**Day 1 – Tokyo – December 5**
* **Evening**
* Arrive in Haneda Airport (\~6:30pm)
* Head to hotel for check-in and to drop luggage
* Walk around the hotel
* Buy dinner at コンビニ or find a chill place to eat
**Day 2 – Tokyo – December 6**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast in hotel (if applicable)
* coffee in the morning at a nearby cafe
* Meiji Shrine
* **Afternoon**
* Yoyogi Park + lunch somewhere
* Koen Dori street + Shibuya crossing + Hachiko statue
* Coffee and snack at Shibuya Starbucks (for Shibuya crossing view) or another cafe
* **Evening**
* Shibuya/harajuku shopping & exploring its districts and stores.
* **Stores:** Loft, Parco, Hands, Don Quijote, Uniqlo (choose like 1 or 2)
* **Streets:** Center Gai, Takeshita Street, Omotesando Avenue
* Dinner in some restaurant
**Day 3 – Tokyo – December 7**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast (hotel and/or cafe)
* Mori Art Museum
* Mori Art Museum Tokyo view
* **Afternoon**
* Lunch somewhere
* Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue
* Shinjuku Gyoen garden (autumn)
* Snack/cafe nearby
* **Evening**
* Free space – Explore Shinjuku
* Golden Gai and/or Piss Alley
* Department store?
* Late dinner
**Day 4 – Tokyo (Asakusa) – December 8**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast (somewhere)
* Imperial Palace
* Sensō-ji temple
* **Afternoon**
* Lunch somewhere
* Nakamise and Shin-Nakamise Shopping Street + Nishisandou shopping street?
* Melon Pan store
* Koishikawa Korakuen (autumn)
* Snack/cafe nearby
* **Evening**
* If < 8pm: Akihabara exploring
* Sumida River for Tokyo Skytree view and relaxing stroll
* Follow the river south to get back to the subway stations
* Late dinner
**Day 5 – Tokyo (day trip) – December 9**
* Nikko or Hakone (leaning towards Hakone)
**Day 6 – Tokyo (more laidback day) – December 10**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast
* Cool cafe/place/store I want to visit
* **Afternoon**
* Shibuya/Harajuko exploring
* Anything I couldn’t do or see on day 2
* Lunch somewhere
* ??
* **Evening**
* Snack somewhere
* Roppongi Hills (Christmas lights)
* Tokyo Tower (observation deck?)
* Evening view, as the last one was in the morning/afternoon
* Ginza exploring
* Dinner (find a nicer restaurant to try in Ginza).
**Day 7 – Tokyo (day trip) – December 11**
* Lake Kawaguchiko
* ??
**Day 8 – Tokyo – December 12**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast
* Something to do before going to Kyoto
* Another Shrine perhaps?
* **Afternoon**
* Send luggage to Kyoto hotel
* Check-out and travel to Kyoto
**Day 8.1 – Kyoto**
* **Late Afternoon**
* Lunch (if didn’t eat at 新幹線) + Gion exploring
* Pontocho alley
* **Evening**
* Yasaka shrine
* Kawaramachi-dori street (if enough time and not too tired)
* Dinner
**Day 9 – Kyoto – December 13**
* **Morning**
* Fushimi Inari Shrine (go early to avoid crowds)
* **Afternoon**
* Lunch somewhere
* Higashiyama exploring
* Sannenzaka street
* Cafe/snack
* Kiyomizu-dera temple
* **Evening**
* Pontocho alley again for dinner?
* Or go to where hotel is located to explore/have dinner
**Day 10 – Kyoto – December 14**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (7am?)
* Tenryu-ji temple (just the garden)
* **Afternoon**
* Lunch near Monkey Park
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
* Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple (possibly skip due to time)
* To go here, go back to Arashiyama station and get a taxi
* Walk downhill towards Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple and Giō-ji Temple
* Eat something here
* **Evening**
* Travel back to hotel
* Dinner (depends on where I am staying)
**Day 11 – Kyoto (day-trip) – December 15**
* Nara
* Deer park
* Todai-ji Temple
* Wander through Nara’s quaint backstreets and explore small shops and cafes
* ??
**Day 12 – Kyoto – December 16**
* **Morning**
* Gion early exploring and breakfast somewhere (or at Ryokan)
* Kinkaku-ji temple
* **Afternoon**
* Lunch somewhere
* Kyoto Botanical Gardens OR Kyoto Concert Hall (if I can book something)
* Nijō Castle
* Find a cool cafe nearby for snack/coffee before castle
* **Evening**
* Gion traditional tea ceremony??
* Nishiki Market for dinner?
**Day 13 – Kyoto – December 17**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast at cafe/ryokan
* Send luggage to Osaka hotel
* **Afternoon**
* Tofuku-ji Temple (autumn)
* Lunch somewhere
* Check-out and travel to Osaka
**Day 13.1 – Osaka**
* **Late afternoon**
* Abeno Harukas (observation deck)
* Tsūtenkaku (no deck, just exploring the area and take pics)
* Cafe/snack somewhere
* **Evening**
* Dotonbori exploring
* Tombori River walk
* Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street (too late?)
* ??
* Dinner nearby
**Day 14 – Osaka – December 18**
* **Morning**
* Breakfast in a cool cafe/place?
* Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
* Lunch
* Coffee/snack inside before leaving (or find a cool place nearby)
* **late afternoon**
* Osaka castle
* **Evening**
* ??
There are some incomplete parts and some missing days, but this is what I’m going for. Is it too much? Some stuff I already noted that I would skip if too tired or not enough time.
For the last 2 days I’m thinking about going to Gifu, would you guys recommend it?
Also, I’m not really interested in theme parks. But I’m wondering if I skipped something or if I should remove anything, taking into consideration that it’s autumn and near Christmas.
I really enjoy specialty coffee, so I’m going to try to visit quite a few of them (let me know if you have any recommendations).
Note, I’m traveling alone.
Thank you!
2 comments
Where are you flying off from? If you are flying from Osaka, it may be better to go to Gifu right after Tokyo so you don’t have to go back and forth.
Kurasu Kyoto Stand has great coffee
The Shibuya Starbucks outlet at the famous crossing closed on 31 October 2023. The closure may be permanent, but the earliest it’s going to repoen (if indeed it does) will be in late 2024.
The evening of 6 December looks a little too busy: shops close early in Tokyo. I’d suggest skipping the Don Quixote and just going to one of the many others you’ll run into in Tokyo on a different day.
I’d also suggest taking a look at a map and grouping all of the places physically close together on the same days.