Itinerary Ideas/Help

Yeah we didn't really think about staying in the cities that we want to visit, but that might be a good option, at least for Hakone since it's kind of on the way to Kyoto. I also didn't realize how far Hiroshima is from Kyoto. Do you think we should pick between Hiroshima and Miyajima or could we do both in one day? It seems like it might be hard to do both of them in one day.

I guess I'm a little confused on the whole luggage situation. Are there certain trains/transportation that don't let you bring luggage? That's definitely something we should know beforehand.

On a different note, do you have any suggestions for where to stay in Kyoto? I have some places in mind, but if you liked where you stayed I'd be interested in looking at it. Thanks!

I think it's common to do Hiroshima and Miyajima on the same day. We're not early people and like a slower pace (so my DH doesn't complain he needs a vacation from his vacation). From Hakone, we got to Miyajima late afternoon. Checked in, had dinner, then walked around and saw the torii gate at night. Next morning, we visited the shrine and then took a cable car up the mountain. Late afternoon made it to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, but didn't go inside the museum. Had dinner nearby, then on to Kyoto.

In Kyoto, we stayed at a vacation rental called Gion Apartments. We liked it, but thought it was a bit far from the subway station. Maybe we were just spoiled by Tokyo. Things in Kyoto are more spread out.

We sent the luggage for convenience sake. Would not want to do all the train connections with big luggage!
 
I think it's common to do Hiroshima and Miyajima on the same day. We're not early people and like a slower pace (so my DH doesn't complain he needs a vacation from his vacation). From Hakone, we got to Miyajima late afternoon. Checked in, had dinner, then walked around and saw the torii gate at night. Next morning, we visited the shrine and then took a cable car up the mountain. Late afternoon made it to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, but didn't go inside the museum. Had dinner nearby, then on to Kyoto.

In Kyoto, we stayed at a vacation rental called Gion Apartments. We liked it, but thought it was a bit far from the subway station. Maybe we were just spoiled by Tokyo. Things in Kyoto are more spread out.

We sent the luggage for convenience sake. Would not want to do all the train connections with big luggage!
So you think we could probably make a day trip from Kyoto and get them both done? The main thing I want to see in Hiroshima is the museum and memorial.

What luggage service did you use? I'm planning on packing pretty light. I'm not sure which suitcase I will bring. Most likely I will end up bringing a big one and a small one.
 
So you think we could probably make a day trip from Kyoto and get them both done? The main thing I want to see in Hiroshima is the museum and memorial.

What luggage service did you use? I'm planning on packing pretty light. I'm not sure which suitcase I will bring. Most likely I will end up bringing a big one and a small one.

I haven't done it, but seems doable. Here's a sample itinerary I found:
https://jprail.com/destinations/wor...iyajima-from-osakakyoto.html#Sample_itinerary

I don't think it matters which delivery service you use, they seem pretty interchangeable. We ask the hotel front desk to send it off for us, so it's whichever company they work with. If you'll be sending it from a vacation rental though, you'll have to see if the host can help you with it. Or else it would be whichever company has the most convenient drop off location.
 
Comments for you :) I only got through Kyoto but will be back.

Tokyo
  • What do you want to do in Shinjuku & Shibuya? See Hachiko? Just wander around?
  • Kiddy Land is really just a toy store, so don't block off too much time for it.
  • I'm biased because I live near it & love it but I'm super excited you want to see the Rainbow Bridge that most people ignore :rotfl:
  • It's nice to do the Skytree both during the day & at night, if you have time.
  • Puroland is about 60 minutes by train from central Tokyo & is very much geared towards small children. Teens & adults certainly do go - especially high school girls looking for the great photo machines - but there are only a handful of (gentle) rides & the rest of the attractions consist of things like walking through the houses of various Sanrio characters. Since you only have three days in the Tokyo area, I'm not sure this is something you want to spend your limited time doing.
  • Your interest in shrines & in seeing Mt. Fuji makes me think that you would enjoy Mt. Takao a lot. It's an easy 90 minute hike to the top with beautiful scenery, its own temple, a monkey park & an onsen.
Kyoto
  • You will love the railway. (I love the railway :lovestruc)
  • Get to Kinkakuji as early as you can because the sun hits it differently first thing in the morning & the gold really glints.
  • Kiyomizudera is (in my opinion, of course!) the most beautiful temple in Japan, so if you don't have time to get to them all, try not to take out this one. There are so many superstitions/folk beliefs about it, like "you will find true love if you close your eyes and walk between two stones in front of the Jishu Shrine" - if you are interested in that kind of thing, I will PM you the entire list.
  • I Googled Wak Japan & that looks like a lot of fun!
  • The Gion district is definitely worth walking through. There are interesting shops, nice restaurants & you are likely to see geisha here.
  • I'm a little bit disappointed because the Minamiza Theater is reopening in November but it looks like the show that will be on for the time you're there is some anime derivative. Well, if you're interested in the "Naruto" kabuki play, let me know, I guess :lmao:
 


