Feedback on 21 Day Itinerary Nov-Dec 2022 – Osaka>Fukuoka>Hiroshima>Kyoto>Tokyo>Fuji>Nagano>Tokyo

14 comments

1. Nice Itinerary, when do you plan on visiting Japan? Pretty sure Japan is still closed off for tourism.

   I’ve been to Japan 3 times now and I learned that when making an itinerary less is more. Don’t try to plan too much in a day.

2. Is it doable? Probably yes. Are you going to be absolutely exhausted? Also probably yes. That’s a lot of travel.

   The Fukuoka, Zao, and Takayama trips are long, and probably not really worth it that much in the grand scheme of things.

3. I would just take out the Fukuoka part if you are only staying overnight, unless you are dead set on going to the sumo tournament. It just seems like too much travelling. Fukuoka is fantastic but I think Kyushu deserves it’s own trip.

4. As a side note, it’s 4 night Osaka no? You will have to sleep somewhere when you get to Japan on day 1.

   For many people, Osaka castle can be skipped, especially if you do Himeji and Matsumoto. The main reason is that it is a concrete reconstruction and the inside is more a museum than anything.

   On day 3 I would personally do Nara instead of Osaka castle, but that can take a good part of the day, so might not have much time for Kuromon and doguyasuji. I would personally try to do that for the afternoon of day 2 and save Shinsaibashi/Dotonbori for end of day 3, as this is usually more a shopping/nightlife spot, so quite good for the end of the day. That being said, you coud even spend the end of the day 2 in Dotonbori.

   Day 8-9 of Kyoto, I would do Nishiki market, Gion, Pontocho, Daimaru, Higashiyama on the first day, second day early morning Fushimi Inari and continue on the Nara train line to go to Nara.

   So I think that both Kyoto and Osaka could have a bit more to see than what you listed. If you get more time for Osaka, you could for example go to Shinsekai, Shitenno-ji, Sumiyoshi-taisha, and if you get more time for Kyoto, properly do more of Higashiyama and not 2 days only around Gion/Kawaramachi. So I would see what city you want to explore more and do Nara day trip from the other.

   I am really not sure about the Fukuoka part. I mean, I would not do it for the sumo only. Fukuoka is easily 1-2 day for the city itself with many day trips possible, so kind of a waste if you ask me. I would rather do Himeji in the morning, lunch in the train to Hiroshima for peace museum, sleep there, next day Miyajima and go to Kyoto and just save Fukuoka and Kyushu for a future trip.

   But if you do Hiroshima/Miyajima in one day, I would start by Miyajima and finish the day in Hiroshima. The reason is that after 5, everything will be close on the island (well, peace museum close at 6), but in Hiroshima, you can still take time to go more downtown for shopping/dinner before going to Kyoto. One day for Miyajima/Hiroshima is possible, but it is on a fast pace.

   Day 10, that seem a bit much for afternoon. Realistically, if you take the train early, you can see at least one museum in the morning. Just keep in mind that a lot of places like museum and garden close around 5pm, so trying to do 3 museum/garden in an afternoon, that is not much time for each.

   Day 12 is a bit heavy, especially compared to day 11 that is a bit empty.

   Day 13, do you care about animal welfare ? I you do, both the fox village and animal cafe are not really recommended.

   Day 14, you will have to pick, those are in different area of Tokyo and you cannot do everything. Also, Robot restaurant is closed now and it is really not sure if it will re-open.

   I do not understand the Matsumoto 2 nights. For me, Takayama is not really a day trip from Matsumoto. I would also not really do that whole section of the trip after Tokyo, and probably not in that order. I would have considered going Kyoto to Takayama (1 night), bus to Matsumoto (1 night), Nagano (2 nights). Kawaguchiko can be done as a day trip (not sleeping there) from Tokyo. That is unless you really want to do the onsen, but you already have Yudanaka. It would also give more flexibility for good weather to go to Kawaguchiko as you can easily swap it with about any Tokyo day (appart if you book museum ticket for a specific day).

   In any case, if you want to keep the same structure, I would move more of the Tokyo day at the end of the trip, for 2 reasons. 1, if you go shopping and buy stuff, you will have to move it around your trip to Matsumoto/Nagano. 2. you can fit all the long distance train within 14 days and use the 14 days JR Pass. You want the 14 days to cover at least from when you go to Himeji/Fukuoka up to return to Tokyo, for example from day 5 to 18. You may want to use it for Nara too, and in that case, if you do it from Osaka, then do it on day 4 and pass from 4 to 17. This is assuming you fly back to Australia from Tokyo (and it would make sense). I am pretty sure the 14 days pass would be worth right now, but it may not if there is a big change in the itinerary.

   For Kawaguchiko, you may want to have it included for the pass, but the whole trip is not covered, you will have to pay about 1200 yen each way from Otsuki to Kawaguchiko, even if you use the JR Fuji excursion train. The other option if you do it as a day trip from Tokyo is to take the bus for 2000 yen and it is as long to go by bus or by train.

