[**Link to the copy of our itinerary spreadsheet**](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sIEJi_dUOelAE73q8tdwxTsxdcBcqHBo628jAHRU3Ts/edit?usp=sharing)
Hello! My wife and I are about to embark on our 11 day trip to Japan and it will be our first experience traveling to (and around) Japan. We would appreciate any reviews on our itinerary (more easily viewed on our google spreadsheet I linked). For example, one thing I’m worried we did not properly account for is waiting for the next bus/subway/train (as I’m not sure how frequently they come in Japan). We’ve tried to plan things down to the hour, but obviously there will be curve balls so we are ready to either have to leave some attractions early (or not be able to fully explore certain areas).
As we are going from Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Hakone -> Tokyo I’ve had to do quite a bit of planning for transportation. My current plan is:
– Cross-Region Transportation: Bullet Trains with the JR Pass:
– Bullet Train from Tokyo -> Kyoto, Kyoto -> Odawara (for Hakone), Hakone -> Tokyo.
– I have reserved the trains from Tokyo -> Kyoto, and Kyoto -> Odawara (but I have not yet booked the Hakone -> Tokyo train as we wanted that to be flexible).
– Tokyo transporation: Suica card (iPhone Wallet)
– Kyoto transporation: Kyoto 1-day Subway & Bus pass (Suice card as backup). I’ll buy 6 tickets at the Kyoto station (or whatever station the JR bullet train ends at).
– Nara transporation: Booked a Nara romance train from Kyoto -> Nara, I don’t have a reservation to come back but I believe I should just be able to buy a normal train ticket to get back to Kyoto station?
– Hakone transporation: Hakone Free Pass, I’m going to be buying this on my iPhone (if you recommend waiting and buying a physical ticket let me know), (Suica card/cash as backup)
A couple unanswered transportation questions:
1. Do I need to reserve Nara -> Kyoto train transportation, or should I be just fine getting a ticket for the train that day?
2. Recommended way to get from Hakone -> Tokyo? Since I have the JR Pass I was not going to use the Romancecar (or whatever that train line is called).
# Day 1 (Monday 10/23)
– 2:15 pm Arrive in Haneda Airport
– 4:30 pm Taxi to hotel in Asakusa
– 5:30 pm Check in to Richmond Hotel Premier Asakusa
– 6:00 pm Asakusa Hisago-Dori street for Ramen
– 7:00 pm Drinks at Kuroganeya Street
– 8:00 pm Night time Senso-ji Temple
# Day 2 (Tuesday 10/24)
– 9:00 am (or earlier if we wake up earlier) Senso-ji temple
– 10:00 am Nakamise-dori street
– 12:00 pm Lunch/drinks at Kuroganeya street if still hungry
– 1:00-1:30 pm Travel to Ueno Park
– 1:30 pm Explore Ueno park
– 3:00-3:30 pm Walk to Akihabara
– 3:30 pm Explore Akihabara
# Day 3 (Wednesday 10/25)
– 7:00 am Travel to Tokyo Station, get breakfast at convenience store
– 8:30 am Train to Kyoto
– 11:00 am Travel from station to hotel
– 11:30 am drop off bags at Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Kawaramachi Jokyoji
– 12:00 pm Lunch at Nishiki market
– 1:00-1:30 pm Travel to Nijo Castle
– 1:30 pm Nijo Castle
– 3:00 pm-3:30 pm Travel to Kinkaku-ji Temple
– 3:30 pm Kinkaku-ji temple
– 4:30 pm Travel back to hotel, freshen up, walk to Gion
– 6:00 pm Dinner and exploring Gion district, including Yakasa shrine
# Day 4 (Thursday 10/26)
– 7:00 am Travel to Fushimi Inari
– 7:30 am Fushimi Inari
– 10:30 am Travel to Tofuku-ji
– 11:00 am Tofuku-ji
– 12:00 pm Travel to Rengeo-in
– 12:30 pm Rengeo-in
– 1:30 pm Travel to Kiyomizu-dera
– 2:00 pm Lunch
– 3:00 pm Kimono rental
– 3:30 pm Kiyomuzu-dera + Sannezaka
– 5:30 pm Return Kimono rentals, walk to Hokan-ji temple
– 6:30 pm Studio Ghibli Shop
– 7:00 pm Dinner
– 8:00 pm Pontocho Alley
# Day 5: (Friday 10/27)
– 7:15 am Travel to Kyoto Station
– 8:00 am Train to Nara
– 9:00 am Walk to Gardens
– 9:30 am Isuien and Yoshikien Gardens
– 11:00 am Nandai-mon Gate
– 12:00 pm Todai-ji Shoro
– 12:30 pm Todai-ji Nigatsudo
– 1:00 pm Explore Nara park, feed the deer
– 3:00 pm Kasuga Taisha Shrine
– 4:00 pm Kofuku-ji
– 5:00 pm Dinner (possibly Wakakusa Curry) and Mochi
– 6:30 pm Train back to Kyoto
– 7:30 pm Free time, drinks around the hotel
# Day 6 (Saturday 10/28)
– 9:30 am Travel to JR Umahori Station
– 10:30 am Stroll around and make our way to Kameoka Station
– 11:30-12:00 pm Tokyo Kameoka Station – Arashiyama Torroko Station
– 12:00 pm Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and Okochi Sanso Garden
– 12:30 pm Explore Tenryuji Temple
