24 days Itinerary Check - November 2023

Hello,

My wife and I are having our honeymoon in Japan this autumn and we've agreed to a provisional itinerary. I do worry that we rush some things, especially on the latter part of the trip, and we would love your advice on the pace of our itinerary (and if we're missing out on something we shouldn't).

Day 1 - Nov 2: Arrival to Tokyo

Day 2 - Nov 3: Tokyo
- Meiji Jingu (Aki-no-Taisei - Autumn Grand Festival)
- Shinjuku

Day 3 - Nov 4: Tokyo
- Asakusa
- Ueno

Day 4 - Nov 5: Tokyo
- Ghibli studio
- Inokashira Park
- Harajuku

Day 5 - Nov 6: Nikko
- Day in Nikko, night in Tokyo

Day 6 - Nov 7: Tokyo
- Chyioda
- Shibuya
- Roppongi

Day 7 - Nov 8: Tokyo -> Takayama
- Morning train
- Old Town
- Hida Folk Village

Day 8 - Nov 9: Takayama
- Shirakawago
- Gokayama

Day 9 - Nov 10: Takayama -> Kanazawa
- Morning train
- Bike around the city

Day 10 - Nov 11: Kanazawa -> Kyoto
- Kenrokuen Garden (Kanazawa)
- Imperial Palace (Kyoto)

Day 11 - Nov 12: Kyoto
- Kokedera
- Arashiyama Momiji Festival

Day 12 - Nov 13: Kyoto
- Kinkaku-ji
- Ginkaku-ji
- Samurai & Ninja Museum with Experience
- Gion

Day 13 - Nov 14: Kyoto
- Kiyomizudera Temple
- Higashiyama District
- Fushimi Inari Shrine

Day 14 - Nov 15: Nara
- Day in Nara, night in Tokyo

Day 15 - Nov 16: Kyoto -> Koya-san
- Morning train
- Okunoin Temple
- Night in a temple

Day 16 - Nov 17: Koya-San -> Kinosaki
- Morning train
- Himeji Castle
- Night in Kinosaki

Day 17 - Nov 18: Kinosaki -> Hiroshima
- Morning train
- Peace Park

Day 18 - Nov 19: Hiroshima -> tbd
- Day visit of Miyajima
- Night either in Hiroshima or Osaka

Day 19 - Nov 20: tbd -> Osaka
- Morning train
- Universal studios
- Night in Osaka

Day 20 - Nov 21: Osaka -> Fuji
This is the only non-validated part of the trip - we're not sure where to go exactly. Lake Kawaguchiko was the spot I was landing on so that we could chill a bit before the last days and maybe enjoy an onsen somewhere.

Day 21 - Nov 22: Fuji -> Kamakura
- Morning in Fuji
- Afternoon in Kamakura

Day 22 - Nov 23: Kamakura -> Tokyo
- Ginza
- Akihabara

Day 23 - Nov 24: Tokyo
- Odaiba
- Koto

Day 24 - Nov 25: Departure from Tokyo


Many thanks,
Louis

What will you do with your luggage? Some people bring check-in size suitcase per person, but I think this is too much. Most if not all Japanese accommodations have washing machines which visitors can use. So if you wash your clothes every 2-3 days you don�ft need to carry more than, say, 3 kg luggage I think. If you stay 1 or 2 �gbase�h places, you must bring luggage once or twice, but if you change your hotel frequently, the luggage should be a big problem unless you minimize your luggage.

So I recommend you to
Pack right. Or
If you must carry big luggage, sometimes use luggage delivery service. In your case, for exmple, Day 7 send it from Tokyo to Kyoto. On day 7-10 travel with small backpacks.

You might consider putting Osaka after Koya-san to cut down on the travel time back from there (helps the flow a little), and you have a couple of other long travel days, but it is ok IMO for a pace of travel perspective. And as you are travelling fairly slowly, unlikely a JR pass will be of much use.
What I am curious about is in some places you have specific things like the golden pavilion (its gold) and the silver pavilion (its not silver), but for Tokyo you just list lots of random areas of the central city. For Tokyo, while it can be good to soak up the vibe of different neighbourhoods, you should have things you actually want to see/do in those destinations. Otherwise, heading to somewhere like Roppongi - why?