Comments for you :) I only got through Kyoto but will be back.

Tokyo
  • What do you want to do in Shinjuku & Shibuya? See Hachiko? Just wander around?
  • Kiddy Land is really just a toy store, so don't block off too much time for it.
  • I'm biased because I live near it & love it but I'm super excited you want to see the Rainbow Bridge that most people ignore :rotfl:
  • It's nice to do the Skytree both during the day & at night, if you have time.
  • Puroland is about 60 minutes by train from central Tokyo & is very much geared towards small children. Teens & adults certainly do go - especially high school girls looking for the great photo machines - but there are only a handful of (gentle) rides & the rest of the attractions consist of things like walking through the houses of various Sanrio characters. Since you only have three days in the Tokyo area, I'm not sure this is something you want to spend your limited time doing.
  • Your interest in shrines & in seeing Mt. Fuji makes me think that you would enjoy Mt. Takao a lot. It's an easy 90 minute hike to the top with beautiful scenery, its own temple, a monkey park & an onsen.
Kyoto
  • You will love the railway. (I love the railway :lovestruc)
  • Get to Kinkakuji as early as you can because the sun hits it differently first thing in the morning & the gold really glints.
  • Kiyomizudera is (in my opinion, of course!) the most beautiful temple in Japan, so if you don't have time to get to them all, try not to take out this one. There are so many superstitions/folk beliefs about it, like "you will find true love if you close your eyes and walk between two stones in front of the Jishu Shrine" - if you are interested in that kind of thing, I will PM you the entire list.
  • I Googled Wak Japan & that looks like a lot of fun!
  • The Gion district is definitely worth walking through. There are interesting shops, nice restaurants & you are likely to see geisha here.
  • I'm a little bit disappointed because the Minamiza Theater is reopening in November but it looks like the show that will be on for the time you're there is some anime derivative. Well, if you're interested in the "Naruto" kabuki play, let me know, I guess :lmao:
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to put so many great notes on here! All of this helps me SO MUCH!!!
Tokyo
I really don't have much for Shibuya and Shinjuku so I'll take anything you think we should see. The main thing for Shibuya is the Disney Store. I would like to see Harajuku for Kiddy Land and Meiji Jingu, which is between the two right? For Shinjuku the only thing I have is the Gyoen National Gardens. I know for a fact we will only go to Shinjuku during the day. It just doesn't seem like somewhere we want to be at night. If you have any ideas for either I'll take anything! I mainly put them on here for shopping/sight seeing.

Do you think doing the Ghibli Museum, Cafe Hammock, and Odaiba would be a good mix for one day? I think we would want to see Odaiba at night so I thought these three might be good for a one day outing? *On a side note, are there any places we should avoid at night? I read Japan is relatively safe in most places, but it would be good to know if there any we should avoid*

I think we may end up skipping the Skytree. I have to see after editing everything if we would have enough time for it. I'm thinking Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku for one day. Ghibli Museum, Cafe Hammock, and Odaiba for another day. The last day could be the Pokemon Cafe, a baseball game, and any other Tokyo things to see (Edo-Tokyo Museum, Skytree, Senso-Ji Temple). What do you think? Does this seem doable?

Do you think Yokohama and Kamakura are possible for one day? They seem kind of far from Tokyo.

