Hello!
Me and my wife will arrive in Tokyo on july 26th, early afternoon. This is our current itinerary. Some days towards the end are empty and yet to be filled. We are mostly unsure about the days we have already planned and wether they are feasible or if we should spread out some things to the empty days.
We have JR passes and are planning on buying Hakone free pass as well. We are young and healthy so we have no problems walking far and at a decent pace.
**Wednesday, July 26th – Tokyo**
* Arrive at Haneda 2 pm.
* Taxi to hotel in Shinjuku and check in
* Collect JR pass at shinjuku station
* Look around Kabukicho
* Walk to Chidorigafuchi park for the lantern festival
**Thu, 27 – Tokyo, Taito & Sumida**
* Yanaka Ginza & Yanaka cemetary
* Ueno Park
* Senjsoji shrine
* Eat at hoppy street
* Tokyo skytree
* Walk around in Akihabara, Mandrake, DQ etc
**Fri, 28 – Hakone**
* Arrive 08:27 at Odawara
* Purchase Hakone free pass
* Do the Hakone round course
* Check in at Ryokan, dinner 17.30 – 18.30
* Onsen at 20.00
**Sat, 29 – Hakone & Tokyo**
* Walk some hiking trails, maybe the east bank trail or hike to the summit of mt.Hakone
* Shinkansen from Odawara to Tokyo at 15.44
* Head back to hotel in shinjuku and shower etc.
* Head to Sumida park and watch the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival, 18:15-20:25
**Sun, 30 – Tokyo, Nakano & Koenji**
* Walk around in Nakano and Koenji
* Nakano Broadway
* Sun mall
* Rengazaka
* Fureai road
* Daily Chiko ice cream
* Araiyakushi Baishin
**Mon, 31 – Nikko**
(A bit unsure about this one. Is it a waste to spend so much time hiking mt Nantai and not have much time left for Nikko?)
* Arrive in Nikko at 09:28
* Take the first bus to Lake Chuzenji
* Hike to top of Mt.Nantai (~5 hrs up & down)
* Bus back to Nikko
* Eat dinner and see if we have time to do anything else in Nikko
* Train back to tokyo at 20:04
**Tue, Aug 1st – Tokyo, Chibuya & Shinjuku**
* Scramble crossing
* Village vanguard
* Shibuya Nonbei Yokocho
* Kabukicho tower
* Meiji Shrine
* Yoyogi park
* Omiode Yokocho (“Piss alley”)
**Wed, 2 -Hiroshima, city**
* Arrive in Hiroshima at 13:51
* Check in at hotel in city center
* Walk around the city, eat, drink & chill
**Thu, 3 – Hiroshima, Miyajima**
* Itsukushima Shrine
* Daisho-in Temple
* Momijidana park
* Hike mt.misen
**Fri, 4 – Hiroshima, city**
* Visit Peace memorial museum/park & dome
* Hiroshima castle
* Shukkeien garden
**Sat, 5 – Tokyo**
* Arrive at 14:12 in Tokyo
* Rest of the day yet unplanned
**Sun, 6 – Tokyo**
* Day unplanned
**Mon, 7 – Tokyo**
* Teamlab planets
* Gundam statue
* Odaiba beach
* Tokyo tower
**Tue, 8 – Tokyo & departure**
* Day unplanned
* Depart from Haneda at 21.50
It is very difficuly to know if we’re in the ballpark regarding time and travel. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
3 comments
It’s very hot here right now and will only get hotter and more humid so just make sure you both stay hydrated and eat enough. Too many people get sick from heat stroke here so make sure to have times you’re planning on resting, going into air conditioned rooms, etc. For reference where I live, right now it says it will be high 90f/32c on the 26th and that’s not including any of the humidity.
>Head to Sumida park and watch the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival, 18:15-20:25
If you want to see *anything* at all, you need to be there before 4PM to secure a decent spot. If you want some reasonably unobstructed views, you’d probably need to be there by early afternoon. People will go there early in the day for the best spots, sometimes even stay overnight camping out a spot. This is pre-pandemic experience, but I suspect things should be back to where they were this year.
>Nikko
Without staying overnight, you’re pretty much forced to choose between hiking and Toshogu Shrine. Toshogu is uniqe and spectacular as shrines go — I wouldn’t want to miss it unless *really* uninterested in shrines.
>Wed, 2 -Hiroshima, city
Might be able to fill this half-day with Himeji, though I can only assume you’ve been to Osaka/Kyoto (and even parts of Tokyo) to have completely ommitted it.
Are you strong hikers? Mt Nantai was estimated at 6 hours when I was there. I’d recommend doing it though (or actually another hike in the area, but I don’t like hiking upwards) because the Lake Chuzenji area has a lovely temperature compared to Tokyo and is gorgeous.