Traveling the first of October
Day 01 & 02 East coat US to HND-15hrs in the sky
Land at HND around 1pm
– buy Suica card
– taxi to hotel
– eat somewhere local
– buy a few groceries
– sleep
Day 03
Shibuya
– early crossing/scramble
– miyashita park
– kiddy land
– takeshita street
– ikea
– meiji jingu shrine
We're not concrete on where exactly we're stopping. Just following this general route from Shubuya station to Meiji Jingu & I need reference points because I am not directionally inclined
Day 04
Akihabara
– radio kaikan
– super potato
– animate akihabara
– ueno park
Leave by 2pm and take the… 5 minute train + 15 minute walk over to Asakusa. Lots of time to make sure I don't mess up my travel.
Asakusa
– 3pm sumo dinner
– Shin-Nakamise if I feel like we have time
– Asakusa Shrine
– Senso-Ji (hopefully its darkish by now)
8pm Tokyo Skytree
Day 05
- Disneyland
Ideally head back to hotel 5-6ish for early night but we will see
Day 06
Early wake up
Taxi to Toyosu, planned tour 6am-9am
11am Teamlab: Planets
See if anyone needs to take a snooze, so either back to hotel or straight to Imperial Palace for the gardens
Explore Tokyo Station
Everything this evening is dependent on how my family is feeling
Day 07
- Disney Sea
Day 08
- Leave hotel at 0630
-
Shinkansen to Kyoto, arrive around 0930-1000
-
hotel is super close to kyoto station so we plan on dropping off our luggage instead of shipping
-
Taxi up to Kinkakuji
-
If its before noon when we finish, planning on heading to samurai museum +/- manga museum
Day 09
Early wake up
– Arashiyama around 0630-0700ish
– Visit garden & Danrinji
– Walk to observation desk
- Kimono rental 1030
- Kimono forest
- Back to Tenryuji
- Walk to Togetsukyo bridge, take some pictures
- Horinji
Return kimonos
- Walk to Iwatayama
Day 10
- Kiyomizu-dara
- Hokanji
-
Giesha/maiko meeting at Ebisu-Jinja @ 1200-1330
-
Taxi vs bus to Nijo Castle
-
Head back down to pokemon center, walk & explore to nintendo store +/- nishiki market. All depending on time
Day 11
I very badly wanted to originally stop in Nagoya between Tokyo and Kyoto to visit Ghilbli Park but I wasn't able to secure tickets for that day. So now we're making a day trip to Nagoya
Ghilbli Park timed entry for 1200, planning on being there when doors open so we can leave on the earlier side.
Evening dependent on what time we make it back to Kyoto
Day 12
Early wake up
- Fushimi Inari
Gion
– Yasaka shrine
– Maruyama park
– Ninenzaka
– Yasui Konpiragu
– Hanamikoji st
– Minimiza theatre
– Shirakawa canal
– Pontocho Alley
? Again, same as tokyo, I am not sold on visiting everything above, I just need to know which streets to wander in gion as so I don't backtrack or get lost
Depending on time of day, head to Nanzenji +/- Ginkakuji
Day 13
- Check out of hotel 0800-0900
-
Forward main luggage to Osaka Hotel (maybe I should do this the night before?)
-
Train to Nara Park + Temple
-
Head to Osaka
Ideas for evening (depending on how everyone is feeling) – Osaka Castle vs Aquarium vs Riverwalk
Sleep early hopefully
Day 14
- Universal Studios ❤️❤️ I stressed so hard over getting damn tickets to suoer nintendo world. My 4 year old lovessss mario (the whole family adores nintendo but the 4 year old needs this)
- Timed ticket for Koopa @ 1500
Day 15
Check out of hotel 1000-1100. Hopefully we all slept in
Shinkansen to Hakone
Check into onsen and relax
Maybe out for dinner somewhere vs eating at hotel
Day 16
Hakone guided tour, back around 1600
Enjoy our hotel for the last night in Japan
Day 17
Taxi vs public back to Haneda. Flight is at 1600 so feeling okay about public transport but we will judge travel anxiety the night before and day of
Did I miss any must dos? I tried to leave evenings pretty open so we can add on as much as were feeling
We're traveling with a.. chaotic… 4 year old. He has traveled with us since he was born and we are used to big trips and lots of walking. I just wanted to include some things he may really like. The preteen plus myself and husband are going to just enjoy being in the country. I wanted to find something Power Rangers…even if it is a shop with figurines
Preteen daughter is really into foxes but I was hesitant to look at the animal cafes d/t animal neglect and abuse. Any suggestions?
If I buy the Suica card for me, husband, and preteen, will that cover my entire trip (minus shinkansen)? I was confused if I needed the kansai one once in kyoto…
I know I mention taxi a lot but I am so worried about my sweet 4 year old disrespecting the culture. He is just a talkative kid and won't really understand why he all of a sudden is being shushed. Not loud or disruptive but there is always a topic to be discussed. What is etiquette on shinkansen? Do you chat with your parties or is it expected to be quiet as well?
Thank you for any suggestions
by Yaneau