18 day Itinerary – February 2023

14 comments

1. be sure to try the street food.

2. The first three days of that itinerary don’t make much sense – they’re much too packed, and why be in Osaka if you don’t want to see much there? (note that the castle is a 1990s-era concrete reconstruction).

   More broadly, the itinerary is a bit rushed. You won’t have enough time in Hiroshima, which is a really interesting city. I found Hakone to be pretty dull, so cutting it would give you a useful day or so to reallocate.

3. Personally I’d cut out staying in Osaka entirely and replace it with either Hiroshima or Hakata, that way you could easily do Miyajima and if you want to Nagasaki

4. Any particular reason for choosing Meiho Ski Resort? I suggest choosing a place in either Niigata or Nagano prefecture (Shiga-Kogen and Hakuba are great during this time of year) for better quality snow.

5. Hi! I haven’t had my itinerary checked by this sub but I’ve planned up until Day 16 so far and thought I’d share. My sister traveled Japan for 2 months and has been working there on ski fields for a few years, so I’ve based the timeline based upon the number of days she recommends in each city. I’m happy to go into more detail or share my spreadsheet itinerary if you’re keen for some ideas. 🙂

   She recommended skiing in Hakuba which is near Nagano and fairly close (only a couple hours) to Tokyo. You could fly into Tokyo, spend a few days there, then travel to Hakuba. Head to Kyoto + Osaka from there and choose how you do Hiroshima/Miyajima/Nara and decide if you fly out of Osaka or head back to Tokyo. Then again, I think she may be biased towards the ski fields around Hakuba so I can’t say if it’s the best place for you to go ski!

   I’ve been planning a ~21 day itinerary and have the following structure:
   Day 0: Fly into Hanada (evening local time ideally)
   Day 1: Tokyo
   Day 2: Tokyo
   Day 3: Nikko day trip
   Day 4: Tokyo
   Day 5: Tokyo > Kanazawa (leave early, arrive ~10am)
   Day 6: Kanazawa > Kyoto (leave afternoon, arrive ~7:30pm)
   Day 7: Kyoto
   Day 8: Kyoto
   Day 9: Kyoto
   Day 10: Nara day trip
   Day 11: Kyoto > Osaka (leave late morning)
   Day 12: Osaka – universal studios
   Day 13: Osaka > Koyasan (leave noon, arrive ~3pm)
   Day 14: Koyasan > Kinosaki (leave late morning, arrive ~4pm)
   Day 15: Kinosaki > Hiroshima (leave late morning, arrive ~3pm)
   Day 16: Miyajima day trip
   Day 17: Hiroshima
   Day 18: Hiroshima > Fujisan (leave early)
   Day 19: Tokyo
   Day 20: Tokyo

6. Although I have zero idea about it, this looks like a good place to start lol. An 18 days trip seems fair enough. Saving this for future reference.

7. I am a Japanese living in Kansai. For your information, I will write down my recommendations for the itinerary up to the 6th day.

   We will be able to advise you more appropriately once we have the dates.

   On the first day, we recommend you to travel from Kansai airport to Hiroshima.

   It takes about 3 hours from Kansai airport to Hiroshima via Shin-Osaka.

   On the second day we will visit Miyajima, Itsukushima Shrine and other places around Hiroshima.

   In the middle of February, the plum blossoms in Osaka Castle Park are at their best, and the sun is shining.

   From the observatory of Umeda Sky Building, you can see the sunset over the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge on or around 20 February.

   You can also enjoy the illuminations in the square in front of Kaiyukan.

   If you go to Dotonbori, you can enjoy the hustle and bustle of Osaka, and around there you can taste the taste of Osaka.

   Day 4. To get to Nara from Osaka, take the express train for Nara at Kintetsu Namba station.

   A 30-minute walk from Kintetsu Nara takes you to Nara Park, where you can play with wild deer.

   Around the middle of February, you can see the deer gathering from 10 am at Tobihino in Nara Park.

   To travel from Nara to Kyoto you can either use JR or Kintetsu lines, both of which have the Fushimi Inari Shrine along them.

   Day 5. Kiyomizu-dera Temple opens at 6am, so it’s best to visit early in the morning when there are fewer tourists.

   On the way to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, there are two slopes, Ninenzaka-zaka and Sannenzaka-zaka. On the way up Ninenzaka-zaka, Yasaka-no-Tower is on the right and Kiyomizu-dera Temple is on the left.

   A 20 minute walk west from Ponto-cho takes you to Nishiki Market, the kitchen of Kyoto.

   In February, Kyoto is celebrating Setsubun Festival on the 2nd and 3rd, and the whole city is abuzz with activity. In particular, at Yasaka Shrine, maiko (apprentice geiko) and geigoku (apprentice geisha) throw beans from around midday.

   It is worth a visit to Yasaka Shrine, where maiko (apprentice geiko) and geigu (apprentice geisha) throw the beans.

