Hi all!
This subreddit has been an absolute wealth of information and I have been lurking here for several years now reading the posts. I appreciate any help and/or advice that can be given in advance as I plan out our trip.
Info about us: In April 2023 we will be in our early 30s/early 40s respectively. My fiancé is Japanese (American born to parents from Japan) and at the time of our trip I will have been working with a private Japanese tutor for over a year (and I have taken group classes for the past three years) so getting around Japan shouldn’t be too big an issue for us. He has been to Japan once before and I have never been. Our interests include pop culture, history and for him especially – classic video/arcade games. We are avid hikers and are used to commuting around a large city so lots of walking/activity won’t be an issue for us.
Again – please be as blunt/honest as possible – this is our dream trip so I want to make the most of it!
**Day 0**: Fly to Tokyo in ANAs Premium Economy (we wanted to do business class and may still do so depending on cost when we book) Upon arrival, check into the ‘Tokyo Station Hotel’ and rest/grab some convenience store food. It’s important during this time that, depending on what time we fly, we get a lot of rest so if we do any exploring it’d be near the station.
**Day 1:** Take an early Shinkansen to Osaka. I know it might make sense to fly directly to Kansai in the first place but this way seemed more fun for us. We’d check into the ‘Parkfront Hotel’ at Universal Studios and then go to Osaka aquarium. Have dinner and then go night shopping on the major shopping streets.
**Day 2**: Universal Studios Osaka. Spend the day making the most of the amusement park, then afterwards probably go back to the popular shopping streets.
**Day 3**: Check out of the hotel and then take a train or Shinkansen (I know the latter is faster but would the former have better views?) to Kyoto. Check into ‘Vegan Minshuku Sanbiki Neko’ and then go wander the historic Southern Higashiyama and shop at Nishiki Market.
**Day 4**: Wake up early and go to ‘Fushimi Inari Shrine’. Spend as much time here as possible and then go for lunch at the ‘Shigetsu’ restaurant in Tenryu-ji in order to try traditional Shojin Ryori. Then go to the ‘Kyoto International Manga Museum’.
**Day 5:** Sleep in after all the walking on the first leg of our trip and then take a day trip to Nara. In Nara we’d like to walk some of the historic district as well as go to Nara Park. Head back to Kyoto in late afternoon/evening and spend more time in our hotel resting.
**Day 6**: Check out of the hotel and head back to Tokyo. I don’t have a hotel picked for this leg of the trip yet – looking for something that’s 3-4 stars and is centrally located. We won’t be spending too much time in the hotel but also want to enjoy hotel amenities when possible. This will be another casual/rest day of wandering the area by the hotel, eating food, and generally relaxing.
**Day 7**: Meiji Jingu shrine visit, yoyogi park, general Shibuya wandering.
**Day 8:** Tokyo skytree and shopping in that area.
**Day 9**: I would either like to do the Ghibili museum this day OR take an early shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagakute to go to the Ghibli theme park. I am leaning towards the latter. We would then either stay overnight in Nagakute (keep both hotels for shopping storage) or take the shinkansen back to Tokyo that night.
**Day 10**: If we wind up staying overnight in Nagakute then we’d travel back and have a “free day” to do whatever. We’d likely go find some pachinko and/or retro arcades to play in. Try and fit in Harajuku wandering.
**Day 11:** Akihabara day. Shopping and wandering every store possible.
**Day 12**: Shinjuku – check out Shinjuku but also Kichijoji, as we want to see the Inokashira park
**Day 13**: Odaiba – I’m not sure about TeamLab because we have done similar thing in NYC/LA. I’d like to walk the waterfront, ferris wheel…also check out Asakusa this day if time permits.
**Day 14:** Check out from whatever hotel we stay at and check into Hotel Miracosta. I know this one is hard to book but I am going to try my best…if I can’t book it we’ll stay at any of the other Disney hotels. Go to Tokyo Disneyland.
