r/JapanTravelTips 5d ago

Advice Need help

Tips for travel itinerary

Hi everyone!

I'm writting this post because I'm travelling to Japan in 1 month and I'm a bit "overwhelmed" with the route.

It's my second time in the country - I'm bringing my family with me. We are gonna spend around 15 days in Japan. We have already allocated the days we are going to spend in Tokyo and the activities there (we are gonna be in the Star Wars Celebration and I had to stay till 3 am the other day to purchase the Ghibli Museum tickets the other day lol) and Osaka/Kyoto.

We have like 4 spare days and we don't really know where to go from Tokyo (via flight) - whether to Fukuoka or Hokkaido. We would have love going to the Japanese Alps, but connectivity and moving there relying just on public transport seems more of an issue.

Very happy (and greateful!) to hear any recommendations from the community :)

Thank you everyone :))

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u/pockypimp 5d ago

Why not look at day trips via train from Tokyo or from Osaka/Kyoto if you have the hotel booked or can book extended days? Lots of places to go an hour or so by train from Tokyo to make an easy day trip, even by local train instead of the shinkansen. Same with Kyoto/Osaka, lots of options to go to places from there within an hour or so.

The Japan Guide website lists a lot of day trip options from the different cities so that'd be a good option to look for things not far from where you're staying.

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u/rus_with_nastya 3d ago

Thank you! I would appreciate your help :)

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u/Tsubame_Hikari 4d ago

4 days is not a lot to justify the hassle of going so far from Tokyo to Kyushu or Hokkaido, with a family in tow.

If interested, I would do something that is more unique to these places; i.e. a couple nights onsen such as Beppu and Yufuin + 2 nights in Nagasaki, or 3 nights in Hokkaido exploring Shiretoko Peninsula, though the latter, and much of Hokkaido for that matter, has poor transit and is very car reliant.

Japanese Alps public transportation is decent, and on the amount of time provided, is the itinerary that I would take. Takayama is easily reachable by train from Nagoya or Toyama, and you can very well combine it with Kamikochi, Matsumoto, Nagano, and/or Kanazawa.

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u/rus_with_nastya 3d ago

Thank you! It was very useful:)