Me and a couple of buddies are traveling to Japan this November 11-27, hoping to catch some of the autumn colors and get some cool merch to bring back home. This is the schedule:
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Nov 11: Land in Tokyo, Haneda – cover Tokyo Skytree, Senso-ji, Ameyoyokocho, Ueno Park and Ginza district
* Nov 12: Meiji Jingu and Shibuya – Hachicko statue, Roppongi District
* Nov 13: Yokohama – Gundam Cafe, Gundam Show, Roaming around Shinjuku/Harajuku
* Nov 14 – Akihabara (Pretty much the entire day)
* Nov 15 – Suga Shrine/Stairs, Travel to Lak Kawaguchi (one night at an ryokan/onsen)
* Nov 16 – Travel and visit to Fuji 5th Station, leave for Kyoto
* Nov 17 – Kyoto – Nishiki Market, Gion District
* Nov 18 – Kyoto – Arishiyama, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kiyomizu Shrine, Samurai and ninja museum, philosophers path
* Nov 19 – Travel to Osaka – Visit Osaka aquarium, osaka Castle, kuromon market, Dotonburi
* Nov 20 – Day trip too Konoha village (Yes, we’re Naruto fans)
* Nov 21 – Day trip to Nara
* Nov 22 – Osaka universal Studios
* nov 23 – Either go for day trip to Hiroshima, or cycling along the bridges of the Seto inland sea
This gives us Nov 24, 25 and 26 as buffer days, which I’m hoping someone with experience traveling Japan can help us with? We would love to visit other off-beat places that are not difficult to travel to. I personally think our itinerary gives us a lot of room to work with any possible schedule issues. But would love to hear your experiences/advice. Thanks a ton everyone!
4 comments
November 18 is likely not possible. If somehow you can do it all, you will be exhausted. My suggestion is to add another day to Kyoto.
Do you really need a full day for Nara? Or, do you have enough to keep you occupied for the full day?
Nov 18 is extremely full.
In any case I think doing kiyomizu dera in the morning before nishiki would be a good idea.
But Arashiyama kiyomizu dera and higashiyama just seems like way too much
What time are you landing the first day? That’s a lot to accomplish while getting your footing in a new country like money exchange, transportation cards, handling transportation from the airport into Tokyo, and checking into a hotel.
Make sure to give yourself plenty of leeway and limit it to one area or have an area you’re willing to cut that day just in case you find it’s taking more time than you thought. Enjoy your time and try not to rush through it. I did that my first trip and regretted not giving myself time to explore side streets.
Edit: I vote for another full day in tokyo, maybe two. Space things out a bit more and maybe go to Sunshine City, Nakano Broadway, Namja Town, etc.
November 11 is far too full, and you’re going to places that are far from one another; November 12 is not full enough unless you’re going to spend a lot of time in Shibuya, in part because there’s not much to Roppongi except bars.