Itinerary Check : March 11th-26th 2023 – Looking for advice about changing itinerary path for cherry blossom season

Hi all,

I tried asking in the mega thread a few days ago but no one responded so I decided to make a post instead. I have a 16 day trip planned to Japan from 3/11-3/26. It looks like we’ll be hitting the very beginning of the blossom season as we prepare to come back home. We’d like to make the most of this since we unfortunately couldn’t book in April.

Our current rough trip itinerary:

**Days 1 – 2 (3/11-3/12) – Travel/Arrive in Tokyo**

* Arrive at 5pm in Tokyo. Get settled into hotel.

**Days 2 – 4 (3/12-3/14) – Tokyo**

* Akihabara
* Shibuya crossing
* Tokyo Skytree
* teamLab Borderless Mueseum
* Shinjuku

**Day 5 (3/15) – Mount Fuji/Lake Kawaguchi**

* Explore around lake
* Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha
* Chureito Pagoda (Sengen Park)
* Shiraito Natural Park

**Days 6 – 8 (3/16-3/18) – Kyoto**

* Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Bamboo Forest (Higashiyama Sanjo)
* Toji
* Sanneizaka
* Nineizaka
* Hokan-ji
* Imperial Palace

**Days 9 – 10 (3/19-3/20) – Nara**

* Nara Park
* Todai-ji
* Mount Wakakusa
* Kasuga-taisha

**Days 11 – 13 (3/21-3/23) – Osaka**

* Super Nintendo World
* Osaka Castle
* Dotonbori
* Shitennoji
* Explore city streets/restaurants

**Days 14 – 15 (3/24-3/25) – Hiroshima**

* Itsukushima Jinja (floating torii gate)
* Atomic Bomb Dome
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
* Bullet train back up to Tokyo

**Days 15 – 16 (3/25-3/26) – Tokyo/Return travel home**

* Chidorigafuchi Moat
* Maybe imperial palace? or another place to see Cherry Blossom Trees
* Explore last minute things and then leave on Sunday evening

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Some online research is showing 3/24 as earliest date for Tokyo’s first opening for cherry blossoms.

With that in mind, is it worth it for us to switch our trip and take the bullet train down to Hiroshima and work our way back up to Tokyo to get a better experience for cherry blossoms? Is it worth it to see the first few days of cherry blossom tree openings?

I mean something like this:

**Days 1 – 2 (3/11-3/12) – Travel/Arrive in Tokyo**

* Arrive at 5pm in Tokyo. Get settled into hotel for the night.

**Days 3 – 4 (3/13-3/14) – Hiroshima**

* Take bullet train into Hiroshima
* Itsukushima Jinja (floating torii gate)
* Atomic Bomb Dome
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

**Days 5 – 7 (3/15-3/17) – Osaka**

* Super Nintendo World
* Osaka Castle
* Dotonbori
* Shitennoji
* Explore city streets/restaurants

**Days 8 – 9 (3/18-3/19) – Nara**

* Nara Park
* Todai-ji
* Mount Wakakusa
* Kasuga-taisha

**Days 10 – 12 (3/20-3/22) – Kyoto**

* Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Bamboo Forest (Higashiyama Sanjo)
* Toji
* Sanneizaka
* Nineizaka
* Hokan-ji
* Imperial Palace

**Day 13 (3/23) – Mount Fuji/Lake Kawaguchi**

* Explore around lake
* Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha
* Chureito Pagoda (Sengen Park)
* Shiraito Natural Park

**Days 14 – 16 (3/24 – 3/26) – Tokyo/travel home**

* Akihabara
* Shibuya crossing
* Tokyo Skytree
* teamLab Borderless Mueseum
* Shinjuku
* Chidorigafuchi Moat
* Maybe imperial palace? or another place to see Cherry Blossom Trees
* Explore last minute things and then leave on Sunday evening

​

This is a rough draft first check, so if there’s anything you feel like a couple of first timers that are well-seasoned, international travelers can sneak in or are absolute must-sees then please let us know. We’re still deciding on what exactly we want to do in each location.

We’re also looking for recommendations on the following:

* ryokans in any of the cities mentioned above
* onsens for couples
* any romantic ideas for a nice date would be welcome as well

Thank you!!