Instead of Kawaguchiko have you considered Hakone? Advantage of Hakone there are a lot of other things to do even if my Fuji is shy and hiding in clouds. In Kawaguchiko there isn�ft that much else to do. Plus it�fs easier to reach from Osaka.

Agree with PP that you are changing hotels quite frequently. Some of it is inevitable but you might want to reconsider some of the 1 night stays such as Kamakura. Either just stay in Kamakura longer (or maybe 2 nights in Hakone and 2 in Kamakura) or just stay in Tokyo when you visit Kamakura.

Agree with JCT that some of your places in Tokyo seem strange. Koto??? On the risk to be criticized by a local resident the only thing I can think of when thinking about Koto is the driving license office.
Odaiba I personally find also quite boring. Good place to race your bicycle in town but pretty boring from a tourist perspective. But somehow it made it on the list of destinations to see in Tokyo.

Maybe reduce a bit your Tokyo days or add a few more day trips (Chichibu? Nikko? Kawagoe�c)
Unless obviously you plan a lot of shopping

Thanks everyone for your answers. I'll try to answer back here:

@Luggage

We plan to have one larger suitcase we will send from Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima to Osaka and then to Tokyo again, and a smaller one to travel to 1-night stops.

@Tokyo

I put neighbourhoods there to not got into too much details but yeah, we have mostly planned what we wanted to see while as well giving us the freedom to wander whererer we feel like to soak up the atmosphere of those neighbourhoods. For the ones that brought some questions, here's our planning

- Roppongi: this is for a night-out, not so much to visit per say
- Koto: Tsukiji Fish Market, then Hama Rikyu garden, then walk through the Monzen-Nakacho neighbourhood
- Odaiba: We wanted to go to arcade gaming place

I will consider cutting a Tokyo day from our itinerary though, thanks for the advice

@Fuji

Yeah Hakone is definitely in consideration. To be honest we haven't really decided where to stay, but I'll definitely take your advice in consideration.

@frog1954
for a 24 day trip your plan of washing (and drying clothes) 8-10 times, each taking a couple of hours seems like a false economy to me.
I agree that not overpacking and washing regularly but so frequently is a large waste of valuable holiday time IMO.

Denis C,

Yes, 8-10 times washing without drying machine will be painful. However, in our recent travel, most of the hotel provided drying machines, and some are automatic (sorry, I don't know how to say). So it was not so tiring. In any case, I don't stick to 8-10 times washing. If there is convenient way to wash, just use it. When I stayed one hotel in Utoro, Shiretoko, I originally planned to drive to nearest Coin Laundry (a few minutes drive), but the hotel staff told me they have automatic washing machine (500 yen for 1 wash) so I used it happily. If the OP have large suitcase, they can reduce the times for washing.

Denis C,

Yes, 8-10 times washing without drying machine will be painful. However, in our recent travel, most of the hotel provided drying machines, and some are automatic (sorry, I don't know how to say). So it was not so tiring. In any case, I don't stick to 8-10 times washing. If there is convenient way to wash, just use it. When I stayed one hotel in Utoro, Shiretoko, I originally planned to drive to nearest Coin Laundry (a few minutes drive), but the hotel staff told me they have automatic washing machine (500 yen for 1 wash) so I used it happily. If the OP have large suitcase, they can reduce the times for washing.

I searched on the web and found this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mIaeYoBa1Y

I think this is typical "laundry room" in recent Japanese hotel. This type of laundry room is rapidly increasing these days. Of course some are more inconvenient while some are more covenient. Old style ones have separate washing machine and dryer. Newer ones have "monitor" function by which you can see the status of the washing machine through the television of your room.

I agree that it's convenient and easy in most places in Japan to wash and dry clothes.
My point is that bringing only a few day's worth of clothes to save space will result in frequent washing and more "wasted time".

I will be going on a 32 day trip soon and will try to have enough clothes so that I only have to wash every 6-7 days.