I posted this earlier and it was removed as it was not detailed enough, so hopefully, this is a lot better.
We are going to Japan on the 19th of March and we will be there for just over 2 weeks.
I am 41, my wife is 35. We want to see a good rooftop view of Tokyo, visit the gaming/tech area, do a bit of shopping, and possibly see the Cherry Blossoms 🤞
We wanted to see a mix of modern and old Japan. Hopefully, we can see Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo as we are there from 27th March – 3rd April.
We wanted to try and limit the short overnight stays as I have Multiple Sclerosis and I don’t want to overdo it, plus we are a little flexible on when we do day trips in case I have a bad day.
We fly into Osaka and out of Tokyo.
We are not 100% set on seeing all of the places listed here and in the order we say, this so far is just a rough plan of things we could do. We may need to move places we visit each day for it to work better.
**Day 1:**
We arrive in Osaka after 22h of total travel so we will get a hotel in Osaka as I think getting on a train to Kyoto after so much traveling may be too much
**Day 2:**
The next day we will have a look around Osaka, mainly going and looking at Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, and Shinsekai. Later in the day we will take a train to Kyoto and use this as a base for the next few days. We have booked in Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Kawaramachi Jokyoji.
**Day 3:**
On our first day in Kyoto we will take a look around and have the following as a possible 1-day itinerary:
* Kinkaku-Ji (Golden Temple)
* Ryōan-Ji
* Nijō Castle
* Shimogamo Shrine
* Ginkaku-Ji (Silver Temple)
* Explore Gion in the evening
**Day 4:**
The next day we will go to Nara for the day, and in the evening, go and see the Gion area if we could not do this the previous night.
**Day 5:**
Get up very early and go to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (we may do this the day before instead of Nara), then we have the following places we could see:
* Yasaka Shrine
* Go shopping at Nishiki Market
* Kyomizu-Dera
* Sanjūsangen-dō
* Fushimi Inari
* Byōdō-in
* Philosopher’s Walk
**Day 6:**
Take a day trip to Hiroshima in the morning. See the Peace Museum, Dome, and maybe get a boat to Mijama for a few hours, then head back to Kyoto.
**Day 7:**
Train to Kanazawa early. Arrive at 11 am, or a little earlier. Once we have checked into the hotel, which is Hotel Forza Kanazawa we then have the following places we want to see on this day and the following day, these are not in any order as yet:
* Kenroku-en Garden
* Higashi Chaya District
* Oyama Shrine
* Kanazawa Castle
* Higashi Chaya District (evening)
* Samarai District
**Day 8:**
The following morning we will get an early bus to Shirakawago, most probably spend a few hours there and then get back to Kanazawa. We can then visit places from the list above that we were unable to see the day previously.
**Day 9:**
Train to Tokyo in the morning. We were going to do 1 night in Kanazawa, then Shirakawago the next day then Takayama for a night but worried it was too much so we decided to spend 2 nights in Kanazawa and then bypass Takayama and then Tokyo.
We have not booked a hotel in Tokyo yet but would most likely be looking in the Asakusa, Shinjuku, and Ueno. Arrive in Tokyo early afternoon.
**Day 10-15**
We will now finish our holiday in Tokyo. We have a big list of places we would like to see in Tokyo, and at the moment we have not planned what day we are doing each, but here is a list of things we would like to fit into the following few days remaining and I have tried to group the different places by proximity to each other.
* Sensō-Ji, Tokyo Skytree, Akihabara, teamLab Planets, Ueno Park
* Tokyo Art Aquarium, Harajuku, Tokyo Tower (at night)
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, see the Godzilla head, Piss Alley / Golden Gai, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building – good aerial view
* Shibuya Crossing, hopefully, get a seat at Starbucks!, Harajuku, Meiji Shrine
* Mario Kart in the street.
* See Cherry Blossoms, apparently, Yoyogi-kōen is a good place to see this.
One of the days we will take a day trip to Mount Fuji.
Is Nikko worth a trip? I only ask as we will have seen some temples, old towns, etc, and worried we need more time in Tokyo
Looking at the above, where would you add/remove days?
2 comments
>I think getting on a train to Kyoto after so much traveling may be too much
The Haruka express runs directly from KIX to Kyoto station.
>Day 3:
>
>On our first day in Kyoto we will take a look around and have the following as a possible 1-day itinerary:
It’s Friday so it may be doable, but since it’s near Sakura peak Kyoto can be really, really packed where you will be lucky if you can do half of your listed place. Especially since this will be first Sakura after COVID.
>Day 5:
>
>Get up very early and go to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (we may do this the day before instead of Nara), then we have the following places we could see:
Very unlikely for you to do more than 2-3 on your list since this is Sunday near Sakura peak. Kyoto will be packed to the brim with foreigner and Japanese alike. Expect at least double if not 3-4 times the amount of time required to go from A to B by bus.
>Looking at the above, where would you add/remove days?
You are going to need more non-weekend Kyoto day to finish places on your list.
>Day 6:
Take a day trip to Hiroshima in the morning. See the Peace Museum, Dome, and maybe get a boat to Mijama for a few hours, then head back to Kyoto.
Not worth it. Museum is basically nothing. If I was in town on work, its worth a stop at the church to see it. I would never travel there to see it, after having gone. Its basically a tourist trap in an uninteresting town.