14 day japan trip (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima + day trips) too much or too empty?

12 comments

1. You’re in a different location most days (sometimes multiple locations each day) that plan, which would get rather tiresome.

   Some aspects don’t really work – Kanazawa would be a lengthy day trip from Tokyo, and travelling from Hiroshima to Tokyo and then immediately heading to Hakone doesn’t make sense.

2. You’ll definitely get a tiny glimpse of a lot of places. If you prefer quantity over quality, this sounds great.

   Seriously though, doing Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima in 14 days is extremely tight, but then you’re also doing daytrips all the time too.

   Dude does 3 temples in Kyoto and then is like “I’ve run out of things to see”.

   Also, doing a round trip to Kanazawa sounds really stupid. You can do Tokyo -> Kanazawa -> Kyoto.

   And riding past Hakone to Tokyo to then go on a daytrip to Hakone sounds stupid as well. And the next day you’re going from Tokyo to Kamakura. Why the heck are you staying in Tokyo, even.

3. I am doing Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima on my upcoming trip, but I’ve got 20 days and will not be doing Hakone or Kamakura. I’m also overnighting in Kanazawa, it is too far for me to consider it as a day trip.

4. Tokyo is an amazing city, the best in Japan and you’ve literally planned your whole trip to not be in it!

5. If you have to ask, it’s too much.

6. If you’re already in Osaka just do your Hiroshima trip from there. You can even turn it into a day trip although I do recommend staying one night at least.

7. Is this your first time in Japan? Some cities can be saved for subsequent trips. A day trip to Kanazawa with Shirakawa-go is frankly not going to work.

   I would agree to spend a few more days exploring the city you’re based at rather than always going out on day trips. You can easily spend an entire day in one district in Tokyo.

8. Kanazawa is an excellent somewhat off-the-beaten-path destination (well, I might be biased because I lived there for a few years) but you’d never want to Shinkansen across the country for only a day (and Shirakawa-Go isn’t realistically possible in this itinerary). If you can dedicate at least two days to the Hokuriku area (Kanazawa and one day trip to Gifu-ken to see Shirakawa-Go) then it would be worth it (and there’s plenty to see there) other wise skip.

   Arakurayama Sengen Park is very close to Hakone. Do these at the same time. Fushimi Inari is a Shinto shrine and those are open 24 hours.

   Kamakura is beautiful and I could easily spend a day there, especially if I went to a bunch of temples, and a museum, and even more so if you’re a cinephile and you wanted to explore some Yasujiro Ozu (filmmaker) history. Many of his films were made there and he’s also buried at a temple near Kita-Kamakura station. I was there last week for the second time and we had a work time escaping the full-on Tokyo urban powerblast. There’s a really nice soba restaurant just across the street from the Daibatsu Big Buddha site).

   You’ll never run out of things to do in Kyoto. Despite many travelers who complain about it, Kyoto is almost the most important place in Japan historically imo. Look up the Golden or Silver Pavilions, National Museum, Palaces, beautiful temples and pagodas, Gion, or any list of what to do in Kyoto. I highly recommend Kyoto. Just be in the right frame of mind for tourists and plan accordingly like going to places early or only spending time thoroughly exploring a certain area of the city.

9. I’ve just done a 10 day trip doing the sort of same thing. I’d recommend just sticking to to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka if you want to visit different cities. You basically lose a day travelling between Tokyo/Osaka. Japan really sucks the energy out of you as well where you’re just constantly walking and seeing stuff.

   It’s completely up to you but that would be my advice.

10. I applaud your ambition — I visited 21 cities on my first trip to Japan in a single month – but a lot of the places you want to see are too far from each other to be reasonably practicable. Your fears about efficiency are very well-founded, I’m afraid.

    If you insist on doing Kanazawa as a daytrip, do not under any circumstances make it a round trip. Send your luggage to your Kyoto hotel via Kuroneko, spend the day in Kanazawa and then head to Kyoto during the evening. Alternatively, consider staying in Kanazawa (hotels tend to be very good value there) and take a day trip to Shirakawa from there instead.

