Wife and I are taking our first trip to Japan. We are both into history and really enjoy trying local food when traveling.
I have tried to put together this itinerary with those in mind but also plenty of time to just explore neighborhoods without specific sights. So I have some very structured days and some fairly unstructured days.
Am I on the right track with this? are there any cities I should shuffle around? Like Osaka before Kyoto or anything like that.
I'm open to suggestion on everything.
On August weather: We are accustomed to August temperatures in the high 80s to high 90s with high humidity. and August just worked better for our work schedules.
Friday August 7th. arrive Haneda travel to hotel at Tokyo Bay near Disney.
August 8th-
- all day. DisneySea
August 9th-
- daytime Disneyland
- Evening, Move to new Hotel in Shinjuku
August 10th-
- 9:30- Observation deck at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
- 10:30- go to Shibuya and Explore Neighborhood
- Lunch in Shibuya
- 1:30- Meji Shrine
- 3:30- Explore Shinjuku Neighborhood
- Dinner in Shinjuku
August 11th-
- 9:00 Imperial Palace East Gardens
- 10:45 Quick Lunch Ueno
- 11:00 Tokyo National Museum
- 2:30 Snack Nakamise Street
- 3:00 SensoJi Temple
- 6:00 Tokyo Sky Tree
- Dinner near Sky Tree
August 12th
- Travel to Hakone
- Explore Hakone Area
- Open Air Museum
- Stay At Ryokan
August 13th
- return from Hakone to Tokyo then travel to Matsumoto
- Lunch in Matsumoto
- 1:00 Matsumoto Castle
- 3:00 Explore Matsumoto
- Dinner
August 14th
- 8:00 Travel to Kanazawa
- 12:00 Explore Kanazawa
- Dinner
August 15th
- 9:00 Higashi Chaya District
- 12:00 Kenrokuen Garden
- 2:00 Kanazawa Castle
- 3:00 Oyama Shrine
- 4:00 Nagamachi Samurai District
- Dinner near Hotel
August 16th
- Day trip to Shirakawa-go
- Dinner Back in Kanazawa
August 17th
- Travel to Kyoto
- Lunch around Nishiki Market
- 2:00 Explore Fushimi Sake District
- Dinner in Sake District
August 18th
- 6:30 Arashiyama Bamboo Forrest
- 9:00 Kinkakuji Temple
- 11:00 Philosopher's Path
- lunch
- 1:00 Explore Gion and Higashiyama
- 5:30 Kiyomizudera
- dinner
August 19th
- 10:00 Nijo Castle Tour
- quick lunch
- 1:00 Nintendo Museum (if i can get tickets)
- 3:30 Tofukuji Temple
- 5:00 Fushimi Inari Shrine
- Dinner
August 20th
- Travel to Nara
- 11:00 Todaiji Temple
- lunch
- free time explore Nara Park
- late Afternoon travel to Osaka
- Dinner in Osaka
- staying in Osaka
August 21st
- 10:00 Osaka Food Tour
- night life in Osaka
August 22nd
- morning, Free explore Osaka
- 11:00 Buy Knives
- lunch
- afternoon Explore Osaka
- dinner
August 23rd
- 8:00 Travel to Hiroshima
- lunch
- 12:00 Peace Memorial Museum
- 2:00 Peach Memorial Park
- afternoon Free explore Hiroshima
- dinner
- stay in Hiroshima
August 24th
- depart Hiroshima Early AM
- Lunch in Himeji
- tour Himeji Castle
- depart for Tokyo
- Dinner in Tokyo
- Stay on Tokyo
August 25th- Final full day in Japan
- 9:30 Explore Ginza
- 1:00 Explore Akihabara
- return to anything missed at start of trip.
- final shopping
- dinner
August 26th
- 10:00 Nikon Museum
- lunch
- Final Shopping
- 1:00 Depart for Airport
- 5:15 Depart Japan
by manthursaday