We are a couple in our late 20s and went to Japan for our honeymoon.
Tokyo-
Stay- Tavinos Asakusa- Tiny rooms but great vibe in the lounge area of the hotel.
Day 1-
- Land at Haneda Airport (6:00 am)
- Drop luggage at hotel (8:30 am – 9:00 am)
- Kanda Myojin (10:30 am – 12:00 pm)
- Akihabara (12:00 pm- 2:00 pm)
- Sensoji (3:00-4:00 pm)
- Hotel (4:00pm)
- Sumida Riverwalk (8:00 pm)
- Back to hotel (10:00 pm)
Executed it as intended. We flew in from India and didn’t experience any kind of jet lag. We also didn’t have much difficulty figuring out the tokyo subway. Kanda Myojin was a very good first shrine to visit because of it’s smaller size. It was also pretty close to Akihabara where I got over excited by the arcade games. Sensoji was beautiful and we stayed there for around 30 more minutes than the intended 1 hour. We had initially thought that we will just take the goshuin and come back because reddit made it look like Sensoji (not including nakamise dori) needs minimum 3-4 hours but the temple grounds can be explored within 1.5-2 hours.
Day 2-
- Meiji Jingu (11:30am- 2:30pm)
- Shibuya Scramble and Hachiko Statue (3:00 pm- 5:30 pm)
- Shibuya Sky (6:00 pm- 8:00 pm)
- Miyashita Park (8:30 pm- 10:00 pm)
- Pit stop at Shinjuku to buy Hakone tickets
- Back to hotel (11:30 pm)
Kept this day easy because I had expected travel fatigue to kick in (but it did not). The grounds of Meiji Jingu are HUGE and I loved it for that. It had a great amount of space to accommodate the crowds. It took us 2 hours to go around the place because the museum was closed, so we started our way to the crossing early.
We completed the crossing, lunch, and the Hachiko statue quite early, so we decided to go to Shinjuku to buy our Hakone passes and Romancecar tickets. Shinjuku Station was confusing, but asking for help made everything manageable. Some help desks even had picture books of the station with directions written in English, which they used to communicate with us.
Shibuya Sky was extremely windy that day. While the view was stunning, the cold made me want to leave early. We finished the day ahead of schedule and ended up visiting Sensoji again, where we spent another one to one and a half hours.
Day 3-
- Teamlab Borderless (9:00 am- 11:30 am) (Will leave hotel at ~7 to beat the morning rush and get something to eat nearby)
- Starbucks Reserve Roastery (12:30 pm- 2:30pm)
- Christmas Market at Jingu Gaien (3:30pm- 7:00pm)
- Back to Hotel (By 8:30pm)
Borderless was amazing. Even more so when you download the app and see what each installation means. Starbucks Reserve Roastery had some pretty nice desserts but it wasn’t something I would recommend to people. I only wanted to go there because I wanted to see what one looks like. We had a Korean lunch at a restaurant nearby and the Kimchi Jiggae comforted me to the core. We took a detour and went to the Onitsuka Tiger Store in Shibuya and bought myself a pair of Mexico Rinkans. We then took a very long time trying to find the Christmas Market at Jingu Gaien but we couldn’t. I still don’t know where it’s hosted or if it was even being hosted that day. We also went to Sensoji again.
Day 4-
- Reach Hakone by romance car (By 9:00 am)
- Open Air Museum (10:00 am- 1:00 pm)
- Ashi Cruise (1:30pm- 2:15pm)
- Ropeway + Owakudani Valley (2:30pm- 3:30pm)
- Onsen (4:30pm- 6:30pm)
- Back to Hotel (By 9:30pm)
We ran late on this day because of the romance car timings and the Tozan train delays. The open air museum was incredible. It’s huge and beautiful and should definitely not be rushed. I got confused and didn’t take the ropeway that goes over the sulphur vents but took the other one instead. I realised my mistake late which didn’t really leave time to do the ropeway and come back again and I felt bad about it but then I saw a very beautiful view of Mount Fuji from the Owakudani station area and didn’t feel so bad afterall.
I was very excited about our onsen at Hakone Yuryo but to be completely honest, in the first few mintues, it was becoming a real task for me to enjoy it. I did dips of 5-7 minutes followed by breaks of 15 minutes.
Kyoto-
Stay- Comfort Hotel, Kawaramachi- Decent sized rooms and a very standard budget stay
Day 5-
- Arrive at Kyoto (10:30 am)
- Drop luggage at hotel (11:00 am)
- Maikoya tea ceremony and Nishiki Market (12:00 pm- 2:30 pm)
- Yasaka Shrine (3:00 pm- 5:00 pm)
- Pontocho Alley (6:00 pm- 8:00pm)
The tea ceremony was a fun experience. I really enjoyed Nishiki market too despite the crowds. We spent around 1 hour in Yasaka shrine.
Day 6-
- Kiyomizu Dera and Sanenzaka/Ninenzaka (6:00am- 10:00am)
- Eikandoji (11:30am- 1:30pm)
- Okazaki Shrine (2:00pm- 3:30pm)
- Fushimi Inari (5:00pm- 7:00pm)
- Fushimi Ward (7:00pm- 9:00pm)
Someone on Reddit had told me this day would not be possible, but it mostly was. The only part that did not work out was Fushimi Ward, which closes earlier than expected.
We reached Kiyomizu Dera at 6:00 am, and the lack of crowds made a huge difference. We finished exploring the temple grounds in about two hours. Eikandoji was felt very crowded despite its large size and even then it took us around two hours, while Okazaki Shrine took only about thirty minutes.
When planning the itinerary, many people insisted that each shrine needs at least three hours. I do not agree. Unless you are moving at a snail’s pace, waiting for some kind of spiritual enlightenment, or stopping to take photos at every step, most shrines do not require that much time.