Kyoto
I really like Tom Bricker's 2-day itinerary for Kyoto. He has Kinkaju as the first one to visit before it gets too busy. He also has Kiyomizudera as being seen an hour before sunset. I'm not sure if we will be able to time it exactly right, but we are going to stick to his itinerary as much as possible. We are doing mostly touristy things in Tokyo so Kyoto will be more about the nature and temples.

I'm not sure where to fit Wak Japan into. We would only have the two days for Kyoto unless we get rid of Osaka entirely. We may just not get to do it. Dh wants to see Dotonbori so I think we will need to visit Osaka.

It looks like the Gion area is also in Tom's 2-day itinerary so we would be there for sure!

*Another side note, I kind of feel uncomfortable about the whole onsen thing. It looks like something I would love, but I would want to be with Dh if we do it and I just don't know if I could do the whole being naked thing :scared:
 
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So you think we could probably make a day trip from Kyoto and get them both done? The main thing I want to see in Hiroshima is the museum and memorial.

Yes, we did this on our first visit. The museum was far more extensive and ... intense than we thought. After an early morning arrival in Hiroshima, we didn't get to the island until ... maybe around 2 or 3pm which, for us, made it too late to take the cable car to the top. We just strolled around, climbed partway up the hill, enjoyed the deer and visited the tori gate twice (once when the tide was out and we could walk up to it and then again when the tide had come back in).

Next year, we're planning on doing them over two days. The main reason is that my mother-in-law will be coming with us and it would be too taxing to do it all in one day. But, we also want to spend more time on the island (including at least taking the cable car to the top and possibly walking to the peak, depending upon how my MIL is feeling) and see a bit more of Hiroshima other than just the memorial, park and museum.
 
Tokyo
I really don't have much for Shibuya and Shinjuku so I'll take anything you think we should see. The main thing for Shibuya is the Disney Store. I would like to see Harajuku for Kiddy Land and Meiji Jingu, which is between the two right? For Shinjuku the only thing I have is the Gyoen National Gardens. I know for a fact we will only go to Shinjuku during the day. It just doesn't seem like somewhere we want to be at night. If you have any ideas for either I'll take anything! I mainly put them on here for shopping/sight seeing.

Do you think doing the Ghibli Museum, Cafe Hammock, and Odaiba would be a good mix for one day? I think we would want to see Odaiba at night so I thought these three might be good for a one day outing? *On a side note, are there any places we should avoid at night? I read Japan is relatively safe in most places, but it would be good to know if there any we should avoid*

I think we may end up skipping the Skytree. I have to see after editing everything if we would have enough time for it. I'm thinking Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku for one day. Ghibli Museum, Cafe Hammock, and Odaiba for another day. The last day could be the Pokemon Cafe, a baseball game, and any other Tokyo things to see (Edo-Tokyo Museum, Skytree, Senso-Ji Temple). What do you think? Does this seem doable?

Do you think Yokohama and Kamakura are possible for one day? They seem kind of far from Tokyo.

Kyoto
I really like Tom Bricker's 2-day itinerary for Kyoto. He has Kinkaju as the first one to visit before it gets too busy. He also has Kiyomizudera as being seen an hour before sunset. I'm not sure if we will be able to time it exactly right, but we are going to stick to his itinerary as much as possible. We are doing mostly touristy things in Tokyo so Kyoto will be more about the nature and temples.

I'm not sure where to fit Wak Japan into. We would only have the two days for Kyoto unless we get rid of Osaka entirely. We may just not get to do it. Dh wants to see Dotonbori so I think we will need to visit Osaka.

It looks like the Gion area is also in Tom's 2-day itinerary so we would be there for sure!

*Another side note, I kind of feel uncomfortable about the whole onsen thing. It looks like something I would love, but I would want to be with Dh if we do it and I just don't know if I could do the whole being naked thing :scared:

Tokyo:

Pretty much everywhere in Japan is safe at ALL times of the day and night. We've stayed in Shinjuku before, which saw us walking down dark, deserted alleyways to get to our hotel after midnight. It's perfectly fine. All of the vending machines light the way!

