Me and my girlfriend are going Japan for the first time soon for 2 weeks – September 19th – October 4th. We have a rough itinerary doing the main places most people do – Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Kyoto, and Osaka.
When we set out to book Japan we did so with the intention of going Okinawa (Or the Okinawan islands) and had set out about 4-5 days for this, but realised now how much there is to do between the other destinations I mentioned that we don’t know if we should sacrifice some of it to make time for Okinawa – either keep the 2 days we have currently planned below, sacrifice it, or sacrifice other days to make more time for it. Can anyone who’s been to Okinawa, or lives in Japan be able to give their thoughts?
Our rough itinerary atm is this:
Tokyo (Not an exhaustive list of things to see/do)
*Days 1-4
Explore; Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi; Golden Gai; Senso-Ji temple; Yamaha;Nezu; Shibuya Sky; Tokyo Car Club by night;Imperial Palace Gardens; TeamLabs; Evening train to Mt Fuji
Mt Fuji / Lake Kawaguchiko (potentially cancel due to low visibility?)
Day 5: Explore area around Mt Fuji/ Lake Kawaguchiko; Evening travel to Kyoto
Kyoto (we haven’t set a full itinerary but just have a list of stuff we could do)
Day 6/7/8/9: Bamboo forest; explore Kifune; Golden Pavillion; Gion (Hokan-Ji 5 storey pagoda, Tea ceremony in a traditional tea house, Geisha performance); Kiyomizudera Temple; Higashiyama disitrict; Fushimi ward; Fushimi Inari Tori Gates; Tenjuan Temple; Daigo-ji Temple; Byodo-in temple; Yasakaa Shrin and Maruyama Park; Sagano romantic train and Hozugawa River Cruise
Osaka
Day 10: Osaka Castle & Park / Dotonbori river cruise and walk, Nagazaki district, pub crawl
Day 11: Universal Studios
Okinawa
Day 12: Fly from Osaka AM; Explore, walk around; Dinner; sunset
Day 13: Beach day, swim, snorkle etc
Tokyo
Day 14: Early flight back to Tokyo / Or train back from Osaka
Day 15: Half-day in Tokyo; Evening flight back to UK
Should we cut 1-3 days off somewhere else to go Okinawa?
On one hand Okinawa looks amazing, and it would be a nice relaxing time between all the chaos and walking of the cities. When I’ve been looking into Okinawa main island it seems to be sightseeing spots and cultural stuff which i think we’ll have enough of in mainland. Ideally we just want really pristine beautiful beaches with clear water, sea life and some kayaking, but to be chilled and not have to travel about loads. The mangrove kayaking in spots looks cool too as does the stargazing.
Anyone who's been to Okinawa recommend some of the islands if we go? The beaches on the main island don't look as amazing as some of the neighbouring islands.
by rajcovuk