Hey, everybody! I’m planing a trip to Japan in mid Nov ’22 w/ my SO and I’d love some feedback!
Some things to consider:
\-We will be buying a 14-day JR Pass and our budget is around 310,000 yens (around 2,700 USD + plane tickets)
\-We love outdoors, cycling & coffee, also we love museums and aquariums; we really don’t do much shopping & prefer stay in airb&b and avoid tourist traps as much as possible.
\-We both speak japanese. We are not interested in “main japanese” culture like ninja, samurai, geishas, anime and manga, ryokans, etc. We rather have local experiences.
I’ll apreacciate some feedback on regards to how much time is spend in trains, food budget and other extra things to keep in mind like shrine and temple prices, thanks!
DAY 1
\- 06:00 Arrive to Narita Airport & leave lugagge at Ueno Station
\- 11:00 Walk around Koenji Station checking out the second-hand clothing, galleries and craft stores, and graffiti around the hipster area.
\- 14:00 Walk to the next station Nakano, check out Nakano Broadway & the backstreets full of Showa period buildings and abandoned buildings from 60’s-70’s, experience the real Tokyo, eat at a local Izakaya right below the train tracks.
\- 19:00 Get back to Ueno Station to pick our bags, check-in at the AirB&B and call it a day.
DAY 2
\- 08:00 Rent a bike (DOCOMO) near Tokyo Tower and cycle around the Minato-Meguro-Setagaya area, following the Meguro River and along the tram line all the way to Gotokuji Temple and back to Takenawa Gateway Station. Explore the neighborhood and check out the little hidden away temples. At the end, visit de Nikon Camera Museum and rest at a Sento.
DAY 3
\- 08:00 Kayak through the river near the Tokyo Sky Tree with a private guide (found on airbnb experiences) and get to experience Tokyo from a different perspective.
\- 13:00 I have the rest of the day free…any recomendations?
DAY 4
\- 05:00 Get a Bullet Train from Tokyo-Osaka-Mihara, and a local train Mihara-Onomichi
\- 14:00 Arrive at Onomichi, check in at the hotel. Stroll at the beach and relax having coffe and donuts near the shore. Go to bed early.
DAY 5
\- 08:00 Rent a bike for 48 hrs. Cycle along Shimanami Kaido and do some café hopping around the islands. Eat fresh seafood & local delicatessen like lemon and ice-cream with sea salt! Check out the temples, little islands, tangerine and flower fields, and dolphin farms. Camp at Hakata Island (tent is included in the camping fee).
DAY 6
\- 08:00 Return tent and Bike at Hakata. Take a bus back to Onomichi
\- 11:00 Ride the cable car to the Onomichi temple complex and stroll around temple and pintoresque town. Have fresh pastry at Neko no Te Pan and eat some Onomichi’s style Udon
DAY 7
\- 11:00 Bullet train Onomichi-Hakata and Hakata-Osaka.
\- 16:00 AirBNb check in; rest a little and eat away the night at Shinsekai (streetfood)
DAY 8
\- 10:00 Get to Osaka’s aquarium around the feeding times of Otters and Ringed Seals. Price include feeding the Capybaras.
\- 16:00 Eat around the Namba-Dontonbori-Shinsaibashi-Amemura area (more streetfood!)
DAY 9
\- 07:00 Take a train Osaka-Kyoto and a bus Kyoto-Ohara.
\- 09:00 Stroll around Ohara: check the local fruit and vegetable stores, flower market, agriculture market and Janzen-In Temple (matcha and small tradicional candy is included on the entrance fee), walk along the main road near the river and get souvenirs and candy and experience the traditional Kyoto!
\- 15:00 Get back to Kyoto city by bus. Get to the Kiyomizudera-Gion area and try to eat autum snacks like ginko, matsutake, tsukimi dango and deep fried maple leaves. Watch the momiji at night.
DAY 10
\- 09:00 Take a train Osaka-Kyoto and a head south to Momoyama Station. Leave the luggage at Station. Take a guided tour through a Sake Brewery and visit a Sake Museum.
\- 12:00 Have a mini picnic in a nearby park where you can watch the traditional pintoresque boats at the Jikkokubune canal. Walk around the sake factories and try the amazake ice cream.
\- 17:00 Take a train to Kyoto and a bullet Train to Nagoya. Check in at Nagoya’s Airbnb and stroll around the Sakaemachi area at night. Check out the city architecture and get to Space ship Aqua Observation Deck.
DAY 11
\- 09:00 Visit the Toyota Automobile Museum and then have a picnic at the Nagoya’s Botanical Garden (fee includes: Botanical Garden, Greenhouse, Rose Fields, Japanese Gardens and a replica of the Shirakawa Ville; as well as a small zoo with native animals (like the Japanese Raccoon Dog or Tanuki, Cranes, and some weird animals I have never seen in my life like the Aardvark, Honey badget, Equidna, Flying Fox, Bush Dog, and Palla’s Cat), and a small aquarium.
