I just got back from my second trip, first ever solo trip, to Japan. The first time, I went with a few friends and we prioritized the “golden itineray” and made sure to hit up all of the important/tourist spots in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka along with day trips to Hiroshima, Nara, and Mt.Fuji. When I planned my solo trip, I mainly wanted to visit Miyajima, because I didn’t get to visit it the first time because we didn’t have enough time, and Himeji because I found out about the Himeji Castle Lego after I got back from my first trip. I am a huge Lego fan so I knew I had to go back to Japan to see the castle and then build the Lego. For reference, I am 27(F) and I never once felt unsafe in any of the cities. Part of the reason I even wanted to visit Japan a second time by myself was because of how safe and easy it was to navigate the first time around. The weak yen and favorable conversion doesn’t hurt either. Hopefully this will help you guys plan a trip. I mainly wanted to write about my trip as a way to immortalize my memories because I had a really fun time. Enjoy!
Packing/timeline: I visited in the first week of November 3-10th, 2025. The weather was perfect fall weather. I only packed a carryon with 3 pants, 2 sweaters, 2 shoes (running and converse) and 8 t-shirts. I only took a semi-lightweight short cotton trench jacket. I figured if it got too cold, I could just buy a jacket in Japan, but my jacket was more than enough. I didn’t pack pajamas because I learnt from my first trip that hotels in Japan provide robes, so I was able to save space by just wearing the robes as pajamas. I didn’t do laundry while I was there, as I had enough clothes, I also bought 2 tops and 2 heattech from Uniqlo and used 1 heattech and 1 top as a part of my outfit rotation. I also didn’t bother packing toiletires other than deodorant and toothbrush because shampoo, conditioner, and shampoo are provided by the hotels. Side note: the shampoos and conditioners at these hotels were INSANE. My hair has never looked or felt better! Hotels don’t provide lotion (at least not the ones I stayed at) so I bought some skim milk spf moisturizer from a drug store. I also bought an umbrella at 7/11 because it was raining my last day in Kyoto and that it is my favorite purchase from my trip. The umbrella is so compact and well made, I love it!
Itinerary: I stayed in Osaka for 4 nights and did two day trips, one to Himeji (really wanted to see the castle that Lego has a set of), and one to Miyajima (I missed it the first time I was in Japan because we tried to schedule Hiroshima and Miyajima together). Then I spent 2 nights in Kyoto with a day spent in Uji and another day spent doing the Kurama/Kibune hike. Then back in Osaka for the last day before flying out. I will talk about my day trips, because those were the most important part of the trip. I didn’t bother with any of the tourist sights in Osaka and Kyoto because I had already visited them the first time I was in Japan.
Himeji: I only explored the castle and gardens, the inside of the castle is bare, the real gem is the exterior. The town itself is just the street leading to the castle, a very pleasant walk. There is also a mountain (forgot the name) that you can hike and maybe take a cable car up, but I wasn’t interested. The history of the castle is fascinating though.
Miyajima: LOVED LOVED LOVED every second of my time in Miyajima. Very simple to get to from Osaka. The city/island is very peaceful and so pretty. I bought a round trip ropeway ticket and then regretted my decision because I also wanted to hike down the mountain (I knew I would die if I tired to hike up Mt. Misen). The universe heard me because once I got to the top of the ropeway route (Shishiiwa Station) it was very windy and I ended up losing my ticket. I took that as a sign and hiked the ~2km to the summit and then hiked all the way down using the Daisho-in temple route and I was so glad I lost the ticket because it was a great experience! My legs were quivering at the end, but downhill is much easier to manage than uphill. Also, the route was very clearly marked so even though I was by myself, I didnt feel lost or confused at any point. The route took me to the temple which was beautiful and I bought myself an Omamori to commemorate the day. Time wise, I had plenty of time for everything that I had planned. I got to the island at 12pm and after lunch by the water, and walking around the Shinto gate for a bit, I started up to the ropeway station at 12:30. I got up to Shishiiwa Station by cable car at 2pm and then began the hike down at 2:30pm (from the summit). I got to the temple at 3:45 and the temple closed at 4pm. I just wore converse for the hike and was fine. By 4:30pm the water had receded because it was low tide so I was able to walk to the base of the gate and take some photos. It was a nice to see the contrast of high tide (when I arrived at 12pm) and low tide (when I was getting ready to leave at 4:30). After that I got myself a little souvenir from the shopping street and Momiji-manu and got on the ferry back at 5pm. As I said, I was able to do everything that I had planned even with some surprises (losing the ticket + hiking) in the 5 hours. If you plan on going into the museum then you would definitely need more time.
