Hello friends! This is my first post here and also my first post on Reddit. I’ve been lurking here for a while trying to accumulate tips since Japan has been a dream of mine for years. My girlfriend (28F) and I (26M) are planning to arrive in Japan on October 23 and return on the 9th of November. This is my first time planning a big trip and I would appreciate all the help I can get. I’ve tried my best to be thorough and please let me know if what I have planned is unrealistic. Everyone here seems super helpful and I just want to say thank you in advance for your patience since this post will be quite long.
Quick things to note
Is a 3 week JR pass worth it?
Is there an efficient way to travel from Nagasaki to Fuji?
Is there any romantic/couple date ideas that I can surprise her with?
If it looks like too many shrines we have no problem cutting some.
We are not bothered with long travel times and being ready for early departures.
Oct 23 – land in NRT
– grab e-sim, suica card and JR rail pass
– Narita express train to Shinagawa station
– get on Hikari train to Kyoto
– check in to hotel and grab dinner
Is this amount of travel possible in one day?
Oct 24 – Kyoto
– Kiyomizidera shrine
– Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka
– Yasaka shrine
– Maruyama park (behind Yasaka shrine)
– Gion district for dinner
Oct 25 – Kyoto
– Arashiyama early morning
– Iwatayama monkey park if possible
– Sagano sightseeing train
– Kinkaku-ji temple
Oct 26 – Kyoto
– Fushimi Inari shrine
– Nishiki market for street food
– Higashi Honganji temple
– visit Kyoto station at night
Oct 27 – take Shinkansen from Kyoto to Osaka using JR rail pass
– Shinsekai
– Amerikamura (optional if we have time)
– Dotonburi at night
Oct 28 – Osaka
– day trip to Nara park
– Todai-ji temple
– Namba Yasaka shrine
– Umeda sky (worth it?)
Oct 29 – Osaka
– Osaka castle
– Shinsaibashi
– get uncle Rikuros cheesecake
– Pokémon cafe
Oct 30 – Osaka to Hiroshima
– atom bomb dome
– peace park
– memorial and museum
Oct 31 – Hiroshima to Nagasaki
– day trip to Miyajima (covered with JR pass?)
– travel to Nagasaki after day trip
– (this seems like a lot of jumping around now that I’m typing it out)
Nov 1 – Nagasaki
– not too much planned
– explore around and see history
Nov 2 – Nagasaki to Tokyo then to Fuji
– take a local flight for cheap
– get on a train and go to Fuji for relaxing private ryokan
Nov 3 – Fuji to Tokyo for the remainder of the trip
– maybe do some sightseeing this morning before the train ride
– Center Gai in the evening
Nov 4 – Tokyo
– Tokyo Disneyland day trip
– rest of the day is free
Nov 5 – Tokyo
– explore Shibuya
– Shibuya scramble
– Takeshita street
– Kabukicho at night for food and drinks
Nov 6 – Tokyo
– explore Shinjuku
– Gyeon park
– find some arcades
– Golden Gai at night
Nov 7 – Tokyo
– trip to Asakusa
– Senso-ji temple
– Nakamise-Dori street
– Hoppy street
Nov 8 – Tokyo
– my gf loves hello kitty so something to do with that theme
– Meguro River
– rest of the day is free
Nov 9 – Tokyo
– flight home is at 7pm
– the morning is free for whatever we feel that we missed
Thanks again everyone. Sending love from Toronto!
2 comments
It probably makes sense to try and get a flight to Nagasaki on Oct 23 and then work your way back to Tokyo by train, stopping at Mt Fuji between Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo.
But there is a lot to see in Japan, so unless you really want to see Nagasaki I suggest spending more time around Kansai, Chubu & Kanto regions.
Regarding rail pass, its generally only worth it if you are travelling long distances, so there isn’t much use having it in Osaka, Tokyo when you aren’t travelling that far.
JR Pass, not even sure you would save using 14 days if you fly from Nagasaki to Tokyo. Like Tokyo-Kyoto 13 000 Osaka-Hiroshima 10 000, Hiroshima-Nagasaki 14 000, that is a total of 37 000, 14 days 10 000 more expensive and I not not see enough to get to the whole value of the pass.. ok, ride from the airport and a couple of local train, but that won’t save much if any money.
If you take it, buy in September before price increase. You only need it for the long distances.
Taking the shinkansen from Kyoto to Osaka is often not the best option, it depend where your hotel is and where you are going. Taking the local train or even in some case pay for the non-JR train can make more sense just for a couple of extra dollars (for example if you need to take a bus or subway to Kyoto station, but could take a direct train to Osaka if you pay out of pocket).
Going to Miyajima on the day you go to Nagasaki is not that bad if you consider that everything close around 5pm in Miyajima anyway… then it will be a good 3h20 (or more depending on the connections) to reach Nagasaki, total 4 train for the full route.
Do not really understand why you want to go all the way to Nagasaki if you don’t even have any plan of things to see there.
Wound need to say what “Fuji” is for you, an if you plan for a ryokan with meal included, just keep in mind you usually to check-in before 5 or 6pm, so need a morning flight to Tokyo, ideally to Haneda.
If you GF love hello kitty, then maybe check the hello kitty shinkansen schedule.