Hi everyone! I’ve been following the group for a few months in anticipation of our upcoming trip. My post is a two-part-ish question.
**1.) Itinerary**I’m still developing the full itinerary, but is this rough itinerary spaced enough for each city? I’ll be adding more details over the next couple weeks but I wanted to make sure we were on the right track before I go overboard with details.
I’m mainly concerned with amount of days in Kyoto versus Tokyo. All of the hotels are booked, but after Hakone I could adjust things by a day here or there (1 day less in Kyoto to go back to Tokyo earlier). Overall I’m more excited to explore the Kyoto region and am also open to adding another Kyoto day trip somewhere or consolidating things in Kyoto and doing an overnight somewhere nearby, but also don’t want to miss out on other must-see things in Tokyo.
**2.) RecommendationsA.** I’d love recommendations for when it’s the best time to purchase important things I may not be considering, in advance.I know Disney Sea tickets are released 2 months out for example and have set a reminder. All flights and hotels have already been booked. I’ll be purchasing the Welcome Suica when we land at the airport and I’ll probably get a Kyoto regional rail pass and individual Shinkansen tickets. I think the JR pass is no longer cost effective for our itinerary.
**B.** I’d also love any and all recommendations on how best to avoid crowds. I know it’s impossible, but if there’s certain temples that are worth seeing at night because they’re lit up, I’d really love to do that instead of visiting during the day. We’ll be trying to do Nara before the crack of dawn to try and beat some of the crowds, and also Arashiyama.
**ROUGH ITINERARYMarch 20th (Wednesday) – Tokyo**\- Arrive Tokyo 5:20PM (Hotel is just north of Chiyoda City about 4 min from Iidabashi Station)- Check in to hotel, grab dinner, and go to bed
**March 21st (Thursday) – Tokyo**Easy day of local jetlag exploring. Possibly train to Ghibli museum if we’re not too tired.
**March 22nd (Friday) – Tokyo**\- Early to Disney Sea (Not terribly excited about doing a park but hubs wants to do one. We opted for this one as we thought it’s something we can’t see in the U.S.- (Would like to reserve lunch at Magellan in park if possible but I haven’t found how to do so in advance- Drinks at Bar Centifolia- Dinner at ?
**March 23rd (Saturday) – Tokyo**Explore Tokyo (Shibuya and Shinjuku)
**March 24th (Sunday) – Tokyo**Day trip to Yokohama (Gundam and Chinatown). Dinner back in Tokyo.
**March 25th (Monday) – Tokyo to Hakone (Kanagawa)**\- Forward luggage to Kyoto- Take Romance Car train to Hakone- Check into ryokan (Hakone Airu). Already booked and can’t/don’t want to move this date.- Explore tattoo friendly onsen. Kaiseki dinner at hotel
**March 26th (Tuesday) – Hakone to Kyoto**\- Leave early. Take Shinkansen.- Drop smaller bags at hotel- Grab lunch- Explore Kyoto
**March 27th (Wednesday) – Kyoto**Dress up and makeup experience? Explore Kyoto
**March 28th (Wednesday) – Kyoto**Explore Kyoto TBD
**March 29th (Thursday) – Kyoto**\- Day trip to Arashiyama, Tenryu-ji, Golden Pavillion. Gion at Night. Considering romance car there. Possibly a boat.
**March 30th (Friday) – Kyoto**\- Very insanely early day trip to Nara.- Possibly Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kizakura and Kitagawa sake brewery on way back
**March 31th (Saturday) – Kyoto to Osaka**Forward luggage to Tokyo- Shinkansen to Osaka- Explore Osaka- Check into Mitsui Garden. Open to changing if there’s a better option- Teamlabs Botanical Gardens at night (book tix late Jan)
**April 1st (Sunday) – Osaka**Explore?
**April 2nd (Monday) – Osaka to Tokyo**\- Fly ITM to HND (arrive 1:40pm)- Check into airport hotel- Explore Tokyo late afternoon and evening. SHOPPING!
**April 3rd (Tuesday)**Head to airport in morning for 11:55am flight back to states
**Other notes:**\- Our interests are vastly different. My husband is into tech, anime, games, bright lights, and crazy Tokyo energy. I’m into seeing beautiful nature (excited for Cherry Blossoms), historical sights and experiences, and quieter more calm places.- We are both foodies but opposites. I eat sushi, he doesn’t. He eats land meat, I don’t.- We are big walkers but currently I have bad knees and feet. Hoping they’ll be better by the time the trip rolls around, but right now walking is a little difficult sometimes so I just need to factor in lots of breaks and have a slower pace. Stairs are not a problem.- I love sake and am interesting in doing a few tours/tastings in different regions.
