Hi all!
Countless posts here and the discord community had helped me prep for my first Japan trip, so want to share a short trip report and hopefully it is somewhat informative to other travellers!
* Travel period: end of Nov – mid December 2023 (15 days)
* Cities visited: Tokyo-Hakone-Kyoto (+Nara & Uji)
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**Tokyo**
To think I originally considered skipping Tokyo for this trip cuz it seemed *overwhelming*…it really blew my mind, in the best way possible. We spent 5.5 days in Tokyo and I thought that was just enough time.
Highlights
* Jiyugaoka & Sangenjaya – not so touristy and so walk-able, we really loved just exploring around, checking out different shops, grabbing a snack here and there. A quiet escape from the main attraction sites of Tokyo, I would definitely like to come back here!
* Shibuya Sky rooftop – we caught the last day of rooftop opening before winter closure and while it was extremely windy and cold, it was well worth it, it really is a great spot to see Tokyo at night. Btw we did the metropolitan building observatory as well, pretty cool as well.
* Ghibli museum – despite almost missing it thanks to Google Map giving wrong directions, this was great, very cool to see some early scripts of The Boy and The Heron and loved the vibe of the site! And Kichijōji was a cozy area to wander around.
* Tokyo national museum – I liked that it is not so overwhelming, while there are quite a few collections to visit, each has fairly manageable sizes. We like to visit museum first in a new place to learn about the history and this one was great.
Letdowns
* teamLab Planets – to each there own and I can see why people love it, I just thought it leaves more to desire, given it is: a) far from the center; b) steep entrance ticket price
* Takeshita Dori – thought there’s not much to it, a very short side street and didn’t find it particularly interesting
**Hakone**
Planned one night stay here to enjoy the onsen and I thought it is worth it though would try a less touristy onsen town next time around!
Highlights
* The onsen ofc – we stayed at Yama no Chaya, quite pricy but we loved it, the onsens are great and amazing service, food is overall ok, there are some highlights
* Open Air Museum – I thought this looked cool before going and then it was 10 times better when visiting, very diverse exhibiting and everything feels as though it is in the middle of nature (it technically is). Super pleasant and relaxing visit.
* Narukawa Art Museum – lovely exhibition and great view of the lake and Mount Fuji
Letdowns
The Hakone shrine where people take photo with the shrine gate and lake backdrop, extremely long queue so we skipped that, don’t recommend taking detour just for that
**Kyoto – Nara – Uji**
We spent about 6.5 days in and around Kyoto, it’s a generous amount of time and would have probably cut one day or so for Tokyo or another city.
Highlights
* Nara park – luckily when we visited it wasn’t so touristy, we picked a weekday and that could be why. The deers are amazing to see and especially how they just are scattered around a huge area and in temples etc. Nara also seems like a pretty liveable city
* Fushimi Inari Taisha – unless climbing is really not for you, I recommend to get there \~7/7.30 and climb to the top, it was nice to take the time there and enjoy the accomplishment of reaching the peak – quite a highlight of the trip! Also we combined it with Uji, I think it works really well
* The river cruise in Arashiyama – super fun ride and it was a solid 2 hours, we had really amazing weather and although we don’t understand Japanese the boat staff were still entertaining and we loved it!
Letdowns
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove – it is not much more than a instagramable hot spot, it is quite small / short and very quickly packed with people, we did not enjoy it that much.
* Sagano romantic train – jam packed and was a short ride, while getting asked a couple times to take paid photos, could also be that the foliage was already fading in the area, thought it was not that great.
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Some general tips and recommendations:
* Prep, prep, prep: as much as it might seem overwhelming, it really can make all the difference to your experience, of course you should leave some room for surprises and spontaneity, but I do recommend to plan well for your must-sees
* Send your luggage especially when you’re travelling far to smaller cities: in Kyoto city bus suitcases are not allowed, and in some places like Hakone it is simply dangerous to drag suitcases on really narrow roads that pedestrians share with cars
* Suica Apple Pay: it is truly hassle free, really appreciated how easy and smooth this was
* Bring a reusable sealable bag for litter: there’s barely any trash cans in the streets especially in Tokyo, be prepared to take packages / water bottles with you
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That’d be all for now – comment below if you have any questions!
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by a-a-run