My parent and I are going to Japan for the first time in a few weeks and to take advantage of the event I’ve tried to make sure that it’s a fairly packed trip where we get to experience at least a bit of most of what Honshu has to offer. We love historical and religious sites as well as Japanese food. Initially I tried to have us visit Hokkaido, but that would have lead to too much train time, so while this is still a bit heavy it feels more feasible in terms of getting a taste of a bunch of different places similar to guided tours I went on in Europe in the past.
**28 October**
Arrive at Narita before 4pm
Take train to Tokyo Station
Go on Sky Hop Bus, Tokyo blue line.
**October 29**
Take the other lines of the Sky Hop Bus.
**October 30**
Day trip to Fuji-Q Highland
Activate the Japan Rail Pass this day.
Get there early, so I can ride the big three roller coasters, and admire any sort of Halloween stuff they have there, as well as hopefully get a good view of Mount Fuji.
**October 31**
Travel to Hakone
Stay at a Ryokan
Otherwise, haven’t decided, but kind of relax a bit.
**November 1**
Hakone visit Owakudani Valley and have the black eggs.
**November 2**
Travel from Hakone to Kyoto.
Visit some temples and shrines.
**November 3**
Do either the Kyoto 88 Temple Pilgrimage or a similar hike/walk around Kyoto.
**November 4**
Travel from Kyoto to Osaka.
Check out some of the street food and go to Dotonbori in the evening as well as visit a beach.
**November 5**
Go to the Universal Studios Japan at Osaka to see the Super Mario Bros world.
**November 6**
Go to Hiroshima from Osaka
Visit the A Bomb Dome and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
Maybe we will go to Okonomimura
**November 7**
Day trip to Miyajima Island from Hiroshima
Take the ferry and visit the Itsukushima Shrine
Walk up Mount Misen to get a good view.
**November 8**
Travel to Okayama from Hiroshima
Visit the Korakuen Gardens
Check out the Okayama Castle.
**November 9 **
Day trip to Himeji from Okayama
See Himeji Castle
visit the Kokoen Garden near the castle.
**November 10**
Travel from Okayama to Kanazawa
Go to the Omicho Market
Visit the Ninja Temple
**November 11**
Go to Ishiura Shrine
Go to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary art
Visit the Kenkroku-en garden
visit the castle park
Walk around Higashi Chaya district.
**November 12**
Travel to Takayama from Kanazawa.
Walk around to see cool stuff
**November 13**
Day trip to Shirakawa-go
Visit some of the museums and shinto temples.
**November 14**
Travel to Nagoya from Takayama
Relax a bit and maybe visit a museum or castle
**November 15**
Day trip to try and get to the Obara Shikizakura Festival.
**November 16**
Travel from Nagoya to Nikko
visit Nikko Tosho-gu shrine
**November 17**
Spend more time in Nikko
**November 18**
Travel from Nikko to Tokyo
**November 19**
Friend whose been a few times will show us some of their favourite places in Tokyo/relax
**November 20**
Relax and visit stuff in Tokyo for most of the day before going to Narita for the return flight.
Recommendations for specific things to check out or places to visit would be appreciated and recommendations for changes are also fine, I want to try and have us see the Japanese alps and a bit of Honshu north of Tokyo. I’m aware of the risks of jet lag which is part of why there aren’t too many do a specific thing at a specific time.
1 comment
Hi!
I just want to throw out there, that you might not make the Blue line on arrival day.
If you arrive at 4 it can conceivably take you 1 hour to get through Immigration, getting your bags, and going through Customs, before being able to take a NEX. [The last Blue bus is at 18:05 there is no guarantee that will work out](https://skyhopbus.com/timetable).
You would need to pay me a lot of money to go to USJ on a Sunday. Why pick the most crowded day of the week? I would move it around and do Kyoto to either Hiroshima or Okayama and then from both of those, go back to Osaka and do USJ on a week day and then go from Osaka to Kanazawa.
Good luck!