Hello! My husband and I (both early 30s) are currently planning our first trip to Japan. We regularly work with a travel agency to help us plan our itineraries when we travel. I have gone back and forth with the agent on our Japan itinerary several times. Nothing on the below itinerary has been booked and we don’t yet have hotels. The agent is supposed to provide hotel selections after we finalize the day-to-day itinerary.
My impression is that this is a slow pace and we will spend a lot of time in transit. I would love this forum’s advice on days that we can consolidate and be more efficient with our time. For example, will we really need a full day in Odaiba? Can we reasonably combine Ueno and Akihabara/Shinjuku? Can we reasonably combine trips to Arashiyama and Nara? Or, does this pace look like it’s on target?
FWIW, We enjoy a moderate pace when we travel (generally, sleep in until 8:30/9, leave hotel by 10:30, explore all day, return to hotel to freshen up before dinner/drinks, usually back at hotel by 11pm/midnight).
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Day 1: Arrival to Haneda at 3pm; private transfer from airport to hotel. Regroup, get something quick nearby for dinner.
Day 2: Explore Odaiba (Fuji TV building, Diver City, Miraikan); Cooking class in the neighborhood at lunchtime.
Day 3: Explore Ueno (Ueno Park, Nezu Shrine, shopping)
Day 4: Explore Akihabara and Shinjuku (maybe take an anime/manga tour on this day)
Day 5: Visit Ghibli Museum in the morning, explore Asakusa after (Senso-ji, shopping, etc)
Day 6: Tokyo -> Mt Fuji via train: settle into hotel upon arrival, explore
Day 7: Tour of Highlights of Kawaguchiko (which includes Chureito Pagoda, Oshino Hakkai Village, Kubota Itchiku Art Museum, The Mount Fuji Panoramic Ropeway)
Day 8: Fuji -> Kyoto: settle into hotel, then go to traditional tea ceremony
Day 9: Day trip to Arashiyama (bamboo forest, monkey park); on return, visit Kinkakuji.
Day 10: Day trip to Nara (Todaiji Temple, deer park)
Day 11: Explore other districts of Kyoto
Day 12: Kyoto -> Osaka: Osaka Castle, Dotombori District
Day 13: Osaka -> Tokyo: Explore Osaka as needed in the morning; catch the train to Tokyo; visit Tokyo Skytree.
Day 14: Group tour of Tsukiji Fish Market, then visit Shibuya & Harajuku
Day 15: Last day! We will have time to visit one neighborhood in the morning before our departure at 5pm.
1 comment
Day 4: if you wanna do full anime day, just do akiba, nakano broadway and ikebukuro, nakano broadway is the cheapest while ikebukuro has a lot of anime related stuffs (in sunshine city and surrounding area)
Day 14: you can do shinjuku here (and hitting meiji jingu shrine along the way when you visit harajuku)