Itinerary Check 11 days Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto/Kanazawa/Hakone/Tokyo October 2024

7 comments

1. You can make this itinerary work but you have to be ok with the fact that you’re just going to glance the surface of most if not all places you are going to visit. You could opt for taking out the Kobe and Hakone days and spend one more day in Kyoto and Tokyo for example. It will save you 2 days of sitting on a train for a few hours, something you will be doing a lot with this itinerary.

2. We are foodies too and I had put a Kobe day trip on our Osaka itinerary. But according to some of my partner’s friends, Kobe is not actually that interesting and you can just eat the beef elsewhere.

   Another thing to add is we started out with three full days staying in Osaka, whereas you only have one. I would perhaps drop Kobe in favour of covering more of Osaka.

   Similarly, you have so little time in each place. You might have an easier time dropping Kanazawa and spending more time in your other locations.

   For your Kyoto day doing Arashiyama etc, what time are you setting off for the bamboo forest? If you want to start super early your schedule has you hanging around doing nothing before lunch.

3. Japan has amazing vintage stores, but I don’t see where you’re visiting them despite this being your interest. You might be interested in Orange Street in Osaka rather than the very touristy and not very interesting Dontonbori, for instance. Similarly, Tokyo has a vast number of excellent vintage stores, but this doesn’t seem to be part of your trip? Koenji might interest you more than Shinjuku or Shibuya.

   More broadly, this is too many places to visit in only 11 days. I’d suggest reflecting on why you’re visiting Japan: do you want to rush around ticking off some of the main tourist sights, which is your current plan, or do you want the more in depth visits to each place that you say you do?

   I don’t mean to be harsh with this, but there seems to be a disconnect between the introduction about your interests and your itinerary. You won’t actually have much time to wander with this itinerary as you’ll spend so much time on trains and checking in and out of hotels.

   As some suggestions, I’d suggest cutting Kobe as Osaka is a huge and interesting city. Half a day in Nara won’t get you far as it really requires a full day, so you might be better off allocating that to Kyoto. Hakone could also be cut in favour of Tokyo, which seems better aligned with your interests.

4. The Tokyo area has a lot of train-related destinations or attractions, including museums, shops, viewing spots, and abandoned lines, but I don’t see anything related to those in the itinerary.

   I also don’t see anything related to junk shops, flea markets, or what have you. I don’t see any hiking activities, either.

   Yesterday, I just happened to go to a Tower Records outlet (not the one in Shibuya) for the first time in years and found it laughably understocked. If you’ve got an interest in music, I’d suggest visiting one of the Disk Union outlets in Tokyo instead of Tower Records. Disk Union has far larger selections of both new and used CDs or records both domestic and foreign. (There are four Disk Union outlets near Shibuya Station.)

   Your trip looks OK, but with nothing related to the interests you note.

5. On your first day since you will already be at HND just go to domestic terminal and fly to osaka. This buys you like half a day in osaka. You can ride the shinkansen on way back north. Right outside where you exit customs is a ticketing desk and a bus to domestic terminals. I would buy ana/jal foreign visitor tickets with a 2-3 hour buffer and then if things work out they can put you on an earlier flight. There are frequent flights to osaka.

   I just got back from 6 nights at the prince shinjuku hotel and didnt do much in that area during the day. There are much more interesting areas for your day 10 especially if you are into thrifting. There is also a 24/7 donki in shinjuku instead of shibuya for last night panic shopping. HND has tons of post security shopping opportunities but not sure how much will be open that early.

   My main glaring observation is you are spending a lot of time in transit and lots of check ins and check outs.

6. Man, on a trip this length, it’s too many cities and too much traveling. What other commenters are saying about only touching the surface is totally on point. I’d cut Kobe and Kanazawa personally, and give some good thought to Hakone and/or Nara, too.

   It’s a person by person thing, but I’d think about taking a flight or train right to Osaka/Kyoto after arriving at Haneda. For us, at least, knocking out the big travel right at the start has allowed us to save a nite or two, consolidate on what will be a hazy first day. Also, no need to change hotels between Osaka and Kyoto. Probably makes more sense to stay that whole time in Kyoto and take a day trip to Osaka instead.

   Also going to echo the comment about your intro not lining up to your itinerary. You barely touch Tokyo and when you do, it’s run of the mill tourist hot spots. Hit up other neighborhoods, especially for those “junk stores.” As mentioned, Koenji is awesome, Shimokitazawa, Jimbocho, on and on. Nakano Broadway is a trip.

   With 11 nights, I’d probably do 4 in Kyoto/Osaka, 6 nights in Tokyo, and maybe 1 for Hakone if you’re really into it. Kamakura/Enoshima is very popular day trip/single night option from Tokyo.

7. I didn’t read through all replies but definitely make dinner reservations in or near Gion a week or two out from visiting Kyoto. We had a hard time getting in day of. All the Michelin star type places had been booked for weeks.