Hi, I’m going to Tokyo/Kyoto from 27/10 – 7/11. It’s my first time in Japan and my first time on an international solo trip (excited for that).
For all of these I’ll be wandering round the local area. I get distracted and like wandering so I’m happy to miss things or change things up if I fancy it. There’s not too much I’ve booked.
I walk a lot day to day and I’ll be doing a lot on my trip but I’ve tried to keep the days in local areas. Some days are a bit busier but most have relatively open plans.
Also I’m vegan and I’ve made a list (not on here) of places to eat from happycow and I’ll just go to whatever’s local to me when I’m hungry rather than planning too much. The ones I really wanted to go to are included below. If anybody has any recommendations in areas I’ll be I’d love to know.
**Friday 27/10 – Oz >> Tokyo**
\- Arrive in Narita at 6pm. Get to hotel in Ueno.
**Saturday 28/10 – Asakusa & Akihabara**
\- Senso-ji early. Coming from oz so minimum jetlag.
\- Tokyo Skytree
\- Back to Senso-ji to look at local area and shops now they’re open. Get a Goshuincho
\- Kappabashi
\- VEGAN GYOZA YU for lunch
\- Akihabara
\- Maybe a gig in the evening
**Sunday 29/10 – Odaiba**
\- Komeda is for breakfast
\- I was going to do Teamlab Planets but so many people are just saying its pretty gross now so I’ll probably leave it.
\- Small Worlds
\- Daiba Mysterious School. Anybody been before? Wondering if it’d be good solo and whether the English version is any good?
\- Gundam Statue
\- National Museum of Emerging Science and innovation
Not sure where after this. Depends on timing. Might just have a wander.
**Monday 30/10 – Nikko**
\- Early train from Asakusa, walk down to the temple area.
\- Shinkyo Bridge > Shoyo-en Garden > Nikkozan Rinnoji Temple > Gojunoto Pagoda > Tashogu Shrine
\- Walk to Takino’o Shrine and back
\- Futarasan jinja shrine > Taiyu-in Temple > Kanmangafuchi Abyss > Tamozawa Imperial Villa
\- If there’s time, a walk to Jakko waterfall then get the bus back to the main town.
Happy to miss some as I realise there’s a lot there.
**Tuesday 31/10 – Shinjuku/Shibuya**
\- Meiji Jinju (early)
\- MORETHAN bakery
\- Metropolitan Government Building. Mainly going because I’m right by it anyway. I’ll be able to compare it to Shibuya Sky.
\- Look round Shinjuku
\- Maybe Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (Doubt I have the time)
\- Train to Shibuya
\- The usual. Shibuya Sky, Crossing, Mandarake, Nintendo, Pokemon, Mega Don Quijote
\- I know the Halloween Shibuya Crossing sesh has been ‘cancelled’ but will there still be people there? It’d be fun to watch people in their costumes. Any other recommendations for Halloween otherwise? Not going to be having a long night as I’m going to Kyoto in the morning.
**Wednesday 1/11 – Tokyo >> Kyoto**
\- Shinkansen to Kyoto. I was just going to get the ticket at the station on the day. Maybe the day before.
\- AIN SOPH for lunch
\- I was looking at Gion Odori as I’m there at the right time but the awkward booking process doesn’t seem worth it when it’s not a particular interest of mine. If you do think it’s a must see I’ll look further into it.
\- Kiyomizu-dera, Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka, look around Gion. This is all near my hotel so I’ll just stroll where I fancy.
**Thursday 2/11 – Fushimi Inari**
\- Fushimi-Inari (early) I’d love to go all the way up but we’ll see if I’m still in a hiking mood a week in.
\- General path back to centre (maybe stopping at Tofukuji and Sanjusangen)
\- look around centre
\- AWOMB nishikiyamachi for dinner
**Friday 3/11 – Arashiyama**
\- Train to Arashiyama (early)
\- Bamboo Grove, Okochi Sanso Garden
\- Monkey Park
\- Rent a bike for general Arishayama area. Interested inTenryu-ji, Gio-ji, and Otagi Nenbutsu-ji and whatever else I find.
**Saturday 4/11 – Northern Higishiyama**
\- Ginkakuji
\- Daimonjiyama
\- Phillosopher’s Path and anything interesting around it.
\- Nanzen-ji
\- Look around centre + mumokuteki for food
Both times when I say look around centre that means central shopping streets, Nishiki Market,walk along the river. Maybe the Imperial Palace or Nijo castle. Depends on what I’m in the mood for, energy levels, time etc.