**Day 15:** Tokyo DisneySea.
**Day 16:** Sadly travel back home =\[
I know this is a LOT and I’m sure there are things I’m missing or optimizations I can make. I also know it sounds like we are spending a lot of money…we aren’t having a wedding, we are putting all the money we would towards a big party + honeymoon just into our honeymoon. Any future trips to Japan will be less glamorous.
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Thank you in advance for all of your feedback!
17 comments
Not sure what you mean you will need a lot of rest one day 0, but from my experience of going to Japan (from the east coast at least) is that I would try to not go to bed before the time I would usually do back home. Next morning I would wake up mabe a bit early, but would not have much difficulty with jetlag. Let’s stay that it does help hat I have to wake up early and take a flight to somewhere in the US before flying to Japan.
It absolutely make more sense to fly direct to Osaka if you can. It will give you more time in Osaka on your first day, reduce time and money spent on the train and less hotel change.
While the shinkansen might be faster from Shin-Osaka station to Kyoto station than the rapid train from Osaka station to Shin-Osaka station, the reality is that it will take more time to reach Shin-Osaka. All that to maybe save 5 minutes is not worth the extra cost.
Day 4 seems a bit packed especially considering that you will go from one side to the other of the city. Going to 3 area of the city in a single day might be a bit much.
Day 6, Yoyogi park is a valid choice if cherry blossom time or in the weekend for people watching, so for an April trip it should be ok, otherwise, it could be a skip for me as it’s a park and not a garden, so might as well go check a proper garden like Koishikawa korakuen.
Day 8, at least add Asakusa and Senso-ji to that day. it’s at walking distance from Skytree.
Day 9, if you are to go to Ghibli theme park stop by Nagoya between Kyoto and Tokyo, going there from Tokyo will take almost 3h one way, so this would be a long daytrip. It also makes no sense to go to Tokyo first as you will waste 3h30 in the shinkansen (plus the cost of the ticket) for the roundtrip Tokyo-Nagoya.
Day 12, Kichijoji and Inokashira kind of only makes sense if you go to the Ghibli museum if you ask me.
Day 13, teamLab Borderless will be close by the time you go and the whole complex that include Venus fort, the Ferris wheel and mega web will all be closed as the the whole Palette town complex is going to be re-developed.
Edit : if you want to do a teamLab exhibit, then it will have to be Planets or a futur exhibit if they do something else. I know there is other digital art exhibitions in Tokyo like Naked Flowers for you.
Edit 2 : if you like history, add Tokyo National Museum in Ueno park, great history museum.
Congratulations on the wedding!
I think the biggest optimization I can see is, if you want to hit the Ghibli theme park- stop in Nagoya on the way back to Tokyo from Kyoto. No sense on going all the way to Tokyo then back to Nagoya!
For a nice hotel on the back end in Tokyo I really like the Gate chain. All are quite nice 4 * with good locations.
If you want to be on the west side then maybe check out the Century Southern Tower for 4* or Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku for 3*.
My only advice is to go to Asakusa instead of Odaiba. I’ve never found Odaiba interesting, and Asakusa/Ueno are my favorite areas in Tokyo.
I think you’re spending too much time in Tokyo.
**You’ve assigned an entire day just for “Tokyo Skytree”.**
Beyond that, unless you have a deep love of theme parks (Universal and Disney exist in numerous countries), I’d skip all of them except the Ghibli theme park.
You describe yourselves as “avid hikers”. Why not hike the UNESCO World Heritage Kumano Kodo trail, then?
**As an experiment – take Tokyo and all the theme parks out of your itinerary.**
You’ll be forced to come up with more interesting ideas, like say, Shirahama Onsen.
Since you’re staying at tokyo station hotel i’d suggest going to either one of the restaurants at the hotel or go downstairs to the food hall area and grab some ramen there instead of getting Combini food. It make take a little extra time but that food will be far better. You can always have get conbini food another time.