Ghibli, a café and Odaiba would all be doable in a day. Especially if you catch the train to Odaiba instead of the river boat. It's probably a good mix for the day as well. We weren't particularly enamoured by Odaiba, but it was raining pretty heavily when we visited which probably contributed to the negative impression.

I'd try to include Skytree if you can. It's pretty impressive.

There's no issue visiting Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harajuku in a single day if all you mainly want to do is wander around, visit some shops, etc. If you're planning on visiting parks and temples in each suburb, then I'm not so sure. I guess it really depends upon how long you envisage spending in the parks and templates. If you're just popping in and taking a photo and leaving, maybe you'll be okay. But, most of the parks can easily take an hour or two to stroll through.

Subject to the bullet train schedule, I think Yokohama and Kamakura are doable in a single day. I know we combined Yokohama with something, but I can't remember where. It will depend upon what you want to do in each location. By the time we got to the Noodle museum in Yokohama in the afternoon, they had stopped ... what was it ... the tours or maybe the noodle container making class? Something that we wanted to do had finished for the day. We were still able to wander through the museum.

Kyoto:

We weren't impressed by Dotonbori in Osaka. We took a couple of photos, purchased some ... I think we needed toothpaste and left. If that's your only reason for visiting Osaka, I'd consider skipping it. Alternatively, since Dotonbori is really only worth visiting at night, you could spend the day in Kyoto and travel to Osaka for dinner and Dotonbori in the evening.

I wouldn't stress about visiting particular things in Kyoto according to a particularly regimented timetable. It can be a little difficult to travel between the temples in Kyoto. And you may become particularly enraptured by a particular temple. On our first visit, we thought we'd spend maybe ... 30 minutes at the Fushimi Inari shrine. We ended up walking the entire loop because it was so peaceful and relaxing after the "hustle and bustle" of the temples. I think we ended up being there for almost three hours.

I complete agree about the onsen. I'm just too much of a prude, although some of the onsen look amazing.
 


Yes, we did this on our first visit. The museum was far more extensive and ... intense than we thought. After an early morning arrival in Hiroshima, we didn't get to the island until ... maybe around 2 or 3pm which, for us, made it too late to take the cable car to the top. We just strolled around, climbed partway up the hill, enjoyed the deer and visited the tori gate twice (once when the tide was out and we could walk up to it and then again when the tide had come back in).

Next year, we're planning on doing them over two days. The main reason is that my mother-in-law will be coming with us and it would be too taxing to do it all in one day. But, we also want to spend more time on the island (including at least taking the cable car to the top and possibly walking to the peak, depending upon how my MIL is feeling) and see a bit more of Hiroshima other than just the memorial, park and museum.
Thanks for your input. I think we will just stick to one day and see how it goes.
 
Tokyo:

Pretty much everywhere in Japan is safe at ALL times of the day and night. We've stayed in Shinjuku before, which saw us walking down dark, deserted alleyways to get to our hotel after midnight. It's perfectly fine. All of the vending machines light the way!

Ghibli, a café and Odaiba would all be doable in a day. Especially if you catch the train to Odaiba instead of the river boat. It's probably a good mix for the day as well. We weren't particularly enamoured by Odaiba, but it was raining pretty heavily when we visited which probably contributed to the negative impression.

I'd try to include Skytree if you can. It's pretty impressive.

There's no issue visiting Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harajuku in a single day if all you mainly want to do is wander around, visit some shops, etc. If you're planning on visiting parks and temples in each suburb, then I'm not so sure. I guess it really depends upon how long you envisage spending in the parks and templates. If you're just popping in and taking a photo and leaving, maybe you'll be okay. But, most of the parks can easily take an hour or two to stroll through.

Subject to the bullet train schedule, I think Yokohama and Kamakura are doable in a single day. I know we combined Yokohama with something, but I can't remember where. It will depend upon what you want to do in each location. By the time we got to the Noodle museum in Yokohama in the afternoon, they had stopped ... what was it ... the tours or maybe the noodle container making class? Something that we wanted to do had finished for the day. We were still able to wander through the museum.

