Hello everyone, I’ve seen some really great advice on this forum and could really use your help! My husband and I leave to our first trip Japan for 12 days Wednesday, and just need to make sure our trip makes sense.
Some concerns:
1. We don’t have any reservations for restaurants (have many saved on gmaps), and are hoping we can kind of wing it and be spontaneous. Aside from queuing at popular places, will we be able to stumble into good food along the way?
2. We don’t have non Visa cards, so we will have to do welcome suica. How much cash are we allowed to load onto it? Will it cover the expense to Kyoto?
3. How challenging will the language barrier be when trying to get a taxi? Will it be okay to have the address on my phone and show them that?
4. Need some help planning 10/21 Kyoto day. Not sure whether to go to Nara or just enjoy the day in Kyoto.
Also didn’t realize until after we booked that we would be heading to Osaka on the same day as Jidai Matsuri and kurama fire festival :/ so bummed we will miss that.
Any advice and recommendations are welcomed ☺️
10/11 – Flight out
10/12 – Check into Muji Hotel Ginza
– arrival at Haneda 3:25 pm
– Acquire Welcome Suica
– Take taxi to hotel
– Freshen up and grab dinner nearby (Ippudo Ramen)
– Pit stop to Tokyo Tower before turning in for night?
10/13
– Tsukiji market
– Explore Ginza
– 12 pm lunch at Pokemon Cafe
– Explore Asakusa
– Head to Ahikiabara and arcade
– Grab dinner near by
– If enough time, kareoke ferris wheel at Tokyo Dome
10/14
– 9 am Meiji Jingu shrine tour with brunch in Harajuku
– Explore Harajuku
– Head down to Omotesando
– Daikanyamacho – brewery? Art museum?
– 8 pm food and drinks tour in Shinjuku
– Make friends and continue night?
10/15
– Early morning Gotokuji temple
– Try to line up for Shiro-Hige’s cream puff factory at 10 am
– Thrifting/hanging out in Shimokitazawa
– Lunch at delish curry place?
– Head to Shibuya to explore
– 7 pm Shibuya Sky (champagne experience)
– Nightcap at Bar Trench
10/16 – check into Ashinoko Hanori hotel
– Take Shinkansen to Odawara station
– Get hakone free pass
– Take bus to hotel
– Check in/Drop luggage off
– Take pirate ship
– Visit Hakone shrine
– Lunch in Motohakone – Bakery & Table or La Terrazza?
– Amakase tea house
– Dinner and onsen at hotel
10/17
– breakfast at hotel
– Ropeway to Owakudani
– Visit Hakone open air museum
– 3 pm lunch at Gora Brewery
– Take bus to Sengokuhara pampas grass fields
– Dinner and onsen at hotel
10/18 – check into Sora Niwa Terrace Kyoto
– Shinkansen to Kyoto
– check into hotel/drop luggage
– Take free walking night tour to Yasaka Shrine/Gion
– Dinner/ hangout in Pontocho alley
10/19
– grab breakfast
– 10 am MAIKOYA kimono tea ceremony
– Kiyomizu-dera temple
– Sannenzaka & Ninenzaka
– Kodaji temple
– Sunset drink at Bar Kohaku
– Dinner??
10/20
– 9 am Hozugawa river boat ride
– Iwatayama monkey park
– Lunch
– Tenryu-Ji temple
– Bamboo grove
– Okochi sanso garden
– If time, Gio-ji temple
– Dinner
– Drinks and karaoke at Barcode
10/21
– early morning Fushimi-Inari
– Vermillion cafe
– Golden pavilion? Philosophers path?
– Nara?
10/22 – check into The Lively Osaka Honmachi
– Take train from Kyoto to Osaka
– Check into hotel/drop luggage
– Amerika-Mura thrifting
– Den den town
– Namba Yasaka Jinja
– Shinsekai
– Dontonburi at night
10/23 – flight back home
– Breakfast
– Osaka castle
– Check out at fly out of ITM
1 comment
1. The average quality of cooking in Japan is very high, pick somewhere that doesn’t look clearly tourist trappy and you’ll be golden. I personally only reserve for upscale places (the kind where one would make a reservation back home too) and just go early/late for normal meals.
2. mobile suica is 10k I think?
3. Not challenging at all. Much better to show them the address on Google Maps (or the Japanese name in your Notes app) than to spend forever explaining things that can be instantly resolved with a little bit of technology. In the old days one would use a business card or a piece of paper written by a hotel receptionist, the phone is simply the modern upgrade of this.
4. Golden Pavilion only takes 1 hour, and Philosophers Path is not worth it outside of cherry blossoms / foliage season unless you have specific temples along the way you want to see. Both of these are also in the opposite direction of Kyoto from Fushimi Inari. Personally I’d spend the day in Nara.