Hey y'all! Was just wondering if I could get some advice on this itinerary. I'm planning a quasi-family trip+late honeymoon for mid~late November. My husband and I are going with my brother and dad, who will join us for the first 10 days and then we'll be staying another 5 days.
My brother and I have both been to Japan (through an exchange program), but it's been over a decade so we're excited to see Tokyo and Kyoto again, but also explore Hakone and Osaka which we never got to see. My husband and dad have never been to Japan.
My husband is the most excited for food and attempting to talk to locals (even though he knows basically 0 Japanese). My dad is spry for a guy over 70 years old, he's easygoing but overall prefers nature. My brother is looking at shopping and hitting up interesting places he's seen online. I'm just happy with anything so long as I get some breaks from the crowds!
NOTE: Accommodations have been reserved for the first 10 days, but not for the rest of the trip. So Tokyo-Hakone-Osaka is more set in stone, but the rest are not if you guys have other suggestions. There's also reservations for the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto on Day 7 that we have to make it to, but other than that I haven't made very specific plans.
DAY 1: Land in Tokyo Haneda in the mid-afternoon. Stuck between these two choices:
A) Send luggage to our hostel, and go to the Unicorn Gundam, making our way to Tsukiji Market (or the Monjayaki district) before going to hostel in Asakusa. My brother and husband want to see this area, but I hear mixed things about it.
B) Just go straight to our hostel in Asakusa and explore that area. Get dinner, see Senso-ji. Maybe Skytree if we feel up for it, but I feel we're close enough we could stop by any of the days.
DAY 2: Imperial Palace to Akihabara to Ueno Park, or a different day trip. The Imperial Palace could be dropped if it doesn't seem to work, my dad was interested but it isn't a make or break deal for him.
DAY 3: Shibuya (my husband wants to see Hachiko, and my brother and I want to visit some shops), to Harajuku and the Meiji Jingu/Yoyogi park area.
DAY 4: Check out in the morning, send luggage to hostel in Hakone. Head to Shinjuku. Hopefully with some time to eat and explore!
Hop on train to Gotemba. Either go to outlets or straight to an onsen before heading to our hostel in Gora district.
DAY 5: Walk over to Hakone Open-Air Museum before it gets busy. Use the cable car to go to Lake Ashi. Explore. Maybe a public onsen.
DAY 6: Check out. Send luggage to Osaka. Make our way down Hakone, through Hakone Checkpoint, to Mishima Sky Walk.
Take Mishima Station to the house we're staying at in Osaka.
DAY 7: Wake up real early to go to Kyoto and hit up Fushimi Inari. From there decide if we want to go to Nishiki Market or Nijou Castle.
Make our way down to the Nintendo Museum. Explore Uji, get dinner or sake and head back to Osaka.
DAY 8: Osaka-focused day. Dotonbori and Osaka Castle, absolutely. Lots of focus on the food, but any specific suggestions would be great.
DAY 9: Day trip to Nara! Nara Park for sure, Kofukuji, Heijo Palace.
DAY 10: Dad and brother make their way back to Tokyo to fly back home. We head to Minoh Falls.
Stay either by there or in Kobe. One ryokan stay would be nice since I've always wanted to experience it.
DAY 11: Explore Kobe for the day. Nunobiki Ropeway, Carpentry Museum. Food around Sannomiya. Look into sake district if we have time (and energy).
Travel to Nagoya and check in.
DAY 12: Explore Nagoya, and try their food such as miso katsu and hitsumabushi. Nagoya Castle or Osu Kannon (Osu would be nostalgic for me). If we can, hit up the Toyota or Science Museum.
DAY 13: Ghibli Park or any other place we missed out on exploring, since I see only standard tickets are left.
Head out to Yokohama.
DAY 14: Walk along the Yokohama Bay to Chinatown.
DAY 15: Check out Sankeien Garden.
Tokyo Airport to fly home in the late afternoon.
Let me know if this seems doable. I'm trying to keep things mostly focused in specific areas, but I'll likely still have to trim it down. If you guys feel we're moving to too many stops to enjoy anything towards the end, I'd love to hear suggestions to make the most of the last few days!
by oneimaginaryoctopus