Hi all, my partner and I are planning out trip to Japan for Late Oct – early Nov. It's my second time visiting (I went previously as a teen with my school, so I didn't do any of that planning) and its my partners first time.
We are doing a fly in to Tokyo with a whole journey to Hiroshima and back to Tokyo trip so I'm kind of concerned about our itinerary… we can't really compromise on the places we are stopping since its all the places my partner and I have agreed we want to visit but I was just hoping someone with more travel experience could help me to maximise our time?
For reference, the main things we want to do is visit art and history museums, eat varied local foods (more my partner than me.. im fussy) and see the countryside and nature.
The itinerary so far (I have already organised hotels but I still have time to make changes):
Day 1: Arrival to Narita airport around 7pm
– Pretty much just late check in to our hotel and get an early night, or do a brief walk around the area hunting snacks.
– Checking in to hotel in Shinjuku
Day 2 – 3 Full days in Tokyo
– Not set plans yet but we want to visit one of the teamlabs, some bars at night and I want to go to Shimokitazawa for some vintage shopping. My partner is a musician so he wants to visit local music and record stores. Also fitting in some shrine visits as well.
Day 4 – Travel from Tokyo to Hakone
– Overnight stay in Hakone, hoping to arrive there early afternoon and depart after lunch the next day.
– Hakone ropeway and exploring around Lake Ashi
Day 5 – Travel from Hakone to Nagoya
– Overnight stay in Nagoya
– Not sure what to do for the evening and next morning here but we kind of want to visit the automobile manufacturing museums/tours that I have seen.
Day 6 – Travel from Nagoya to Takayama
– Overnight stay in a Ryokan near Takayama
– This is actually my birthday so we were going to splurge a bit on a dinner that maybe features local produce (especially gifu beef!)
Day 7 – Travel from Takayam to Kanazawa
– Overnight stay in a hotel close to the coast (not sure its the right season for that but we aren't planning to actually visit the beaches)
Day 8 – Travel from Kanazawa to Kyoto
– For this trip I wanted to organise some kind of scenic train ride as I have seen a few advertised that look really lovely! I would love suggestions or recommendations on specific ones if anyone has done this!
Day 9 – Full day Kyoto
– No set plan yet but likely historical areas of interests and visiting shrines.
Day 10 – Travel Kyoto to Osaka
– Overnight stay in Osaka in Dotonbori
– This trip is mainly going to be about food!
Day 11 – Travel Osaka to Hiroshima
– No set plan yet for the morning in Osaka
– Hiroshima – I have heard the Peace memorial park is lovely to visit at night and I have organised a hotel across the road from it for that reason.
Day 12 – Full day Hiroshima
– Day trip to Miyajima if possible
– Hiroshima war museum if there is time
Day 13 – Travel Hiroshima to Tokyo
– Museum in AM if we couldn't do it the day before.
– Planning to take the shinkansen which I have seen is about a 4 hour trip.
– Checking into hotel in Akihabara
Day 14 – Half day Tokyo
– Departure back to Melbourne from Narita Airport in the evening.
Now, I am well aware we are staying in ALOT of different places in a short period of time and we have limited time in each place but the actual travelling from place to place is part of our trip so I will be organising scenic trains where I can. As I mentioned, its mostly for the nature views and food that we are looking forward to the most.
Does anyone have any suggestions for additional things to do or any recommendations on scenic trains/routes I could look into booking? There are too many to choose from when looking on Google and its a bit overwhelming.. I want to have everything organised by end of September which is not too far away…
Thanks for any help!
by Comfortable-Row8696