I'm traveling to Japan with my 18 year old son at the end of this month until early October. It's 'his trip' so he could decide which sites to visit. We've already booked hotels in Tokyo (Ginza), Kyoto (Nishiki) and Osaka (Kita-ku) and will be traveling around by shinkansen/ train/ metro/ bus (Kansai Hiroshima Pass + IC card).
There still are a shitload of things on my son's to-see list (and Yamazaki Distillery on mine) that didn't make it, but the itinerary is already looking a bit crammed to me.
Would love to hear if this is doable or not, and if anything definitely needs to be booked in advance. Also, if you have any other tips, or if something is missing from the list that we'd have to see, feel free to share 🙂
Day 1 – Tokyo – Arrival at Narita Airport late AM, drop off luggage at hotel, walk to Kokyo, visit Akihabara
Day 2 – Tokyo – Toyosu (very early), TeamLab Borderless, Mori Art Museum + Sky Deck, Shibuya
Day 3 – Tokyo – Tokyo Skytree, Samurai Ninja Museum, Tokyo National Museum
Day 4 – Kyoto – travel Tokyo -> Kyoto, visit Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Nishiki
Day 5 – Kyoto – Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (very early), Tenryu-ji, Sagano Line, Hozugawa River boat, Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
Day 6 – Kyoto – Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Miyajima Island*
Day 7 – Kyoto – Fushimi-Inari Taisha (very early), Nara (Todai-ji, Ishuien), Orix Buffaloes @ Kyocera Dome Osaka
Day 8 – Kyoto – Himeji Castle, Engyo-ji & Mt Shosha Ropeway*
Day 9 – Osaka – travel Kyoto -> Osaka, visit Kaiyukan Aquarium, Dotonbori, Hozen-Ji, Namba Yasaka Jinja
Day 10 – Osaka – Universal Studios Japan
Day 11 – Osaka – Osaka Castle & Nishinomaru Garden, shopping
Day 12 – Osaka – Departure @ Kansai Airport
\I'm aware that visiting Hiroshima and Himeji would be easier from Osaka, but this was more convenient (and a LOT cheaper) hotel-wise.*
by wiep
5 comments
I have a strict rule of no more than 1 museum a day learned after a few Europe trips. But that’s me.
my first time will be in October but from what ive read about others trips, leave at least 1 day empty to explore & go to the places u missed / roam freely. have a good trip!
Day 5 and 6 look pretty hectic, like you’ll be rushing through to see everything that you won’t be able to absorb it all. I suppose if you start very, very early and catch the earliest trains you can, you have a chance of pulling it off.
Be aware that a lot of Nishiki Market closes by 6pm.
Day 6 will be very rushed. Even if you are committed to get to Hiroshima early morning and do memorial museum pretty much as soon as they open, you need to budget at least 2 hours there, then you have to get to miyajima, the earliest you get there will likely be noon (if you’re very efficient), assuming you want to get some lunch you have the rest of the afternoon there but there is quite a bit of hiking, if you have that kind of energy at the point, it is doable but the island is big. And then you have to make sure you get the ferry back and the train back to Kyoto, it’s a pretty hectic day on its own, seeing how much you want to do on day 5 really question your ability to keep up with the amazing race.
Just don’t bite off more than you can chew. But the good thing is if you get to Hiroshima late you can just skip miyajima.
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