Hello all. I need a help with 3 days itinerary to Kansai region.
We’re group of students who travels when budget allows and we’ve already been to Osaka and Nara once. This time going for Kyoto (3 main points to visit: bamboo forest, fushimi inari and gion ward) mainly and will base in Osaka. Please note that we’re in a very tight budget right now and I’m trying to plan everything taking into account the travel fees between points. We’re not interested in shrines and temples much and opt for museums, natural sightings and fun spots more.
Very rough plans for now:
Day 1:
5-6am – arrive to Kyoto via night bus from Tokyo
Early morning – head to Arashiyama bamboo forest and visit monkey park after (optional since it has an entrance fee)
Spend the rest of the day in city, probably focusing on Gion (open to any suggestion for interesting destinations)
Late at night – take the train to Osaka for night stay
Day 2:
Early am – head to Nara park (no special plans for Nara, just relax and walk around)
Midday – come back to Osaka, head to Kaiyukan (Aquarium)
Day 3:
Early am – check out and head back to Kyoto, Fushimi Inari
Midday – travel to Lake Biwa, Otsu in particular, explore the bay
Early evening – head to Sakamoto funicular and take a ride
Evening – after the ride, head back to kyoto and take a night bus to Tokyo
The part under the big question is the lake Biwa and ropeway. Especially considering the budget, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to include them considering we have to go back and forth to Kyoto. But I also want to take the maximum from this trip and funicular sounds like a very fun experience. But it’s completely okay to change the day3 to all Kyoto or add some nearby sight.
Ps. the main priority is the traveling expenses as the overall expense for just traveling between Tokyo and Kyoto + stay in Osaka will come around 10k yen. Ideally, I want to keep additional costs under 5k for travelling in Kansai. Also, if there’s any interesting destination near to Kyoto or Osaka, please do tell.
by Illustrious_Shake_99