Kyoto:

We weren't impressed by Dotonbori in Osaka. We took a couple of photos, purchased some ... I think we needed toothpaste and left. If that's your only reason for visiting Osaka, I'd consider skipping it. Alternatively, since Dotonbori is really only worth visiting at night, you could spend the day in Kyoto and travel to Osaka for dinner and Dotonbori in the evening.

I wouldn't stress about visiting particular things in Kyoto according to a particularly regimented timetable. It can be a little difficult to travel between the temples in Kyoto. And you may become particularly enraptured by a particular temple. On our first visit, we thought we'd spend maybe ... 30 minutes at the Fushimi Inari shrine. We ended up walking the entire loop because it was so peaceful and relaxing after the "hustle and bustle" of the temples. I think we ended up being there for almost three hours.

I complete agree about the onsen. I'm just too much of a prude, although some of the onsen look amazing.
Tokyo
That's good to know about everything being safe. You just never going to a foreign country what to expect. I wouldn't walk in the dark the next town over from us so wasn't sure what to expect in Japan. It's good to know if we do end up out at night that we shouldn't have anything to worry about.

I'm hoping it doesn't rain too badly while we are there, but I'm preparing for anything just in case. I need to get some good sandals to wear for rain and maybe look into getting a waterproof bag.

Do you recommend going up in the Skytree or just making sure we see it from the outside? I'm thinking it might be something we can do when we travel back from Kyoto to Tokyo. I didn't plan anything that day besides travel so we could probably fit it in. We could stop there on our way to Disney.

I imagine we would just go to those three to walk around and shop. We may walk through some of the parks, but it might just be a day where we don't have a set plan and just take the time to relax.

I don't have a great plan for Kamakura and Yokohama yet. I found a few things. I have more things on my list for Kamakura than Yokohama. I would like to go to the beach in Kamakura, but it says beach season is July-August. I'm not sure if that means we can't swim/use the beach in May/June or not. Do you have any suggestions for those two cities for things we should see and do? I think I had hiking trails for Kamakura.

Kyoto
That's a good idea about spending the day in Kyoto and going to Dotonbori at night. I think we will plan on doing that. Dh likes trains so I thought he would like to see the Kyoto railway museum, but we didn't have room in our schedule. We could do it before going to Osaka that night. Have you been to the Osaka Aquarium?

Tom Bricker said the Fushimi Inari shrine is their favorite and they visit it all the time. I have it on my schedule in two possible spots so we may be able to spend quite some time there. It looks really neat and it'll be nice to walk around on the trails. I think I like his itinerary as a base, but we will be super flexible and if we want to spend more time somewhere we will do that. I'm not going to say, "Oh, it's 2:30 pm time to leave," if we are really enjoying where we're at.

I don't think we will do any onsens. It looks really cool to be in a hot spring with a good view, but I watched a video of a guy doing that and it just looked weird. I don't want to do something that would make me uncomfortable the whole time.
 
Re: Skytree - I recommend going up it. It's not that interesting from the ground! Obviously, the ideal time to go is a little before sunset so you can enjoy the "day" and "night" view, but that can be hard to organise. When we went, there was a separate line for foreigners to buy tickets. Which was a HUGE relief because the regular line was SCARILY long.

Re: Kamakura - I can't recall exactly, but I think we mainly just saw the Buddha and visited a temple or two. We definitely didn't go swimming - I'm not a fan of lugging around swimmers, towels, sunscreen, etc just to go for a swim. Maybe we went for a hike? We do a bit of hiking on holiday, but I'm not remembering anything specific about Kamakura.

Re: Yokohama - We mainly went for the Noodle Museum. We also wandered around the theme park, but ultimately didn't go on anything as it was quite a ... miserable day weather wise. We also wandered around the mall above the train station and the one opposite the Noodle Museum.

Re: Osaka - The Osaka Aquarium is incredible. The best aquarium I've ever been to (and I've been to a few as my husband is a fan). The aquarium is essentially built around a HUGE tank which you walk down and around as you visit the exhibits. The giant ferris wheel out the front is also fun, especially the "glass" carriages.

As with any holiday, I'd recommend not trying to plan too much or be too regimented about what you want to see. You never know what can happen whether "negative" (e.g. you may accidentally get on the wrong train or you may be held-up eating lunch) or "positive" (e.g. you may discover some wonderful store or café or you may see a beautiful park or temple to explore).
 
