things I would recommend :
Tokyo Oct 10, rearrange your day geographically. Shinjuku is north, Shibuya is south, and Harajuku is in the middle. So either go Shinjuku – Harajuku – Shibuya, or the reverse.
Kyoto Oct 12, same thing here. Just make sure all your stops are laid out logically by geography. I think from Traveler’s Factory, to Gion, to Nishiki, to Yasaka, you’d be zigazagging and doubling back. Plot it all on google maps and move the stops around so that you can do it all “in order”, to save time.
Also, to get all that in on that day, you’ll want to head up to Arashiyama early – which is good for crowds anyway. The monkey park is a long walk to the top of the mountain, maybe half an hour up and half an hour down, depending how fast you walk, so make sure you leave time for all that.
Oct 13 – Nagoya isn’t that far from Kyoto – half hour on the shinkansen. Ghibli Park is about an hour outside of Nagoya (local trains). So from Kyoto to Ghibli Park is about and hour and half, give or take, not that long a trip. Maybe it’s better to do Nagoya Castle in the morning, before Ghibli Park? Then you don’t have to worry about rushing out of the park – I assume you’ve got your ticket already? Seems like you just want to see one area of the park, if you’ve only got a 2pm entry time, so in that one area you’ll have a bit more time to spend if you’ve already done the Castle that morning.
And lastly, VERY IMPORTANT, they have recently increased the prices on the JR Pass. If your trip is Tokyo-Kyoto-Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka-Tokyo, then the JR Pass is NOT worth the money. Buy your shinkansen tickets individually to save money.
Don’t go to Nara if your only reason to do so is to see the deer: they are aggressive and unpleasant. Don’t feed them.
The various temple complexes in Nara Park and the National Museum branch in Nara are excellent though.
Your first half of the trip is literally mine lol
Nara will not take the entire day, so you can use it to catch up on some of the other things you might miss by trying to pack in so much on the other days.