– 2:00 pm Lunch somewhere at Nagatsujidoori Street
– 3:00 pm Travel to Togetsukyo Bridge
– 3:30 pm Togetsukyo Bridge
– 4:00-5:00 pm Travel back to Kyoto
– 5:00 pm dinner
– 6:00 pm Shinkyogoku Shotengai and Teramachi Shotengai
– 8:00 pm Continue shopping, get drinks, free time
# Day 7 (Sunday 10/29)
– 7:15 am Travel to Kyoto Station
– 8:00 am Travel to Hakone via JR line
– 10:30 am Travel to Hakone Shrine via Hakone Tozan Railway
– 11:30 am Hakone Shrine
– 12:30 pm Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
– 1:30 pm Ropeway to Owakudani
– 2:00 pm Owakudani – eat eggs and curry, explore
– 3:00 pm Owakudani to Gora Station
– 3:30 pm Open Air Museum or begin traveling to ryokan
– 4:30-5:30 pm Travel to ryokan (Yama no Chaya)
– 5:30 pm Check in, dinner, enjoy ryokan
# Day 8 (Monday 10/30)
– 8:00-9:00 am Breakfast in ryokan
– 9:30-11:00 am Travel to Tokyo from Odawara via JR
– 11:00-11:30 am Drop off bags at hotel(Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku) and walk to gardens
– 11:30-12:30 pm Explore Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
– 12:30 pm Lunch
– 1:30-2:00 pm Travel to Suga Shrine
– 2:00-3:00 pm Suga Shrine (+ pictures on the stairs)
– 3:00-5:30 pm Explore Shinjuku and shop
– 5:30-6:30 pm Dinner (potentially Omoide Yokocho)
– 6:30-8:00 pm Drinks at Golden Gai
– 8:00-9:00 pm Kabukicho
# Day 9 (Tuesday 10/31)
– 8:00-9:00 am Find breakfast
– 9:00-9:30 am walk to Meiji Shrine
– 9:30-10:00 am Meiji Jingu Shrine (can spend more time here and yoyogi park if needed)
– 10:00-10:30 am Yoyogi park
– 10:30-1:30 pm Exploring/Shopping Harajuku (Takeshita St, Omotesando St, Meiji St, Urahara St)
– 1:30-2:30 pm Walk down Cat St towards Shibuya
– 2:30-3:00 pm Shibuya crossing
– 3:00-6:00 pm Explore Shibuya (including Pokemon center and nintendo store)
– 6:00-7:00 pm Dinner
– 7:00 pm Experience Shibuya on Halloween, maybe travel to Akihabara
# Day 10 (Wednesday 11/01)
– 7:45-8:30 am Travel to Tsukiji market
– 8:30-10:00 am Tsukiji market – exploring and breakfast
– 10:00-1:00 pm Shopping/exploring in Ginza
– 1:00-2:00 pm Find lunch
– 2:00-2:30 pm Travel to Roppongi Hills
– 2:30-4:30 pm Roppongi Hills
– 4:30-6:30 pm Continue exploring Roppongi
– 6:30-7:30 pm Find dinner
– 7:30 pm Free time – Roppongi nightlife
# Day 11 (Thursday 11/02)
– 7:30-8:30 am Breakfast
– 8:30-9:00 am Travel to Shimokitazawa
– 9:00-12:00 pm Shopping/Exploring Shimokitazawa
– 12:00-1:00 pm Lunch
– 1:00-3:00 pm Free time – Last minute shopping/exploring Shimokitazawa, Shinjuku, or Shibuya
– 3:00-4:00 pm Travel back to hotel and pick up luggage/arrange cab
– 4:00-5:00 pm Taxi to Haneda airport
– 5:00-7:00 pm Airport buffer
– 7:00 pm Flight home
**TLDR: Any feedback, recommendations, and/or tips would be appreciated! We are first time Japan travelers so anything you think we might have missed (or not know) would help!**
2 comments
For Tokyo, you can generally count on trains coming every 10 or fewer minutes. We live there, and we almost never check the schedules when travelling inside the city because there will always be a train shortly after we get to the station.
Unless you have a JR rail pass, consider traveling from Odawara to Shinjuku via the Odakyu Line: it’s less expensive and less likely to have delays. There are also some trains that go straight from Hakone to Shinjuku. You can buy a version of the Hakone Free Pass that includes the trip to Shinjuku, too, I think.
Thirty minutes is too long for the Shibuya Crossing: it’s just an intersection. You might take 5 minutes if you dawdle.
On your last day, consider taking a train rather than a taxi to the airport. You’ll be trying to travel during rush hour.
I would rather catch the Limousine Bus than a taxi. There is a huge bus station just across the street from Shinjuku train station and you can reseeve tickets for the Limousine bus there. It’s basically like a large tour bus that you can load luggage underneath. Its like 1700ish yen per person so probably cheaper than a taxi and it goes directly to the airport.
Other than that yeah you could train it on the Yamanote from Shinjuku to Hamamatsucho and catch the airport monorail from there. But ehh.. carrying luggage through trains can be stressful if its busy so luggage forwarding is also a useful thing. Lots of the bigger train stations, major hotels, and airports have them and theyll just shoot the luggage to your specified address so you dont even have to worry about it.