A Shinkansen between Osaka and Kyoto vs a conventional train are pretty similar they both follow the same corridor so views will not be much different. I would suggest picking the most convenient option. The difference in time on board is about 10 mins so very minor. If you are staying far away from Shin Osaka station you will want to compare travel times, a regular train might end up being faster in the long run.
As for doing a overnight stay at Nagakute, you don’t really need to keep both hotels. If you are planning to use the same hotel both periods you can ask them to hold the luggage for you and save yourself some money. Otherwise if the concern is more about deal with packing/unpacking and you dont mind having two hotel rooms then by all means keep it. Alternatively you can visit the ghibli theme park on your way to Tokyo you can also forward you backs from Kyoto to Tokyo and just bring a small overnight bag. With that being said I don’t think there is going to be enough to do at the Ghibli theme park to warrant a overnight stay. There are no rides, so it’ll probably take half a day, but that will depend on how quickly you move through the park.
Note TeamLab borderless in Odaiba is closing in Aug of this year, but TeamLab Planets in Toyosu is still open till the end of 2023.
Day 3 – I would just take the train. It’s a lot cheaper and the time difference isn’t much. The views are just suburban areas so not really a factor.
Day 7 – Depending on how much wandering and shopping you plan on doing you could also check out Harajuku/Omotesando. I would go Meiji Jingu/Yoyogi Park > Harajuku/Omotesando > Shibuya. It’s doable in a day if you don’t plan on lots of shopping.
Otherwise it looks pretty good. Not too rushed so you could squeeze in a bit more if you want.
Have you thought about flying to KIX directly? Also, I get why people do it, but I always advise against the 1-nighter in Tokyo at the start of the trip. You’ll be jetlagged regardless of whether you tack on a couple of hours to immediately get to Osaka. By going directly, you save a lot of time. Finding and getting to hotel, checking into hotel, getting settled, partially unpacking, re-packing, checking out of hotel, getting to shinkansen station — all that takes far more time than just immediately heading to your first destination. Especially with your language abilities and familiarity with city transit, it will be quite easy to just hop on the shinkansen right after your arrival.
If you are uncomfortable with that, I would split the many days you have allocated to Tokyo. Spend a couple of days on one side of town, go to Osaka & Kyoto, then spend the remaining time in a different part of Tokyo. You can save a lot of transit time that way, if you plan accordingly.
>Day 1: Take an early Shinkansen to Osaka. I know it might make sense to fly directly to Kansai in the first place but this way seemed more fun for us.
Nothing is ‘fun’ the first day after an international flight when you’re adjusting to jet lag. Fly into Osaka and turn Day 1 into a low-pressure sightseeing day, your body and mind will thank you for it after two weeks.
Love this! My fiancé and I are also going for our honeymoon and have a very similar itinerary to yours!
Plan a day to do nothing. I think our favorite day was when we woke up got some food someplace quick and close to the hotel, went to the Onsen in the hotel and then laid around watching Baseball.
What time will you reach tokyo on day 0? If it is like morning till afternoon, you can go and check out one of your bucketlist so you can be free (or extra day at classic arcade). If at night then just explore around
Sleep according to japanese time so you won’t have jetlag
Day 1: you mean go to dotonbori (full of food and the famous glicoman neon sign) and the extension of it, sinshaibashi for shopping? (It will be cheaper than tokyo)
Since you are back to tokyo on day 6 on your itenary, then get JR pass for 7 days (around 250-275usd for 7 days). That will cover your travelling from tokyo to osaka, osaka to kyoto, to nara, to kyoto, and to tokyo again all with shinkansen or normal train (yes you can book seat too if you don:t mind visiting their ticket counter). It will be much cheaper than not using it (you will spend arounr 500-600usd or more if you don’t use jr pass)
Day 9: this doesn’t makes sense, if you want to go to nagakute, do it after kyoto (day 6 and 7). That saves you a lot of time and money since nagakute closer to kyoto than tokyo. Plus if you use jr pass, that is already covered by it (trust me, it will be expensive, like 200-300usd return ticket tokyo nagakute if you don’t use jr pass.)