**Sunday 5/11 – Kyoto >> Tokyo**
\- Shinkansen back to Tokyo.
\- T’s Tantan
\- Drop bag off. Staying near Akihabara
\- Oedo Antique Market
\- Ohi Racecourse Flea Market
**Monday 6/11 – DisneySea**
Anybody been solo before? The only Disney park I’ve been to was Paris when I was a kid. I’m good being by myself but never been to a theme park solo before and not sure if it’ll be weird.
**Tuesday 7/11 – Tokyo >> Oz**
\- I have most of the day before my flight and I’ll leave it up to what I fancy on the day. Possibilities are Yanaka Ginza, Ueno Park, Jimbocho, Imperial Palace Gardens, Yushukan museum, Shimokitazawa, Gotohuji, Koenji or a combination of these. Or maybe go back to bits I’ve missed and regretted.
\- Flight back at 9pm from Narita
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**Some random questions that came up as I was writing this:**
\- Can I book Shibuya Sky on the day/buy at the counter comfortably? I’d rather not have a rigid time I had to get there but don’t want to get there and it’s booked up. A Tuesday at mid-afternoon, will that be ok?
\- Any good vegan choices in konbini? Besides Onigiri and soyjoy bars?
\- Do you pay to go on the temple grounds or to get into the temples themselves? Mainly for Kyoto, there’s so many of them I want to check if I’m going to be spending a lot.
3 comments
I wouldn’t suggest going to Shibuya on Halloween. I’m sure it would be interesting but they’re explicitly asking people not to come because of safety reasons. I live here and was there after midnight on new years of 2022 and they were ushering everyone away from it, I’m sure it will be the same.
Hi!
This is not meant to be rude.
While I’ve not done the Japanese parks solo, I have done WDW and DL solo before and while I love going with my daughter, I also LOVED going solo. It’s really nice to not have to worry about what anyone else wants to do and to just do what interests you! Some of the rides, like Indiana Jones, have a single rider line and it moves much faster than the regular line. I did single rider with my group of 3 last trip. None of us rode together, but my daughter went first, me friend went second, and I went third, and we all finished within a few minutes of each other.
It’s not as common to go to the Japanese parks solo, but you can still have a really good time.
The one thing I will say is TDR is awful for vegetarians and it is even worse for vegans. I think Sea has 1 quick service option and 1 restaurant option (which is a pizza without cheese.) Since we’re vegetarian we get the pizza with cheese, but even so… I thought the one option in Disneyland was better. It included a surprisingly good vegan dessert. Though I will be upfront here, despite how people gush about TDR, WDW/DL are MUCH better for vegans and vegetarians and have a lot more (and better) options.
Most of the TDR restaurants do take walk ups, just ask. There is sometimes a wait, but there is a wait for quick service.
Unfortunately, a lot of combini foods are not vegan or vegetarian. There can be hidden fish stock in a lot of rice balls. I feel bad because I let my daughter eat many last trip without having done my research. I would check if Soy Joy is actually vegan, I could have sworn at one point it was not and contained dairy.
On the plus side, while I know Aussies are not so into Starbucks, Starbucks Japan has a changing menu of vegan options. They’re all marked plant based and if you are desperate and hungry they can be a life saver since Starbucks is ubiquitous in Japan. They’re also a chain that almost always offers fake milks, which you will not always have on offer in Japan. We didn’t like the vegan sandwich this Summer, but we loved the one on offer last December.
For temples, it sort of depends on the grounds. Shrines are almost always free unless there is a separate garden area with a fee (examples are Meiji Jingu or Fujinomiya jinja.) So if you went to visit say Kitano Tenman-gu in Kyoto or Yasaka jinja or Fushimi Inari there is no fee and you can wander the grounds. If you want to visit Kiyomizudera, you can get to the entrance but there is someone right at the gate charging a fee and the gate will close and lock at night. does that make sense?
We got bad service at Ain Soph in Kyoto. They gave us a lot of dirty looks because my daughter was 7. She was well behaved and sat and read, but it made the meal unpleasant. I’ve not gone back. I’m not sure why some place serving vegan food wouldn’t want there to be vegan/vegetarian children.
My daughter and I loved [Mumokuteki](https://mumokuteki.com/cafe). We ate there in June. The Tiramisu parfait is to die for.
