Hi all,
I am travelling with two friends to Japan next year March 8-March 21 (super excited!!). We’re not super experienced travellers and I need suggestions for a couple dates of the trip. I’ve never really planned logistics or an itinerary like this before and it has been really fun and challenging!
March 8: Shibuya
Land at NRT at 1600
Find hotel and dinner.
March 9: Shibuya
Shibuya crossing, maybe team labs for half the day, walk around town, try lots of food
March 10: Transit to Kawaguchi Lake
Prebooked dedicated bus/rail to Lake Kawaguchi and maybe pay for our luggage to be sent to the hotel.
Hotel has a shuttle from Kawaguchi station.
Hang out, maybe rent some bikes, enjoy the onsen.
March 11: Transit to Kyoto
Breakfast at the the hotel and then a long transit day to Kyoto with a bus hop and a few train transfers. Maybe dinner in Gion and check out the area after we rest at the BNB.
March 12: Kyoto
Air BnB is walking distance to Kiyomizu. Wake up, walk down, enjoy some of the sights along the way. Maybe hit up Potoncho alley and Nishiki Market.
March 13: Kyoto
Maybe Fushima Inari early morning, then a tea ceremony later in the day. Eat lots of food.
March 14: Day trip to Nara.
March 15: Kyoto
Arashiyama, river boat ride maybe?
March 16: transit to Osaka
Dotonburi district
March 17: Day trip to either Himeji/Hiroshima or Hiroshima/Miyajima. This part I am unsure about, idk if Hiroshima or Miyajima are doable in a day trip anyway? I think I would priories Miyajima over a Himeji Castle visit if I had to pick.
March 18: Osaka
March 19: transit back to Tokyo/Shinjuku
Enjoy the night life
March 20: Shinjuku and also Asakusa for a few hours (May feel a bit out of the way, might end up staying in Shinjuku)
March 21: Checkout, breakfast, lunch, fly home.
We really want to enjoy ourselves and not feel rushed and have some open time to just sit and hang out in cafes and stuff. I am unsure about the Hiroshima/Himeji/Miyajima day. We’re slowly sorting out the rail passes and what buses we might want to prebook (I know there are some Fuji-centric reserved seated ones?). So cool! And excited, thanks for your inputs.
1 comment
You can’t do Hiroshima, Himeji, and Miyajima all in the same day, and this is speaking as a fast traveler. You can absolutely do Hiroshima and Miyajima if you are a fast traveler and willing to prioritize (eg wake up early and come back late, don’t detour to okonomimura, budget your time at atomic stuff vs Miyajima tide tables). TBH I’m not sure how worth it Himeji is before cherry blossoms anyway (assuming you are not very interested in feudal history) since it will just be barren branches. If you want to do all three, cancel Osaka and sleep in Hiroshima on the 18th.