I know this gets posted a lot, but after watching so many itinerary posts and videos about different locations to visit, I eventually felt a bit overwhelmed in terms of planning, hence would appreciate any particular recommendations based on my (very high level) so far itininerary.
For context, I am a (26M) solo traveler going for the first time to Japan, I usually enjoy really chill trips with zero rush in between moving from place to place, so also would appreciate any comments on whether you think the itinerary is a bit rushed for some days.
**Additional questions/thoughts:**
Do you feel it would worth replacing any of the days with a trip to Hiroshima ? or maybe a 1 night stay at Hiroshima with a visit to Miyajima
Is it better to replace all the Kyoto days for just staying in Osaka all those days, making trips to Kyoto ? I see it would be cheaper this way
Any other recommended 1 day or half day trips based on the current schedule ?
I might possibly change the itinerary to go to the Fukushima Yokai festival, but the date has not been announced yet.
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|Date|Place|Activities|
|:-|:-|:-|
|Nov 14th|Tokyo|• Arrive to Tokyo in the morning, Hotel check-in, Probably just a relaxing day and a bit of wandering around Shinjuku|
|Nov 15th|Tokyo|• Wandering around Shinjuku and Kabuchiko, Shinjuku Gyoen|
|Nov 16th|Tokyo|• Wandering around Akihabara|
|Nov 17th|Tokyo|• Wandering around Shibuya, Teamlab Planets, Zozo-ji temple|
|Nov 18th|Tokyo|• Harajuku, Takeshita Street, Yoyogi Park|
|Nov 19th|Tokyo|• Half day trip to Shimo-Kitazawa, Asakusa Senso-ji Temple, Ueno Park|
|Nov 20th|Tokyo|• Still deciding but probably visiting Warner Bros Studio Tour in Nerima + some exploring around that place|
|Nov 21st|Tokyo → Takayama|• Travel to Takayama|
|Nov 22nd|Takayama|• Explore Takayama Old Town, Takayama Morning Market|
|Nov 23rd|Takayama → Kyoto|• Hida Folk Village, Higashiyama Walking Course, Travel to Kyoto|
|Nov 24th|Kyoto|• Fushimi Inari Shrine|
|Nov 25th|Kyoto|• Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Gion District|
|Nov 26th|Kyoto|• Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji Temple|
|Nov 27th|Osaka|• Dotonbori, Shinsaibashi Shopping Street, Osaka Castle|
|Nov 28th|Osaka|• Day trip to Nara|
|Nov 29th|Osaka|• Universal Studios Japan|
|Nov 30th|Osaka → Tokyo|• Return to Tokyo, Odaiba|
|Dec 1st|Tokyo|• Day trip to Nikko|
|Dec 2nd|Tokyo|• Tokyo Tower, Odaiba Palette Town|
|Dec 3rd|Tokyo|• Shopping day in Shibuya|
|Dec 4th|Tokyo|• Departure|
​
3 comments
You need to spend some time in Google Maps getting an idea of how close things are to each other. Your Tokyo schedule at the moment has terrible pathing – e.g. Akihabara and Ueno are next to each other. Shimokitazawa, Shibuya, and Shinjuku are relatively close to each other.
Tokyo -> Takayama is a bit of a hike and I think it makes sense to stop off somewhere on the way – probably Matsumoto, Nagoya, or (iff you add an extra night to stay there and explore) Kanazawa.
If anything, I would stay in Kyoto and take a day trip to Osaka, and generally not spend much time in Osaka.
Hiroshima is definitely worth an overnight stay and taking time from somewhere else.
Shimokita, Asakusa, and Ueno is a all over the map. Plus, Shimo was cool 25 years ago. Now it is just overcrowded, lots of tourists ( foreign and domestic), stupid “used” clothes shops (I.e., lots of fake shit from SE Asia and stuff that 18-year-old Japanese kids like.), and gentrified. It still works if you show up after 9:00 PM and have a good bar or izakaya.
I guess things are not in order, like the 15, Kabukicho should be last and Shinjuku Gyoen first.
Would add Meiji-jingu (and do it first) and even consider removing Yoyogi park, that is just a park, not a garden.
Shimo-kitazawa is in the opposite side of Tokyo compared to Asakusa… not best combo.
Palette Town have been closed for a year now, the whole area is being re-developed.
You can stay in only one of Kyoto and Osaka, for that many days, doing both you would be able to experience both cities at night as they have a different vibe, you would cut on transport between the two cities for a couple of days, but you will have to do one extra hotel change and some people really do not like it (I do not ming and would probably do both if I had to choose).