DAY 12
\- 07:00 Take a bullet train Nagoya-Tokyo and leave the luggage at Ueno Station
\- 10:00 Stroll around Yanka Ginza’s area and backstreets. Shop for souvenirs and try traditional food.
\- 16:00 Check in at the Airbnb. Then head to Ningyocho to get a more traditional perspective of central Tokyo. Cover the glamorous area of Nihon Bashi and Ginza by foot admiring the arquitecture and specially the NihonBashi bridge statues at night. Finally have a nice expensive dinner near the Ginza Area.
DAY 13:
I have the day free…any recomendations?
DAY 14
\- 09:00 Take a plane back home at Narita Airport
18 comments
Have you been to Japan before? A lot of this seems very rushed, especially if it’s a first time trip. You’d probably get a lot more out of your trip if you spent less time running around and more time in fewer places.
Onomichi, you can stop at Fukuyama and continue to Onomichi on the local line. There is more train service stopping at Fukuyama, so you can get on a Sakura train and skip 3 stops on the way before reaching Fukuyama.
Onomichi is known for ramen, not udon.
I think it is a mistake, but on day 7, when you leave Onomichi, you want again to change train from local to Shinkansen. Hakata is in Kyushu, on the opposite direction to Osaka, it’s illogic to go there like that. And it’s only 2h in the train from Onomichi to Osaka.
The only place where I remember seeing fried maple leaf was in Minoh (Osaka) and I had it like in March. If I remember correctly, there is a process and you do not deep fry the leaf freshly fallen of the tree, so I do not think it is that seasonal.
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I think that more than “avoiding tourist trap” you are just avoiding the popular spots. Want to go to Nakano to se “real Tokyo”, but, Tokyo is not an amusement park build for tourist, everywhere in Tokyo is real Tokyo.
I feel that if your goal is to focus on lesser explored but still enjoyable places, making an itinerary that will cost that much in train is not necessary. I think you could easily fly in Osaka and focus your trip around Kansai, using a cheaper rail pass to go to Onomichi, like the Kansai-Hiroshima pass at 15000 for 5 days. In Kansai, I think that Nara prefectures is totally worth a couple of days, especially the south of the prefecture, places like Kashihara/Asuka. There is also a small pilgrimage called [Nara-Yamato pilgrimage](https://en.japantravel.com/nara/nara-yamato-pilgrimage/56936) that go to 4 nice temples in that area, this can be done with the Kintetsu rail pass. When I did it, I stopped at a Minshuku, that is a kinf of bead and breakfast, so might feel more “local experience” than a ryokan.
How about Karuizawa for the last day? Plenty of coffee in Nakakaruizawa.
Japan is not opening Doors to turists any time soon, My friend
I’d postpone it till ‘23 or ‘24. I don’t see borders opening anytime soon.
you definitely need to go to arashiyama in kyoto. it feels like something that would be right up your alley. November is a great time for koyo (changing of the fall leaves).
What if you can’t rent a bike until 8:10?
These crazy compact itineraries make me happy I live in Japan. Are you going to have time to enjoy yourself?
You may also want to check the unlimited tokyo metro pass should you be exploring tokyo, can save a huge amount of money… I always buy this ticket whenever I visit my mom in Tokyo. You can buy from the machine, just look for ENGLISH and it’s very easy to purchase.
Seriously doubt you’ll be getting into Japan by November.
Kayakking in november will be cold. Do IT only if you are a alle westher kayakken. Add on day 3 teamlab Both locations. I do think you have a massive programm, be ready to skip stuff.
dude. Japan is closed for foreigners. it has been for a very long time since the pandemic. and knowing Japan to be self sustaining nation , opening their country to strangers is not one of their priority.
Also if Japan does reopen (which I doubt) it will still require a 14 day quarantine period so that’ll render your 14 day visit useless.
I’d keep the written plan but definitely don’t bank on it happening this year unless you have a work visa but even then the 14 day mandatory quarantine is still a thing.
I would to less tourist things around Osaka and visit Koya San for a day, and sleep there a night. Most beautiful experience and not a lot of tourists visit.
I love Japan but as someone who absolutely hates schedules, I find this itinerary upsetting to look at. Having every moment of the day planned in advance would be torture for me.. Is the OP being serious here??
That’s a really packed itenary honestly. Also I honestly would keep this on paper, who knows when Japan will want to open up again.
Maybe oui should stay more in Tokyo, this is bigger than you might think, when i went to japan i did 14 days in tokyo and 1 at kamakura enoshima and i always had things to do
Not gonna happen man, sorry. We were planning our honeymoon there but have changed plans since. Not going to try again before 2024. Even if it is open, you’ll be wearing a mask everywhere and the police have been aggressively checking the paperwork of everyone that doesn’t look Japanese. Do you really want to deal with that?