First time travelers in Japan from mid-late November, going from Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Tokyo, hoping to book train tickets soon and could use help reviewing our itinerary!
Our goal is to casually explore and not have too detailed of an itinerary so we don’t burn out too quickly. We’d also like to take a day trip from Kyoto but aren’t sure where to go that doesn’t personally feel too far (like Hiroshima). Originally thinking Nara or Kobe, but we’re worried about only hitting touristy spots.
Any advice on if our days have too much or too little going on, or things to be mindful of would be greatly appreciated!
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Day 1 – Arrive in Tokyo (Wednesday)
* Land in HND at 2:45pm. Get welcome Suica, pocket wifi, and take the bus to our hotel in Shinjuku
* Hotel is close to Golden Gai so if we’re feeling up for it so might explore that, get food at ichiran or konbini
* Early night in
Day 2 – Ginza (Thursday)
* 10am teamLab Planets
* Take the train to the imperial palace (mindful of operating hours)
* Shop around Ginza
* 5pm dinner at Ginza Shabutsu
Day 3 – Asakusa/Akihabara (Friday)
* Senso-ji in the AM, finding food nearby afterwards (although I’ve read not many places are open before 10am)
* Akihabara in the early afternoon for shopping, games, more food
* Kanda Shrine
* Back to Shibuya to visit Meiji Jingu (this one is oddly placed, bu we weren’t sure where else to fit it in)
* Make our way back to the hotel in Shibuya
* Possible dinner at Soba House Konjiki-Hototogisu, dessert at Azuki to Kouri
Day 4 – Shinjuku / Travel to Kyoto (Saturday)
* 10am Shibuya Sky
* Shopping/exploring in Shibuya (Shibuya 109, the nintendo store,
* Hachiko Memorial
* Shibuya Crossing
* Mid/late afternoon make our way to the train station, take the Shinkansen to Kyoto
Day 5 – Kyoto Day 1 (Sunday)
* Get to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove early
* Okochi Sanso Garden
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
* Adashino Nenbutsuji
* Head back to central Kyoto, Nanzen-ji Temple
* Back to Gion to explore
* Yasaka-jinja Shrine
* Dinner somewhere near our hotel
Day 6 – Kyoto Day 2 (Monday)
* Fushimi Inari Shrine in the AM
* Tofuku-ji Temple
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Nishiki market
* Shopping near Aeon Mall/Kyoto Porta
Day 7 – Kyoto Day 3 (Tuesday)
* Kinkaku-ji
* Ryoan-ji
* Ninn-ji Temple
* Nijo Castle
* Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
Day 8 – Tentative day Trip/Travel to Osaka (Wednesday)
* We’re currently thinking a day tip to Kobe, and then back to Osaka in the evening to check into our hotel but we’re not really sold on Kobe
Day 9 – Osaka Day 1 (Thursday)
* Osaka Castle & Park
* Dotonbori
* Kuromon Ichiba Market
Day 10 – Osaka Day 2/Travel back to Tokyo (Friday)
* Osaka Aquarium
* Tenjinbashi-suji Shoping Street
* Shinkensan back to Tokyo
* Hotel in Ginza, last minute shopping
Day 11 – Head Home
7 comments
If you have a spare day I think Nara is worth it. It really depends on what you want to see.
You can try using visit a city app. They have really good itineraries.
I used it on my second trip a few years back.
You don’t really need to book train tickets in advance unless you’re buying the Japan Rail Pass or another pass that requires you to be a tourist/have it shipped to your home country.
Most people just show up at the station and use their digital or physical Passmo or Suica. If you’re riding the Shinkansen, you’re usually fine showing up to the station and booking it same day as well.
It might give you flexibility in your schedule if you don’t book trains in advance (weather, emergency, need a rest day).
Most people underestimate how much walking they’ll do in Japan. Always have sore feet by day 3 lol.
If there’s room in your schedule, I highly recommend catching a glimpse of Mt Fuji. I liked using the Hakone Free Pass to do a day trip from Tokyo (everything does close early in Hakone though – around 5pm).
Skip 1 kyoto day to go nara, you are welcome
Depending on where in the world you are coming from / how jet lag affects you, you might find yourself awake much earlier than most places open and want to get out and do something in the early morning. I was walking up around 5 am for the first few days, so we went to visit the only thing that were open, temples and shrines. I see that you have Mei-ji in a weird spot on day 3, but also are in the area for day 4. If you are up early enough, you can visit Meji early and make it for your Shibuya Sky time.
For Senso-ji, the temple itself will be open early, but the street shops won’t until around 10.
There is a free audio guide for the Imperial palace on their official app that’s pretty good.
Nara is worth a visit — the deer will attack you for food, but that aside its pretty and has some good food.
If you don’t mind a 45 minute train ride, then you don’t really need to switch hotels between Osaka and Kyoto, but I guess you can if you want. We didn’t and it was fine, the train ride feels short.
Your day 1 in Osaka may take less time than you think, at least it would have for my wife and I. If you have extra time I’d recommend Nipponbashi if you want a sort of Akihabara area, but what Akiba was 10 years ago. If you want something weird and different near Osaka then check out the “Tower of the Sun” and do the inside tour, plus the park around it is interesting.
Use the Shinkansen app and you can probably just book train tickets the day before, or even the hour before. We booked tickets literally 30 minutes before trains and only once was it sold out so we had to get green cars.
If you are into matcha and green tea. Uji is a nice quaint town to visit.
I think Arashiyama could be missed as I thought the bamboo forest is more like a bamboo patch. I had a better time admiring bamboo at Inari Shrine walking a side path away from the tourist crowd.