Re: Skytree - I recommend going up it. It's not that interesting from the ground! Obviously, the ideal time to go is a little before sunset so you can enjoy the "day" and "night" view, but that can be hard to organise. When we went, there was a separate line for foreigners to buy tickets. Which was a HUGE relief because the regular line was SCARILY long.

Re: Kamakura - I can't recall exactly, but I think we mainly just saw the Buddha and visited a temple or two. We definitely didn't go swimming - I'm not a fan of lugging around swimmers, towels, sunscreen, etc just to go for a swim. Maybe we went for a hike? We do a bit of hiking on holiday, but I'm not remembering anything specific about Kamakura.

Re: Yokohama - We mainly went for the Noodle Museum. We also wandered around the theme park, but ultimately didn't go on anything as it was quite a ... miserable day weather wise. We also wandered around the mall above the train station and the one opposite the Noodle Museum.

Re: Osaka - The Osaka Aquarium is incredible. The best aquarium I've ever been to (and I've been to a few as my husband is a fan). The aquarium is essentially built around a HUGE tank which you walk down and around as you visit the exhibits. The giant ferris wheel out the front is also fun, especially the "glass" carriages.

As with any holiday, I'd recommend not trying to plan too much or be too regimented about what you want to see. You never know what can happen whether "negative" (e.g. you may accidentally get on the wrong train or you may be held-up eating lunch) or "positive" (e.g. you may discover some wonderful store or café or you may see a beautiful park or temple to explore).
I think I'll just put the Skytree as an "extra" in case we have extra time. I'm pretty sure we will have time to go see it and I'll make sure we actually go up it. That's good to know about the separate foreigner line! Sounds like there is going to be lots of queuing, but I'm not complaining.

We most likely won't go swimming at Kamakura. Dh has actually never even seen the ocean before so I at least want him to have the chance to see it up close. I've never seen the Pacific Ocean, but I swam in the Atlantic and the Gulf a bunch as a kid. I have the Buddha on my list so we will make sure to see that. I'll have to look more into some hiking for Kamakura.

How long do you think the aquarium will take? I'm wondering if we should take that whole day for Osaka or if we could still do some things in Kyoto first. I just want to make sure we leave enough time so we don't have to rush through the aquarium.
 
Hmmmmm. I think we spent at least two hours at the Osaka aquarium. Maybe even three. We did the ferris wheel right after, so I’m not quite sure.
 
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to put so many great notes on here! All of this helps me SO MUCH!!!

Tokyo
I really don't have much for Shibuya and Shinjuku so I'll take anything you think we should see. The main thing for Shibuya is the Disney Store. I would like to see Harajuku for Kiddy Land and Meiji Jingu, which is between the two right? For Shinjuku the only thing I have is the Gyoen National Gardens. I know for a fact we will only go to Shinjuku during the day. It just doesn't seem like somewhere we want to be at night. If you have any ideas for either I'll take anything! I mainly put them on here for shopping/sight seeing. The Disney Store there is really great. You can buy your TDL tickets there IF you don't plan to hop on your first two days. If you want to hop, you need to buy them at your hotel. I agree that Shinjuku is not a particularly interesting place to be at night. Your plan sounds good, especially since you will have time to "get lost" in the gardens & at Meiji Jingu.

Do you think doing the Ghibli Museum, Cafe Hammock, and Odaiba would be a good mix for one day? I think we would want to see Odaiba at night so I thought these three might be good for a one day outing? *On a side note, are there any places we should avoid at night? I read Japan is relatively safe in most places, but it would be good to know if there any we should avoid* You will be totally safe. Some areas are seedy, but not dangerous, and you won't encounter any of those anywhere you're going. The worst thing that has ever happened to me late at night has been getting hit on by teen boys at the train station :rotfl: & I was alone then, so they wouldn't approach you at all. I have really never felt unsafe. Yes, definitely see Odaiba at night! An idea for you would be to enjoy the Ghibli Museum, stop in at the hammock cafe, check out the new Mori Building Digital Art Museum - which is absolutely not what you think of when you think "museum" (https://borderless.teamlab.art/) & take a ride on Daikanransha (http://www.daikanransha.com/) - there's an English guide in the upper-right corner of the website.

