Hi!
I have been reading and getting inspired by many itineraries here in the process of planning my trip, and I finally have an itinerary that I would appreciate getting feedback on.
This is our first trip to Japan with my partner. Our main goals are to try all the good food (as much as possible), learn history, and have a balance between city life and nature. We are not much interested in nightlife. We would also like to see a glimpse of rural Japan, but I think we don't have enough time for that.
We will be travelling between May 1st and 15th, which will be Golden Week partially, hence our itinerary had to align with hotel availability and prices. I only have a rough estimate of what we can do for the day so far.
| Day / Date | Places | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| 0 / May 1 | Tokyo | Haneda arrival in the late evening and check-in to the hotel. Grab some kombini food for dinner. |
| 1 / May 2 | Tokyo | Take it easy due to jet lag. Tsukiji, Ginza, imperial palace gardens, Yushukan Museum |
| 2 / May 3 | Tokyo | Asakusa-Sensoji-Ueno |
| 3/ May 4 | Tokyo – Shinkansen to Osaka | Either spend the morning in Tokyo or take an earlier Shinkansen to see more of Osaka. |
| 4 / May 5 | Osaka | Osaka Castle in the morning. Kuromon market and Dotonbori to eat a lot of quality food! Namba Yasaka shrine, and maybe some lightweight shopping for clothes. Go to arcades? |
| 5 / May 6 | Osaka-Nara | Train to Nara. We stay at Nara during the peak Golden Week time in Kyoto. If enough time, do the Nara Park hike. |
| 6 / May 7 | Nara | Plan a day hike (Mt. Yoshino?) |
| 7 / May 8 | Nara- train to Kyoto | If not enough time earlier Nara Park in the morning before the train. Nishiki market. Maybe get an evening guided tour. |
| 8 / May 9 | Kyoto | Kiyomizu-dera, Gion & surroundings |
| 9 / May 10 | Kyoto | Fushimi Inari, tea ceremony (maybe with kimono? is kimono worth it if you don't do a photoshoot?) |
| 10 / May 11 | Kyoto-Shinkansen to Hakone | Send big luggage to the last hotel in Tokyo. Stay at a Ryokan close to Gora/Yumoto/Sengokuhara (see question below). Visit Owakudani if arrived early enough. |
| 11 / May 12 | Hakone | Day hike to Mount Ashi? or Old Tokaido road checkpoint? Maybe just walk around Lake Ashi? |
| 12 / May 13 | Hakone-Tokyo | Check out of the Ryokan and head back to Tokyo. Stay at a capsule hotel for the experience. |
| 13 / May 14 | Tokyo | Meiji Shrine-Shinjuku-Shibuya-Harajuku + some shopping |
| 14 / May 15 | Tokyo | Last shopping & food, head to the airport after lunch & depart. |
I have some questions about this draft of my itinerary:
- When is the best time to align the Shinkansen travel, considering it divides the day and you cannot check in before 3 pm to your hotel, but still would like to have a nice divide?
- The second question is, we would like to do 1-2 days of day trip hikes. I thought Nara or Hakone could be great for that. I am not a big hiker (easy-moderate is preferred), but my partner likes hiking a lot (including hard paths). Since I am doing the planning, I have no idea what kind of hikes would be good for this. Maybe the Mount Yoshino area or rice terraces, or green tea fields?
- The third question is about the Ryokans in Hakone. We would like to stay in the Japanese-style rooms with futons when it comes to the ryokan. But my partner doesn't care about a private in-room bath. I have a small tattoo on my wrist, so I am thinking if I cover it with a band-aid, would that be enough for the public onsen? Since we will not be staying in the room all day, we don't mind it not being luxurious; we just care about the food and the onsen being good. I found some options that are within our budget. One option is in Gora, which is a very central location, no private room bath with this one. The other two have private room baths, one is in Sengokuhara, and the third one is close to Yumoto, but these two seem very modern in the rooms, and also quite a big price difference (almost 2/3 more) due to the in-room onsen bath. Is this price difference really worth it in your experience?
- I want to do some shopping as I have been influenced by social media a lot, but my partner does not care about that. Any activities he can do in Tokyo or Osaka while I do my shopping?
All the feedback & advice is appreciated!
by baykusumsu