Hey everyone! This is my second time going to Tokyo. But this time bringing my wife and making more time to see Kyoto and Osaka. We plan to go right to Kyoto as soon as we land via trains. Not sure if the jr pass is worth it. I tried using map to map out my destinations. Not sure if I packed too much but we’ll see. We’re both pretty flexible.
**Japan itinerary Feb 1-12**
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**Kyoto (Stay at tune stay by Kyoto tower)**
*Day 1 (Feb 1 Thursday)*
Arrive around 7-8PM.
Check into Tune stay
Kyoto tower-Grab dinner and sleep
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*Day 2 (Feb 2 Friday)*
\-7 am or earlier. Take train (29 minutes) to Arashiyama for bamboo forest ($2). . Adashino nenbutsu ji (8000 buddhist statue) (20 min walk). Monkey park ($4) 9AM. Steep climb up 12 min walk.
Lunch
\-San-in line to Ryoan-ji temple. 20 min walk to Kinkaku-Ji (Golden pavilion). 9 am, 40 min train ($2). Train back to Kyoto station. 43 mins ($2)
\-Evening: (25 min from hotel 16 min from nishiki) Gion and pontocho alley (9 min walk from market)
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*Day 3 (Feb 3. Saturday)*
\-6:30 am Fushimi inari (15 min train ride)
\-Take train to philosopher path (45 mins) then walk to nanzen-ji temple
Lunch
\-30 min walk to kodaiji temple
\-11 min walk to Kiyomizu dear
\-8 min walk to yasaka pagoda
\-Yasaka Shrine
\-20 min walk to maruyama park
\-20 min walk to keage incline
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*Day 4 (feb 4 Sunday)*
\-Go to Osaka/Nara
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**Osaka (Stay Brighton hotel Chuo ward)**
*Day 1 (Feb 4 Sunday)*
\-Leave Kyoto early to Nara to feed deers before arriving at osaka
\-Explore namba area
\-Namba Yasaka Shrine
\-Visit denden town
\-Visit dontonbori. Glico man. Pokémon cafe. Ebisu bridge.
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*Day 2 (Feb 3 Monday)*
\-Osaka aquiarum
\-Kuromon fish market on the way back
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*Day 3 (Feb 4 Tuesday)*
\-Universal studios
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*Day 4 (Feb 5 Wednesday)*
\-Osaka castle
\-Umeda sky building
\-Team lab botanical garden
\-Shitenoji temple 30 min train ride
\-Dontonburi night cruise
\-Harukasa 300
\-Round 1 stadium
\-Jumpshot
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*Day 5*
\-Leave Osaka for Tokyo
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**Tokyo (Stay in Shinjuku)**
*Day 5 (Feb 6 Thursday)*
\-Akihabra. Super potato
\-Shibuya crossing, shibyaya sky, Starbucks reserve, Nintendo store. Capcom store.
\-Meiji shrine/takeshita street (animal cafe) (Harajuku)
\-Shinjuku for nightcap
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*Day 6 (Feb 7 Friday)*
\-Ueno Park in the morning
\-Nation museum of science
\-Tokyo imperial palace
\-Odaiba (gundam/rainbow bridge/joypolis)
\-Tokyo sky tree
\-Nakaemise dori street/senso ji temple (night)
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*Day 7 (Feb 8 Saturday)*
\-Team labs planet
\-Tsuki fish market
\-Tokyo art aquarium
\-Visit roppongi
Tokyo Tower
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*Day 8 (Feb 9 Sunday)*
Mt Fuji tour and lake day tour
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*Day 9 (Feb 10 Monday)*
Airplane depart at 7:40PM
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
8 comments
Your feet will hate you
I’m confused by things like… Train to Philosophers path. What train?
If you’re in Gion already Yasaka is right there. Why do it again the next day?
Your second day in Tokyo… Palace to Odaiba to Asakusa? I mean, it’s doable, but how much time do you want to spend traveling? They’re in opposite directions. If anything Odaiba should go with your team labs visit etc.
Can I recommend doing the kimono tea ceremony in Kyoto? It’s called Camellia Tea Ceremony. Another Redditor recommended it and I am totally grateful now. Beautiful experience.
Day 5 is going to be really packed because you have a 3 hour train ride then you have 4 points of interest that are all in different areas
Osaka day 1 is like only possible if you’re literally sprinting through each area. Day 5 in Tokyo is also only possible if you’re literally taking a taxi through these areas and aren’t even getting down. 3 hour travel time to even get to Tokyo and you’re trying to put 4 big areas into one day. Overall I think you’re vastly underrating how much stamina let alone time is required for this itinerary, you definitely packed too much stuff. Genuinely the only days that seem reasonable are the ones with 1-2 things for the day. Honestly even for Day 2 in Osaka you can add one more thing and you wouldn’t be that pressed for time, I think Osaka Aquarium + Kuromon Market is like half a day even if you’re chilling.
The Kyoto and Osaka streches of your itinerary look pretty good! Some of the Kyoto days are fully booked though and leave not much room for improvisation. In Osaka I would move some activities on feb 5th to feb 3rd. I haven’t been to Osaka Aquarium myself but from seeing other peoples itineraries here usually they don’t spend an entire day here. USJ is usually a full day trip though.
The Tokyo days seem overbooked though. Feb 6th is going to be impossible since you also have to do the journey back to Tokyo this day. Perhaps if you omit Akihabara you could pull it off, but still a busy day. Be sure to visit Meiji Shrine first if you stick to this plan, Shibuya and Shinjuku can be enjoyed until late night but Meiji closes around 5.
Day 6 is the same story. You will have to make some decisions here because doing all of this in a day is impossible. Ueno + Imperial Palace + one more area (either Odaiba or Asakusa) is doable but all of this in a day is too much.
Day 7: This day looks better. You might consider moving Odaiba here since you have Tsukiji and Team Labs on this day as well. Makes more sense. Also, Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Sky Tree on a single itinerary seems unnecessary. I’d recommend to omit one of them to create more breathing space.
Day 9: If you still have unil 7:40 PM that means you still have a lot of time on this day to do sightseeing! You can move some of the activities from previous days here!
I can help you with the Tokyo days but I’d like to know in which area your hotel is so we can make a more efficient itinerary.
It’s possible but you are going to be running through everything. I would take a look and see what you really want to do and cut some stuff out so you can have time and enjoy what you do see. Maybe also consider the Sky Hop bus in Kyoto to get around.
I suggest looking at a map and finding where the things you want to see in Tokyo are. You’re going to be crisscrossing the city far more times than necessary, and you’d be wearing yourself out even if all the places you wanted to visit were in the same neighborhood. (Our family visited *one* museum over the weekend located an hour by train, according to Google, from our home. We ended up taking 7 hours and walking 15 kilometers just for that 2.5 hour visit.)
I’d suggest choosing one place for the morning and one place for the afternoon each day, then eating wherever you are or somewhere on the way back to the hotel.
Also, please do not patronize animal cafés. The animals are poorly kept and live miserable lives. Do not support them.