14 days, 13 nights late October/early November, going with my husband for a honeymoon trip (coming from East Coast, USA). Trying to strike a balance between planning enough and leaving plenty of room open for spontaneous decisions.
Planning to go to Tokyo, Ito, bike the Shimanami Kaido, and Kyoto. We want to begin the Shimanami Kaido from the Imabari side and end in Onomichi, and head to Kyoto afterwards. In case of inclement weather we would possibly swap Shimanami Kaido for hanging out in Hiroshima, Osaka, or longer in Kyoto.
General questions I have:
- Do we need to book train tickets for the longer trips now or is it ok to wait until we arrive/book on the fly?
- Will we have a hard time popping in somewhere for lunch/dinner in Tokyo or Kyoto if we didn't make a reservation? I'm talking places that aren't "viral" but have good ratings on Tabelog. Would prefer not to have every meal mapped out on the itinerary.
- Is Onomichi worth visiting if we get there without much daylight left, and plan to leave in the morning? The ropeway and temple walk look great but not sure if those would be doable or fun if it's dark.
- Sunset looks to be around 5pm the day we'd get there, not sure how early people usually finish the Shimanami Kaido when coming from Setoda to Onomichi.
- Is Mt. Omuro in Izu green this time of year?
Interests are: food, onsens, art, nature, and checking out big cities as well as smaller towns. Would love any feedback, thank you in advance!
Day 1: HND to Tokyo (Sunday)
- Arrive to HND around 2:30 pm local time, hopefully get to Ginza by 4:30 pm
- Walk around Ginza, conbini snacks, conveyor belt sushi dinner?
- Staying in Ginza 5 nights
Day 2: Tokyo (Monday)
- Toyosu tuna auction 5am, sushi and hang around there for breakfast then maybe back to hotel
- Senso-ji temple
- Kappabashi st. shopping
- Ueno
Day 3: Tokyo (Tuesday)
- Shibuya
- The National Art Center, Tokyo
- Dinner @ Tempura Mikawa Zezankyo
Day 4: Tokyo (Wednesday)
- Tokyo Ad Museum
- Maybe Imperial palace?
- Potentially when we’d do a ~half day trip: a further neighborhood in Tokyo, Kamakura, a town with Fuji views, Shonan or Chiba for surfing, etc?
Day 5: Tokyo (Thursday)
- Sunamachi Ginza “locals grocery tour” 10-12pm with tour guide association
- Tokyo Sky Tree?
- Maybe Asukasa
- Shinjuku & nearby neighborhoods
Day 6: Tokyo/Travel to Ito (Friday)
- Ship luggage from Tokyo to Kyoto hotel
- Travel to Ito in the afternoon
- Maybe go to Atami on the way?
- Walk around Ito, arrive to ryokan by afternoon
- Stay in ryokan in Ito 2 nights
Day 7: Ito (Saturday)
- Potential outing to (need to narrow down) Mt. Omuro/Jogasaki Coast/Banjo Falls/Joren Falls/Izukogen/art museum (would love to see one of the wasabi waterfalls as well as Mt. Omuro)
- Check out town of Ito if not going on outing
- Hang at ryokan
Day 8: Ito/Travel to Osaka (Sunday)
- Train from Ito to Osaka
- Hang out in Osaka until the evening
- Dotonbori and surrounding neighborhoods
- Get something for dinner before boarding ferry
- Ship luggage from Osaka to Kyoto OR Onomichi hotel if we still have stuff with us
- Take overnight Orange Ferry from Osaka to Toyo Port.
**Question: Would it be better to just go from Ito to Onomichi for the night instead, and catch bus to Imabari in the AM, rather than Ito to Osaka for the overnight ferry to Toyo, and bus to Imabari once docked? Skipping ferry means we probably don’t go to Osaka on this trip unless biking doesn’t happen due to rain. But not sure if the itinerary is getting too crowded anyway.
Day 9: Start Shimanami Kaido/Setoda (Monday)
- Take the bus from Toyo Port to Imabari (~1.5hrs) for bike rental & beginning Shimanami Kaido
- Breakfast at Kaneto Shokudo
- Planned stops:
- Kosanji Temple
- Roadside station Hakata S-C park
- Dolce gelato
- Stay in Setoda for halfway point on Shimanami Kaido
Day 10: Shimanami Kaido/Setoda/Onomichi (Tuesday)
- Get up early and finish Shimanami Kaido on the Onomichi side
- Planned stops:
- Innoshima Castle
- Shiratakiyama Observation Deck
- Onomichi Temple Walk if staying in Onomichi
- Stay the night in Onomichi after finishing bike ride
- OR Tomonouro?
- OR take later train to Kyoto?
**Question: better to stay in downtown Onomichi post-cycling, or get to somewhere else that evening? Onomichi looks cute but if we don’t arrive with ample daylight left (sun will set by 5:10pm) will it not be that interesting? Considered Tomonoura or somewhere else with onsen?
Day 11: Onomichi/Travel to Kyoto (Wednesday)
- Morning train to Kyoto, drop bags at hotel
- Sweets (wagashi) class at Kanshundo in the afternoon
- Walk around Gion
- Stay in Shimogyo Ward (near Shichijō Station) 3 nights
Day 12: Kyoto (Thursday)
- Fushimi Inari early
- Bike around a little
- Uji
Day 13: Kyoto (Friday)
- Nishiki Market
- Philosopher's Path
Day 14: Kyoto to ITM (Saturday)
- Leave for airport (thinking by 9 or 10 am)
- Flight leaves Japan at 1pm 🙁
by CoppertoneGrove