Japan Itinerary

Hi, this is my first time free and easy to Japan for 11 days trip in December.
i like to visit Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Hakone, could you kind enough to advise me how to plan the route?
My planning stay as below, do let me know the stay in each city is sufficient, i am looking forward your kind advise and recommendation.

1. Tokyo 4 nights
2. Hakone 2 nights
3. Yokohama 2 nights
4. Osaka 2 nights

Kindly advise, thank you so much.

Regards,
liketotravel

Any reason for 2 days in Yokohama?
2 days in Hakone is reasonable.

2 days in Osaka and without Kyoto as part of itinerary seems a waste. Probably either add more days to Kansai area or scrap it altogether and focus on Kanto area.

If Osaka still part of Itinerary on way to do it... is.. in order..
Tokyo
Tokyo
Hakone
Hakone
Osaka
Osaka
Yokohama
Yokohama
Tokyo
Tokyo

On personal not, 2 days only in Osaka seems like a waste, unless there is reason to visit Osaka for only 2 days:
1. Approximately 2hours 30minutes - 3hours on Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka , one way
2. It costs ~28000 Yen for round trip.

Dear Vince,

Thanks for your replied and comments. This is my rough itinerary it subject to changeable.

If possible could you let me know what is your recommended 10 days itinerary from
Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Hakone and Kyoto.

Appreciate your kind advice, thank you so much.

I am sorry, what do you mean? Do you mean what or where to go in each town?

Another Options for your itinerary is, to enter Japan from either Kansai and exit at Kanto, eg. Arrive at Kansai International airport and depart at Narita/Haneda, or vice versa.

That is:
Arrive at Kansai - Osaka
Osaka
Hakone
Hakone
Yokohama
Yokohama
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo
Or in reverse if you enter from Narita/Haneda and depart via Kansai International/Itami. This way you could save a considerable amount of money and time..

Is there any reason you plan to go to Osaka? As in, is there any specific places that you want to go etc?

For Osaka, on personal note I am not fond of the place, so it will be biased more or less. I feel Osaka is a different version/less version of Tokyo with Universal Studio, Osaka Aquarium and some of the local attractions (not much to be honest), normally whatever you find in Osaka you will find it in Tokyo and better.

Hakone, never been there, planned for it before but without 2 days it would be a wasted trip.

Yokohama, was there for a day, and feel the place do not require 2 days, of course depending on what you have planned for Yokohama. For my trip, I took a train to Yokohama then taking Seabus to Yamashita park before proceeding to Chinatown. After that, I just walked all the way back to Yokohama station via Akarenga area, Cup Noodle Museum etc

Tokyo , this town really depends on what is your interest and what you are looking for. Tokyo pretty much has most the things to offer for tourists with various preferences or tastes. There are quite a number of good side trips outside Tokyo if shopping and entertainment in Tokyo does not appeal to you.

So main questions are:
1. What is your interest and what you are planning/want to see in Japan or these towns?
2. Have you already planned any attractions to visit?
3. When exactly is your December trip? Be aware of busy period as you approach the end of December.

Dear Vinces,

Thanks for your replied.
Actually i had booked the ticket from sin-haneda-sin which arrive on 14th Dec and depart on 25th Dec.

My main visit will be in Tokyo and Hakone as for Yokohama and Osaka is quote near so can put in my itinerary so that will not wasting time on long journey travel.

For Yokohama i like to visit : Ramen museum, yomashita park and chinatown. (i think as you suggest 1 day should be enough to explore all)

For Osaka i like to visit Shinsaibashi, osaka castle, Dotombari food street as well as USS.

For Hakone i am not sure whether want to spend 2 days 1 night or 3 days 2 night. I wanna visit Mt Fuji 5th station, Lake Ashi, Gotemba premium outlet and enjoy the hot spring there.

Actually i also wish to visit Nikko for Irohazaka and Kegon falls. As well as Tateyama but i really don't know how to plan the route.

Maybe based on above information, you can guide me, really appreciate on it.

