Hello everyone, I need advice on my planned 8days itinerary in November for Kyoto-Nara-Osaka.
I’ll be travelling with my fiancé and this will be our first overseas trip, a little bit nervous and also excited. Any advice or recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Day 1: (Osaka airport – Kyoto)
-Arrival in Osaka airport at 0520hrs
-Direct to Kyoto (probably drop baggage at hotel if allowed)
– Fushimi Inari
– Sanjusangendo
– check in hotel at 1500hrs (Amanek)
– Pontocho & walk around Kamo river around 1700hrs sunset
– planning dinner at Masayoshi Japanese dining
Day 2 (Old street & Kimono)
– kiyomizu dera
– sanenzaka and ninenzaka
– hokanji
– to return kimono during the evening before leaving
– evening visiting yasaka shrine > gion > hanamikoji street
Day 3
– leaving early for Arashiyama bamboo forest
– tenryuji temple > togetsu bridge
– kinkakuji
– Kyoto imperial palace
– Nijo Castle
– Kyoto Pokémon center
– Kyoto tower for night view
Day 4 (Kyoto – Nara day trip – Osaka)
– leaving at 0730hr travelling to Nara and visit Nara park
– Nara park > Nandaimon > Kasuga Taisha > Kofuku-ji (going to try famous Nokatanidou mochi)
– travelling to Osaka and check in Hearton hotel
– kuromon market & dotonbori
Day 5 (USJ)
– spending whole day at USJ
– might drop by tempozan ferris wheel before heading back to hotel
Day 6
– Osaka kizu market
– Osaka castle > tenmangu > tenjinbashi suji
– Daimaru shopping centre (Pokémon centre)
– Umeda sky building
Day 7
– sumiyoshi taisha
– namba yasaka jinja
– den den town
– Tennoji park > keitakuen garden > isshinji
– heading to Haruka 300 during evening/night
Day 8
– visiting minoh park
– noon might visit Americamura / Shinsaibashi area
– evening going to move hotel (Henna Hotel Airport) due to early flight back in the morning
Would also appreciate if there is any food recommendations for the trip. We definitely would like to try those hidden gems that may not necessarily been popularise through social media.
8 comments
Why do you have everything planned to the T? Its nice to have ideas but geez that itinerary sounds exhausting.
I preferred the Pokemon cafe/store in Osaka much more than Kyoto.
But yeah, id loosen the schedule up, that seems exhausting.
Let me know what cities you want food recs for. I just spent 4 days in Kyoto, and 5 in Osaka. In Shimoda currently
Maybe send your luggage from the airport to your hotel, start sight seeing earlier with less crowds.
Terrible, way too much. Relax.
Do note most of the areas you have planned will be packed with crowds. I am not sure how much you will enjoy this and whether you can still make it to most of what you planned.
While i love pokemon too , i do think going to two is too much. Are you planning to go for the pokemon cafe? If yes, then suggest leaving to whichever you are going for.
For day 4, kuromon market will likely be closed by the time you finished with nara.
With respect to food recommendation, are there any specific item that you are looking for? Some of the spots may need to queue and your iteinary may make it tough for you to wait around.
It’s busy but doable. I’d definitely put a few things on the back burner and just do them if you have the time.
It reminds me of my first trip to Japan. Averaged 12 miles of walking per day for 3 weeks lmao.
So I get that this is your first time overseas and you feel pressured to do it all, and that’s not a bad way to look at it, but I do recommend prioritizing.
Day 6 is nuts, get to fushimi inari as early as possible, before the tour buses show up. Unless you’re a Buddhist, this is a lot of temples for the whole trip.
I can’t imagine going to Japan and not doing Tokyo. Kyoto to me can be done in a single day trip. And Osaka isn’t as interesting as Tokyo unless you love American vintage clothing shopping lol. But that’s just personal taste. But I get you only have 8 days which obviously limits things.
As for recos, I loved kushiage from Hanamichi. I think it was a little south of den den town.
One rec for food which may or may not seem obvious.
Look up the type of food areas are known for in advance and then just Google it in the area when you’re ready to eat. Like if it’s dinner time and you want ramen, look up the nearest ramen shops by you and select one based on price/reviews. Of you want takoyaki in Dontonburi, then just check when you’re hungry. Google reviews can be hit or miss but tabelog is more reliable (although a bit harder to navigate the website in English).
I think it’s easy to get too hung up on chosing the “best” and then going out of the way or trying to plan around it. There are so many amazing restaurants that it’s hard to go wrong even just walking in to a random spot.