Hello! My sister and I are going to Japan for the first time in October. We are arriving 4PM in HND Airport on October 4, and leaving 5PM October 17th.
For reference, we’re both interested in eating lots of good food, being in the middle of the action, shopping for cute trinkets (we love Sanrio), makeup, clothes, and thrifting. We’re planning to wake up early early, and go for as long as we can :’) I’m a planner by nature but for this trip I want to make sure there’s enough time to just go to an area and just wander around and discover it in real time. I have a few food places I really want to try: Tsujihan, Udon Shin, Gyukatsu Motomura, Godaime Hanayama Udon Ginza, and literally sushi anytime any place.
The actual day to day breakdown is still very much a WIP (especially Tokyo) as I’m still figuring out how to maximize efficiency, so any tips or grouping recs would be much appreciated. Here is our rough itinerary below:
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**DAY 1: October 4 – TOKYO**
* Land in HND at 4PM, buy + load Suica card, pick up either e-sim or pocket wifi, take the train into Tokyo
* Arrive at hotel in Shibuya
* Explore surrounding area of hotel + rest. Get dinner either somewhere nearby or at a conbini.
**DAY 2 – October 5 – TOKYO**
* Shopping day in Shibuya / Harajuku / Shimokitazawa
* Explore Shibuya
* SHIBUYA TO DO: Shibuya Scramble, Azuki to Kouri, Yoyogi Park
* Walk to Harajuku
* HARAJUKU TO DO: Takeshita Street, Pompompurin Cafe, walk around and shop
* Train to Shimokitazawa to go thrifting
* Come back to Shibuya
* Shibuya Sky at sunset or at night (because I think the views will be so beautiful)
* Get dinner at Gyukatsu Motomura
**DAY 3 – October 6 – TOKYO**
* Wake up early and explore Asakusa
* TO DO: Kaminarimon Gate, Sensoji Temple, Nakemise-dori Street, walk around and try a bunch of matcha desserts
* Walk to Tokyo Skytree area
* TO DO: Tokyo Metropolitan Building, cafe capybara (my sister is obsessed so this is a non-negotiable)
* Train to Shinjuku area
* TO DO: Pop into one of the department stores (LUMIN EST, Keio), get dinner at Udon Shin or at Omoide Yokocho, walk over and check out Golden Gai.
**DAY 4 – October 7 – TOKYO**
* Wake up early and go to Tsujiki Fish Market
* Go to teamLabs Planets (trying to either get the earliest slot, or an early-ish slot)
* Train to Ginza to shop and get dinner
* TO DO: Godaime Hanayama Udon Ginza, or possibly get sushi since I heard Ginza is the best for sushi, Itoya, LOFT, Uniqlo Ginza, window shop at luxury stores, Cafe de l’ambre
**DAY 5 – October 8 – TOKYO > KYOTO**
* Wake up and take Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto
* Arrive at hotel in Gion area
* TO DO: Nineizaka / Sanneizaka, Kiyomizu-dera, Yasaka-jinja Shrine, Hokan-ji, end at Hanamokoji Street and Pontocho Alley for the night
* NOTE: May be overkill? lol
**DAY 6 – October 9 – KYOTO**
* Nishiki Market in the morning
* Make our way over to Philosopher’s Path, Higashiyama Jisho-ji
* NOTE: Day seems light but might be nice to have a rest day.
**DAY 7 – October 10 – KYOTO > ARASHIYAMA**
* Day trip to Arashiyama
* TO DO: Bamboo Forest, Monkey Park, % ARABICA Coffee, Miffy Bakery
* TIME PERMITTING: Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple
**DAY 8 – October 11 – KYOTO > NARA**
* Day trip to Nara
* TO DO: Feed the deers, Todai-ji Temple, eat at Mizuya Chaya or Maguro Koya Nara
* NOTE: Feels like this won’t take the whole day — thinking of doing Fushimi Inari Shrine in the morning and then day tripping to Nara in the afternoon instead? Is this realistic time wise?
**DAY 9 – October 12 – KYOTO**
* TBD — can shift some things to this day but unsure what would be best.
* Fushimi Inari Shrine in the morning if we don’t lump it with the Nara day.
* Possibly turn this day into a day trip into Osaka if the rest of the schedule looks good.
**DAY 10 – October 13 – KYOTO > OSAKA**
* Check out of hotel in Kyoto and take a train to Osaka
* Arrive at hotel in Osaka (hotel TBD)
* TO DO: Osaka Castle, Kuromon Market, Namba Yasaka Jinja, Dotonbori, Amerika-mura, teamLab Botanical Garden, visit Shinsekai at night, eat eat eat eat
**DAY 11 – October 14 – OSAKA**
* TBD — – can shift some things to this day but unsure what would be best. Can even cut it and give a day back to Tokyo.
**DAY 12 – October 15 – OSAKA > TOKYO**
* Check out of hotel in Osaka, take Shinkansen back to Tokyo early morning.
* Check into hotel in Tokyo (still TBD — thinking of staying in Ginza / Ueno / Akasaka for latter half of trip… or stick to Shibuya?)
* Explore Akihabara + Tokyo Station area
* Get lunch or dinner at Tsujihan
**DAY 13 – October 16 – TOKYO**
* A day open to explore what areas we be light in. Thinking maybe Shinjuku, or catching a train to Koenji to thrift, or going to Roppongi / Tokyo Tower area since I haven’t slotted that in anywhere.
