Mostly looking for feedback if I missed something. This is my 3rd Japan trip, been to Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo previous. Not looking for advice about a day being too packed unless you think it is actually impossible. I fully expect days with 30-60k steps. We have done 50000 steps a day for 7 days in a row before so overall I expect it to be manageable aside from if my wife or I get injured.
Feel free to steal or contribute any ideas.
Day 1 Arrival (Backpacks only)
- KIX->Kyoto
- Bag drop at hotel (near Kyoto Station)
- Fushimi Inari Night Hike
Day 2 Amanohashidate (JR Kansai Hiroshima 5 day pass activate)
- ~7:30 Train to Amanohashidate
- Standard tourist loop (Double cable car, temples, sand bar etc.)
- Plus Biking to Ine fishing village and Back
Day 3 to Hiroshima via Okayama
- 5:40 Train to Shin-Osaka into Shinkansen to Okayama
- Okayama Castle + Grand Garden
- 10am Shinkansen to Hiroshima
- Hotel Bag drop (Near Hiroshima Station)
- Standard City Tourist Loop (Shukkeien Garden, Hiroshima Castle, A-Bomb Dome, Peace Park, Kamiyacho, Nagarekawacho, etc)
Day 4 (Hiroshima continued)
- Miyajima arriving 30 minutes before high-tide
- Explore island including hike up and around
- Iwakuni.. Castle/Bridge/etc (Cancellable if Miyajima goes too late)
Day 5 Biking Shimanami Kaido
- Early train to Fukuyama + Bag dropoff
- Train to Onomichi.. Pickup Bicycles (opens at 8am)
- Bike to Imabari (75km)
- Drop off bikes and bus back directly to Fukuyama
Day 6 Himeji+Travel?
- train to Himeji.. explore a bit prior to castle/garden opening at 9am (I think we need to do a bag dropoff somewhere…)
- train to Shin-Osaka then to Kii-Katsuura (Think I got my moneys worth from Hiroshima Pass lol)
- staying near Kumano-Nachi Grand Shrine
Day 7 Kumano Kodo Hike Part 1
- Hike Kumano Kodo.. Starting at 4:30…
- Nachi->Yumonine Onsen (Yes I realize this is an insane day.. there is a bus from Kuguchi if an off ramp is needed half way)
Day 8 Kumano Kodo Hike Part 2
- Hike Kumano Kodo.. Starting at 4:30… (Or later if Day 1 went faster than expected.. this one should be a couple hours shorter)
- Yumonine Onsen->Chikatsuyu
Day 9 finish Kumano Kodo
- Finish last ~13km of Kumano Kodo to near Takijiri-oji
- Take bus to Kii-Tanabe
- Then Train to Wakayama
- Then Train to Hineno
- Then metro(or walk) to Rinku Town (Hotel/Chill)
Day 10
- Hotel shuttle to KIX
- Fly KIX to Narita
- Leave airport and go shopping near Narita station
- Aeon Mega Mall/Don Quijote(buy suitcases)
- Fly to Canada (Here for a couple weeks.. suitcase(s) probably more full at this point..)
Day 11 return to JP.. Haneda/Tokyo – Based in Shinjuku
- Metro building
- Night Life (time jetlag permitting)
Day 12 (Tokyo Continued)
- Disney Sea
Day 13 (Tokyo Continued.. Shinjuku/Shibuya Day)
- Fluffy Pancakes
- Meiji Jingu
- Harajuku
- Shinjuku Gyeon
- Tokyo Toy Museum/Akasaka Palace Garden/Suga Shrine/Samurai Museum (See what we feel like and how much time we have)
- 5:30 Robatayaki Reservation
- Shinjuku Night Life (time permitting)
Day 14 Nikko
- leave suitcases at Tokyo Hotel
- train Nikko
- standard tourist loop
Day 15 Nikko Cont
- Bus->Lake Chenzenji
- Hike around lake + Hike to Yumoto-onsen
- Bus->Nikko
Day 16 Urban "Hike" Day 1
- Nikko to Tokyo Train (Was thinking Ebisu station)
- "Hike" from Tokyo to Yokohama
- Yokohama Tourist Stuff at afternoon/night (Was thinking of skipping ahead a few stations around Kawasaki to have more time to explore harbor/chinatown
Day 17 Urban Hike Day 2
- Hike Yokohama to Kamakura
- (Starting hike early so can finish with enough time to loop in the Kamakura temples before they close)
Day 18 Urban Hike Day 3
- Hike Kamakura to Odawara
This one starts off with Enoshima.. but overall my map program lists it as 44km so I think we might cheat some section near Oiso Station..
Day 19 Urban Hike Day 4
- Odawa->Hakone->Lake
- Walk the east side of the lake to the Hakone Ropeway
- Ropeway into Gora Park/Open Air Musuem (or just hotel if no time)
Day 20 Back to Tokyo
- Early train to Tokyo (Somewhat concerned here because the transfer time at Hakone-Yumoto and Odawara are both "1 minute".. but I think there are ways to manage even if trains are missed)
- Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 11am Korakuen Hall
- Boulding Gym Akihabara
- Beyond this there some stuff I'd like to knock out at night sometime between day 13, 20-22…
- Akihabara/Senso-ji at Night/
- Skytree(not inside.. just pics)
- Zojo-ji&Tokyo Tower..
