Need your support to check my itinerary

Dear all,

I understand that the kind of question is raised over and over again, but I need your help because this will be the first time I visit Japan.

My itinerary is for 15 days, from 18/04/2015 to 02/05/2015

Day 1: Arrive in Narita airport, go to Tokyo city.
Day 2: Explore Tokyo
Day 3: Go to Nikko, or Mt. Fuji, then go back to Tokyo
Day 4: Go to Takayama, 0.5 days explore old town.
Day 5: Go to Shirakawago, then go to Kanazawa for night.
Day 6: Explore Kanazawa.
Day 7: Go to Mt. Koya, then go to Osaka for night.
Day 8: Explore Osaka.
Day 9: Go to Kyoto.
Day 10: Explore Kyoto.
Day 11: Explore Kyoto.
Day 12: Explore Kyoto.
Day 13: Go to Hiroshima, then go back to Tokyo for night.
Day 14: Explore Tokyo and shopping.
Day 15: Go home.

I welcome all your suggestions, and ideas to make my first trip to Japan the best.

I would definitely go with JR pass, but I feel a little unfair when I don't have plan to visit Kokkaido. :(

Thanks a lot!

Regards,
Khang

More or less, I think your itinerary is fine apart from a couple of days:

A) Day 7: Go to Mt. Koya, then go to Osaka for night.

It will take about 6 hours from Kanazawa to Koyasan, and then another 2 and a half hours back to Osaka,leaving you very little time for sightseeing on Mt Koya.

I suggest staying that first night in Osaka instead and then go on to Koyasan early the next morning. Ideally, try to stay a night in one of the temples as this is a great experience.

B) Day 13: Go to Hiroshima, then go back to Tokyo for night.

It will take about 2.5 hours from Kyoto to Hiroshima and then close to 6 hours to travel back to Tokyo. You'll be on the railpass so won't be able to use the Nozomi and these travelling times means that you'd have barely any time in Hiroshima and will spend the majority of the day on trains. It's not impossible of course; you could leave Kyoto very early and return to Tokyo very late but you'd barely have time to do Hiroshima justice and would have no time to visit Miyajima... perhaps it's better to leave this part of western Japan for another trip.

Hi there,

Thanks a lot!

Yes, I think your suggestions are reasonable.

From Kanazawa to Osaka, it takes around 3 hours.
From Osaka to Koyasan, it takes around 2 hours.

I would change:
Day7: Go to Osaka, explore Osaka
Day8: Day trip to Mt Koya, night at Osaka.

I don't want to stay a night at Mt Koya because I feel it is expensive for me.

For Day 13, it is true that I have to leave Hiroshima from 5:00PM to reach Tokyo at around 11:00PM.

However, from Tokyo, I think Hiroshima is the best choice.

Do you have any suggestions for the itinerary for Day 13?
I want to go back to Tokyo on Day 14 before the flight back one day.

Thanks again.

Hi

I'd suggest getting the 08:02 Hikari Bullet train from Kyoto, which arrives in Hiroshima just after 10am.

If you have interest in the Peace Park and Memorial Dome, then head over to the Heiwa Dori area first to see that. Spend a few hours there then maybe have lunch in Okonomiyaki Mura (http://www.okonomimura.jp/foreign/english.html), after which I'd suggest visiting Shukkei-en Gardens and Hiroshima Castle as you make your way back to the station.

However, if you don't mind getting back to Tokyo late, you could actually have enough time to visit Miyajima if you don't visit the Peace Park area in Hiroshima. It's a personal choice of course but as a first time visitor to Japan, I feel that Miyajima is really one of the must see sights and it would be a shame to be so close and not visit.

If you decide to visit Miyajima instead, when you arrive in Hiroshima, take the local train to Miyajimaguchi and then walk over to the ferry for the short trip to the island. Plenty to see and do on Miyajima: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3401.html

Good luck!

Honestly I thought it is too rushed when I first read Kyoto-Hiroshima-Tokyo in one day. But after I checked the time course in Hyperdia, I think it to be doable.

I travelled to San Francisco this september and visited Yosemite. There are bus tours to Yosemite from San Francisco. It takes 4.5 hrs one way (total of 9 hrs bus rides). I took a 2 day tour, but there were also one day tour. In the latter case, we have only 3 hrs in Yosemite. When we get the traffic jam, it might be 1 hour in Yosemite although we have some sightseeing on the way.

Compared to our tour to Yosemite, you need less transportation time: Kyoto to Atomic bomb dome and the Peace Memorial Museum, 136 min. Atomic bomb dome to Miyajimaguchi, 42 min. Ferry, 20+20 min. Miyajimaguchi to Tokyo, 308 min. Total, 526 min. You can start as early as 6:00 and end at 23:00 in which you can have 1020 min and you will have 494 min which will be enough time. In most of the traveling, you will get on the Shinkansen, one of the safest vihicle in the world. Of course you can take a nap on the way :).

Enjoy your trip!

I forgot to mention that Miyajima and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum are rated as top 2 "must see" attractions in Japan.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/HotSpotsJapan.html

Hi there,

A lot of information! Thanks!