Because we did everything before time, we went to Kyoto station to buy our Hiroshima Kansai Passes before Fushimi Inari. The pass is a solid recommendation if you are doing a route like ours.
Hiroshima-
Stay- The Knot, Hiroshima- The most swanky looking hotel we stayed at. Rooms are small but the lounge area is great.
Day 7-
- Arrive at Hiroshima (11:00 am)
- Drop luggage at hotel (11:30 am)
- Hiroshima Castle (12:00 pm- 1:30 pm)
- Peace Memorial Park area (3:00 pm- 7:00 pm)
- Back to hotel (9:00 pm)
I didn’t enjoy Hiroshima Castle a lot, I went there because it’s permanently closing next year. The information in the museum was not presented in the most engaging way.
Peace Memorial Park and the museum was a very emotionally heavy place. I regret going there late because some parts of the park had closed.
I felt that there was a lot of city marketing in Hiroshima with lemons, mascots, maple etc. There was a lot of emphasis on increasing tourism there.
Day 8-
- Reach Miyajima (By 10:00 am)
- Itsukushima shrine, Henjo cave + Ropeway (By 4:00 pm)
- Take ferry back to Hiroshima
- Back to hotel (By 8:00 pm)
Itsukushima Shrine was majestic. Seeing the floating torii gate against a clear blue sky and water was incredible.
However, this day did not go as expected. I had assumed that after taking the ropeway, I would come down and see the shrines and Henjo Cave along the way. Instead, everything required an uphill trek, which I physically could not manage. I decided to skip those spots and hike down instead, and that hike completely destroyed my legs.
I was very upset and felt like I had wasted the day. Later that evening, after returning to the hotel in Hiroshima, we saw Christmas illuminations around the area and spent some time soaking them in. That helped redeem the day slightly.
Osaka-
Stay- Richmond Daikokuchou- Decent stay, slightly old property.
Day 9-
- Arrive at Osaka (10:30 am)
- Store luggage at Umeda station (11:00 am)
- Cup Noodle Museum (12:00 pm- 2:00 pm)
- Umeda sky building (2:30 pm- 5:00 pm)
- Hotel check-in (5:30pm- 7:30pm)
- Dotonbori (7:30pm- 9:30pm)
The cup noodle factory at Ikeda was fun. Had a very good time there. The museum too was quite good and informative, but would have liked it more if they had kept english translations in the exhibits instead of making everyone scan the qr code for the audio tour.
There was a nice Christmas market at Umeda Sky which was really nice.
Day 10-
- USJ
Enjoyed every bit of it. Took an express pass 4. Ran to the Harry Potter area as soon as the park opened, didn’t wait for even a minute for the Hippogriff ride. Watched Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll which was amazing. Did Jurassic Park the ride, Hollywood dream the ride, backdrop, minion mayhem, Forbidden Journey and Koopa’s Challenge.
We waited the longest for Minion Mayhem (~20 minutes) and it was totally worth it. The most overrated attraction was definitely Koopa’s Challenge. The tech was good but the execution was very mediocre.
We had bought our tickets through Klook so we also got 3 1000 yen meal coupons.
Tokyo-
Stay- Sotetsu Fressa Inn Kanagawa. The largest room we had, with the best view. Very conveniently located property.
Day 11-
- Arrive at hotel and drop luggage (12:00 pm)
- Suga Shrine (2:30 pm- 4:00 pm)
- Shinjuku (4:30 pm- 8:30 pm)
- Head back to hotel
We first went to Tokyo Station and spent a good chunk of time looking around the shops. After the shrine we did a professional photoshoot on the streets of Shinjuku. Loved it.
Day 12-
- Reach Hokokuji (By 8:30 am)
- Hokokuji Shrine (8:30 am- 10:30 am)
- Sasuke Inari (12:00 pm- 2:00pm)
- Kotoku in (2:30 pm- 4:00 pm)
- Kamakura Koko Mae Station (4:00pm- 6:00pm)
- Back to hotel (9:30pm)
Reached Hokokuji very early and found it to be a very gimmicky place. Didn’t spend more than an hour there. Sasuke Inari and Kotokuin both took us an hour each. So we decided to visit Hasedera as well and I am so glad we did. The eleven headed Buddha was hypnotising. It is so beautiful and so grand, you would think that one long glance at the statue is enough but it really isn’t.
The slam dunk crossing was crazy crowded but I enjoyed walking next to the sea.
Day 13-
- Gotokuji Cat Temple (12:00 pm- 2:00 pm)
- Ginza (2:00 pm – 8:00 pm)
- Head back to hotel
A lot of the cat temple was closed which was a bummer but we enjoyed the temple grounds a lot. After that we went crazy at GU and Donqi and dragged our shopping bags to the hotel.
Day 14-
- Tokyo Disney Sea
Reached there early because after reading about things from reddit, we were scared that we won’t be getting the passes if we aren’t early enough. The pressure was totally unrequired because we got the passes for everything we wanted.
We went to Tower of Terror (no pass. Incredible experience), Soaring (bought a pass for it. Found it to be underwhelming. Would have hated waiting 120 mins for it), Sinbad (Filler ride), Caravan Carousel (10/10 loved it), 20000 leagues under the sea (Didn’t like it), Journey to the center of the earth (Bought a pass, worth it), Lantern Festival (Bought a pass for it, I liked it but husband said he cannot do more of these rides), Raging Spirits (Got the 40th anniversary pass, Good but not great for a roller coaster), Magical Theater (Fell asleep mid way) and Toy Story Mania (Loved it. Best ride for me that day. It was the Koopa’s Challenge idea with a much superior execution)
by Firm_Cantaloupe5250