14-day trip to Japan during Golden Week 2015

Hi there! I've booked a 14 day trip flying into Narita on Thurs 30th April 2015. Unfortunately I didn't realise at the time that Golden week will be taking place during the majority of the first week.

After any suggestions people may have in terms of itinerary.

We're hoping to visit following places:

Tokyo
Kamakura
Mt Fuji
Hakone
Nikko
Kyoto
Osaka
Nara
Hiroshima

Initial thoughts are to base ourselves in Tokyo for the first week, and daytrips to Kamakura, Nikko, Fuji and Hakone. I'm aware it will be busy but I think it will be busy everywhere so probably no way around it!?! I'm also looking at purchasing the 14 day pass as I think this will come in handy for all the day trips out of Tokyo, and seeing as heading down to Hiroshima, will pay itself off.

Appreciate any advice people may have!

Cheers
Monique

Hi Monique,

Initial thoughts are to base ourselves in Tokyo for the first week, and daytrips to Kamakura, Nikko, Fuji and Hakone.
Daytrips from Tokyo definitely works for Kamakura and Nikko. While I would normally suggest that Hakone would be a good location to have an overnight in order to soak in the hot springs atmosphere - I expect that accomodation is already fully booked around Golden week!

I'm aware it will be busy but I think it will be busy everywhere so probably no way around it!?!

Unfortunately not really apart from sticking to intra city travel during the peak travel days as outlined in http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2282.html

For the second part of your journey (Nara, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hiroshima) I would suggest doing something similar and basing yourself out of Osaka since the nightlife is comparatively busier than the others (and has plenty of famous foods for you to try :-) ). Nara and Kyoto is a short train ride away which is mostly to completely covered by the JR pass depending on which station you base yourself at in Osaka. In terms of amount of time to devote to each place, I would generally suggest 1 day in Osaka, 1 in Nara, and 2-3 in Kyoto - depending on your interests and any specific attractions you had in mind.

For Hiroshima and Miyajima, a big reccomendation is seeing if you can score any accomodation on Miyajima itself to see the sunrise.

Otherwise, I think you've got a great mix of different cities to explore. The main challenge will be booking accomodation that fits your plans depending on how far along you are with that.

I too inadvertently accepted a cheap fare out of Australia before I realised golden week was in the middle of my trip! I used booking.com and did find accommodation eventually in Hakone and for Kyoto and Tokyo managed to get some nights at Toyoko Inn. I suggest you fairly quickly use a website that takes no deductible deposit and book up some dates and fine tune later.

Depending on your interests you might consider an excursion to Kobe.

I too inadvertently accepted a cheap fare out of Australia before I realised golden week was in the middle of my trip! I used booking.com and did find accommodation eventually in Hakone and for Kyoto and Tokyo managed to get some nights at Toyoko Inn. I suggest you fairly quickly use a website that takes no deductible deposit and book up some dates and fine tune later.

Depending on your interests you might consider an excursion to Kobe.

Thanks for the great tips guys, really appreciated!!!