5. Can you fly OSA-FUK on the first day and then work your way up?

6. That’s too much moving to different hotels and you will most likely hate that.

   1st Stay:
   Osaka OR Kyoto. Stay in only one. Would recommend Kyoto though.
   – Farthest thing from there is Fukuoka and it’s just a 3hr train. Long ride, but you’ll be making that trip either way and it’s better than wasting your time with switching hotels constantly.

   2nd Stay:
   Kyoto – Matsumoto.
   – On your way to Nagano, do the Hida Folk/Takayama day trip.

   3rd Stay:
   Matsumoto – Yudanaka
   – Been to Kokuya and Sakaeya, both were great if you want recommendations.

   4th Stay:
   Yudanaka – Tokyo.
   – Day trip to Mt. Fuji moved here.

   Don’t go to the Robot Restaurant. Enjoy!

7. It’s too crammed for some days, but respect. cuz I also want to explore that much of Japan within a month. Even though I lived in Tokyo for three months, I still couldn’t explore the entire Tokyo. I would agree with the other guys, less is more. And honestly there is just too much to explore in Tokyo, it’s almost endless. There are days u just want to hang out in the arcade, red light district, etc. I feel like you would enjoy Japan more if u focus on one part of Japan. If you do all those things too fast, next time u go to Japan, u would feel like there’s nothing to do since u already been there.

   A lot of ppl make the same mistake, “oh I’ve been there, there’s nothing there.” Trust me, there’s too many things to do in Japan, and u would hate urself for planning such a short trip for everything. And looking at myself, I still want to live in Tokyo for another three months if I have the chance to.

8. I would recommend like 4 days of just nothing so you can just relax and walk to convienece store. I prefer that myself

9. Some of your days are very hectic.

   >Day 6
   >
   >Early morning: Train to Hiroshima, Atomic Bomb Dome/Peace Memorial Museum

   Afternoon: Ferry to Miyajima, see floating Torii gate

   Evening: Train to Kyoto

   I can’t remember if Miyajima ferries are only available at certain times (its not widely available like say, Shinkansen). Unless you plan to train it to Kyoto at like 8 or 9pm at night?

   >Day 10
   >
   >Morning: Train to Tokyo, Shinjuku StationAfternoon: Explore – Shinjuku (Samurai Museum, Toy Museum, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden)Evening: Explore – Shinjuku (Golden Gai, Omoide Yokochō -Memory Lane)

   Another hectic day, even if you are going to be in the Shinkansen for 4 to 5 hours to Tokyo from Kyoto. You’ll be wiped by the time you are done with Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, its a big place with a lot of photo op places.

   I would go one way and not backtrack, because it looks like you are going to Tokyo then going back to the Ishikawa prefecture and Nagano. Your trip looked like my first trip in Japan (we didn’t go to Fukuoka though or Kanazawa/Hida way). That said, we didn’t back track from Tokyo to Yudanaka. We went from Kansai region to Nagano (to take train to Yudanaka for 2 nights), then up to Tokyo for a week. You are also shopping in cities during your trip, which is fine generally, but you will be lugging ALL of that when you are back tracking to prefectures. Don’t forget, there’s a lot of walking in Japan.

   I would shop in the last few days, there isn’t much in Osaka that you can’t get in Tokyo (unless you are after specific kit kats).

10. >Day 19 –
    >
    >Morning: Train to Obuse, (Hokusai Museum, Bonsai Museum, Ganshoin Temple)
    >
    >Afternoon: Snow Monkeys
    >
    >Evening: Explore – Shibu Onsen Town

    Since the days are much shorter in Nov-Dec, it is not advisable to visit the snow monkeys in the late afternoon. It makes more sense to start your day early and visit snow monkeys first, then head to Obuse. In any case, IMHO, you can planning way too much on this day.

11. I appreciate this as a way to get an idea of an itinerary

12. from someone who wanted to do everything to make the most of every second, trust me you will have a much better time if you make sure you have some rest. even things you’ve wanted to see for years aren’t interesting if your feet are aching and you’re miserable because you’ve been on the go for 18 hours a day.

    i don’t know how bad your jetlag will be from Aus but it was horrible from the UK so that’s also something to think about.

    some highlights from our trip that i would recommend was Nara early in the morning (we got there at 8:30am before lots of crowds) and TeamLabs Borderless.

    edit to say i’ve just seen another commenter say about skipping Osaka castle and I agree. we went to Himeji which was a beautiful castle and such a wonderful experience because it’s all original, whereas Osaka is just a museum and honestly I was disappointed with it. by all means have an explore of the outside/the grounds but the inside personally i don’t think is worth the time investment.

13. I would go to Fuji and Nagano before Tokyo, since you pass fuji on the way, then divert yourself up to Nagano and then have Tokyo as a big block at the end

14. what an awesome trip.. day 10/11 would be a highlight for me, but you should give yourself 15 more hours to get out of the station!
    Day 18, any more time for nagano city? zenko-ji temple is cool