My friend and I are visiting Japan in November, from the 13th through the 25th. We’re looking forward to mainly experience the big touristy destinations with some stuff we enjoy personally in between. Without further ado, here’s the 13 day itinerary:
Day 1: Land in Narita airport in Tokyo and chill out the rest of the night, possibly visit Tsutaya, Shibuya Crossing, and the Shibuya 109 top floor outlook
Day 2: Full day in Akihabara and Nakano Broadway (also points of interest would be Super Potato, Mandarake, HMV Record Shop, Tower Records, any animal cafe, etc.)
Day 3: Visit Senso-ji Temple, Ueno Park, and Meiji Jingu outdoor shrine in Tokyo
Day 4: Extra day in Tokyo (explore extra parts of Tokyo such as Harajuku and Shinjuku fashion districts)
Day 5: Head to Nara to explore the deer park, Todai-ji Temple, Kasuga-taisha shrine, and Isui-en Garden
Day 6: Visit Osaka, Dotonbori street, and the Osaka Castle
Day 7: Stay in Osaka and visit the Namba Yasaka Shrine, Americamura youth fashion district, Umeda Sky Building, Shinsekai neon lit neighborhood, Shinsaibashi shopping district
Day 8: Extra day in Osaka for Universal Studios and Super Nintendo World
Day 9: Arrive in Kyoto and enjoy our stay at the Fushimi Inari Taisha orange gate shrine and the Kiyomizu-dera Orange Temple
Day 10: Spend another day in Kyoto, this time early to go to the Arashiyama bamboo grove, Tenryu-ji Temple, Senko-ji Temple, Iwatayama Monkey Park, and the Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion Temple
Day 11: Extra day in Kyoto (explore extra parts of Kyoto such as the Nishiki Market, Gion entertainment district, Nanzen-ji Temple, Nijo Temple, and Yasaka Shrine)
Day 12: Go back to Tokyo for one last night
Day 13: Return home
If you have any feedback on how to best improve this itinerary or how to spend the extra three days in a way that makes sense with this itinerary, please let me know! I’m eager to hear some input on this so my second time to Japan can be a memorable experience. Thank you in advance!
1 comment
First of all, wouldn’t you consider flying out from Osaka? That’d save you a day and some costs going back to Tokyo.
As to your itinerary –
Day 2: Are you looking to buy lots of electronic or anime stuff? Or do you like arcade games very much? If you’re just looking to “have a look” in Akihabara, I think a full day would probably too much. Akihabara is actually not a very big place, if you’re not looking to do something specific there, I’d say afternoon+evening should be enough for Akihabara and Nakano Broadway.
Day 4: If you don’t have an area in mind right now, I’d say you can probably spend a day/night in Enoshima or Hakone. They’re not too far from Tokyo and it’s on your way to West side.
Day 6-12: Are you a super fan of shopping and temple/shrines? If not then I’d probably cut down some trips for shopping and temple/shrines, and head south to pay Wakayama a visit. Wakayama is just south of Osaka and you can also find some nice places to visit there.