May Japan Trip

Hello Everyone! I have finally booked by trip and I am finalizing my accommodations. This will be my first trip to Japan and wanted to share my itinerary with the people who have better knowledge than me about Japan.

Hopefully you can give me your thoughts and perhaps give me some suggestions on how to change some things should it not work out. Thank you in advance!

Note that I will have a 14 Day JR Pass for trip. I will also get a Suica Card but I was wondering if it would be worth getting a Kansai Thru Pass as well for a part of my trip.

May 21 - Arrive into NRT @ 4:00pm / Find & Sleep at Hotel
May 22 - Explore Asakusa, Sky Tree, Ueno, Akihabara, Odaiba/Gundam Front
May 23 - Kamakura or Nikko Day Trip (Haven't Decided)
May 24 - Shibuya, Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, Shinjuku

May 25 - Travel to Osaka / Explore Osaka Castle & History Museum (Suggestions?)
May 26 - Ame-Mura, Dotonbori, Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade

May 27 - Travel to Kyoto / Find Hotel & Kyoto Tower (Suggestions?)
May 28 - Eastern Kyoto Full Day (Japan-Guide) with Gion, Eikando, Higashiyama District
May 29 - Arashiyama Half Day (Japan-Guide) & Northern Kyoto Half Day (Japan-Guide)
May 30 - Nara Day Trip

May 31 - Travel back to Tokyo / Explore & Shop (Suggestions?)
June 1 - Last Day in Tokyo / Back to Airport

Since I'm going solo - I will be staying in hostels. I never been in a hostel before but I hope to find some great people to hangout with while I'm there.

What do you think about the above? Should I move things around? Should I replace any places with something else? let me know! I'm interested in your input!

Also, does the Suica Card work in Osaka and Kyoto?

Thank you!

Also, does the Suica Card work in Osaka and Kyoto?

Yes,but not all just most.
Find ICOCA,PiTaPa or Suica/PASMO as IC sign/sticker.

That looks like a good plan. We went at almost the same time last year, so the only thing I would suggest is to stay out of Tokyo those last few days and look for somewhere cooler. It was scorching hot by 1 June, so much so that we didn't really want to get around in Tokyo.

My vote would be to go to Karuizawa instead of Tokyo and stay there overnight, getting back into Tokyo in time for your flight. Or maybe Nikko, but I like Karuizawa because it is only an hour by the shinkansen into Tokyo station which makes it easy to get to the airport.

Awam & Lazy Pious - thank you for your answers! I guess I will stick with what I have planned and get a Suica Card for local trains & buses if the JR Pass does cover it.

Regarding Karuizawa, it looks like an amazing place. I will look into this and see if my budget will allow for me to stay overnight there. Do you have any recommendations on a place worth stay at there?

Do you guys have any suggestions fro Osaka? I'm going to be there for two days and i feel like my plans are lacking in that city.

Hope to hear from you guys!

HI
A few suggestions for you for Osaka and Kyoto

First Osaka:
Two suggseted sites, but choose what you like
Osaka Aquarium
Cup of Noddles Museum
Dotonbori - I would say see it at night
or
You can combine all of the sites you currently want to see in Osaka in one day and spend another day in Kyoto, or go to Nara or visit Himeji

Kyoto:
First day suggest
Fushimi Inar Shrine, Uji - Byodoin Temple, and Kyoto Tower
Second Day
Eastern Kyoto has a lot to see and offer. You could easily spend 2 days doing Eastern Kyoto. A few you might want to make time to see Kiyomizudera, Teramachi (shopping), Heian Shine are three great places to see while in Eastern Kyoto.

Gooday. At Karuizawa we have stayed at Tsuruya ryokan. It isnt cheap - about 18000 per person but the food is awesome, the rooms are big, and the people are brilliant. Also it is at the top of the shopping street at the beginning of a great walking trail. So if there was somewhere to bust the budget, that'd be it.