   As 11 February is National Day, there are many events throughout the city.

   At Kamigamo Shrine, Kemari is a popular event.

   Day 6. It is advisable to visit the bamboo grove early in the morning when there are fewer tourists.

   Kyoto can be snowy in January and February, but the bamboo grove and Kinkakuji Temple are very beautiful when the snow falls.

   Near Kinkakuji is Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, where the plum blossoms are at their best in mid-February.

   Also, in late February, the cherry blossoms may be in bloom at Hirano Shrine, which is adjacent to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

8. You don’t need to go to Himeji Castle and Osaka Castle in the same day, or trip. Himeji Castle is so much cooler than Osaka Castle you’re only going to be disappointed by the latter.

9. I would check to do Kyoto first, then Osaka and your trips to Himeji and Hiroshima, then continue as is.

   If you do, you could use the JR pass 7 days and save money, as long as last day of the pass is when you reach Hakone.

10. Some of the more important tips I can think of are:

    Plan your JR pass carefully. For example, you won’t need it for Tokyo really.

    Activate it once you’re ready to go far from a heavily connected area (Kyoto->Hiroshima), (Kyoto->Tokyo), (Tokyo->Sendai), etc.

    ​

    Bring portable wifi, public wifi networks are definitely not as good or widespread as people make it seem on reddit. They’re either bad or you gotta pay/sign in

    ​

    The closer you are to hotspots, the more expensive lodging is. I always stayed one station away from important stations like Ueno/Shinjuku, etc (like in uguisudani). It was much cheaper and less tourist-trappy.

    ​

    While going with the flow and going to any restaurant is fine, try to do some research on restaurants near your daytrip (you can use tabelog, google (not as reliable)

    ​

    I also used this google map compilation for all sorts of sights, routes, and food

    [https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1fmfaySQHmojbRGKWCwRecq6Ln1Bb2Xdh&usp=sharing](https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1fmfaySQHmojbRGKWCwRecq6Ln1Bb2Xdh&usp=sharing)

    ​

    this is my spreadsheet (not super organized and kind of a mess lol)

    [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W_RnwNm40zhvAQQrblJ7Wiqzp_Kn8flJ1HZS_RXKajk/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W_RnwNm40zhvAQQrblJ7Wiqzp_Kn8flJ1HZS_RXKajk/edit?usp=sharing)

    Though you could get some good organization tips from it like having links for tickets you need to buy, restaurants to check out, a rough sketch of where you wanna go, etc

    Also costs and moving around hotels

11. >*day fifteen:* – … teamlab borderless

    Teamlab borderless will close in August 2022 and reopen in a new location sometime in 2023. So it may not be opened yet in February 2023, at least not in Odaiba.

12. I feel a bit offended for Kyoto 😅
    But if you prefer modern Japan over historical one I guess you’re making the right choice.

    As many suggested already, going to Hiroshima first is not a bad idea. But it’s also a completely doable one day trip from Kyoto/Osaka if you wake up early.

    Out of two castles Himeji is the best one. Yes, Osaka castle has plum garden, but there are better ones in Kyoto (Kitano Tenmangu and Jonangu, for example).

    Dotonbori and Fushimi Inari are the best at night. As someone already said, it worth walking up early for Kiyomizu and bamboo grove.
    I’d question the choice of Gio-ji in February. It’s not really the best season for moss. Rock gardens, on the other hand, look as good in winter as during any other season. You can check out Daitoku-ji near Kinkaku-ji area or Tofuku-ji between Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu.

    Please note that most of the other places in Kyoto close pretty early. So after 17:00-18:00 you’ll be completely free to enjoy shopping or karaoke.

    I don’t have personal opinion about snowboarding, but resorts in Nagano logistically make more sense to me. You can ski, enjoy the onsen and see snow monkeys or visit Togakushi.
    Hakone is famous, but there are better onsen, better museums and better views of Fuji elsewhere.

    As for Tokyo, gardens there don’t impress after the ones in Kyoto. I’d keep one for the contrast (skyscrapers on the background are fun), but not more.
    Meiji Jingu is popular for autumn foliage, but there is not much to see there in winter.

    And don’t worry if you can’t get into TeamLab. Tokyo has tons of other great museums.

13. For starters, I would swap at a couple days from Tokyo to Kansai. I typically consider roughly 6 days to be kind of a starting point for just the highlights (3 for Kyoto, 1 for Osaka, 1 for Nara, 1 for Himeji+Kobe), and your current itinerary has about 4.

    Hiroshima and Miyajima are technically doable as a day trip, but I think they’re a lot more enjoyable if you spend at least a night and don’t rush it as much. If you spent a night or two you could also consider just doing Himeji on the way since it’s in the same direction. Also in Himeji, don’t miss Kokoen–it’s practically free if you buy the combined ticket with the castle and it’s one of the best gardens in the entire country.

    Also, when specifically in February? There are some cool seasonal things you could do depending on your exact dates.

14. What will you do at the castles