First time visit plan

Hi my partner and I are spending 19 full days in Japan from 15th of May. It will be a first time visit for both of us and I am completely overwhelmed with the planning. We are in our late fifties and would like to see a contrast of places, cities, cultural, nature etc so a taste of Japan I guess Just as I decide on an itinerary another place pops up that we would like to see. It's clear we will have to do a return visit at some point. I don't want it to be too rushed but equally want to see as much as possible. Please can you look at my 10th draft of my itinerary and tell me your thoughts. I will be grateful of any recommendations. Here goes .....
1 Arrive Tokyo 7am explore
2 Tokyo
3 Tokyo possibly Mt Fuji 5 lakes
4 Tokyo Yokahama
5 Tokyo Hakone
6 Negano Matsumoto or Monkey park
7 Takayama
8 Takayama
9 Kanazawa
10 Kanazawa
11 Kyoto
12 Kyoto
13 Kyoto
14 Hiroshima
15 Hiroshima/Miyajima Island
16 Okayama or Kurashiki
17 Osaka
18 Osaka Himeji castle
19 Osaka Nara
20 Depart from Osaka
Is this a good balance? Is it too rushed/slow? Anything I could miss out or add?
I appreciated everyone will have different opinions but I would just like a taste of Japan and to know if the route and destinations make sense and will give me that.
Thank you for your time.

Day 1 to Day 5
I suggest to buy greater Tokyo pass 5 day = 7200 yen, valid narita and haneda airport

Hokuriku arch pass 7 day =25500 yen cover tokyo ,kyoto, osaka,nara ,nagano, kanazawa, fukui, kansai airport unlimited travel for 7 day

Dear Pinky29,

I think for a first Trip to Japan, it could be interesting to do a day trip to Kamakura from Tokyo.
Because you get really easy train connections and have a lot of temples and shrines to visit.
I don't know what you would do in Yokohama, but maybe Kamakura where a nice Alternative.

And maybe you could travel first to Hiroshima and then to Kyoto and Osaka, because this two towns lay near to each other and you could skip another change of hotels in between.

I wish you a wonderful journey! :-)

Greetings from Germany,
Vio

Thank you for the replies so far there is some great advice. The reason we would go to Yokahama is purely because my partner's parents lived there for about 5 years so more of a sentimental thing to be honest.

Looks like a pretty normal first time trip to Japan. A bit risked for my taste, but not crazy fast. You are hitting all the �gmust see spots�h

Adding Kamakura (as PP proposed) is fine, but I feel you are already quite rushed so you�fd need to drop something else for it.

Although PP proposed to skip Yokohama I would probably leave it in there and go to Chinatown and the harbor area. Plus I�fd go to Sankeien garden.

RE #6:
I don't know where you mean by Monkey Park. If you meant the Snow Monkeys in Jigokudani (Nagano), there won't be any snow when you visit and won't find any bathing monkeys.
What else do you want to see/do in Matsumoto/Nagano? If it is just the Matsumoto Castle, you will be visiting Himeji Castle later in your itinerary, so you might think about allocating that day to somewhere else. Personally, I would spend more time in Kyoto.

For me your itinerary seems a little rushed. If I wanted to visit those sites & would arrange it like this:

1 Arrive Tokyo 7am explore
2 Tokyo
3 Tokyo possibly Mt Fuji 5 lakes
4 Tokyo Yokohama
5 Tokyo Hakone
6 Takayama
7 Takayama
8 Kanazawa
9 Kanazawa
10 Okayama or Kurashiki (Possibly stopping to visit Himeji castle)
11Okayama or Kurashiki
12 Either an extra day in Okayama or Hiroshima
13 Hiroshima
14 Hiroshima/Miyajima
15 Kyoto/Nara/Osaka (Possibly stopping to visit Himeji castle)
16 Kyoto/Nara/Osaka
17 Kyoto/Nara/Osaka
18 Kyoto/Nara/Osaka
19 Kyoto/Nara/Osaka
20 Depart from Osaka

Tbh I would probably drop either Takayama or Kanazawa & redistribute the days elsewhere to allow a slower pace

Stan's suggestion allows for a slower pace and has less jumping around.

On Fuji Five Lakes - it's a fantastic location but I found that it took a while to get to and lots of the attractions are fairly spaced out which adds time to an already potentially long day.