    You will be able to see either Shirakawa or Arakurayama, but not both, unless you make room for it later on in your trip when you return to Tokyo. Bear in mind that Ueno to Arakurayama is almost 3 hours by train one-way. A round-trip there is not advised unless you absolutely *must* see Fuji.

    Alternatively, bear in mind that you will be passing through Nagano on your way to Kanazawa, so if you’re really into seeing as much of Japan as possible, consider whether you might like to take a daytrip there en route to Kanazawa on Day 2 in lieu of visiting Shirakawa on day 3. If you’re travelling in winter, be mindful of the fact that’s high-season as far as Nagano is concerned, so a day-trip there en route to Kanazawa is a cost-effective way of visiting.

    I strongly advise seeing Kinkaku-ji in the morning, as soon as it opens. Ryoan-ji and Taizo-in (personal favourite) are about 15-20 mins walk from each other so you can see those three temples in the morning and be in Hanazono by lunchtime. From there you can decided whether to visit Arashiyama or not, since it’s only a few stops away from Hanazono station. While I would agree that the *grove* is a bit overrated, that doesn’t mean that other things in Arashiyama are not worth seeing.

    Bear in mind that Hiroshima is about 90 mins from Osaka, and Tokyo is another 2.5-3 hours or so away from Osaka. That’s a *very* long trip that could easily be broken up into a daytrip to Nagoya or Fuji. For example, if you are only going to Arakurayama to cross Fuji off your list, be mindful of the fact that you can see the opposite view of Fuji from the Tokaido as well. People do sleep on Nagoya in general: it’s not a must-see destination by any means but it’s a lot nicer than people typically give it credit for. You may want to consider taking a few hours to explore, even if only to stretch your legs.

    As others have said, because Odawara is on the way to Tokyo, and because Hakone can be accessed from Odawara, if you are going to stay in Hakone anyway it would be much more efficient to do so here, instead of training it back to Tokyo and then going to Hakone. Be mindful of the fact that this is still a *very* long train ride: close to 4 hours all-up if you include the trip from Hiroshima.

    As a final word, since you mentioned that you’ve already been to Tokyo and aren’t really considering seeing much there, consider the option of staying in Yokohama instead. Firstly, accommodation there tends to be both cheaper and better than Tokyo. Secondly, it’s only about 30 mins away from Tokyo by train, so commuting from there to Tokyo is unlikely to be a deal-breaker for you given some of the other trips you seem willing to make. Thirdly, it is closer to Osaka, Kamakura and Hakone, so you’d shave off an extra 20-30 mins off your travel time on some of those long trips. The only downside is that you won’t be able to explore Tokyo past midnight, which might be a deal-breaker for some.

11. Hiroshima peace memorial – you don’t need to spend a whole day. I would spend time in miyajima

    Arashiyama is cool. I wouldn’t skip that. The river is nice. The monkeys are cool.

    What about Kobe ? Kobe’s cable car was spectacular. The Kobe beef was really good. The Chinatown was pretty good too.

    Do a kaiseki in Kyoto. That’s a must.

12. With the places u listed I would do, Tokyo D1-D4(full day trip Kamakura) -> Kanazawa D4-D5-> Hakone D5-D6-> Arakurayama D6-D7 -> Kyoto D7-D10 -> Osaka D10-D13 (11 for nara/12 for Hiroshi+miya day trip) – Tokyo D13-D14

    Kanazawa / Hakone / Arakuyama is too far & doesn’t make sense for a “day trip” stay 2DN1. Tokyo D13 lets u cover whatever missed out.

    But honestly, it’s too much & you are trying to cover too much for a 14days. I would remove Kanazawa/Arakuyama and only go Hakone. If I remove those 2, I would either add more days in Tokyo/osaka or make Hakone/Hiroshima a 3D2N. Arakuyama I feel it’s pretty much same vibe as Hakone, and Kanazawa I would make for another north coast Japan trip in future.

    I would also try to fly into Tokyo and fly out from Osaka to save travelling time.

    TLDR: too much, you are literally touch and go.. when someone ask you how’s Osaka you will be like.. oh I like it the aquarium is nice.