Wife and I are doing a big trip in October. I’ve been reading hundreds of itinerary checks and trip reports to plan this out. Some days are planned better than others, but I’d appreciate any second, third, or fourth opinions. Am I forcing too much into one day? Is Odaiba even worth it if we’re not seeing the gundam statue? Should I be making more reservations for restaurants? For context my wife and I are 30 and visiting Japan for the sights, the nature, the food, the anime, and for the onsens.
**Day 1: Tokyo Arrival**
– Land in Haneda around 3pm
– Go straight to hotel (Conrad Tokyo)
– Get Starbucks to stay awake until at least 9pm
– Get omakase sushi
**Day 2: Shibuya**
– Shibuya Scramble at 9am
– Shibuya Sky at 10am
– Harajuku
– Flagship Kura Sushi for lunch
– Meiji Jingu
– Tower Records
– Shibuya Parco
– National Art Center Tokyo
– Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu for dinner around 7pm
– Shibuya Sky again for night view
**Day 3: Odaiba and Ginza**
– Toyosu Market for early morning sushi
– teamLab Planets around 9-10am
– Aqua City
– Joypolis
– Odaibai Takoyaki museum
– Art Aquarium Museum in Ginza
– Pokémon Center
– Yurakucho area for dinner
– Wander around Ginza at night
**Day 4: Shinjuku**
– Suga Jinja in the early morning
– Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
– Sekaido Shinjuku
– Hanazono Shrine
– Kabukicho
– Kabukicho Tower
– Rokkasen for dinner
– Omoide Yokocho
– Spend the rest of the night wandering Kabukicho
**Day 5: Tokyo DisneySea**
– Spend the whole day here
**Day 6: Takayama**
– Arrive around 3-4pm by ~~Shinkansen~~ train
– Check in at inn and wander Sanmachi dori
– Maybe hit a sake brewery if time permits
**Day 7: Takayama Fall Festival**
– We’ll be in town for the festival and plan to spend the first day enjoying that (weather permitting)
– Might try to explore the town and see the Hida no Sato Open Air Museum
**Day 8: Kamikochi**
– If the weather cooperates then this day we’ll go to Kamikochi instead of seeing the second day of the festival
– Take early bus to Kamikochi
– Hit Hirayu onsen after hiking
– Take bus back to Takayama
**Day 9: Kyoto**
– Hit the Takayama morning market if it’s open
– Travel to Kyoto and arrive around 3-4pm
– Check in at Hilton Doubletree near Gion
– Explore Nishiki Market and get some food
**Day 10: Kyoto**
– Get kimono rental in Gion
– Explore Sannenzaka Path
– Short tea ceremony (it’s a 45 min session rather than the real deal)
– Kiyomizu Dera
– Hanamikoji Street
– Gion Duck Noodles for dinner
– Explore Pontocho alley
**Day 11: Kyoto**
– Hit Fushimi Inari Taisha first thing in the morning
– Get lunch somewhere
– The rest of this day is still open ended for us. We can’t decide what to do here
**Day 12: Ghibli Park**
– We plan to take the Shinkansen to Nagoya and spend the whole day at Ghibli Park
**Day 13: Hakone**
– Take the train to Hakone and check in at Gora Hanaougi around 4pm
– Might see Hakone Gora Park
**Day 14: Hakone**
– Ryokan is next to ropeway station so we’ll get on first thing in the morning (9am)
– Walk on trail to Hakone-en ropeway station next and take it to the top
– Mototsumiya Shrine
– Hakone Open Air Museum
– Relax in ryokan onsen
**Day 15: Asakusa**
– Leave early morning for Asakusa
– Check in to Asakusa Tobu Hotel around 3pm
– Nakamise dori
– Senso-ji
– Kappabashi street
– Get dinner somewhere in Asakusa
**Day 16: Last full day**
– If we missed anything or skipped something we’ll spend this morning seeing it
– Akihabara in afternoon
– Tokyo Skytree for nighttime view
**Day 17: Fly home**
– No time at all to do anything here
by bredcrumbz