Mirracosta harbor view! 800 – 2000usd a night but it will be worth it. Go back to your room before the fireworks and see the fireworks in your comfortable room.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Apr should be the end of Cherry Blossoms. Do try to fly into Japan within Cherry Blossoms period. It is more difficult to book in advance as the lifespan of Cherry Blossoms are short, so you need to check the prediction in the internet frequently. Cherry Blossoms are beautiful in Japan. No words can describe what you see there.
2. I assume you are checking out which Tokyo Station hotel. If you want it cheap, I suggest Karaksa Hotel. You can select the bigger rooms. You can skip the breakfast BUT they will provide you with 500yen voucher each if you are not taking the breakfast. This voucher can be used in the surrounding areas including Daimaru (I bought the bread there, it was nice), including restaurants (there is a list). You can stay there on your return trip.
3. Tokyo Skytree. Queues can be long but they do have (a little) more expensive tickets for foreigners to skip the queue. What I suggest is to visit Skytree in the morning (less crowded) and have lunch (there’s lunch specials!) there and do a bit of your shopping. Then you can proceed to Sensoji Temple which is quite near (Move it from your Day 13). After the temple, if you still have the time, proceed to Akihabara. But if you want to spend a day in Akihabara instead, then go to Ueno (Ameya-Yokocho) lively street market.
4. Not sure why you want to visit Nagakute since it is really out of the way but you can do a side visit from Osaka/Kyoto. You can try to do a side trip to Mount Fuji instead.
5. One of the mornings in Tokyo, you should go to Tsukji Market, not the fish market (which had moved) but the street food next to the market. There, you can eat your fresh sashimi and visit the food stalls. It can be crowded around 9-10am. You been there once, you will definitely want to go back again for your breakfast. So try to do this in your first 2 days of Tokyo stay.
6. If you are not able to book a hotel in Disney, and you do not have the time, just do Disney Sea.
7. Try to visit Ginza over the weekend as they will close the road in the afternoon.
8. If you are not utilizing the JR Pass, take Limousine Bus through and from airport. It is less chaotic and much easier to navigate then taking trains especially with luggage.
If you are in Kyoto and like hiking, I highly recommend Momiji Ryokan in the mountains (they have a shuttle service from a train station in the city) . It feels like a ryokan that has been stuck in time. No development around it. Has a beautiful river flowing along the ryokan with beautiful views. Certainly pricey but they have private onsen rooms attached to the rooms, great way to relax. Then later in the day you can take a 5+ hour hike (taking a bento for the hike) along Kiyotaki river all the way to the station in the middle of nowhere and ride the old steam engine train into the place where the famous bamboo forest is. Truly feels like old Japan.
Folks have covered all my issues with the itinerary so I’m just gonna suggest y’all walk the 10 mins or so from the Tokyo Station Hotel to Shibire Noodles in Ginza for the best ramen basically ever. Congrats and have a fun trip.
Congratulations. We’re also planning on honeymooning in Japan. Well fingers crossed that the country is actually open then, but we’ve got until Autumn next year so I’m cautiously optimistic.
As others have mentioned you don’t need a whole day for the Skytree and it should be combined with any sightseeing you want to do around Asakusa. But also it’s something you have to be flexible with because the viewing platforms are sometimes shut if it’s too windy. You also probably don’t want to go up on a day where it’s overcast and the views won’t be good. It’s pretty easy to be fairly loose with your Tokyo schedule though so I’d just be prepared to move stuff around so you can hit the tree on a day where the weather is good.
I love the aquarium in Osaka, there’s also a Ferris wheel around there you can check out as I think the one in Odaiba will be closed. With regards to Nara I’d definitely check out the Daibutsu-Den as it’s one of the main reasons to go to Nara besides the deer park.