On visiting Kamakura - I tend to suggest this location when people are not visiting Kyoto (add in Nara and it's a bit of temple overkill). Kamakura is nice and has a few impressive temples (specificaly Hasedera + Kenchoji).

For Yokohama - it's got a bit of a different flavour than many other cities in Japan. I personally like Sankein Gardens (need to catch a bus) plus China Town and walking along the waterfront at night is quite pretty. Visiting the Yamate area is also nice. I'm also embarrased to say that I lived in Yokohama for 3 years but did not visit most of it's major sites (but loved visiting Sankein monthly).

I also like using Osaka/Nara/Kyoto as one hotel location saves a lot of sanity with changing luggage between hotels.

I actually like your pace and the places you travel to. It is a little rushed. I don�ft think going to both Matsumoto Castle and Himeji Castle is out of line.

For Tokyo, I would suggest you stay near Shinjuku Station. I think you should add an extra day in Tokyo. There are good passes that can be purchased that start at Shinjuku Station. You mentioned Hakone, Fuji Five Lake, and Yokohama, and all of these are good side trips. If there is a nostalgic reason to visit Yokohama, go. Others have mentioned Kamakura and there is a nice ticket to visit there, as well as Endoshima. I am also including a link to IC cards. I have included the combined Hakone/Kamakura pass, too. There are all sorts of flavors of Fuji passes, so I�fm just going to leave a general link.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6905.html

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_003.html

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_hakone_kamakura.html

From Tokyo, I believe you are in the Bus section of your trip. It makes sense to travel by bus around Takayama, and to get to Kanazawa. I am also going to suggest that you take a bus from Shinjuku to Takayama. You can get a round trip bus pass from Takayama to Matsumoto, so I would do a day trip from Takayama. A link to Nohi Bus Line, which is based in Takayama.
Going to Takayama by train: 3 1/2 hours, 15,190 yen
Going to Takayama by bus: 5 3/4 hours, 7,000 yen
If you can sleep on a bus, you could do the overnight one.

https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/

When you leave Kanazawa, I think you should just pay for a train ticket. For the most part, it is best to tour Kyoto by a daily bus pass.

After leaving Kyoto, squeeze Hiroshima, Miyajima, Okayama, and Himeji together, and eventually end up in Osaka. I think the Kansai Hiroshima pass will work.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_kansai_hiroshima.html

I hope I have given a framework that allows you to do your trip. I moved a few things around, so that it might be more cost effective.

Good Luck, in planning your trip.

When I went with my wife to Japan a few years ago, it was her first visit and my third. We did a combination of new places for me and classics must-see's. We went to Okinawa, Tokyo, Kyoto/Osaka, the Japan Alps, and Sendai over 4 weeks. I would have wanted to spend more time than we did in the Japan Alps and Sendai Tohoku region then we did but we were chasing cherry blossoms and you can't be everywhere at once.

With your 19 days, I'd put at least 4-5 days each in Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka in a first visit. We stayed in Osaka given our budget but I think most people would prefer Kyoto. Just combine your Osaka and Kyoto parts and stay in one place for 5-6 nights. With the rest of the trip, I would look into Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Matsumoto/Nagano with maybe 2 bases in Kanazawa and Matsumoto/Nagano. As others have mentioned, don't both visiting the snow monkey park in late May. You could take the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route to cross the mountains or a bus from Takayama to Matsumoto. We did the latter, staying in a ryokan in Takayama.

I agree with your original schedule, Mt Fuji and Hakone are common day trips from Tokyo and basing there allows you to pick the day to go based on best chances of seeing Fuji. Nara, Himeiji, and Okayama are common day trips from Kyoto/Osaka. You could consider a long day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima or stay a night in a ryokan on Miyajima.

Here's how I would do things if I were in your shoes.
1 Tokyo
2 Tokyo (day in city)
3 Tokyo (Hakone)
4 Tokyo (Fuji 5 lakes
5 Tokyo (Yokohama or other day trip)
6 over to Matsumoto/Nagano
7 day in Matsumoto/Nagano
8 Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route or bus to Takayama
9 Takayama
10 Kanazawa (day in city)
11 Kanazawa (Shirakawa-go)
12 Kyoto
13 Kyoto (day in city)
14 Kyoto (Osaka)
15 Kyoto (Himeiji, Okayama, Kurashiki)
16 Kyoto (day in city)
17 Kyoto (Nara)
18 over to Hiroshima
19 Hiroshima/Miyajima
20 Depart from Osaka

If you could start and end in Tokyo, I would do Tokyo --> Kyoto --> Japan Alps, because the weather might be nicer and more things open the closer your are to summer.

