Hello! I am looking for feedback on my 13 Day Itinerary. Its my first time visiting Kyoto & Osaka so I wasn’t sure if I over/under planned for some days. If there are better sequences for visiting locations, please let me know. Also, I have not looked at any restaurants to visit so if you have any food recommendations, please send them my way. I will be travelling alone the entire time so preferably not big restaurants. Feel free to ask questions & I’ll try to answer them as much as I can.
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**Osaka**
Hostel: (Fuykushima, Fukushima-ku, Osaka)
Day 1: Jan 3
Arrive in Airport 12:00 pm. (2 hours to get to hotel – check in)
go to hotel & check in
Late Noon: Go to Kuromon Market
(Bluefin Tuna, Grilled unagi,Uni, Taiyaki)
Evening: Ebisubashi Bridge, *Grizzly* (thrift store)
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Day 2 Jan 4
Morning: Himeji Jo / Osaka Castle
Noon: Kokoen / Osaka Casle
Evening: ??
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**Osaka (Nara)**
\*\*Check out of Hotel at 11:00 am\*\*
Day 3: Jan 5. Going to Nara
Morning: Todaiji Temple & Nara Park
Noon: Horyuji Temple, Yoshikien Garden (Tea House) Isuien Garden, Neiraku Museum
Evening: Kofukuji (Temple from 710), Head to Kyoto Hotel\*,\* Osaka tataki Gyu Restaurant
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**Kyoto**
AirBnB: Sagaru Shimogyo-Ku Kyoto City Japan
Day 4: Jan 6 Arashiyama
Morning: Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Okochi Sanso Garden, Sogenchi Pond Garden
Noon: Tenryuuji (buy wooden beads), Togatsukyo bridge, Arashiyama Monkey Park
Evening: Kinkakuji (Golden Temple), Sekkatei Tea House & Ryoanji, Katsura river – kimono forest (beside Arashiyama station)
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Day 5: Jan 7. Gion, Kyoto (Higashiyama Ward)
Morning:, Kodaiji Temple \*\* small temple, Matcha Kaiseki ???, Sannenzaka (shopping strip) Ninenzaka (neighborhood strip)
Noon: Murian Garden – kiyage incline & 疎水分線, Nanzenji Temple
Evening:Philosopher’s Path – Ginkakuji
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Day 6: Jan 8.
Morning: Imperial Palace (Book reservations)/Shusui-tei Teahouse
Noon: Nishiki Market (food), Yasaka Shrine
Evening: Kiyomizui Dera
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**Shizuoka**
Day 7 (Jan 9) Tuesday (day pre-planned)
Morning: Leave for Shizuoka / Check out of Hotel (11:00 am)
Noon: Meet Tatsuki at 11:00 am, Tatsuki already planned out day
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Day 8 (Jan 10) Wednesday – Shizuoka
Tatsuki planned out the whole day out
Evening: Head to tokyo via Train
Check in Jan 10, Wednesday. 4:00 pm
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**Tokyo, Shibuya**
Hotel: Nihonbashihamacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0007
Day 9 (Jan 11) Thursday
Morning: Tsukiji Market, Nakagin Capsule Tower, Meiji Jingu
Noon: Yoyogi Park
Evening: (Shopping) Kapital, Beams, Loft (Stationary Store), Nano Universe
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Day 10 (Jan 12): Friday – Tokyo Area, Museum Day
Morning: Yasukuni Shrine (Free), Imperial Palace (Free),
Noon: Tokyo National Museum (arch) (1,000 Yen), Kioi Seido – arch/shrine – Arch by Hiroshi Naito, Toraya Akasaka – arch/food
Evening: ??
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Day 11 (Jan 13) Saturday : Sayano’s Family Day in Fuji
Commute 1 hour & 30 mins to get to Tama
Morning & Noon: Meet Sayano
Evening: ??
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Day 12, Sunday (Jan 14): Nothing Day // Akihabara ?
Free plan
Free plan
Free Plan
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Day 13, Monday (Jan 15): **Mitaka & Shimokitazawa**
Morning: Commute – 1 hour from Hotel, Kyodo no Mori Museum (history & arch)
Noon: Ghibli Museum \*Tickets available on Dec 10 for Jan!\* (1,000 yen)
Evening: Shimokitazawa with Sayano (clothing).
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Day 14, Tuesday (Jan 16): flight home
Morning: Check out of Hotel, Check out at 10:00 am
Lunch somewhere: ??
Head to Haneda airport by 1:00 PM
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4 comments
> evening temple visits in Kyoto and Nara
Not sure what your definition of ‘evening’ is, but a friendly reminder that outside of special evening events most/all the temples on your list close by 5pm so it is not possible to visit in the evening.
> Philosophers Path
Also very confused by visiting here in the evening, since it gets dark very early in Japan and in January the trees here are barren branches. Considering Ginkakuji will also be closed, this seems like a long way to go just to look at dead trees in the dark.
> Murin-an
(I assume, as this seems like a typo among some others) The only reason to go there is if it is near other places you are visiting and it is free for you (on the 28th of each month for under-35s), otherwise it’s a fairly average garden not worth a special detour.
> Kiyomizudera
Should be visited at the same time as Sannenzaka & Ninenzaka, not on separate days.
Day 3, you could insert Tsutenkaku (Osaka Tower) pretty easily in the evening. There’s a bunch of food places around there too.
I don’t understand Day 5/6: Sannenzaka/ninenzaka are right next to Kiyomizu dera (it goes right up to it actually). You could potentially do Kiyomizu dera early morning and swing north to kodaiji and philosopher’s path from there as a half-day/day thing along with the many other temples on the way.
Day 9: Nakagin Capsule Tower was torn down a year ago.
For January 4th, I think Himeji Castle is 1000x more impressive than Osaka Castle and worth the day trip. Osaka Castle is fun to see from afar, but not necessarily worth the admission inside. Himeji was never the victim of any major enemy bombardment so it’s still largely intact from its original construction. It’s beautiful and the inside was so fun to explore! It will be freezing inside that time of year though so wear warm socks (you have to take off your shoes)!
Agreed with other commenters about Kyoto. It will be dark by about 4, and temples will close around that time as well. You won’t be able to visit any temples in the evening so those plans will need to be reworked.
Please tell Sayano (s)he should take you to Kichijoji or Koenji for clothes shopping instead of Shimokitazawa. You’ll be in Kichijoji anyway for the Ghibli Museum, and Shimokitazawa stopped being a good destination for clothes shopping a decade or more ago.
As for having too little planned, it’s virtually impossible to have too little planned in Tokyo, as any way you turn there will be something interesting.