Hi Reddit! Wanted to get some thoughts on our 7 day Japan itinerary for this May. Group is 4 adults all around age 30 (2 couples). A few notes on our itinerary:
* We’re theme park fans (lived in Orlando for a long while, used to work at theme parks, often plan trips around the US to visit theme parks) so our theme park days are non-negotiable:)
* The group is mostly interested in entertainment and food. We’re also open to splitting up the group as needed to visit the things we’re most interested in. We’re happy to just stroll and explore, so you’ll notice there aren’t many specific “activities” on our plan yet.
* We’ll be there from May 13-20.
* The only thing we have booked are our flights. We’ve narrowed down hotels and will be booking this weekend.
* You’ll notice our plan to travel between cities often takes place at night; this seemed to make the most sense based on what we want to do.
* We’re making the most of the time we have. We’re going to be flexible on some things depending on how we’re feeling. Also we recognize that we’re not spending much time in Osaka or Kyoto – we absolutely wish we could spend more time in both! Hoping this is only our first trip of many and that we’ll be back to Japan in the future.
With that, here’s our (very rough) plan!
* **Arrival Day – Tokyo (Saturday)**
* Arrive at HND by 2:30pm (separate incoming flights).
* Check in to hotel, thinking city center or Akihabara areas.
* Visit Akihabara in afternoon/evening.
* **Day 1 – Tokyo/Osaka (Sunday)**
* Visit Asakusa in the morning – Senso-ji Temple, Nakamise-dori Street.
* Mid-day in city center, trying to get a reservation at the Pokemon Cafe.
* Late afternoon/early evening take train to Osaka.
* Check in to hotel in Osaka (near Universal Studios).
* **Day 2 – Osaka /Kyoto (Monday)**
* Spend day at Universal Studios. Planning to get express passes to get through everything quickly so we don’t spend the entire day there, and going to skip rides that we have in the USA parks.
* As time allows, might try to visit Osaka castle, but that’s probably not likely based on our timeline.
* In evening, take train to Kyoto.
* Check in to hotel in Kyoto (location TBD).
* **Day 3 – Kyoto/Tokyo (Tuesday)**
* Start day at Fishimi Inari Taisha.
* Potentially do a mid-day food/culture tour in Gion area.
* Visit Kiyomizu-dera.
* In evening, take train back to Tokyo.
* Check in to hotel at Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel.
* **Day 4 – Tokyo (Wednesday)**
* Spend day at DisneySea.
* That’s it 🙂
* **Day 5 – Tokyo (Thursday)**
* Spend day at Tokyo Disneyland (might swap and do disneyland the first day and disney sea the second).
* In late afternoon/evening, leave Disney to head into Tokyo.
* Check in to hotel – thinking we’ll stay in Shibuya or Shinjuku.
* **Day 6 – Tokyo (Friday)**
* Start day in Harajuku
* Midday in Shibuya – Yoyogi Park, Imperial Palace East Garden, Disk Union Record Store, Mori Art Museum (just some ideas the group is interested in, may not hit them all)
* End day in Shinjuku (depending on where we stay, likely will try to take a break at the hotel).
* Same hotel as previous night.
* **Day 7 – Tokyo/flight back home (Saturday)**
* The first flight of our group departs at 4:45 so planning to get to HND by 2pm.
* Planning to make it an easy morning/early afternoon in the area we end up staying in.
Very eager to hear any thoughts/recommendations! This is a very rough plan – we want to know what we’re missing, what we should cut, and any recommendations on the areas we’ve identified! Thanks so much!
4 comments
Hotel prices in Japan have been going up significantly in the last few weeks. I would suggest booking *something* (with free cancellation) right away just so that you’ll have a default hotel booked for the time-being.
If you’re travelling from the US, you need to factor in the impact of jet lag, which you are not at present. It’s unlikely that you’ll want to be visiting Akihabara on the night of your arrival, or enjoy the evening trip to Osaka the next day, for instance.
You should do what you’re interested in doing as part of the trip, but do you really want to spend three days out of your short seven day trip to Japan at US-themed amusement parks? There’s lots of unique things to see in Japan, and it seems a long way to go to visit the same kind of amusement parks that you could visit in the US.
Akihabara at Night?
Not much to do in Akihabara at night. The town closes up after 10pm. Most shops close at 8.
Pokémon cafe sells out within 5 mins when tickets go on sale. Also the site can be glitchy. Not sure if you can get reservations day of on site.
Universal is booking fast, decide what day you plan to go and buy tickets asap. You could use Klook but they will sell out faster than the direct website. I booked tickets recently and the Universal official website kept rejecting my card, Apple Pay ended working for me (using the same card).
As for Disney the 40th celebration will be going on and crowds might be busier than usual. I’ve heard you can get in the park early if you stay at a resort hotel.
Hope this helps!