I’d highly recommend trying to find a couple of nights to stay in an onsen town at a proper traditional Ryokan. It’s a super romantic experience in my opinion and perfect for a honeymoon. Might be a bit trickier to find one that does vegan kaiseki and has nice baths but I’m sure there’s some that can accommodate. Hakone is a nice stop between Osaka and Tokyo that has a lot of onsen and you can also get nice views of Mt Fuji in the area if you’re lucky.
If from now until your trip, you can find the ability to rack up roughly 120,000 Chase or American Express points, I’d recommend you book ANA First or Business class for at least one leg of the flight. The experience is well worth it and will make the trip even more unforgettable!
If you want to know how, check out this blog post. [https://onemileatatime.com/redeeming-virgin-atlantic-miles-ana/](https://onemileatatime.com/redeeming-virgin-atlantic-miles-ana/)
Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! My wife and I racked up enough points from opening a few cards and got our dream trip to Japan a few years ago.
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Now that I’ve gotten the points part out of the way, I agree with many of the other people here in that it serve you best to fly into KIX. Either you add a leg and transfer at HND or NRT or you book a separate flight altogether (this method would require you to do customs at Tokyo and recheck your bags, not the best method…). You’ll be able to take the JR Shinkansen on your way back from Kyoto to Tokyo and you’re right, the view is gorgeous and it’s amazing to see the country side along the way.
I dont have too many opinions on the meat of the itinerary but my suggestion is to temper your expectations on days where you have a lot of things planned. Understand that you’ll be tired and your feet will hurt. Scale back, be flexible, and communicate with your partner. Additionally, it would be good to eat at semi-off-hours such as 11am, 4pm and such, that way you can avoid crowds at the popular restaurants. You can always supplement with combini food! My wife and I made it a point to stop by combinis at night before turning in at the hotel in order to grab snacks for the next day.
All views are the same on all trains. Take what’s fastest.
Combine Akiba and Asakusa into the same day. I’m a nerd and love Akiba but all day is too much, after a while everything starts to look the same.
Skip the skytree. The Metro Building is free and has better views.
Kyoto is a royal clusterfuck of tourists. My personal experience is that Fushimi Inari at about 5am is the best. You will only have old couples hiking to the top (which is not a quick thing) and you’ll get to see the sunrise basically all by yourselves. Grab some canned coffee from the vending machine at the top and enjoy until it’s fully bright out, then wander back down for your picture stops and what not. You’ll then have a HUGE chunk of time to do other things. Since you’re newlyweds, head to Nobunaga Shoten while you’re in Kyoto. It’s open late, unless you’re prudes, then forget I mentioned it.
3-4 star hotels are unnecessary in Japan. Everything 2 star will make you second guess ratings in the US and you’ll save a ton of money. Especially since you won’t be in the room much. APA, Sunroute, private “boutique” hotels, etc will cut a TON off your budget. Yes, the rooms are tiny but for this type of movement you shouldn’t have more than a large backpack to bring with you. If you need a recommendation for one, I’ll be glad to give you some.
While Kansai may be easier to fly into, Narita is ALWAYS cheaper, and recently like 1/4 of the cost. It offsets the price of the JR Rail pass you’ll likely need.
I know this is your Honeymoon, and I know you “know” it’s going to be once in a lifetime, with a feeling of “I may never get to go back”, and no matter what you spend, your first trip in Japan will always be life changing. There is no need to drop a huge chunk of change while doing it. This is my personal opinion, it seems the cheaper hotels are always in an area of more enjoyable “character” the expensive hotels feel too detached for reality there. This goes for most places. Take the money you saved and planned another, or a longer trip. Or take those savings and go wild on food/restaurants/souvenirs.
My last thing is purely based off my own experiences in Japan. Find somewhere cheap, or not, to drop your stuff and stay out all night the last night before your flight. Do not go back to your hotel unless you absolutely have to. It helps exhaust you for your flight, gives you a last chunk of hours to feel Japan and you will stumble on all sorts of cool shit you would never have found if you weren’t pushed into a time crunch. That’s just me though, I always stay up yjr night before an international flight.