I think we may end up skipping the Skytree. I have to see after editing everything if we would have enough time for it. I'm thinking Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku for one day. Ghibli Museum, Cafe Hammock, and Odaiba for another day. The last day could be the Pokemon Cafe, a baseball game, and any other Tokyo things to see (Edo-Tokyo Museum, Skytree, Senso-Ji Temple). What do you think? Does this seem doable? Definitely doable. Skytree is highly recommended if you can fit it in but I would prioritize your baseball game & the Pokemon Cafe (because it could end up being a limited-time offering). I would put the Skytree at the top of your "miscellaneous" list.

Do you think Yokohama and Kamakura are possible for one day? They seem kind of far from Tokyo. It's about 45 mins to Yokohama by train, which isn't too bad. The Cup Noodle museum mentioned earlier is fun, and there's also a ramen museum. Yokohama also has a great Chinatown with lots of delicious food, and some really nice parks. I like Yamashita Park because it's right by the water & you can watch the boats. Kamakura is about 60 mins by train - or, obviously, closer if you're already in Yokohama. I have only been there once, a few years ago - I remember we went hiking, visited temples & did some shopping. It was a great day. The temple I liked best was Hasedera.

Kyoto
I really like Tom Bricker's 2-day itinerary for Kyoto. He has Kinkaju as the first one to visit before it gets too busy. He also has Kiyomizudera as being seen an hour before sunset. I'm not sure if we will be able to time it exactly right, but we are going to stick to his itinerary as much as possible. We are doing mostly touristy things in Tokyo so Kyoto will be more about the nature and temples. Definitely get to Kinkakuji first, but don't stress about the others. You might like some more & some less. Spend the most time at whichever ones most appeal to you & don't worry about a schedule. You will remember a really great experience more than you will remember checking off a list.

I'm not sure where to fit Wak Japan into. We would only have the two days for Kyoto unless we get rid of Osaka entirely. We may just not get to do it. Dh wants to see Dotonbori so I think we will need to visit Osaka. Dotonbori is not really that awesome. It's just kind of "what you do" when you visit Osaka. You go to Dotonbori, take the requisite photo with Glico Man, and eat the requisite takoyaki. If you would be in Osaka anyway, it would be a fun thing to do at night. However, I wouldn't go to Osaka just to go to Dotonbori.

It looks like the Gion area is also in Tom's 2-day itinerary so we would be there for sure! :)

*Another side note, I kind of feel uncomfortable about the whole onsen thing. It looks like something I would love, but I would want to be with Dh if we do it and I just don't know if I could do the whole being naked thing :scared: You shouldn't do it if you're uncomfortable with it! Japanese people think onsen nudity is no big deal because that's their culture, but it's not the culture in the US. Mixed-gender onsen are really hard to find & most couples that want to go in together would do something like book an overnight at a ryokan with a private bath in the room. It's your vacation. Onsen aren't for everyone & you should spend the time doing something you really want to do instead.

See comments in red above!
 
Nara
  • I like everything you have planned! The giant Buddha at Todaiji is amazing.
  • Nara Park has tons of wild deer & there are places where you can buy special crackers to feed them. Some of them will bow to you, asking for a cracker, if they see you have them. They're adorable.
  • There is a historic area called Naramachi that is basically a preserved merchant district from the 17th century. Walking through it feels like going back in time. I think you would really like this.
Hiroshima
  • If you are planning to go to Hiroshima Peace Park, there is building called the Rest House. The basement of the building has been kept as it was after the bomb hit. You can go inside & register for a tour of the basement. Warning to you that the museum, memorial & park are all very moving. Bring a lot of tissues.
  • I agree with your idea to not go all the way out to Kintai Bridge. It would suck almost 4 hours out of your day based on transportation time alone.
  • Itsukushima Shrine is an UNESCO site with a torii out in the middle of the sea. It's really pretty & I definitely recommend it.
Osaka
  • If you do end up going to Osaka, the aquarium is great!
  • But... I would rather spend two days in Kyoto :)
 
See comments in red above!
Tokyo
We aren't planning on park hopping at TDL the first two days. We want to take a whole day for each park and then we will park hop the last two days. Does the Disney store sell 4 day tickets?