* OR possibly a day trip out to Kamakura or Hakone?
**DAY 14 – October 17 – TOKYO > USA**
* Walk around wherever we end up staying in and explore; flying out of HND at around 5PM, so not going to do anything crazy.
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**BIGGEST QUESTIONS:**
1. What areas in Tokyo are the best to group together? I know that everything is pretty easy to access by train, but wanna maximize efficiency where we can. I’ve done the best I can with what knowledge I have but very open to suggestions.
2. Would love help understanding if the way I portioned out our Kyoto section of the trip makes sense.
3. Heard that Nara isn’t an all-day trip. Would it be a good idea to go to Fushimi Inari in the morning and then day trip to Nara in the afternoon in one single day? Or would that feel rushed?
4. I’ve heard from some that 2 days in Osaka is too much, and heard from others that they wish they had a whole week in Osaka.
1. Are we better off giving a day back to Tokyo (so 1 night in Osaka) and potentially adding a day trip out of Tokyo somewhere (like Hakone) instead?
2. Should we just day trip out of Kyoto to Osaka one of the days we are there instead of staying in Osaka?
5. Any other glaring problems or suggestions that I am missing?
Thank you all!!! This is my first international trip that I’m planning myself and it’s overwhelming.
4 comments
>May be overkill?
Walking down from Kiyomizudera to Yazaka shrine is pretty much par for the course. Continuing on to Pontocho via Gion is very common as well.
>What areas in Tokyo are the best to group together? I know that everything is pretty easy to access by train, but wanna maximize efficiency where we can. I’ve done the best I can with what knowledge I have but very open to suggestions.
I think the main problem here is that most of your locations involve some shopping, which can vary greatly in time and walking distance depending on the individual. It’s a lot harder to say if it’s a good idea to lump more things together. For now it’s slightly on the light side, which I think is about right.
>Would love help understanding if the way I portioned out our Kyoto section of the trip makes sense.
It’s reasonable for what it is, but missing Kinkakuji out of the bigger attractions. Shrine fatigue is also a thing, where you visit so many that they all just blend together. It’s probably better to focus on the ones that are unique.
>Heard that Nara isn’t an all-day trip. Would it be a good idea to go to Fushimi Inari in the morning and then day trip to Nara in the afternoon in one single day? Or would that feel rushed?
That’s the usual suggestion. Or you can pair Nara with Uji, which is about halfway between Kyoto and Nara.
>I’ve heard from some that 2 days in Osaka is too much, and heard from others that they wish they had a whole week in Osaka.
Osaka itself is just another big Japanese city, so whether it’s interesting really depends on how much you like being in big cities. Usually you’d find Universal Studios, the aquarium, or numerous day trips (Koyasan, Himeji, etc), around the region in an Osaka itinerary. If you can’t find that much you’d like to do, a day trip from Kyoto is enough. I’d give to extra day to Himeji.
>OR possibly a day trip out to Kamakura or Hakone?
I’d recommend Nikko. It’s just about the right season towards the end of your trip to see fall colors.
You must visit the 47th floor of Scramble Square, the view will be unforgettable.
Your itinerary seems pretty reasonably spaced out. Assuming you are getting the JR Pass so you can also use the Tokyo and Osaka loops.
Your Tokyo days seem pretty geographically consistent. The main JR Yamanote line will get you to most areas (though Tokyo Bay is a bit of a walk). If you have subway passes otherwise you should be fine.
Osaka is a difficult one as it is generally a bit nondescript after Tokyo/Kyoto. We only spent two nights in Osaka. The first night we went to Shin-Sekai, then the next day we went to Himeji as a day trip and did Dotonbori in the evening. Then the morning before we left we went to Osaka Castle (though our hotel was by there anyway).
Fushimi Inari Shrine and Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Monkey Park. In one day, the Fushimi Inari shrine and the Monkey Park are uphill so has a fair bit of walking (assuming you want to get to the top of the Inari path). They might be better split between days. We did Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Monkey Park, then jumped in a taxi to Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) as they were both on the west side of Kyoto. Then we got the bus back to Gion.
Nara is a nice day trip. We also went to Hakone on the way back from Kyoto to Tokyo and got the Hakone FreePass and did the cruise on the lake and the cable car ride. That was worth it as well, and you could do that as a day trip from Tokyo or stay there for a night.
3) you can go to fushimi inari before nara. you can spend a whole day in nara, or more, but the usual mochi,deerpark,todaiji route is maybe half a day.
4) its always what you make of the time and what you expect. osaka, as well as tokyo are both huge cities where it is easy to see how spending 2 days is barely scratching the surface. the same is true for kyoto. however, if one loves dreamy temples, chances are they prefer spending time in temples, if one loves cyberpunk bladerunner neon streets, they would probably prefer the days in osaka or tokyo, depending on what areas they know there…
2)
– day 5/6, the time I assume you have to spend and the stuff on the list both seem okay, but instead of trying to squeeze everything in travel day and then have a light one, I would rebalance. maybe nishiki and pontocho/gion on arrival day and higashiyama on day 6.
– day 7 fine, day 8 (see 3) fine