First time to Japan Autumn

Hi everyone, this coming Nov 25-Dec 2 is my first time to japan and kansai area. i follow a 2 day autumn itinerary and also added more details to my osaka plan.

Please help me comment about my itinerary. Should i add 1 more day for Kyoto before Nara or add day 7 for osaka instead?

Hotel: Hotel WBF Namba Motomachi (Osaka Namba)
Day 1 (around the hotel orientation)
Arrival KIX 8.45am
Icoca & Haruka or Nankai pass
Namba station
Hotel deposit luggage
Kuromon market / Dotonbori
Check in hotel (3pm-4pm)
Namba city/parks
Dinner

Day 2
9am Ginkaku-ji temple
10am Honen-in temple
10.30am Path of philosophy
Eikan-do temple front grounds
11.30am Nanzen-ji temple
12.30pm Downtown lunch at Kyoto shiyakusho-mae station
2pm Tofuku-ji temple
4pm Fushimi-inari-taisha shrine *supposed to be a rest slot but since my hotel is in Osaka, will skip it to have to travel back again to downtown kyoto for dinner
6pm Dinner at downtown kyoto
8pm Southern higayashima temple illustrations Part 1* (Shoren-in and Chion-in)

Day 3
9am Tenryu-ji temple
10am Bamboo grove
11am Okochi sanso villa
Noon Lunch
1.30pm Daitoku-ji temple
4pm Daimaru walk
6pm Dinner at downtown kyoto
8pm Southern higayashima temple illustrations Part 2* (Kodai-ji and Kiyomizu-dera)

Day 4 (1 day nara)
Nobori-oji street
Isui-en garden + Yoshiki-en
Todai-ji temple
Nigatsu-do hall
Lunch
Kasuga-Taisha shrine
Kofuku-ji temple
Naramachi
Back to Osaka + dinner

Day 5 (Osaka bay area and kita district)
9.30am Osaka bay area
10am Osaka aquarium
11.30am Lunch at Tempozan marketplace
1pm Kita district
1.30pm Explore kita
3pm Osaka castle area
3.30pm Osaka castle
6pm Dinner

Day 6 (Minami district and tennoji)
9.30am Minami district
10am Explore Minami
12pm Lunch at Dotombori
1.30pm Hozenji yokocho
2.30pm Doguyasuji arcade
3.30pm Den-den town
5.30pm Dinner
7.30pm Abeno Harukas 300 observation decks at Tennoji

Day 7 ( Morning: Himeji castle / Afternoon: walk around osaka buy food/souvenirs back)

Day 8 (return to Singapore)
11am flight

Wow, on some days you are rushing around like crazy, while other days are much more calm.

If I understand you will stay at the same hotel in Osaka the whole time. That sounds like a good decision, specially if you choose that because Kyoto might be more expensive. If instead you can get a good deal in Kyoto, I would probably stay in Kyoto instead. But anyway, no changing of hotel is a good idea.

Day 1: Looks fine. I guess a lot of relaxing after a night of flying

Day 2: For me that is WAY to busy. I admit being a slow traveller. I normally only make it to 2-3 highlights per day (plus lunch, dinner and some temple I just stumble upon). So I would take that list and just highlight those places that are a must and those that are a nice add-on if you discover that you have the time.
Note that Ginkakuji actually opens at 8:30. So you might want to be there 30 min earlier.

Day 3: The morning seems to be fine. I think I would have a hard time to be at 13:30 at Daitokuji, unless you are doing a very quick lunch.

Day4: I would start with Todaiji at 8:00. When I stayed some years ago in Nara, I went first thing in the morning and I had Todaiji nearly for myself. No tourist hordes. This was SOOOO enjoyable. I passed by Todaiji later in the day again (on my way to Isui-en) and it was just incredibly crowded by then. (And it seems you are early morning people anyway as you have 9:00 starts in Kyoto every day)
Again, overall this day is way too full for my liking. Just highlight what you really want to do.
What about having dinner in Nara, e.g. in Naramachi?

Day 5: The aquarium in Osaka is a "one-way-street" only and it is quite expensive. I would need more than 1.5 h to see it. I would also suggest to move Osaka castle right after lunch and have Kita district for the afternoon, as shops wont close so early, but Osaka castle will.

Day 6: sounds like a rather relaxed day.

Day 7: Sounds also fine to me. If you are then still an early morning person, try to be there at the time of opening or shortly after. Apparently Himeiji castle can get quite crowded now (I haven't been in over 20 years), but that's what I am hearing. Also consider visiting the garden right beside.

Overall however I would delete one day from Osaka and give it to Kyoto. But those are my interests. I have been (on business trip) quite a lot to Osaka and stay for the weekends, but yet need to find something really interesting to do in Osaka, while in Kyoto I never run out of options.
E.g. Osaka castle is a castle reconstructed in concrete in the last century. You are going to get the real thing in Himeiji, so you could skip Osaka castle and maybe you can do some exploring of Minami / Dotonbori area on your first day. That should allow you to burn down the time you need for Osaka to only 1 day (and remember you still have the first day and half of Day 7 for Osaka).

