Hi all, first time planning to Japan for 12ish days next August..we will be 7 person family from teens to 40s. Please advise on my very early high level plan.
Day 1-leave North America
Day 2-arrive Tokyo and head to Osaka, check in hotel and dinner
Day 3-explore Osaka area/Cup Noodle/Minoo falls if not far/Dotonbori for evening and dinner (not sure what area to stay for the 4 nights in Osaka given our itinerary?)
Day 4-Kyoto day-Arashyama Bamboo-Togetsukyo bridge-Fushimi Inari-Pontocho Alley dinner (not sure if we should rent a minivan for the day to go to Kyoto for the 7 of us, or just transit? And does this order make sense?)
Day 5-Universal
Day 6-Osaka to Fuji area for 2 nights-Mt Tenjo/Shiraito Falls/Mt Sankodai
Day 7-Nakabadaira hike/Narusawa ice cave/Fuji ropeway (have no idea what order makes sense for the 2 Fuji area days or if any of these should be removed for duplicity?) (And what hotel makes sense that may be close to these, one with Fuji view preferable?)
Day 8-Fuji area to Tokyo-(would like to fit in Shibuya crossing/Akihabara/Ninja restaurant/Robot restaurant if reopened/Sumo if available/private karaoke/conveyer belt sushi/5 level arcade in the 2.5 days in Tokyo, plus anything cool I have missed) (Also what hotel, no hostel, cheap to mid range?)
Day 9-
Day 10-Disney Sea (we are huge Disney people but dont want to spend 2 days at Disney parks so have picked Sea)
Day 11-
Day 12-depart
Any tips/advice/ideas/cool restaurants or experiences are appreciated!
3 comments
minoo park is 1-2 hours away from dotonbori just fyi
-If this is your first trip to Japan Id recommend staying in Kyoto rather than Osaka. It is definitely not true that Osaka is cheaper or more convenient, it is just some people’s personal opinion. (ps: I lived both in Osaka and Kyoto). In Kyoto there are many areas you get to walk at night while in Osaka this is limited.
-Minoo Falls (imho) is an area that can be found anywhere in NA. Having said this in Minoo there is onsen called Oedo Onsen Monogatari which has a little activity area as well that may appeal to your teens.https://osaka-info.jp/en/spot/mino-onsen-super-garden-hot-springs-spa/
-Cup noodle museum for me was a bit underwhelming except that you get to make your own personalized cup noodles (not from scratch) but that was about it.
-In Kyoto these may appeal to the teens: Nishiki Market food tasting, Samurai & Ninja Museum with Experience, Manga Museum, Uzumasa Park
-Sumo tournaments in Tokyo are held only in January May and September. Some companies used to provide sumo training experiences in the early morning but not usre if they would be post-covid.
-In the fuji area I may recommend Fuji-Q highland park https://www.fujikyu.co.jp/en/amusement/amusement01.html
I would personally recommend finding a hotel in the tokyo station/shinagawa area for your first night, then take an early train to osaka over extra travel after a 10+ hour flight.
August and japan are like houston/Miami level hot & humid.
Disney sea is the most unique park, (and my favorite) as tokyo Disneyland is effectively a copy of magic kingdom.