Uji: It was a peaceful little town. My first stop was matcha ice cream, I wanted something refreshing and when in Uji, we all scream for (matcha) ice cream. For lunch, I had some tasty matcha zaru soba noodles at a restaurant with a river view, down the street from the Uji shrine. Just be warned that alot of lunch places close up 3:30pm in Uji, so definitely plan to get lunch by 2:30pm. I also went into Byodo- in temple but not the Phoenix hall, I just wanted to see the temple from the outside. For the rest of the afternoon I walked along the river and got stopped off at Hoho Hojicha for some Hojicha tea because I wanted something light and I am not a matcha fan (blasphemy, I know). This was around 4pm. I got tea with a brownie and they served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. At 5pm I headed back to Kyoto.
Kurama/Kibune: I took the Nara line from Kyoto to Tofuku-ji (used Jr pass) and then the Keihan line to Demachiyanagi Station and then the Eizan line to Kurama (last stop). The views from the train on the Eizan line are spectacular in the fall. The whole journey took 1.5 hr each way, but it wasn’t long or tiresome. I started the hike from Kurama (500 yen donation at the shrine) at 12:30 and was done by 1:30 at Kibune. The views along the trail are also beautiful and there are plenty of view points and picture opportunities. I chose to start at Kurama because I read online that it is the easier of the two routes. The trail is also very well marked, so you won’t get lost. From the Kibune starting point to the Kibune station, there is a 2km walk down the mountain road. If I had known about this, I would have taken the shuttle bus. I thought it would be similar to the walk from Kurama station to the start of the hike. No. You are walking on the side of a curving mountain road, and praying you are not in anyone’s blinds spots. Thankfully there is hardly any traffic on that road. I was back in Kyoto by 3pm and I spent the rest of the day walking around Nishiki market and Kawaramachi. I avoided Gion and downtown because 1. I had already been there during my first trip to Japan, 2. I didn’t want to deal with tourists.
Navigation: I used an app called Japan Travel – smart transit and it was super easy. It allows you to select any tourist transport card you might have (jr pass, specific city subway passes for a day etc) and will tell you which routes/trains to take that are covered by that pass. It is great even for local city transport, tells you the platform, the direction, etc. I never had an issue with transport when using Japan Travel app. There are some more premium offerings of that app, but I just used the free version and it was more than enough, also it doesn’t come with any pesky adds. One thing I struggled with on the first day was navigating within the stations from the malls/shopping centers to find the specific gates for the subways etc. especially during rush hour and the throngs of people. However, from day two onwards I would pay hyper attention to the signs hanging from the ceilings about the directions of the different gates, and I would also memorize the routes from specific exits. I stayed near Namba station while in Osaka because it is on the Nankai line to the airport. It was very easy to navigate from Kansai airport, and Namba station is the last stop on that line, so no transferring required. Makes life really simple when you have luggage and are tired from your travels. The price of the ticket is 970 yen and it runs every 30 mins, I paid for the ticket from the airport using my IC card and then with cash on the way out of Osaka.
JR pass: I got the jr west Kansai Hiroshima pass mainly because it would pay for itself for my day trip to Miyajima from Osaka. Aside from that day trip, I was able to use it for my day trip to Himeji and to Uji from Kyoto (Nara line). The pass was $115 and I bought it online from Japan Experience, Klook sells it as well. If you want to buy it from the actual JR website, you need to purchase it within a month of your travels.
ICOCA card: I used the ICOCA card for local transport, mainly when going to Kurama/Kibune because the Eizan and Keihan lines are not included in the JR pass. I also used it to get from Kansai airport to Namba station and from Namba station to Umeda and Shin Osaka to get my connections for my day trips to Miyajima, Himeji, and to travel to Kyoto. From Umeda and Shin Osaka, I would use my JR pass for those destinations. I ended up putting a total of 5000 yen on my IC for my entire 7 day trip and got back my 500 yen deposit with only 80 yen remaining balance which was used for the service charge.
Money: I withdrew 10,000 yen ($65) at Kansai airport using my betterment atm card (it allows me to use any ATM and reimburses ATM and international fees). I used my Wells Fargo autograph (visa) everywhere else and had no issues. I withdrew another 2000 yen ($12) in Kyoto from the atm at the post office. I ended up using up all of my cash, with just a few 10 yen coins leftover, this was the goal!
I spent a total of $288 on the ground (food, souvenirs, sightseeing), these were credit card purchases. A total 12,000 yen (~$77) in cash. I spend a total of $600 on round trip flights (I flew Cathay Pacific from India) to and from Osaka, $115 for the JR pass, and $550 for hotels (I stayed in 2-3 star hotels, similar to Apa). The hotels, flights, and JR pass were paid for before I got to Japan. My total expenditure for the trip as a female solo traveler was $1630 for a total of 7 days. I wasn’t on a strict budget, as I had a basic idea of how much it would cost based on how much I spent during my first trip. Thanks for reading, hope it was helpful!
by Overall-Ad-1107