Hello. My girlfriend and I are going to Japan next year for her birthday during early cherry blossom season. Here’s what I’m planning, and hope to have some time to explore as well. This is assuming I will be successful at reserving tickets. Thanks for any advice, cheers!
Day 1 (Friday March 15, 2024) – Land at 1500, activate E sim, collect luggage and go through customs, exchange about 400 USD to yen, and purchase a Welcome Suica card (sorry, I have android). Ship our luggage to our hotel, or take an airport limousine. Explore the surrounding restaurants for dinner, and sleep early.
Day 2 – Take a bus a bit outside Shibuya to grab a snack at Shiro-hige Cream Puff. Go back to Shibuya to check out One Piece Store, Shibuya Crossing, Hachiko Statue, and a few hours at Shibuya Sky. Dinner at Zauo Shibuya, and stop by Mega Don Quixote before going back to the hotel.
Day 3 – Visit Meiji Jungu Shrine no later than 0700. Then Cosme Tokyo before we go look at Kabukicho Tower. The plan for dinner is Muscle Girls bar. If we’re still hungry, dinner number two will be at Yakinikumafia Ikebukuro, followed by the nearby Don Quixote or Round 1 for some fun and games.
Day 4 – Stop at Bonjour Bon early in the morning, and then make our way toward Ghibli Museum. In the afternoon, a stroll around Shinjuku Gyoen Garden, and use the rest of the day to explore anything we see interesting.
Day 5- Check out from hotel and ship our luggage to our hotel in Kyoto. Travel quite a bit from our hotel to dine at Unagi Watabe. We will use the remaining morning and afternoon to do activities that we didn’t get to do, or other things that we’ve seen. In the evening, we will take the bullet train to Kyoto while sitting on the right side so that we may potentially see Mount Fuji.
Day 6 (Wednesday March 20, 2024) – Philosopher’s Path early in the morning. Back in the city before 1200 and watch a show at Gear Theater. When the show ends, we will either go back to rest at the hotel or explore Nishiki Market. Dinner will be at 1700 Kichi Kichi Omurice (tourist trap, yes, but we really want to experience the ambiance). Rest or walk around until after 2000 when Macho Bar opens.
Day 7 – Go to Fushimi Inari Taisha early in the morning, (potentially) go to Costco Yawata Warehouse on the way to Nara, mainly to feed the deer and visit Nakatanidou. Return to Kyoto when bored/tired, and chill for the rest of the day.
Day 8 – Arashiyama Bamboo Grove no later than 0700. Get some tea, visit some temples and shops. Spend the rest of the day in Arashiyama.
Day 9 – Ship luggage to Osaka, and then check out Hokanji Temple, Sanneizaka, and Kiyomizu-dera (the goal is to finish by 1300). Go to Ringram to make custom rings. Take train to Osaka.
Day 10 (Sunday March 24, 2024) – Check out Costco (if we didn’t go in Kyoto). Possibly Magic Shinsekai. One Piece Store inside the mall. Teamlabs Botanical Garden at night.
Day 11 – Universal Studios Japan all day
Day 12 – Visit Osaka Castle, eat at Gyukatsu Motomura, explore Dotonburi
Day 13 – Ship luggage to Tokyo after checking out. Either explore Osaka and fly to Haneda at night, or fly back early(ish) and visit Poop Museum, TeamLab Planets, and TeamLab Borderless.
Day 14 (Thursday March 28, 2024) – Tokyo Disney Sea all day
Day 15 – Tsukiji Outer Market early in the morning, Kyuei Melon Pan, Itoya Stationary, Muji Ginza Flagship Store, Hutsumabushi Bincho for lunch, Sapporo Dominica for dinner
Day 16 – Kakimori Stationary, and then explore Akihabara. Eat Gyukatsu Motomura if we didn’t have a chance to in Osaka.
Day 17 – Breakfast at Asakusa Kegetsudo, maybe Nakamise shopping street, Donguri Republic
Day 18 – Check out of hotel, arrive to airport by 1400, flight at 1700.
4 comments
Hi! I’m Japanese here. This itinerary is amazing! If you would like to try some interesting food in Kyoto,
Yugen (matcha cafe) Lorimer Kyoto (breakfast) Awomb (sushi lunch) Men-ya Yukou (ramen)
If you are interested in a small cute village near Kyoto, “Ohara” is super nice.
> mainly to feed the deer and visit Nakatanidou
The deer are really cool, but I recommend avoiding Nakatanidou and just watching videos of the mochi pounding on Youtube. It’s a much better experience and you won’t have to deal with crowds that way. Even if you manage to go at the right time for a mochi pounding, you’ll barely be able to see anything due to the crowds.
> Return to Kyoto when bored/tired, and chill for the rest of the day.
Going to lots of places in Kyoto is really exhausting, especially if you’re hiking up Fushimi Inari. Glad to see you’re planning ahead for this.
wow this itinerary is really good!
* day 1: if you’re okay with not having your luggage this day, shipping your luggage is fine. otherwise you should take the limousine. i’m not sure if you’re landing in HND or NRT but if NRT check if the NRT express stops close to your hotel (they have space for luggages)!
* day 2: zauo is great i’m excited for u
* day 3: Muscle Girls bar was a lot of fun, but they do not have dinner food 🙂 so eat a meal before or afterwards
* day 4: make sure you book ghibli museum tickets ahead of time
* day 5: if you want your luggage in kyoto the day you arrive, you need to ship your luggage on day 3. day 4 is possible but it depends on the hotel concierge filling out the form (i’ve had hotel concierge send my luggage from tokyo -> kyoto and they put the date for the next day and it arrived. i’ve also had hotel concierge tell me that it must be shipped two days prior)
gyukatsu motomura is tasty, but if the wait is very long it’s not worth it IMO. i waited over an hour but i don’t think i’d do it again
It will be spring break, meaning USJ will be packed. Get express passes.
Donkey Kong will be opening as well, so yeah, total insanity.