Thank you.

Regards,
Irene

Liketotravel: Please look at the tab marked travel at the top of each page, to the right of the name Japan-guide.com

Everything you need to know is there.
It really up to you to decide what to see in each town and area...as we all have different tastes...

I think looking at your preference you should skip Osaka. Go to Tokyo Disney Land/Sea instead of USS, and everything else you can approximate in Tokyo. "Close" is relative of course (as in, compared to some trips I've done in the US, Osaka is indeed "close" to Tokyo), but the rest of your itinerary is concentrated mostly in the Kanto region, Osaka is much farther than everything else, and if you can't begin/end at Kansai Airport then you kinda will be wasting time traveling down there, especially as Osaka is your only destination in that area.

Dear all,

Ok noted, thank you so much for the advice. Will look into it and work out my itinerary.

Once again thank you very much for the info.

Dear All,

May i check is it worth to purchase JR Pass for my 10 days trip in tokyo area, yokohama and hakone?

Agreed with scarreddragon, although it is kinda hard decision to make, but skipping Osaka would probably be better for you, 2 days in Osaka which involved round trip to and from Tokyo is not worth it... Especially if you do not go to Kyoto......

Tateyama should probably not included into your trip too, i believe you will probably need 2 days there too and there will be a lot of crowds.

Same goes with theme park during your period, I would believe they will be very crowded.

Best options would be skip out on Kansai on this trip, and focus on Tokyo area. If Osaka is taken out, you will be able to spend a day in Nikko or Kinugawa Onsen, or Karuizawa etc.

I am not too sure on Hakone, as when I was planning for Hakone trip I started to realize how big is the place and more than a day trip is required, after that I stop planning for Hakone and went for other place.

Yokohama is actually pretty easy to access from Tokyo, so you could always return on another day if you feel you like that place or have place that you missed out.

Dear Vinces7,

Greatly thanks for your replied. Ok i will take out Osaka this time and concentrate on Tokyo area.

I think this will be better, save cost and time. Shall arrange another trip for Kansai area......etc.

So in this case, is it worth to buy JR pass for this trip?

Nope, it's not worth the JR Pass UNLESS you add Osaka back in. If you are sticking to the Kanto area, skip the JR Pass since it probably wont pay off for you.

And since by skipping Osaka you give yourself more time, how about spending those 2 days you gave yourself for Yokohama in both Yokohama and Kamakura? Kamakura/Enoshima and that area is really nice, and you could stay in either and do one day in Yokohama, one day looking at temples/shrines/the ocean in Enoshima.

Or as vinces7 recommended, Karuizawa or Nikko might be a nice place to visit for you. I think if you go to Nikko you can skip Kamakura unless you are really into shrines or temples. If you're interested in Autumn colors (you mentioned the irohazaka in Nikko), it might be a little too late for you to see them in Nikko that late in December, so keep an eye on the Japan Guide reports. I can't remember when Karuizawa peaked last year, but you can check previous years' reports and make a guess as to what will have colors during your visit (note that everything is a bit earlier this year!)

I really like Enoshima when I was there the last time, mix it with Kamakura for maximum trip.

As for Nikko, I would still recommend at least one night stay there or at Kinugawa Onsen. Was there for a day and totally not enough time, only managed to visit the main temples and the surroundings.

Same with Karuizawa, a MINIMUM of 1 stay at least is recommended, best to rent a bicycle here.

And yea as mentioned, JR pass probably would not worth it if you do not include long distance trip. Eg. If you go Nikko, best to use Tobu railway which is ~2500 Yen for round trip (on top of my head, please check hyperdia), while JR rail will require about 10000 Yen for round trip (JR require a change at Utsunomiya).

Best to use Hyperdia in conjunction with this site to check the price and places where you want to go. Once you have a more concrete itinerary, you could ask again if you are not sure etc.

Dear Vinces7 and Scarreddragon,

Many thanks for all the suggestion. I will plan my itinerary.

Will need yours help again if i need more advice.

Once again, thank you so much.