Hello everyone! I’m looking for some advice on this early itinerary for a Japan trip in late March/early April. Flights have already been booked and currently looking to book hotels in the next few weeks. This trip is a birthday gift to my sister! We will be in Japan from March 24th – April 6th. It’ll be just the two of us! She’ll be 16 by the time we go so I imagine there’ll be a few items off limits due to her age. I am 26.
March 24th
Touch down in Japan around 8pm local time. Grab Suica cards, get some cash, take the train down to Tokyo to check into our hotel. Grab food from whatever is open/around.
March 25th
Jet lag day so will take it slow and visit Shibuya! Crossing, dog statue, views, shopping, and dinner will be done in shibuya for thst day. Cherry blossoms pic if they are in bloom
March 26th
Harajuku day or akihabara day
March 27th
Studio Ghibli museum day/Shinjuku
If possible I’m going to visit a JoJo bar.
March 28th
Travel to Kyoto via Shinkansen
Do Kyoto stuff
March 29th
Kyoto
More Kyoto stuff
March 30th
Travel to Osaka
Dotonburi
March 31st
Nara day trip
April 1st
Osaka Universal Studios! Likely spend most of day here, afterwards go to dotonburi
April 2nd
Day trip to Kobe/more dotonburi stuff when we return
April 3rd
Bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo
Visit harajuku/akihabara
April 4th
Team planet laps/Food market
April 5th
Currently unplanned. Could be day trip to Yokohama / could be revisit a neighborhood. Could be visiting Roppongi. Cherry blossoms pics again.
April 6th
Flight back home in the early morning.
As you can see there’s some parts of the itinerary that need to be fleshed out more! Especially the Kyoto part. I keep seeing posts about how people wished they spent more time in Kyoto over Osaka but my sister and I can’t understand why? We’ve been debating on whether to even add a Kyoto stay and instead add an extra day to Osaka/tokyo.
Additionally, we need a little help beefing out our Tokyo stay. For example, is there enough to do in Shibuya to dedicate a whole day? Could I bundle up Shinjuku/Harajuku in one day? I don’t really know how long we could spend in each place.
Lastly, we both have a lot of foods in mind that we want to try but no specific places. Any recs would be awesome.
Appreciate any advice on the itinerary!
5 comments
Perhaps you should watch some youtube guides on Kyoto or look at some pictures/trip reports here. Kyoto is a unique city in terms of architecture and culture so many people enjoy. But if it’s not your thing, there’s no point spending more time there for the sake of it.
How long you spend in each area of Tokyo really depends on how much shopping you want to do. There are enough malls and shops on each area to spend an entire day there, but do you really want to do that? It’s hard to say
Tbh i much prefer Osaka over Kyoto. Osaka is the food capital of Japan and the people are a lot more friendly and outgoing.
I think keeping your itinerary fairly open is the best bet for both Tokyo and the Osaka/Kyoto portion. Have a couple of things that are top priority each day then go explore and if you get bored, head to another area.
What are you and your sister into? Harajuku is very popular with teenagers, check out all back streets heading towards Omotesando, not just Takashita Dori for great shopping.
If the 2024 cherry blossom season is a guide, the cherry blossoms will mostly be gone by the time you land in Tokyo, I’m afraid.
Note also that you’re arriving a few days after the spring holidays begin in Japan. (The academic year ends around 20 March and the next academic year starts in early April.) You should be sure to book both the Ghibli Museum and TeamLabs the moment you are able, or you will miss both of them. Expect Universal Studios Japan to be extra crowded also.
As for Tokyo, there is plenty to do in every place you have listed. You’ll likely find yourself with more things to see than you’ll have time for in each place you go.
Regarding food in Tokyo, you will be able to find whatever you want to eat close to wherever you are: Tokyo has from 60,000 to 100,000 restaurants, and most of them are from good to excellent.
Happy birthday to your sister.
I have similar dates for my vacation plans. I will be landing on 23rd march in Japan. Before that we are covering Seoul. Will cherry blossom be done by then in Japan? Because I really want to see it
>March 29th Kyoto More Kyoto stuff
>March 30th Travel to Osaka Dotonburi
>March 31st Nara day trip
I would do this: kyoto -> Nara -> Osaka.
On our last trip, we began our day by waking up early in Kyoto, checking out of the hotel, and taking the train to Nara. We stored our luggage in a coin locker for 1000 yen, explored the park, and hiked Wakakusayama, reaching the summit in just 30 minutes. Afterward, we enjoyed lunch on Nara’s Higashimuki shopping street before heading to Osaka in the evening.
Edit: I would highly suggest a half day trip to Kamakura as well! I really loved it