Just got back from a little over two weeks in Japan and honestly it might be the best trip I’ve ever taken. We split the trip between Tokyo, Hakone, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Osaka, and also made it out to Nara, and it ended up being an incredible mix of huge cities, smaller places, and amazing food.
One thing that made the trip way better was not trying to see everything. Instead we focused on neighborhoods, wandering around, great meals, and a few special reservations. Japan really rewards that style of travel more than trying to check every landmark off a list.
A few things that stood out:
• Tokyo might be the best food city in the world. Some of our best meals were tiny neighborhood places we randomly walked into.
• Kanazawa completely surprised me. Way calmer than Kyoto but still beautiful and the seafood there is unreal.
• Kyoto early in the morning is incredible, but Kyoto late at night might have been my favorite part of the whole trip. Walking around Gion after dinner when everything gets quiet feels surreal.
• Nara was extremely special. Peaceful, beautiful, and absolutely worth the trip if you're anywhere near Kyoto or Osaka.
• Osaka at night is chaos in the best way possible. Street food, neon, people everywhere.
Hakone was actually cloudy and rainy all day for us so we couldn’t see Mt. Fuji at all. But on the way back to Tokyo we were on the Romancecar and right as the sun started to set the clouds opened up and Fuji suddenly appeared. I managed to snap a pretty great photo of the mountain from the train window.
One tip that helped a lot: use Tabelog instead of Google Maps for restaurants. The ratings are much stricter, so even a 3.5 can be incredible.
Japan absolutely lived up to the hype.
by TheMoveTravelCo
8 comments
Tokyo has delicious food, but it’s far from the best food city.
Everyone in my family that went has added smart toilets to their bathrooms.
Kyoto late night was my absolute favorite. We wandered back to the hotel and came across small out of the way shrines and such. it felt like it was out of a Ghibli movie.
Glad you enjoyed your time. Japan is really difficult to beat.
I’ve visited 21 countries, been to 6 of 7 new world wonders, 1 ancient wonder in the pyramids of Egypt, and Japan is my number one country I enjoyed the most. And I only spent a week there splitting my time among Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo.
I want to return in November but I have to convince the wife it is worth it.
I spent 10 days in Japan last September and while I enjoyed it, I think people hype it up way too much! It’s nice, but I wouldn’t want to go back!! The weather is terrible in summertime, and the food is decent but not everywhere, plus the locals don’t really speak English, which makes things tough. And let’s not forget the 17-hour flight!!! Honestly, everything about Japan is overhyped!
Basically my 2 week May Itinerary.
Tokyo → Kanazawa → Kyoto → Osaka → Hakone → back to Tokyo to fly
It’s my 3rd time visiting Japan and I’m already planning my next trip . I’ll skip Tokyo next time and spend more time in Kyoto and other areas.
Do you mind sharing a version of your itinerary?
I really wanted to add kanazawa to our itinerary, but it was just too far off the main path for our large family (trains add up quick!!) I hope we can go back another time and visit, though! We are doing Osaka-kyoto-quick stop in Nagoya for Ghibli park-Hakone-Tokyo (also Yokohama). Thanks for the tips
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