Going March 11-22 with 3 of my other friends. Just want to see everyone else’s thoughts on this itinerary, let me know if there are some days with too much or others with too little. I tried to schedule each day based off general area so we don’t spend too much time commuting.
**Day 1 – Tokyo**
* Arrive at Haneda Airport at 2:40 pm
* Go to **Airbnb in Shinjuku**
* Golden Gai for nighttime (will be jet lagged so tentative)
**Day 2 – Tokyo**
* Skytree
* Sensoji Temple
* Akihabara
* Maid cafe
* Imperial Palace
* Dinner in Ginza
* Looking for Fugu restaurant. Recommendations?
**Day 3 – Tokyo**
* Tsukiji Fish Market
* TeamLab Planets
* Pokemon Restaurant (if available)
* Harajuku
* Animal Cafe
* Shopping
* Kabukicho
**Day 4 – Tokyo**
* Shibuya Crossing
* Meiji Jingu Shrine
* Shibuya Sky
* Miyashita Park
* Shopping
**Day 5 – Hakone**
* Guided tour (Picks us up from Tokyo and will drop us off in Hakone)
* Stay at **Hotel Green Plaza Hakone** for the night
**Day 6 – Kyoto**
* Take train from Hakone to Kyoto (Arrive around noon)
* **Airbnb in Higashiyama Ward**
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka
**Day 7 – Kyoto**
* Fushimi Inari Shrine
* Kinkakuji
* Gion
* Tea Ceremony at 5pm
**Day 8 – Kyoto**
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
* Kyoto Imperial Palace
**Day 9 – Osaka**
* Take train from Kyoto to Osaka (Arrive around noon)
* Drop off stuff at **Airbnb near Dotonbori**
* Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai
* Osaka Castle
* Tsutenkaku Tower (Just around the area, we wont go inside)
* Dotonbori at night
**Day 10 – Nara and Kobe (Day trip)**
* Take train from Osaka to Nara (arrive around 10)
* Nara deer park until about 12 or 1
* Take train from Nara to Kobe (hopefully arrive before 2:30)
* Take cable car up Mt. Maya and watch sunset and night view at around 6
* Dinner in Kobe
* Take train back to Osaka
**Day 11 – Tokyo**
* Stay in capsule hotel near Ueno Park
* Hopeful for cherry blossoms
* Ninja Asakusa for dinner
* Last minute shopping (Location TBD)
**Day 12- Tokyo**
* Cherry blossom viewing (March 22 forecasted first bloom)
* Last minute shopping (Location TBD)
* Head back to airport for 7pm flight
Suggestions? Any days that feel too light or heavy?
I am slightly concerned about Day 2, I feel like there is a lot scheduled. I imagine I would like to spend more time in Akihabara. I have also heard that the streets are closed off to cars in Akihabara and Ginza on Sundays, is that worth planning around? I feel like it could be convenient but am also concerned about stores closing early on Sunday. I don’t want to go to Akihabara when everything is closed.
Day 9 in Osaka also feels semi packed. Should I leave out or add anything into this day?
As far as Day 10, is this feasible? Would like to see both but am not sure if this is doable. We have a reservation in Kobe at Kokubu for 7:30. This hopefully gives us enough time to see the night view at the top of Mt. Maya.
And my last question is about the JR Rail pass. As you can see we are being dropped off in Hakone by our tour guide on day 5. So I am wondering if we should get the 7 day JR Rail Pass or the 14 day. I imagine we would activate our 7 day pass on Day 6 to get to Kyoto, but would it be worth it to just get the 14 day pass so we don’t have to worry about it? I’m not too sure how applicable the JR Rail pass is within Tokyo so not sure which would be the most cost efficient option.
6 comments
This looks awesome! I agree you don’t absolutely need the 14 day but it makes it easier in some ways.
I love how not crazy your days look. Full but possible
Be flexible, if you see you are a bit later than you expected, then skip something, like drop Imperial palace. Yes it is true that the streets are close to cars, but it’s just that you can walk in the streets, the general experience will not be that different. Also, did you check the opening hours of stores you want to visit on Sunday ?
Day 9, again, be flexible. You should be able to get to Osaka much earlier than noon if you want more time to visit, Osaka castle would be easy to access from Kyoto, but might not be the most convenient with luggage.
Day 10, maybe, but try to get to Nara earlier.
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The ONLY reason to get a JR Pass is to save money. Round trip Tokyo-Osaka is about the cost of the 7 days pass. This mean that the 14 days pass is a total waste of money. Yes you can use it on the JR lines in Tokyo, but it will not get you everywhere, like not going to Asakusa or to Toyosu for teamLab. A single local train ride can cost under 200 yen, so you would have to take the local train a dozen of times every day to even make it worth buying the 14 days pass… and still would not e able to go everywhere. 7 days ass you would save little to no money as you start in Hakone. What would likely make sense is to not get the pass and just pay for whatever is the most convenient, you will not force yourself to use JR and will be able to ride the Nozomi shinkansen.
For convenience, get an IC card, either a Suica or Pasmo. You can use it to pay for all the local trains/subway/bus in the cities you plan to visit. Then just get two individual shinkansen tickets.
Looks good overall. If you haven’t already, I’d definitely recommend mapping out everything you want to do on Google Maps, so you can group attractions geographically and minimize the travel between them. Some minor tweaks:
* You should move Harajuku to Day 4. Harajuku is literally across the street from Meiji Jingu. It’s also pretty far from teamLabs and Tsukiji (45 mins according to Google).
* Day 7 looks rushed to me. Kinkaku-ji is quite far from Fushimi Inari and Gion so you might have to skip it or rush it, especially if you have a tea ceremony booked at 5pm.
Also regarding Akibahara where I actually stayed while on the Tokyo half of my trip:
* If you are a big anime or gaming fan, Akibahara can literally be a whole day by itself. My hotel was there and I did set some time aside to explore, but still felt like I barely scratched the surface.
* Can’t comment on the Sunday street closures there, as I was away on a day trip to Yokohama during the time when the streets were closed.
* As for store closures, most of them close at 8pm or 9pm, even on Sundays.
What tour are you doing in Hakone?
Looks like a good plan! Though I’m curious – why the guided tour of Hakone?
Also if you want fugu, I think they sell it in Nishiki market in Kyoto (which is also worth a look if you can fit it in)
Consider if you need to move to Osaka. It is a short trip from Kyoto so you could save time on a hotel move by just staying in Kyoto