I have an another problem.
My friends want to go to Kawachi Fuji Garden because our visiting time is the season of wisteria. I know that we have to reach Yahata station and go there by bus.

Time from Osaka to Yahata is about 3 hours, whereas time from Kyoto to Yahata is about 4 hours.

The best solution is that I have to sacrifice one day in Kyoto (Day 9). With this updated plan, I have only full 3 days in Kyoto. :(

Do you have any suggestion on this? Is the time of 3 days enough for Kyoto?

How fast can you move? Can you cycle?

If you are a fast walker who can cycle. You can visit Hiroshima peace park + castle + lunch in less then 3 hours (I did it in less than 2), then head to Miyajima.
[You don't have to enter the castle, just look at the architecture from outside.]

For Kyoto, 3 days a rush pace and 5 days is a relax pace. With 7 days you can cover everything in Japan-Guide about Kyoto plus those in other guides.

Weekday
Go to Golden Pavillioin: 15 minutes. (Bus from JR Station)
Take bus to Ryoanji: 30 minutes
Take bus to Ninnaji: 20 minutes
Walk to Miysoshinji: 40 minutes
Tram to Arashiyama
Late lunch (1330 to 1400 depending on your speed)
Cross Togetsukyo and back: 10 minutes
Tenryuji: 40 minutes
Bamboo forest: 10 minutes
Going up the hill at edge of forest for view of Kyoto: 25 minutes
Take 4pm romantic train to Sagano and back
JR Train from Arashiyama to Kyoto Station

Dinner at Kyoto Station
Shopping at Kyoto station
Take train to Fushimi Inari
See the lighted pretty mystical Fushimi Inari after sunset

Go to Fushimi Inari Station (West of the shrine) to Gion. See Gion at night. Walk along potoncho.

Day 2 and 3
Does not matter whether is Weekday or weekend
Go to Imperial Palace Tour, Katsura Gardens Tour
Nishiki Market
Sanzenin
Taxi to Silver Pavilion
Walk along Philiosopher path to Nanzenji
Should be lunch time now
Eat
See Heian Shrine
Walk to Kiyomizudera with Yasaka Shrine and Chonoin and Eikando on the way
End day

Day 3
Train to Tokufuji
Train to Uji
Walk along Uji River
Have tea
Byodoin
Train to Nara
See the large buddha temple
Walk about Nara and get poked by deers

As far as I know, there is no public transportation from Yahata to Kawachi Fuji garden. Taxi costs around 3000 yen one way from Yahata station. In Tripadvisor, you may find some reviews which say there is a "free shuttle", but it is not for the Fuji garden but for an onsen nearby. I am afraid you might have troubles by using this "free shuttle". And another bad thing is your date might be too early for wisteria flowers.

If you want to go there, I recommend you to visit Hiroshima/Miyajima on Day 12 and stay at Hiroshima or Miyajima. You might start afternoon and enjoy Kyoto before leaving for Hiroshima. On day 13, go to Kawachi Fuji Garden and then back to Tokyo.

@joshua hugh: it is true that 3 days in Kyoto is too rush. Thanks to your suggestion, it seems to be possible for most of attractions.

@frog1954: Yes, I am aware of "free shuttle". It is not quite convenient. Alternatively, Ashikaga Flower Park could be a best option.
It is reachable from Tokyo by train for around 2hours. Therefore, we could still remain 4 days in Kyoto, and visit Ashikaga when we go back to Tokyo. :) How do you think?

I have not been to Ashikaga flower park. As a former Osakan and now a resident of south Kyushu, I am not familiar with north Kanto area. However, as far as I understand through the internet, Ashikaga flower park should be nice. Use hyperdia and find the most convenient train connection.

Enjoy your trip!

Just a few observations...
Like Saru Bob, the long time it'd take to get to Koya caught my eye - that definitely needs looking at.
Also in your whole trip you didn't mention going to Nara at all - that would be a terrible omission.
Regarding Osaka, there may be a few places in the daytime you could go to see, but otherwise you could allot your time to someplace better. It is also easy to see Osaka from the evening when the temples/shrines in Kyoto close down around 5PM.
Dotonbori in Osaka at night is a must-see though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJ_MeXbeow
as well as the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg and Abeno Harukas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb1wuyAGgyQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AyUZmGbW8g
The views are quite different though, so if you have time, both are well worth the effort.
For that extra day time, you could go to see Himeji or Hikone Castle - both are excellent.
If you could rearrange things so you stay in Hiroshima for the night, it would take a lot of the pressure off of you on that day. The Shukkei-en Garden is well worth seeing, and Miyajima deserves at least 3/4 of a day. If you want more, there is always Iwakuni with its unique bridge and mountaintop castle, or if you want to get off the beaten path, Konpirasan in Kagawa makes a splendid day hike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0COOZXi66mM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ley9rVIewoQ
All in all, I think you'll see a lot but still be wanting for more even after such a busy trip.

Thanks a lot! @frog1954, @Ken.

I'll consider Nara also! :)

You're so correct that I would feel not enough even after extremely busy trip. :(.

But, here, I try to make everything as worth as possible. You guys make it possible. Thanks again.