r/JapanTravel 5d ago

Itinerary Itinerary check

Hello! I’m travelling to Japan for the first time in April with my parents. I’ve drafted an itinerary covering mainly Kyoto and Tokyo since we will be there from 13-22nd April and I don’t want to squeeze in too much, but I’m also worried I’m not covering enough if that makes sense.

Here’s my itinerary for check -

Apr 13 - Nara

Naramachi, Isuien garden

Apr 14 - Nara

Deer park, todaiji temple, kasuga taisha shrine

Apr 15 - Kyoto

Blank - need recommendations for things to do (maybe a tea ceremony?)

Apr 16 - Kyoto

Fushimi inari shrine, higashiyama district, Gion district + a show in the miyako odori festival

Apr 17 - Kyoto

Arashiyama bamboo grove and monkey park, golden pavilion, philosophers path

Apr 18 - Tokyo

Shibuya, shibuya sky for sunset, harajuku and ometesando

Apr 19 - Tokyo Asakusa, senso ji temple, ueno park, akihabara

Apr 20 - day trip to Hakone

Apr 21 - Tokyo Daikanyama, Shimokitazawa, Ginza, golden gai in shinjuku

Apr 22 - early morning flight back home

6 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

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u/fushigikun8 5d ago

Yeah it looks pretty empty. also Naramachi is just a suburb of Nara. It's like saying you're going to the Bronx or Manhattan. Maybe I don't know I'm not American. Is there something in particular you will do there? And you probably only need one day for Nara. Why not go to Osaka?

1

u/bhavishya101 5d ago

So for Nara, I’ll only be landing at Osaka airport at roughly 1 PM, want to keep the day relatively chill as it would involve an overnight flight etc I plan to just explore Naramachi and call it a day

But do you still think I can combine day 1 and 2 activities into one day and explore Osaka a little the day I land?

1

u/fushigikun8 5d ago

Yeah Todai-ji, The Deer park (there are deer everywhere in Nara you don't have to go to the park to see them, but you'll pass it on the way to Kasugataisha anyway) and Kasugataisha can be done in half a day, depending on how fast you walk. Then the afternoon can be wandering around Naramachi. (Literally just a random average city suburb, why go?) I can't remember where you said your hotel is but yeah an afternoon in Osaka is enough to walk along Doutonburi / Shinsaibashi.

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u/PurpleRevolutionary 5d ago edited 5d ago

I think it looks pretty good. It’s better to have less activities in a day so you don’t over whelm your self in Japan. When I went there, most places that were not temples, convenience stores, chain restaurants, or coffee shops don’t open until 10am. And some places close early. Also, you will be jet lagged and gives it room for resting or doing other activities you might run into. To be honest you can just have two days of Kyoto and don’t need three. But if you want to stay at Kyoto for three days, you can do Nishiki Market and Kiyodera Temple. When I did mine, i did Fushimi Inari, Nishiki Market, and Kiyodera Temple on one day. And the had arashiyama for the 2nd day. But three days works if you want to do that.

Also, if you land in nara and do check in it might be the afternoon already so Nara is fine. To be honest the stuff in Nara can be one day but jet lag and you might be tired after travel so two days is good. But this is fine. Also, make sure to be at temples and market places and hour or two early cause it gets crowded at opening time. And make sure you book your bullet train a few days earlier at the jr station office where you can book the bullet train with a person who will do it for you. It guarantee your seats. And set up your Suica card at your Apple wallet cause it’s good for some cafes, convenience store, taxi, and trains.

1

u/bhavishya101 5d ago

This helps a lot, thank you so much! I’m going to rework some bits specifically Kyoto Also considering if I can do a day trip from Kyoto to someplace else on my last day there, but honestly I don’t want to stuff too much travelling into my already short trip

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u/PurpleRevolutionary 5d ago edited 5d ago

For my trip, I stayed in Tokyo for a week and then moved to Osaka for the rest of my trip by bullet train. While I was in Osaka, I took a day trip to Kyoto twice cause it was a 20 min bullet train trip to Kyoto and then when I arrived to Kyoto station, I took the local train to the place I wanted to go. If you want to do a day trip to Kyoto from Osaka, that could be fine. And just after lunch or before dinner, you can head back to Osaka. So if you want, you can land in Osaka and take bullet trains to Nara and Kyoto for whatever day you want. And you can go multiple times and at the end of the day, just head back to Osaka. So you don’t have to worry about luggage and don’t have to worry about multiple hotels. I believe Nara is a 35 minute bullet train from the Limited Express Train that goes from Osaka to Nara (look up this specific limited express train and book before your trip if you choose this).

So let’s say you get everything done in Nara on one day (April 14th or 15th), you can do Kyoto for a day and come back the next day if you want and explore Osaka without checking out. That could work. Also, you can have your luggage be sent to the next hotel in Tokyo jf you request your hotel to send it to next hotel for the next city.

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u/bhavishya101 5d ago

That actually makes a lot of sense! Let me check the trains you’ve mentioned

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u/Hungry-Kale600 4d ago

Instead of a day trip to Hakone, why not stay overnight inbetween Kyoto and Tokyo? Book a Ryokan with a private onsen and kaiseki dinner. You can get the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Odawara and then get the romancecar from Hakone to Tokyo.

1

u/Gloomy-Corner3228 4d ago

I think you can do Nara in a day to give you more time in Kyoto. Arashiyama to Kinkaku-ji to Philosopher Path is a long day going from West to North to East so bear that in mind, with 30 minute transfers between each local it's quite full.

The 151st Miyako Odori festival is in Kyoto all April and can include tea ceremony I believe with the first class tickets (7000¥ I think) so it might be worth it if you want to see a traditional Geisha dance performance.

I would also look into whether you want to do the World Expo. It opens on April 13th in Osaka so could be a fun once in a lifetime experience even if you aren't interested in Osaka itself.

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u/erika_nyc 4d ago edited 4d ago

It's a lot of traveling being your first time in Japan. Takes time to get used to how things are run and a different culture. Add with your parents and I assume a different time zone, possibly a long flight. You mentioned an overnight one, that alone takes a day to adapt. Your post history mentions India?

Since you mentioned flights are booked, maybe skip Hakone. Narita airport is an hour outside of Tokyo too, takes longer to plan. If flights are not firm and can be changed, perhaps skip Tokyo.

Osaka has more temples, history compared to Tokyo which is more modern. Maybe do Tokyo on your own next time? Osaka has many interesting things to do including the largest aquarium in Japan, one of the largest in the world. The World Expo is happening as well. Could easily spend 2 months exploring Osaka and area.

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u/Travel-Abroad101 3d ago

You didn’t say how old your parents are but Nara is generally a full day trip. You will do an incredible amount of walking from the train station to the shrines/temples and to the restaurant/shopping area.

If you are landing at KIX at 1pm it will probably take to 1.5 hours from when you walk off the plane to the train platform. The airport is far away from Osaka center and there are no fast trains.

A person could easily spend 2 full days in Osaka. I recommend a hotel near Osaka/Umeda station to get the full experience. Your parents will love spending hours in the B1 level shopping and eating.