Traveling to Japan with my wife for the first time, arriving in March. We are very excited and I wanted to run my itinerary by you all. I don’t want to feel too rushed but also don’t want to waste time either. Let me know if you think I’ve planned too much to reasonable get done without rushing and worrying about catching the right train to make it in time.
Flight and hotels are all locked in (unless they change the flight on me again). Nothing else is really set expect USJ on the second to last day.
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* Day 1 Tues
* Arrive 3:00pm in Narita
* Exchange Rail Pass, pickup SIM cards, buy Suica
* Take Skyliner to Ueno (don’t want to activate JR Pass yet) subway to Asakusa where we are staying.
* Nothing planned for the evening, try to sleep off jetlag?
* Day 2 Wed
* Sensoji Temple
* Nakamise Dori
* Sumida Park
* Tokyo Sky Tree
* I see this as being mostly a walking day
* Day 3 Thurs
* Ginza line to Shibuya
* Shibuya Crossing
* Shopping, specifically Parco and Mega Donki
* Shibuya Sky
* Train to Meiji Shrine
* Yoyogi park
* Day 4 Fri
* Day trip to Nikko (probably activate the JR pass today)
* Take free bus from Nikko Station to Edo Wonderland
* If we are good by 2PM take the free bus from Edo Wonderland to Toshugu Shrine
* Visit other shrines and temples in that area
* Day 5 Sat
* Ueno Park – nothing specific but there are museums and a zoo and some shrines, plus there should be cherry blossoms as well
* Akihabara – mainly to shop and look for retro video games
* Day 6 Sun
* Tokyo Tower
* Harry Potter Cafe
* Art Aquarium
* teamLabs Planets
* Day 7 Mon
* Checkout Hotel
* Shinkansen to Jomokogen
* Courtesy bus from there to Takaragawa Onsen
* Onsen stuff
* Day 8 Tues
* Checkout of Onsen
* Shinkansen back to Tokyo and then on to Osaka
* Staying near Namba check in to AirBNB
* Probably arriving near 4PM no specific plans
* Denden town for more video games and Dotonbori
* Day 9 Wed
* Day trip to Nara
* Primarily focused on Nara park and the museum and temples and shrines there
* Let me know if you don’t think there is a full day in just that area.
* Day 10 Thurs
* Overnight to Koyasan
* Explore Koyasan
* I don’t have anything specific here but looking forward to staying at a temple
* Day 11 Fri
* Back to Osaka by 1PM-ish
* Oaska Castle
* Umeda Sky Building
* Day 12 Sat
* This is the day I’m least sure of I’d like to visit Kyoto but not sure if its worth it on a Saturday in Spring, I’d really like to see Fushini Inari
* On the other hand we could just explore Osaka
* Day 13 Sun
* Shitennoji Temple
* Hike to Minoo Waterfall
* teamLabs botanical gardens at night
* Day 14 Mon
* Universal Studios Japan
* Day 15
* Travel back to Tokyo
* If we leave early enough there may be time for some final sightseeing before we take the Narita Express to the airport and depart.
1 comment
Some quick thoughts:
– For Day 3, I would recommend Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi park early in the morning, and then Shibuya right after. Shibuya Sky just before sunset is especially pretty.
– I don’t know if you plan on going up Skytree, but personally I’d recommend against it. A little too pricey for what it offers, in my opinion. You can probably fit shopping around the Skytree mall area the night of your first day in, since you’re so close to it anyway. Did it literally on my first night in Tokyo after not sleeping on the flight at all, so you can probably do it.
– Nara can definitely be a full day, I think there are enough sites beyond just Nara park and Todaiji temple, especially since you’ll be travelling from Osaka.
– Highly recommend to at least day trip Kyoto if you can. Probably my favorite city. If you can get to Fushimi Inari as early as you can, go for it. Hiking up in the morning is a fantastic experience. Other than that, you can go for Kiyomizudera and Ginkakuji as well, maybe hit up Pontocho in the evening for dinner options.
Hope you enjoy your trip!