Hi all! First I just want to say thank you to everyone on this subreddit, it has been invaluable resource while planning this trip. I initially had a trip planned to Japan in May 2020 which was obviously cancelled, so i’ve been anticipating the reopening for 2 years and i’m so excited to be going now that it has finally happened!
I’ll be traveling with my SO. Here’s our basic Itinerary, but we’re also not planning to follow this to the letter and roll with the punches while we’re there.
Wednesday Day 1: Tokyo
* Arrive at **Haneda** at 3 PM. Drop luggage with takkyubin service. Purchase Pasmo card. Activate JR Pass.
* Train or bus to Ueno station. Check in to hotel in **Ueno**.
* Buy Ghibli Museum tickets at Lawson.
* Find food around Ueno station stay up as late as possible to avoid jetlag.
Thursday Day 2 : Tokyo
* **Ueno**; Ameyoko, Ueno Park, Tokyo National Museum
* **Yanaka**; cemetery, Yanaka Ginza
* **Asakusa**; Senso-ji, Nakamise street food
Friday Day 3: Tokyo
* **Meguro**; Meguro river walk, cherry blossom viewing
* **Ebisu**
* **Shibuya**; Shibuya crossing/Hachiko statue, Harajuku, Takeshita street, see Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi park, shopping.
Saturday Day 4: Tokyo
* Shinjuku station (buy Hakone Kamakura rail pass)
* **Nakano** broadway
* **Kichijoji**; Harmonica alley
* **Ghibli museum**
* **Shinjuku**; Kurand Sake Market, Kabukicho, Samurai museum, Shinjuku Gyoen, Metropolitan Govt building, Golden Gai drinking
Sunday Day 5: Tokyo
* **Akihabara**; Mandarake, Radio Kaikan, gachapon
* **Marunouchi**; ramen street, character street, kitchen street, Pokemon Center
* **Ginza** (no cars Sat-Sun afternoons); Uniqlo, Ginza six, Matsuya, Seiko museum, Yamaha store, maybe Kabuki-za
* **Tsukiji** outer market
* **Tsukishima** Monja street
* **Toyosu**; fish market, sushi
* **teamLab Planets**
* see Ginza and Akihabara at night on the way back
Monday Day 6: Yokohama day trip from Tokyo
* **Yokohama**; Landmark tower, Chinatown, Cup Noodles museum, Nippon Maru pirate ship, Yokohama brewery
Tuesday Day 7: Kamakura and Enoshima on the way to Hakone
* **Kamakura**; buddha statue and Hachiman shrine
* **Enoshima** island
* Get to Hakone by 5 PM for ryokan check in
Wednesday Day 8: Hakone
* **Hakone**; Open air museum, Owakudani, Lake Ashi, old tokaido highway, Hakone yuryo onsen
For the next 3 days, we are staying with friends in Kobe and hoping to explore around Kansai a bit while we’re there. This is the part of the trip that is most open to changing.
Thursday Day 9: Kobe
* **Kobe**; Arima onsen or Himeji castle
Friday Day 10: Kyoto day trip from Kobe
* **Kyoto**; Nishiki market, Nijo castle, Fushimi Inari shrine, Philosopher’s Path, Arashiyama monkey park
Saturday Day 11: Osaka day trip from Kobe (or a second day in Kyoto)
* **Osaka**; Dotonbori, Amerikamura, Osakajo, maybe USJ
Sunday Day 12: Tokyo
* Shopping in **Shibuya**. Anything else left that we want to see/do. Stay in Shibuya
Monday Day 13: Tokyo
* Depart from Haneda at 4:45 PM
My main questions are:
* **Is it recommended to use takkyubin for the trip from Haneda to Ueno Sta for our carry-on size luggage?**
* **Does day 5 have too much planned? If so we may skip teamLab or try to hit that another day.**
* **Is it realistic to see both Kamakura and Enoshima on the way to Hakone and get there by 5 pm?**
Your input is greatly appreciated. Thank you!!
3 comments
I never used Takkyubin for Haneda with a carry-on – easy enough by transit. Day 5 seems like too much even without TeamLabs, but that’s not terrible since you have Day 12 for overflow. As for Kamakura/Enoshima day, that sounds doable if you leave early because you chose stuff that’s convenient to get to in Kamakura, but depending on where your ryokan is in Hakone you might need to keep an eye on the time. If you would be disappointed to miss stuff in Enoshima, you may want to see if check-in at 5:30 or 6 PM is possible.
What’s your plan to get Ghibli museum tickets at Lawson? I read it was only available to locals or requiring a local number? Care to share please?
Some of those Tokyo days personally seem like way too much to plan for. It looks more like a speed run than a vacation (though I suppose some people are into that).
It may not be worthwhile for you to get a JR pass at all, but activating it on Day 1 and then spending the first week in Tokyo seems like it’s probably a pretty big waste of money. There are calculators out there to tell you if it’s worth buying a JR pass.
Re: Kamakura + Enoshima day – I have the same thoughts as the aforementioned Tokyo days; feels like rushing through a list and squeezing out experiences with a deadline, rather than savoring them. Again, personal preferences.