Hi,
We are a group of 4 (2 Couples) from India, and will be doing Tokyo ➔ Hakone ➔ Kyoto ➔ Osaka ➔ Hiroshima ➔ Tokyo in 12 days around NYE. I know it’s packed, but family amirite ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Please help us check our itinerary + would appreciate answers to some questions below –
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| Dates | City / Activity |
| ——————————————————————————————— | —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- |
| Dec 24 | Reach Tokyo ● Get Welcome Suica or Pasmo Passport or Icoca card at airport ● Check-in to hotel at Ginza ● Walk around Ginza – Uniqlo, Itoya, Hands, etc |
| Dec 25 | Ueno Park area – Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo Metropoliton Art Museum, National Museum of Nature and Science, National museum of western art ● Ameyoko Shopping Street ● Akihabara |
| Dec 26 | Arashio-beya Sumo Stable – go around 8-8:30am to watch practice – 2 km walk from Ibis ● Mori Art Museum ● Roppongi Hills – Tokyo Tower ● Meet friends at Ginza by 5:30pm, walk around |
| Dec 27 | Imperial Palace and Gardens ● Team Lab Planets ● Asakusa area : Senso-ji , Sumida River walk , Tokyo SkyTree |
| Dec 28 | Tokyo ➔ Hakone ➔ Kyoto |
| Dec 29 | Higashiyama and Gion ● Kiyamizu-dera ● Sannenzaka and Yasaka Pagoda Photograph Spot and Ninenzaka and Hokanji Temple ● Kodaji temple ● Yasaka-Jinja and Maruyama Park ● Higashiyama North (Nanzen-ji, Okazaki shrine, Philosopher’s Path, Higashiyama Jisho) ● Gion – Hanamikoji Street and Tatsumi Bridge |
| Dec 30 | Arashiyama Bamboo grove ● Tenryu-ji temple ● Kinkaku-ji (Go to Zuiho-in temple/zen gardens if possible, 2km walk) ● Samurai and Ninja Museum, near M’s Plus |
| Dec 31 | Fushima Inari early in the morning ● **Take Kyo-Train Garaku to go from/to Kyoto-Osaka** ● Namba lion’s mouth temple ● Check in to hotel and NYE around Dotonbori|
| Jan 1 | Nara, Himeji Castle ● Evening at Osaka – Harukas 300, etc |
| Jan 2 | Osaka ➔ Hiroshima ➔ Tokyo |
| Jan 3 | Shinjuku and Shibuya area ● ● Meiji shrine ● Yoyogi Park ● Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden ● Tokyo goverment metropolitan building for night view” |
| Jan 4 | More of the same thing. Shop, relax, pack |
| Jan 5 | Flight back to India |
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**Questions**
1. Are the Hakone day trip (and then taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto) and Hiroshima day trip (and taking Shinkansen to Tokyo) too ambitious? We plan to use baggage forwarding service for Tokyo ➔ Kyoto and Osaka ➔ Tokyo.
2. We keep reading that public transport around NYE is crazy crowded and might be difficult to navigate, especially if we have to check into a hotel? We’re just going from Kyoto to Osaka and will have to check-in around noon. Any tips?
3. We’re all vegan/vegetarian and are going to rely a bit on convenience stores, if not vegan-friendly restaurants, for food. Will any of these be closed around NYE?
Arigato Gozaimasu 🙏 : 🙇 Namaste
1 comment
All of the museums you have listed for 25 December will be closed. Mondays are the regular closing days for museums in Tokyo.
A Hakone day trip is fine, but I really would not to choose to take it on a trip as short as yours.
Your 3 January day will be extremely busy, and some of the places you want to see may be closed. Meiji Jingu might be the single most crowded place in Japan for the first three days of the new year.
Triple-check whether the things you want to see from 31 December to 3 January are actually working/opening/accessible on those days. Many places close for the new year holidays.
Convenience stores will be open on New Year’s Day in most places. Remember that the Japanese dishes soba and udon are usually suitable for vegetarians. I’ve been vegetarian for all of my 35 years in Japan, however, and still ask carefully about food when I am in unfamiliar restaurants: many people do not realize things like lard and gelatin are not vegetarian. Please also be aware that many stocks (for ramen or soups and almost all curry bases are made with meat or fish in Japan: I always make Japanese-style curry at home because most of the things in restaurants have meet in them.