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I am close to finalizing this itinerary for myself and a friend, it's our first time in Japan, we are going from April 16th to May 4th. he is with me only for the first 10 days of this trip so we are trying to fit in a little bit of everything while he is here so that's why we are somewhat all over the place at the beginning...
We are mostly interested in areas with good food (street/casual), scenic views and hikes, we are interested in shrines, museums and castles but we don't want to overdo it where we do a lot of those in a row. We like to leave a bit of room where we can just head to a town/area and get lost and discover things on our own....
Tokyo:
4/16: Land at Haneda in the evening, AirBNB is in Shibuya so we'll eat there and explore Shibuya at night just to familiarize ourselves a bit
4/17: Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo National Museum, Akihabra
4/18: Amaya Yokocho Market, Asakusa, Sensoji, Rikugien
4/19: Shinjuku, Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Shrine, Harajuku
4/20: Odaiba, Ginza District for Izakayas, Ueno Park
Hakone:
4/21: Activate 7-day JR pass and head to Hakone in the morning: Lake Ashinoko to catch some views of Mt. Fuji, Owakudani (eat black eggs), Hakone Shrine, Open Air Museum (maybe), Old Tokaido, Hakone Checkpoint, Amazake Chaya.
Head to Kyoto in the evening, we will probably get there around 9PM-10PM, check into our AirBNB.
Kyoto:
4/22: Fushimi Inari-taisha in the morning, lunch and then head to Arashiyama. Visit Nishiki Market and Gion District in the evening.
Hiroshima/Mijayima
4/23: Head to Hiroshima in the morning and visit the Atomic Bomb Dome, Peace Museum, Shukkei En and eat Hiroshimayaki. We are sleeping at a hotel in Hiroshima that's about 30 minutes away from the Mijayima ferry.
4/24: Take the ferry to Mijayima and visit the Itsukushima Shrine, eat some oysters and walk/hike up Mount Misen. Head to Osaka in the evening and explore around Dotunburi where our AirBNB is.
Osaka:
4/25: Osaka Castle, Minoo Park, Tsutenkaku, Shinsaibashi. Head back to Dotunburi at night depending on how much we covered the night before... we are mostly interested in all the street food at Osaka
Takayama/Shirakawago/Kanazawa:
4/26, Takayama: My friend flies out of Osaka on this day, I plan on grabbing breakfast and since I still have my JR Ifll head to Takayama and visit the old town and the Hida folk village, I plan on sleeping there for the night find a spot to eat Hida-gyu.
4/27, Shirakawago/Kanazawa: Head to Shirakawago; Ogimachi Village, Gassho-zukuri Minkaen open air museum, Shiroyama Viewpoint.
Head to Kanazawa around noon: Kenrokuen, Ninjadera, old town, spend the night there.
Amanohashida:
4/28 (last JR day): Head to Amanohashida, rent a bike and make the trek to Kasamatasu Park, I havenft done all my research on this day yet but the plan is to head back to Kyoto in the evening.
Nara/Himeji (daytrips from Kyoto):
4/29, Nara: Todaiji, Horyuji, Isuien Garden, Kasuga Taisha and Nara Park
4/30, Himeji: Himeji Castle, Mount Shosha and Kakoen Garden
Kyoto:
5/1: Kinkaku-ji, Nijo Castle, Nanzenji Temple
5/2: Kiyomizudera, Higashiyama, Ginkakuji
5/3: Philosopherfs path, check out the old Nintendo building and the neighborhood around it, go to the Manga museum and head to Osaka in the afternoon. Spend the night at Dotunburi.
Osaka:
5/4: Last day in Japan, my flight is at 6pm but I will probably go to denden town and do some last midnight shopping and play some arcades before grabbing a bite and heading to the airport.
I am thinking of cutting out the two days at Takayama/Shirakawago/Kanazawa or maybe just Takayama since a few people seem to be saying it's similar to Kanazawa and Shirakawago. This would free up a day and I could use that extra JR day on Himeji and/or Nara.. Or possible cut down the traveling time, make Kyoto my hub add a Kobe or Nagoya as a day trip.
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