Hello,
Please critique this itinerary for my wife and I.
Some questions I have:
1. Please point out any days that are too packed, or not packed enough. It’s a struggle to estimate the true amount of time some things will take. Is our 2nd round in Tokyo too bare? Should we instead add an extra day in Kyoto? We have never been to Japan before and would appreciate any recommendations that would compliment our itinerary.
2. Does getting the JR Pass make sense with this itinerary considering the price increase?
3. Luggage Transport: We may not end up having large luggage and may only have backpacks and carry-on sized rolling suitcases. Can these be brought on the trains between lodging? I’m planning for items to be sent through a forwarding service just in case.
4. How much physical currency will we need? Where is the best place to get USD converted?
**Tokyo Day 1-Day 5**
**Day 1**
* Flight out of USA
**Day 2**
* Land at HND in afternoon
* Grab food, find hotel, chill/walk around
**Day 3**
Chiyoda/Ueno
* Imperial Palace
* Ueno Zoo
* Don Quijote
**Day 4**
Akihabara/Shinjuku
* Spend most of day exploring akihabara
* Golden Gai in late afternoon
**Day 5**
Shibuya/Koto City
* Tokyo Anime Center (This may change if the exhibition is not something we’re interested in)
* Shibuya Center Street Shopping
* TeamLabs Planets
(This day is tricky since I know TLP won’t take the entire day and shibuya shopping was kind of a filler option for now. I’m thinking we will look for more places in the surrounding area if anyone has recommendations)
**Day 6 – Hakone Ryokan**
* Check out of Tokyo hotel and send large luggage to Kyoto.
* Take Train to Hakone
* Check into Ryokan
**Kyoto/Osaka Day 7-Day 10**
**Day 7**
* Check out of Ryokan
* Train to Kyoto
* Check into Kyoto Hotel
* Bamboo Grove
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
**Day 8**
* Fushimi-Inari Shrine (Early morning to avoid crowds)
* Kyoto International Manga Museum
* Nishiki Market
**Day 9**- Nara/Osaka Day Trips (please give me input on if it would be worth it to do both Nara and Osaka, or if dropping Nara would be fine.)
* Early Train to Nara
* Nara Deer Park
* Train from Nara to Osaka
* Osaka Bonsai Village
* Osaka Aquarium
* Den Den Town
* Return to Kyoto hotel
**Day 10**
* Send Large Luggage to Tokyo
* Explore Gion, rent yukatas
* Yasaka-Jinja Shrine
* Kodaji Temple night illumination
**Tokyo Day 11-16**
**Day 11**
Asakusa
* Check out of Kyoto Hotel
* Train Back to Toyko
* Check into Tokyo Hotel
* Check out the Sanja Matsuri
**Day 12**
Fuchu/Nakano
* Taito Station
* Nakano Broadway
* Jojo Bar Dio
**Day 13**
Sumida
* Ramen Cooking Class
* Sumo Match at Kokugikan Arena
* Wagyu steak dinner
**Day 14**
Saitama/Ikebukuro
* Omiya Bonsai Village/Bonsai Art Museum
* Muscle Girl Bar
**Day 15**
Akihabara
* Calligraphy Workshop
* Akihabara round two (I expect we will not have seen every store we’d like to see on the first day and we could also buy larger things that we would not have wanted to lug around the first time we visited)
**Day 16**
* Last day, flight departs at 5:40 PM. Not sure if it’s worth trying to do any activities today?