Day 21 Tokyo Continued
- Korakuen Garden
- Tokyo Giants Game at Tokyo Dome (2pm)
- Another Wrestling Show in Shinkiba (6:30pm)
- If the show is not too late.. maybe checkout rainbow bridge fountain show.. otherwise prob straight back to Shinjuku
Day 22 Tokyo Continued (National Holiday)
- Mt. Takao Extended Hike Finishing at Sagamiko (can cancel if want rest)
- Suitcase Luggage transfer to Kanazawa
- Sushi Reservation
Day 23 Nakasendo (Nakatsugawa Base)
- early bus to Matsumoto
- If bus is not delayed explore around the castletown park area
- Train to kiso-Hirasawa Station for Nakasendo Hike
- Hike to Narai then to Yabuhara Station via the Torii Pass
- Train to Nakatsugawa.. Check in hotel
Day 24 Nakansendo Cont
- Train to Nojiri
- Nojiri to Nagiso Hike
- Nagiso to Magome Hike
- Bus from Magome to Nakatsugawa
Day 25 Hirayu Onsen
- Train to Matsumoto..
- Bus to Hirayu Onsen
- Some mild hiking/onsen relaxation
Day 26 Kamikochi Hiking
- 5am Bus to Kamikochi
- Karasawa Cirque/Hut Hike
- Bus back to Hirayu Onsen (I've noted the last bus)
Day 27 Kamikochi Hiking
- 5am Bus to Nakanoyu
- Mt. Yake Hike to Kamikochi
- Dakesawe Hut (or extension to Hotakadakesanso time permitting)
- Bus back to Hirayu Onsen
Day 28 Takayama
- Bus to Takayama
- Bag Drop Hotel
- Hida Folk Village
- City Walk (Castle Ruins, Park, Hashiyama Promenade, etc)
- Maybe Showa-Kan Museum
- …Maybe make a reservation for some Hida Beef restaurant
- (can scale this day back if dead from the previous two days)
Day 29 Shirakawa-Go + Kanazawa
- First bus to Shirakawa-Go
- 2h 15min to explore..
- 10:25 bus to Kanazawa
- Bag drop (plus meeting suitcases from Tokyo)
- Tourist Loop (Castle/Samurai Districts/Markets/Etc)
- (Well aware that doing Shirakawa-go+everything in Kamazawa one day is ambitious)
Day 30 Kyoto (hotel near Sanjo)
- Bus to Kyoto.. Hotel has a service center nearby Kyoto Station to collect luggage
- Temple Loop (Starting at Kōmyō-in Temple then going north through various temples into Kiyomize Dera)
- Sanneizaka/Nineizaka
- Gion and maybe Pontocho/River Area)
Day 31 Kyoto Hiking
- Fushimi Inari + Long Hike through the eastern hills (I wanted to go to Fushimi Inari both in morning and night)
- Hike ends near Ginkaku Temple and the Philosophers Path so add those in
- Time dependent there is Heian-jingū Shrine or the Zoo on the way back to the hotel
- Svengali Reservation 8pm
Day 32 Kyoto Hiking Cont.
- Early morning Bamboo forest (if we feel like to)
- Sagano Romantic Train (first train is 9am)
- Hiking Mt. Atago up to Josan-ji Temple
- Bus back to Kyoto
- Maybe Kyoto Takashimaya depachika + Nintendo Store (or more river/pontocho etc.)
Day 33 Osaka Dotonbori/Namba Base
- Our primary shopping day..
- At some point in Osaka want to do Nagai Park+Sumiyoshi Taisha (and Maybe Tennoji Zoo)
- One day in Osaka I want to do Kushikatsu.. and probably one day for a wagyu yakiniku dinner.. haven't found anything I want to reserve yet so might just play it by ear..
- Ending with Dotonbori/Shinsaibashi Nightlife (or possibly Shinsekai)
Day 34 Nara Day Trip
- Normal Nara Tourist loop inc waterfall
- Return to Osaka / Dotonbori Nightlife
Day 35 Universal Studios Japan (Haven't 100% decided if this is Day 34 or 35)
- Universal (probably no time for anything else)
Day 36 Last Full Day
- Koyasan Hiking…or just do nothing relax around Osaka Day
- (This is a 30km 1600m up hike.. I think it can be reduced to 24km 1100m with a cable car and skipping Okunoin)
- Anyways knowing my personality if I haven't locked it in and paid for something we will end up canceling this hike and relax/shopping as I tend to get lazy on the last days of a long holiday. So if Koyasan is amazing.. convince me?
That's the short version (of my 57 page Google Doc)… I realize there is plenty of vague things that say "tourist loop" or explore/nightlife.. but these are easy to scale up or down in size if tired/bored.
by Flamingcloud83