Hello fellow travellers and Japan pro’s. Myself and my husband are doing a 3 week trip to Japan for the first time from March 22 – April 11.
A spanner in the works is that we really want to go to the [fertility festival](https://en.japantravel.com/kanagawa/kanamara-penis-festival/1318) in Kawasaki which is on April 2nd (right in the middle of our 3 weeks) which disrupts a simpler travel plan.
We are hoping to do our best to keep massive train trips to a minimum and this is the best I could come up with
I am hoping this community can help with advice on this itinerary, whether you’d recommend any changes which might enhance the trip and reduce the need for longer travel stints. Thanks in advance@
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**March 22nd – TOKYO**
* Arrive in Tokyo, get settled in Hotel: Sotetsu Fresa Inn Higashi Shinjuku. Check out shopping district.
* 23rd Robot Restaurant, Shinjuku Gyoen Park, Shopping
* 24th Check out Skytree, Kaminarimon Gate, Kiyosumi Gardens.
* 25th Mori Art Museum followed by Street Karting on Tokyo Bay
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**March 26th – NAGANO**
* Travel from Tokyo to Nagano (90 minute by train). Pay for one off ticket.
* March 26th – Arrive in Shibu Onsen, Check in, visit onsets
* March 27th – Visit Snow Monkey Park
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**March 28th – KYOTO**
* Purchase JR Pass (14 days)
* Take Shinkansen from **Nagano-Kyoto** (4hour)
* March 28th Stay in Kyoto Monterey Hotel. Local exploration
* March 29th Kyoto Exploration
* March 30th Day trip to Nara
* March 31 Day trip to Gion
* April 1 Bamboo Forest and Temple Visits
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**April 2nd – TOKYO / Kawasaki**
* Travel from **Kyoto to Kawasaki** for Fertility Festival. Stay the night in Tokyo
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**April 3rd – HAKONE**
* Shinkansen Train from Tokyo to **Hakone (**4h approx)
* April 4th – Private Tour to see Mt Fuji and sights
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**April 5th – HIROSHIMA**
* Shinkansen to Hiroshima (3h40)
* April 6th – Visit Hiroshima Museums, etc
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**April 5th -OSAKA**
* Shinkansen to Osaka (1h 20)
* April 6th – Osaka Castle, Museums
* April 7th – Kobe Day trip
* April 8th – Osaka Nintendo World
* April 9th – Osaka – Day trip to Koyasan
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**April 10th TOKYO**
* Last day of JR Pass: Train to Tokyo 3h15. Visit TeamLabs
* April 11th – Prepare for flight home.
2 comments
26th – Late March is too late for snow monkeys (I think it is not worth going outside of peak snowy winter days).
25th – street karting is a real nuisance to the neighborhood and disruptive of normal traffic flow, consider if you really want to do this.
3rd – not sure how you got four hours from Tokyo to Hakone? Even to sengokuhara it is closer to 2-3 hours. Also, you don’t need a tour guide for Hakone.
For the Kyoto days, you’re there during peak Sakura season and it’s going to be super crowded. Have a detailed plan of where you want to go (which temples, what streets / shops / restaurants in what neighborhood, etc) and how you will get there, otherwise it will get overwhelming. Kyoto is deceptively large, it takes a long time to get between places, you can’t just show up and wing it.
well, if you NEED to be in Kawasaki, then thats the way it needs to be. If you were to stay near Tokyo for the first half of your trip, you could save a lot of headache and possibly some money for transit.
All in all its a very rough itinerary, and not much I can comment on. You should refine that a bit, “explore Kyoto” “Kobe day trip” – meaning what? sit in the the train and walk in circles around the train station? If your plan is to just see where you will end up, that is totally fine, but not really anything we can help with planning…
sakura forecast predicts that you will be right in the middle of it. I would expect getting around with a bus, or getting into a hotel, even checking in the hotel, all take longer than usually (since there is a lot of travel and tourism going on)