Hey guys, I would like some feedback on my itinerary; I have never been to Japan (or overseas), so I don’t know if putting much on plans each day or if I’ll be left with too much time. I would also appreciate recommendations for cool restaurants or locations that may be a niche or not well-known – but still cool and exciting. I also want to try and fit in another day of drinking/nightlife on the 27th – I have a few places in mind that I would like to explore, but I’m also taking recommendations. If you think some things would be better to do on a different day, I would also like that feedback; the only day that can’t change is the 6th day as I’ve already paid and booked the teamLabs reservation.
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Some context:
I’m travelling alone currently, however, I have a friend who may possibly come, but she’s in the military and needs to try and organise the time off, which may not happen. So I’ve planned my trip for 1, but it can be accommodated for 2.
I’ll be lodging relatively close to Shinjuku station and within walking distance of an onsen, so my plans are loosely based around there, with a few exceptions.
Generally speaking, I don’t know where I’ll be going for lunch in dinner, I’m gonna wing it, but if anyone has some suggestions for nearby places for where I am during that part of the day let me know 🙂
**Listed in the order I plan to do each activity. My alarm will be set for 6 or 7 am and most days will aim to be in bed by 11 unless of course, I go out ;). I won’t be including breakfast either, I might just go to a nearby cafe or eat at the hotel. I will aim to begin by day by 7:30.**
# Arrival Day
* Arrive at airport
* Get the SUICA card, if my international roaming hasn’t kicked in, get portable wifi
* Try to get to my lodging by 7:00 pm
* If I’m tired, then I’ll stay in my hotel, otherwise;
* Explore, find something to eat, and stock up at a convenience store
* Visit the onsen
# Day 1 – Explore Shinjuku
I wanted to take the first day kinda easy while still doing some interesting things, so I decided to explore Shinjuku for the day and maybe end the day by getting a few drinks. I should also find something else to do after lunch maybe since the museum should only take about an hour.
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Park
* Hanazono Shrine
* Lunch
* Samurai Museum
* Golden Gai/Dinner/Drinks
# Day 2 – Shibuya/Asakusa
* Meiji Shrine
* Yoyogi Park
* Lunch at Happy Pancake
* Asakusa Shrine
* Senso-ji temple
* Kaminarimon
* Dinner
# Day 3 – Akihabara
I’m literally just gonna be spending the entire day here and exploring/shopping. Kind of an off day.
* Explore Akihabara
* Lunch
* Explore some more
* Dinner
* Tokyo Skytree
# Day 4 – WiP
Day 4 is currently just a Work in Progress, I have a few ideas, was originally going to go to the Pokemon centre and explore the sunshine city, but there are many more interesting things I want to do.
# Day 5 – TeamLab Planets
Not sure if I have enough for a full day on this day
* Odaiba Seaside Park
* Lunch
* Shiokaze Park
* TeamLabs Planets (unfortunately borderless is closed atm)
* Dinner
# Day 6 – Enoshima Day Trip
I know a lot of people recommend staying close to where you’re staying for your first trip to Tokyo and especially for a short stay, but I kind of just wanna explore a bit more. (Yes, even though I still can’t decide what I want to do on day 4 due to the abundance of stuff to do)
* Enoshima station
* Enoshima Shrine
* Sea candle
* Iwaya Cave.
* At some point, I will have lunch and Dinner
# Day 7 – Explore Shinjuku again and Departure
My flight isn’t until 8pm, so I practically have a full day here.
* Organise my affairs and leave my belongings at the reception
* Explore Shinjuku
* Art Aquarium Museum
* Return to reception to grab my stuff
* Airport
2 comments
Heya! If anything, your days are a bit underfilled. For instance, in my experience you can do Shibuya and Shinjuku in a day. Unless you plan on spending a long time in shrines and such… usually you’ll spend less than an hour in each max. CLARIFICATION: each shrine. Not each shinjuku/ shibuya
Asakusa is easier to tack onto Akihabara imo. Akiba can take up an afternoon easily but probably not a full day.
Your day in Odaiba is also a bit lean. Odaiba itself is under pretty heavy renovations atm and a lot of stuff is closed so I’d say your best bet is to expect to spend a half day there and pick another district for your other half day.
Going to Enoshima is fine, but I would try to make it to Kamakura as well. Especially since you’re in the area.
I noticed some pretty notable things missing as well. Just for some examples to give you ideas:
– The Ghibli Museum
– Tokyo Tower
– Omoide Yokocho
– Ueno
– Harajuku
– Ikebukuro
– Yokohama
For a bit of clarity, the guidance is usually to stay within Kanto, not necessarily just Tokyo.
EDIT: Just a small piece of extra advice, if you afraid of swinging too hard the other way and overplanning IMO I’d create a list of things to see that are A tier and B tier. Make sure you have time to see everything in A tier but have the B tier stuff available in case you end up with extra time
Is the Samurai Museum open again?
According to google and the website (albeit last entry from seemingly a year ago) it remains closed