Wow such great, detailed responses. I'm so glad I posted this and was hoping you guys would be gentle with this nervous first timer which you most definitely have! (not always the case on some forums) I will look at all your suggestions and try to finalise my route. I will definitely slow it down a bit, I just want it to be a great and memorable experience with the destinations I have chosen. I'm sure I will have one or two more questions to follow. Thanks again

I double checked the train route from Shinjuku to Matsumoto, and found a direct Limited Express Azusa Train for 6,620 yen. The train takes 3 1/4 hour to get there.

From Shinjuku, take that train to Matsumoto. The following day, take the bus to Takayama for 3,500 yen. The link I gave earlier to the Nohi Bus Line should have information about the express Bus from Matsumoto to Takayama.

In addition, I�fm going to make a comment about taking Limited Express Trains -verses- regular trains. The Azusa follows the Chou Line, so you can take either from Shinjuku to Matsumoto. The fare for both is identical at 4,070 yen. The Azusa has an additional reserved seat fee of 2,550 yen. The Chou line will end up taking about 4 3/4 hours, so one of the things you will be gaining is speed by taking the Azusa train. It�fs not that the Limited Express is actually faster, it is making fewer stops at the smaller stations.

You will have the same choice when going from Kanazawa to Kyoto, so on both legs of your journey, you could save money at the cost of time.

Sometimes, the slower train might be preferred, as in the Shinkansen Bullet train between Shin-Osaka Station and Hiroshima Station. There is a special �gHello Kitty�h train, that stops at every station. When you go from Hiroshima to Shin-Kurashiki station, you might try to do so on the �gHello Kitty�h train.

I did enjoy going to Kurashiki. Good pick.

Once again, good luck in planning your trip.

Ok so here is my final itinerary (hopefully) obviously with some help from you guys

1 Tokyo
2 Tokyo (day in city)
3 Tokyo (Hakone)
4 Tokyo (Fuji 5 lakes
5 Tokyo (Yokohama)
6 Matsumoto (half day exploring)
7 Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route then on to Kanazawa to sleep in Kanazawa
8 Kanazawa (day in city)
9 Takayama (day in city)
10 Takayama (day in city or day trip)
11 Takayama (Shirakawa-go)
12 Kyoto
13 Kyoto (day in city)
14 Kyoto (Osaka)
15 Kyoto (Himeiji, Okayama, Kurashiki)
16 Kyoto (day in city)
17 Kyoto (Nara)
18 over to Hiroshima
19 Hiroshima/Miyajima travel to Osaka in evening as have a 10.30am flight
20 Depart from Osaka

So how does that look? My day trips can be changed accordingly.
Assuming all this works then the burning question is transport, JR pass and how many days? Should I ask that as a new question? I have used the calculator and it is saying 14days but only just.
Thank once again in advance for your expert knowledge.

Correction it is saying 21 day pass pays off

Hi!

I think it makes more sense to take the bus from Kanazawa to Takayama and stop off at Shirakawa Go on the way. The train from Toyama to Takayama is incredibly infrequent. (the train from Takayama to Nagoya is much more frequent.)

The other plus of the bus is it saves you from having to do a round trip from Takayama to Shirakawa Go since Shirakawa Go is about 1/2 way between Kanazawa and Takayama.

I'm also not sure a 21 day pass pays off. The JR West Hiroshima Pass for 5 days definitely pays off.

You have ~7000 yen from Tokyo to Matsumoto
I'm seeing 680 yen from Matsumoto to Shinano-Omachi
3000 yen from Toyama to Kanazawa
9500 yen from Takayama to Kyoto
or 21800.

If you fly into Haneda the cost into Tokyo is negligible and if it's Narita, your cost partially depends on if you use Keisi or JR.
The surcharge for using Fujikyuko tracks to Kawaguchiko is about the same as just taking the bus, so using a pass doesn't really help.
With Hakone you can take the shinkansen or just take the Romance Car direct from Shinjuku.

You do want a Day 15 to start a Kansai Hiroshima Pass for 15,000 yen
https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_hiroshima/

I'm at 36800 with the pass and I just don't see the other train travel you are doing getting you to the 60, 450 yen more to get you to a 3 week pass. You would need to spend 23,650 yen.