Enjoy your trip to Kansai!

The hotel in kyoto is much more expensive so i had to stay in osaka instead. Its ok right?

Based on my itinerary, i buy the icoca and haruka? Or just buy individual train tickets whenever i want to take the train. Haruka or the cheaper nankai pass from KIX to namba?

If i delete 1 day of osaka and put it to kyoto, where else in kyoto can i go? Especially for autumn colours

Day 3, I would go to the bamboo forest in Arashiyama at 6am. It might be empty at 6am-7am, but it will definitely be crowded at 10am.

1) Hotel: Yes, if Kyoto is more expensive, Osaka is a good choice to stay in the hotel.
2) rail tickets: sorry, I am no expert on this. I usually just use Pasmo (Tokyo version of Icoca), but mainly because I am too lazy to find out more information and normally also not riding soo much in few days.
3) Additional day in Kyoto: Frankly I wouldn't try to find MORE things to do, but to space out those things you already have on your list. Potentially you could add one or two minor sights that are really close by. However if you want to know good autumn spots in Kyoto, try this page https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3953.html

If i am staying in Namba, and i am interested to go to some temples in Southern Higayashima to see the Night light illuminations, is it worth? or it will not be convenient as its too late to return to Osaka?

or it will not be convenient as its too late to return to Osaka?

It gets dark pretty early as n Japan but it obviously depends on when you want to be back in your hotel at night. There are trains running until late enough, but if you want to be back in Osaka at 20;00 it might be tight.

I will look into my itinerary again and really put them in those places i want to go and spend longer time there

Regarding any transportation pass, you might want to utilize the extensive bus coverage in Kyoto instead of the sparse train network in Kyoto, so you can buy the 1 day Kyoto Bus Pass for 500 yen, the pass is worth it if you will take at least 3 bus trip in a single day since Kyoto's bus is flat rate at 230 yen. Last time I stayed in Kyoto (yes in autumn), I used buses 90% of the time, the only attraction that I went with train is Fushimi Inari. If you're worried about the crowded buses, only certain routes will be packed such as around the Higashiyama and the Gion district. The buses I took to Arashiyama and Kinkakuji is relatively empty where I can have a seat for the whole trip. Anyway this is based on me staying in the heart of Kyoto (just beside the Kamo River). If you found any pass that covers your return trip from Osaka, better utilize it.

For Osaka, I highly recommend you to get Amazing Osaka Pass. However, this pass doesn't cover JR train. If you don't mind the cost, just mix up the usage of JR train and the subway. Last time I used the Amazing pass (subway) alone, the trip to Osaka Castle requires quite a walk since the subway station is quite far and you'll get to the back entrance (or rather the concert hall entrance) while the JR station is directly in front of the castle park entrance.

As for your schedule, I guess you can make the schedule just as a guideline and pick your must-go place. When I went to Arashiyama, I planned to visit a few temples along with other famous site but end up only visiting one temple, the bamboo groove and the river sides. I end up chilling on the river side for a few hours just admiring the koyo. The amount of crowd slowed the pace too but to be fair, I'm a slow pace traveler (too many photo-taking time). I'm not crazy about temples too so that's why I'm OK to drop them. I guess you're a temple lover by the amount of temple visit in your schedule.

One thing that was unexpected is the long time taken in restaurant. I had my lunch at Kyoto Saga Ryori Yoshiya and although the waiting time for a seat wasn't that long, the time taken for the food to be prepared is quite long and I ended up there almost 2 hours. If you have advanced booking and food order, maybe it's better then.

usually we start out early as sunset around 4.30pm. Some day are very tight schedule, as Kyoto bus is very packed have to Q and most time road have traffic jam .

Jody

I would like to focus the kyoto part of my trip for the autumn colours
I add 1 day to kyoto, making it 3 days

Instead of jumping between temples from east to west kyoto, north to south kyoto, i am thinking of the following:

Need help for my day 4. Which other part of kyoto can i go to experience autumn colours? North kyoto? South kyoto? Or i should go to explore downtown kyoto in central kyoto instead eg. Nishiki market and kyoto station?

Day 1- arrival hotel in osaka namba, stay in osaka, kuromon market namba city etc...
Day 2- eastern kyoto full day
Day 3- arashiyama (western kyoto) full day
Day 4-?
Day 5- nara full day
Day 6- osaka
Day 7- osaka
Day 8- departure

pushing this up for more

We really enjoyed Enryaku-ji, which is on Lake Biwa.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3911.html

Around the lake is Hikone castle

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7001.html

Query if you got an early start you could do both of those in one day? Not how I like to travel, but maybe?

Otherwise, Himeji Castle is a pretty easy day out, and really stunning

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3501.html

I know theres no way to cover all the autumn spots in kyoto in 3 days

But how to really pick the good autumn spots that i can make use the 3 days

How about this?

1 day : North kyoto + Arashiyama
1 day : East kyoto
1 day : South kyoto + downtown

Is this ok?

Up up upsss