My daughter hated Planets in December 2022. Her favorite part was Uzu Ramen. I liked them too.
My daughter would eat every meal in Tokyo at T’s Tan Tan Ramen if I let her. We’ve been to the Tokyo Station and Ueno Station branches. The Tokyo Station branch is very popular for people coming back from TDR when it’s still open, because TDR has limited vegan/vegetarian options.
There are a few places on Happy Cow with good scores that we thought were beyond awful.
But yeah, unless you are somewhere pretty inaka where there are no Starbucks, which you will never be with your current itinerary, it might cost a little more, but I think the officially labeled plant based options at Starbucks are probably a safer option than a combini.
Okay thats to much for my adhd brain to answer and Idk if my bad english make sense lol its to much going on in my head, dont replan everything just because people tell you. Everyone creates his own story and I think thats awesome!
Asakusa and Akihabara : sounds perfect. Ive had the best local Ramen in Asakusa, there are many non tourists Restaurants and Ive loved everything there (ok the girls bar was a bit curious..). Akihabara was a must see place for me but I dont spend much time there. Its just crazy how many Maids You will see there 😂 and go to BiG Camera – it was amazing to see all the Razer Products (in germany you cant find any store where they have so much stuff)
Odaiba is nice but you can easily get it in a few hours, and there is a fairy connected to Asakusa ! I went to teamlabs and Ive cried because the people disturbed me, mostly tourists no japanese people.. walking with the shoes on the carpet beeing loud and noisy.. big no no for me.. skip it…
I dont want to re plan your trip, but I would rather spend more time in Nikko!
Enjoy the nature – get a private onsen if you have tattoos. Idk how it is in colder times but I appreciate to stay in Nikko one night , it was the best area for me (Ive went in summer and Ive went with Nikko Jumbo to the urami waterfalls, maybe In october its to cold idk but we got neoprensuits).
Shibuya was just funny but I dont really liked the mass of tourists maybe its different in October. If you arent into fashion you can easily visit shinjuku to shibuya and enjoy the night in shibuya (I can recommend shibuya sky book in advance)
So now Kyoto… Ive planned 4 nights, after 2 nights Ive leaved to Osaka. Kyoto wasnt my favorite. But everyone is different. Fushimi Inari was my highlight and Ive walked so much there to find the hidden bamboo forest (google it) so You dont have to spend time to get to arashyama if you just want to see a bamboo forest. You can easily make Kyoto in one day ! If you want to see more shrines and temples 2 days..
To much tourists in the small streets , too much “fake” geishas only wanting some photoshoots…
You can rather go to Osaka Ive loved the food there (Gyoza Nanba best gyozas). The people are so nice here but the metro is bullsht I was so lost 😂
So all in all what can I say:
– no teamlabs
– 1 night in nikko akarinoyado villa revange it has 2 private Onsens
– Nikko Jumbo for getting to the Urami Falls safe (maybe its to cold for swimming and the Rafting tour idk)
– kyoto wasnt my favorite I liked Osaka more because of food
– no extra bamboo forrest you have one in Fushimi Inari
– Odaiba for a few Hours, Asakusa 1/2 day, Akihabara for the night
– metro isnt operating 24/7 so think about this and Ive got lost sometimes so dont plan to exactly (I always plan 20extra min to find the right metro station in Osaka – Kyoto – Tokio)
– dont stand in line for a Restaurant good local food is more worth it (just eat shut your mouth and go) and everywhere
– Osaka stole my heart so much good food
– Ive paid one time in Kyoto to go UP the shrine (not much but not worth it)
– Book The things you want to see in advance than you are safe
I had 14 full days ! So maybe for less days staying in one area is a good idea too. If I would go for one week I would skip Osaka – Kyoto and just stay in Tokio and Nikko(or next time just staying in Osaka and visit some Waterfall meditation and explore the Osaka Region more). But If you want to see more and hike and walk than go for it! There is no wrong or right in my opinion its like drawing or cooking everyone makes it different. Its just your trip and your Experience.
Have fun and enjoy Japan the people are so lovely! And please please please … dont talk in the metro on your phone dont be loud dont disturb . Stand in line. Learn a few words they will be happy… and dont talk to complicated english (my boyfriend had problems sometimes because his english was too good) . Cover your tattoos in temples shrines.. be on time if you book something, be patient, be nice. Dont give tips! Eat all the food. Dont clean your nose in public…