Hello,
I am hoping for some feedback of my itinerary.
The questions that concern me are: is it realistic and if this itinerary worth my time? Is Osaka, Himeji and Nara worth it, considering how little time I have in Kyoto, or am I better off just exploring Kyoto?
Sunday: late evening arrive to Kyoto
Monday: full day in Kyoto
Tuesday: take a train to Osaka to visit the Osaka castle. In the afternoon travel to Nara to see Todai-ji and walk around the Nara park until it closes. Return to Kyoto.
Wednesday: visit Kyoto imperial palace and attend the 10am English tour. After the tour, leave Kyoto and take a train to Himeji to visit Himeji castle. (We will store our luggage at the train station). After Himeji Castle continue our journey to Hiroshima.
I am looking forward to any suggestions how to improve this trip.
Thank you! 😊
3 comments
Hmm, you’re not leaving yourself enough time to see anything. If you really want to see Himeji castle (and I do recommend that one in particular plus the extra add on to see the excellent Japanese gardens right beside it), I’d skip Osaka entirely and go back there in a future trip where you are leaving yourself enough time to properly explore a city.
I think your Tuesday and Wednesday are pretty packed. When we did the castle tours, we spent a lot of time walking around and listening about the grounds. Wednesday especially would be tight – not sure how long your 10am tour takes but Himeji Castle is only open until 5pm with 4pm entry cut off, and the train is 1.5 hour I think.
If it were me, I would swap doing the tour Tuesday morning while you’re in Kyoto already, skipping Osaka castle, and only doing Nara that day. Then Wednesday I would only go to Himeji and continue on. This would give more time to really absorb everything you’re seeing, because those sites are quite beautiful and worth the reflection time 🙂
The Himeji castle is cool but if I was short on time like you, there are a LOT of things in Kyoto I’d consider going to over visiting the castle. But, if it interests you, it is still 100% worth it.
The best move to maximize your time in Kyoto is wake up before the sun. I had a few days in Kyoto, and because I woke up at 4am, I saw all the main attractions by around 6pm my first day. Obviously it was rushed, but that is my biggest tip. It sucks but grab a coffee from 7/11 and take a nap on the train!
It seems like a busy couple days, and I’d probably recommend removing one of the activities, whether that is the Osaka castle or kyoto imperial palace.