Hello everyone! As per title, am heading to Osaka for around ten days in the latter half of November, and need some tips for my itinerary. Will be based in Osaka for the entire length (mostly because I get to stay for free), though I don’t mind staying a couple nights in other cities. Tend to prefer chill itineraries; sticking to just one city/area in a day. Very much a scenery kind of person, so very minimal time allocated to shopping.
1. Day 1 – Reach Osaka at mid-day > Pokemon Centre > AirBNB > Dotonburi (evening)
2. Day 2 – Full day trip to Mt. Hiei (still researching on the ideal circle route around Mt Hiei)
3. Day 3 – Arashiyama (Bamboo-Grove, Tenryu-ji Temple, Kameyama Park)
4. Day 4 – Kyoto; nothing specific planned, probably walk around and explore.
5. Day 5 – Full day at USJ
6. Day 6 – Nara – Katsuragi Highlands; maybe detour towards the Deer Park if time permits
7. Day 7 – Himeji Area (Himeji Castle and Kokoen Garden)
8. Day 8 – Exploring Kawachi-Nagano before hiking up Mt. Kongo
9. Day 9 – Buffer day for rainy weather; nothing planned yet. Probably search for something indoors.
10. Day 10 – Explore around Osaka, souvenir shopping before heading to the airport in the evening.
Please let me know if there are any better sceneric spots or any improvements that can be made! Would also appreciate if there’s any good rail passes, there are so many passes that I am considering just getting ICOCA for the ease of mind. Thanks in advance!