I literally just looked at the Mori Digital Art Museum today! It looks so cool! I actually found quite a few things that look neat in Odaiba so I'm wondering if we should spend more time there and not go to Yokohama and Kamakura. What do you think? There is a Maricar experience on go karts and you get to drive over the Rainbow Bridge which sounds awesome! I might save the Maricar for our Ikspiari day since that won't take all day.

Some of the things I found in Odaiba that look interesting: Mori Museum, Round One (I love arcades and games), Joypolis, and RMariCAR. Have you done any of these besides the museum? Some of them look like money grabs, though. I'll have to ask Dh what he thinks. I could see him picking Kamakura instead and I might agree with him. We are only planning on hiking at Hakone so maybe we want to do more nature things instead of the VR and arcade stuff in Odaiba.

Kyoto
I think we will just do Dotonbori at night after the aquarium. I love aquariums and the one in Osaka looks pretty cool.
 
Nara
  • I like everything you have planned! The giant Buddha at Todaiji is amazing.
  • Nara Park has tons of wild deer & there are places where you can buy special crackers to feed them. Some of them will bow to you, asking for a cracker, if they see you have them. They're adorable.
  • There is a historic area called Naramachi that is basically a preserved merchant district from the 17th century. Walking through it feels like going back in time. I think you would really like this.
Hiroshima
  • If you are planning to go to Hiroshima Peace Park, there is building called the Rest House. The basement of the building has been kept as it was after the bomb hit. You can go inside & register for a tour of the basement. Warning to you that the museum, memorial & park are all very moving. Bring a lot of tissues.
  • I agree with your idea to not go all the way out to Kintai Bridge. It would suck almost 4 hours out of your day based on transportation time alone.
  • Itsukushima Shrine is an UNESCO site with a torii out in the middle of the sea. It's really pretty & I definitely recommend it.
Osaka
  • If you do end up going to Osaka, the aquarium is great!
  • But... I would rather spend two days in Kyoto :)
Nara
  • I added Naramachi to my list of things to do. It looks pretty cool so if we have extra time I would like to stop there.
Hiroshima
  • The Rest House sounds really interesting. I added that to my things to do.
  • I added the Itsukushima Shrine as well.
Osaka
  • I think we will definitely do the aquarium. We will still have two days in Kyoto even if we do Osaka. One of those days is a mixture of Kyoto and Arashiyama. I think on our Osaka day we might go to the Railway museum in Kyoto first then head to Osaka for the aquarium and Dotonbori.
*Side note question: I was looking at places to stay in Kyoto and I can't decide which would be better. I found a really cool apartment/hotel called Gentle Fox near Fushimi Inari, but it's away from the Kyoto Station. I also found some AirBnBs next to Kyoto Station where we could have the entire house. Which one do you think would be better? I know Gentle Fox might be more out of the way, but it looks pretty cool and we wouldn't have to go through AirBnB.

 
When we buy the JR Pass should we get the ordinary one or pay more for the green pass?
 
When we buy the JR Pass should we get the ordinary one or pay more for the green pass?
Green car benefits:

- no crowding
- more comfortable seats
- more room for luggage & legs
- electrical outlets available
- better chance (99.9%) of getting two seats together

You always have to reserve your seats if you want the green car. You can request to reserve seats in the ordinary car but it's not guaranteed.

I would recommend the green pass :) So that you can be sure of sitting together & getting around more comfortably.

There is nothing "wrong" with the ordinary pass, though!
 
I think we got the green pass for our first trip, but not the second. We didn't have a problem getting seats together on any long trips, and there were four of us.
 
The normal pass is already comfy enough, I'm 1m83 (6 feet) and I still had lots of room for my legs, and you also have the USB outlets. And if you reserve your seats (free with your JRP) and tickets in advance, you're sure to be seated together. If you book it just before the train departure, ora few hours before, then there is a possibility that you will not be seated together, depending on how full the train is. But even then, if the
 

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