@Anne - Great Suggestions! I thought the Cup Noodle Museum was only near Tokyo and I heard that the Aquarium is a great visit. I could easily spend a day at either location, I think. Lol I will do my research and pick one to check out.

Dontonbori, I will leave for night time as it may be a better with from people from the hostel.

Your Kyoto suggestions are great as well. I will definitely take your suggestions for the first day. Since I don't really know where to start, I will take your advice and change my itinerary. :)

How did you get around Kyoto? I know there are two trains but you can't access all the sites. Did you use the bus system or did you rent some bicycles? Which would be better?

@Lazy Pious - Thank you for the information. Even though I will be staying in hostels to save some money, I may feel the need to spend some extra money on going somewhere away from the cities. I will definitely have a look at Tsuruya Ryokan and see if I can work something out!

Thank you again for your help and suggestions!

Hi Again

To answer your questions I got around Kyoto by Bus, train and feet. For Eastern Kyoto I used the one day bus pass for 500 yen. It pays off if you get on and off the bus 3 times.
Are you staying near Kyoto Station? I stayed at Kyoto Hana Hostel (great location, clean and great price) when I was in Kyoto.

Note: Be careful riding a bike in Eastern Kyoto, there are a lot of bike laws and may specific on where you can park your bike.

Consider for your third Kyoto day taking a bus to Northern Kyoto (Kinkakuji) and doing the Northern Half first, then take the Keifuku Railways to Arashiyama. At the end of the day take the JR rail from Arashiyama back to Kyoto Station. Or if you want to do Western Kyoto first I would suggest you use the JR Train from Kyoto station to Saga Arashiyama.

Southern Kyoto use the JR train system.

You could always bike on the Western/Northern Kyoto day, if you wish.

Here is a link for the Osaka cup of Noodles factory. http://www.bento.com/phgal-instantramen.html
Hope this helps

Enjoy your trip!

May 27 - Travel to Kyoto / Find Hotel & Kyoto Tower (Suggestions?)

I am staying here in Kyoto (also in May): http://www.gardenhotels.co.jp/eng/kyoto-shijo/

They have 3 hotels within the same area. I got a great deal at this hotel and its kind of in the middle of everything.

Hello Anne - Thanks again for your help. I am staying near Kyoto Station; at a hostel called "Piece Hostel". It's fairly new and a bit pricier than other hostels but I like they offer you free breakfast in the mornings. :) I am staying at Khaosan Kabuki in Tokyo though. Read good things about them so I hope I have a great time there.

I will try to obtain a day pass for Eastern Kyoto and get a handle on how the trains and buses work. Do you know if the Kyoto Tourist Center can give me a map indicating what sights to see and in what order? Perhaps, the hostel's front desk would be best for that? I don't what to be aimlessly wandering and missing out on stuff since I will not be booking any tours.

Mukur - Thank you for the hotel suggestion. I already have my accommodation booked but I will keep this place in mind if things don't work out with my current one.

Thanks again guys!

Hi
Do you know if the Kyoto Tourist Center can give me a map indicating what sights to see and in what order?

Yes, but I feel the hostel will probably give you better ideas and more specific maps. (I did both when I was in Kyoto and found the hostel to be the better of the two). Should only take you 10 mins of time to stop by TIC at Kyoto station to pick up some maps. Try to get the Handicraft Center/ Eastern Kyoto map, it a good walking/bus map for the area.

Here is also a really good walking maps of Kyoto to check out before you go:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-503.pdf

Sounds like you have everything set up well for you accommodations. Sound prove to be an excellent trip

I think it is not cheaper to get a jr pass unless you are criss crossing jpn every day. you can work out the cost and compare. I went to jpn 2 yrs ago and I find thatosaka can be deleted (0r 1 day is enough) I would spend my time in Kyoto...visit arashyma, inari.kyomidera, kinkaku temple. these are beautifl. as for going around buy the 1 day pass ticket. I stay at k house in Kyoto...very good. would be going there soon n would stay in there chain hotel in tokyo. takayama and mt fuji