Hello,
I have spent the past days reviewing the helpful posts here (thanks!) and would like a confirmation that this itinerary makes sense please :
season : February 2024
1/ Tokyo for 6 days (excluding arrival day)
staying in Ebisu or Roppongi area
– day 0 arrival: resting and sleeping
– 1st day: shibuya/harajuku and Shinjuku (maybe Koenji if not too tired)
– 2nd day: explore Asakusa and Ueno, maybe Ginza if not too tired
– 3rd day: explore Ebisu and Daikanyama.
– 4th day: maybe a day trip, for example Nikko?
– 5th day: chilling, going back to the areas we liked, maybe continue exploring south of Tokyo
2/ Kyoto for 6 days
Staying near the Kyoto station
– day 0: arriving from Tokyo and chilling , exploring at a slow pace
-1st day: fushimi Inari early morning then trip to Nara
– 2nd day: exploring around in the city + Arashiyama
– 3rd day: day trip to Osaka
– 4th day: I was thinking of another day trip here. I hesitate between Uji, Himeji, Omi Hachiman and Amanohashidate. Do you have any opinion on these please ?
– 5th day: chilling in Kyoto, going back to places we liked
3/ Kinosaki Onsen
for 2 days and 1 night. If you have a favorite ryokan please let me know!
4/ Going back to Tokyo
for last 2 days and leaving Japan
I feel that it is a good itinerary for a 1st time but please let me know if you have any comments 🙂 thank you very much!
3 comments
Just got back from a two-week trip a few days ago.
Your first day in Tokyo is.. a lot. Depends on your style but you won’t see a great amount of the three places if you try and do them all in one day.
Not sure about your plans for travelling to Kyoto from Tokyo but Fushimi Inari gets busy early – we went at 9am and was busy but manageable. Would have been a better experience getting there an hour/hour and a half earlier. That makes for a really long day if you’re going there straight from the station.
Looks pretty good to me – i think this is about the right level of detail for someone who likes to explore and soak it all in slowly, but not enough detail for someone who wants to see lots of specific things. If you’re the first kind of person, then great!
For your Tokyo 4th day, I can recommend a hike on the [Okutama Mukashi Michi](https://www.japan-experience.com/all-about-japan/tokyo/attractions-excursions/okutama-mukashi-michi), if you want a solid nature day with an intermediate-level hike. The Mukashi michi is stunning but it’s a 2-hour train ride west of tokyo. It starts in a small town (Okutama), which is well off the beaten path, so it’s great if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle.
A few things of note in Osaka are DenDen town for nerds and weebs, Osaka castle for history lovers, and some great bars for anyone with a taste for that. Dotonburi can become a tourist hellhole but there’s lots of cool spots in the area despite that.
Maybe put Ebisu, Daikanyama, and Shibuya all on the same day. Shibuya and Daikanyama are close enough together that I am usually not aware of which place I am in unless I check the address. (Ebisu is a place I haven’t visited in this century because there’s nothing interesting there.)
You can put Shinjuku on another day and take a trip out west from there (per the suggestion of u/170rokey or going to Kichijoji , Koenji, or Nakano.