Hello everyone,
Came across this subreddit while searching for things to do while in Japan.
As I said in the title, I will only be in Japan for 15 days for a Business trip in Hamamatsu City between 16 December 2023 to 30 December 2023. As this is buisness trip I will be quite busy with work atleast for the first week of my stay. This I my first time visiting Japan so I don’t want the experience to be just about work.
I will be visiting some of the places in Hamamatsu like Hamamatsu castle
, Ryotan-Ji temple and some museums but I want to visit other places as well.
I am planning to visit either Kyoto or Tokyo if possible. I am leaning towards Kyoto but open to visiting Tokyo as well.
Say for example if I had 2 days free, to explore Kyoto or Tokyo what would you go for. I am planning to travel via Train to reach either places.
I have noted down some places and things I would love to do while Kyoto or Tokyo.
TODO for Kyoto:
1. Gion district walk around
2. Kinkaku Ji Temple
3. Fushimi Inari Shrine
4. To ji Temple
5. Kiyomizu-dera Temple
6. Yasaka Pagoda walk around
7. Visiting any beautiful gardens
TODO for Tokyo:
1. Sensoji Temple area
2. Shibuya especially Shibuya crossing
3. Akihabara walk around
4. Shinjuku Goyen National Garden
So I basically looking for recommendations to places to go with the span of two days(Worst case scenario).
I like to explore and just walk around to absorb the atmosphere. Also if you have any other recommendations like stay or commuting to reach locations I would be happy to hear it.
Thank you very much.
3 comments
Kyoto: if you mean it is as a one day trip from Hamamatsu – Kinkaku-ji → Nanzen-ji (for subtemple gardens) → Southern Higashiyama (Yasaka Pagoda, Sannenzaka, Kodai-ji, Kiyomizu-dera) → Fushimi Inari would probably be the only order that makes sense (and skipping To-ji).
Tokyo: Shinjuku Gyoen → Akihabara → Asakusa → Shibuya would probably make the most sense with the opening hours.
I think for Kyoto you should go to Kiyomizu dera, then Yasaka and Gion by walking down the hill. If your full day can be long then Fushimi Inari as well. I personally find Kinkaku-ji to be a trap but some others would disagree. It’s also on the other side of town.
For big city vibes… You can also go to Nagoya. Much closer, lots of different things to do.
If you have just two days, I’d recommend to go to Kyoto. Kyoto is beautiful! Food is great too. You can see some old Japanese things that you can’t see in Tokyo. Of course it’s depends on what you want to see but Tokyo is big city and modern. Both cities are touristic and a lot of people but I think walk around in Kyoto cab feel about traditional Japanese cultures more than Tokyo in my opinion.