15 day itenerary in May

Hi,
We (My Wife, My 9 year old daughter & I), are visiting Japan for 15 days starting 11th May. Iv endlessly looked online to figure out exactly what to do and where to go and wanting to finalise my itenerary.
But the more I research online, the more I get confused and I'm just not being able to decide on anything.
Can sometime help me or guide me, as to how I should spend my 15 days in japan and which all places should I visit.

Try not to see everything in one trip. That's impossible, because there are too many to see in Japan. I am going back for the 8th time this spring, and there are still more sights to see and food to eat.

Use this as a starter itinerary: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_best.html
Modify as you deem fit.

@OP, the itinerary provided above is pretty much what you would do with a tour group, so if you want to hit the most famous spots in Japan, this is a good plan. However, as written at the end, it is "somewhat fast-paced" (very much actually), and you would need to cut out either Kanazawa+Takayama or Hiroshima+Miyajima.

You could get better suggestions if you provide a bit more information, like: do you prefer cities or nature; historical buildings or modern neighborhoods; do you need to take Instagram worthy pictures; is food more important than sightseeing... ? Also, budget.

Thanks for the above replies. So, as of now, we think, we want to take our daughter to the 2 disney parks in Tokyo and the Universal in Osaka and since we are flying in and out of Tokyo, we want to keep atleast 1 night towards the end of journey again in Tokyo for shopping and also because our return flight out of Tokyo is early morning. Apart from that, looking online, we liked the mt fuji area and also hakone. We were wondering if it's a good idea to stay for 2 nights at either of the destinations or both. Does staying over at both hakone and Mt fuji area make sense.
Also, apart from the above, maybe 3 nights in Kyoto and 3 nights in Osaka.
Will obviously look at the options given above

You said you looked endlessly online and now have too many options.
Please list up your current options and interests more in detail. Eg a good start to know that you want to dedicate 3 days to theme parks.
If both Hakone and Kawaguchiko or only one of them is better depends on the rest of your itinerary and your interests. Eg do you like onsen? Hiking? Nature?

So, after going through the above itenerary, we seem to like shirakawago. And we like nature, onsens, experience Japanese culture and a little of history. I think, tokyo, Mt fuji area/hakone (Either, or, both), shirakawago, Kyoto, Osaka and back to Tokyo.

If someone can guide me if this is a good idea and practically, how to go about it

I haven't been to Hakone/Fuji myself, but my friends who went last year did only one night in Kawaguchiko and thought it was a bit short, and two nights would have been perfect. It was in summer though, and the heat slowed them down.

If you want to do your shopping in Tokyo at the end, you should allocate at least two nights. But chain stores can be found in Osaka or Kyoto as well, and with luggage forwarding you could fill one suitcase with souvenirs in Osaka and send it to the airport in Tokyo.

3 Theme park in 15 days. Probably why you are struggling to fit in everything. I'd naoorw it down to 1 option personally. Unless you really love theme parks.

I'd do 4 days Tokyo. Then 6 days Kyoto. Then return to Tokyo for 4 days again.

So, I'm wondering if the below makes sense, I start with staying 4 nights in Tokyo then, 1 night in hakone, then 2 nights in kawaguchi, then 1 night in takayama, then 3 nights in Kyoto, 3 nights in Osaka and then 1 night back in Tokyo.

Or

If I land in Tokyo and immediately head to Osaka and start my trip from there. End it at Tokyo, then main advantage is that I get 5 nights together in Tokyo.

But the main question to which I don't still don't have answer to is, does, 1 night at hakone, 2 nights at kawaguchi and 1 night in takayama practical and do-able and does it even make sense.

I liked Takayama, but it will take a lot of time to/from Hakone. Not sure if it is really worth it for one night.

Maybe Kawagoe or Sawara near Tokyo could be good substitutes?

Going directly to Osaka is a good idea depending on when (and where, Narita/Haneda) you land.

Kawaguchiko and Takayama are both time consuming to get to. Only do one.

Hakone is fine as it's between Tokyo and Kyoto and easy to get to.

Personally if doing 3x theme parks. I wouldn't bother with Kawaguchiko or Takayama.

Yes, we are realizing that maybe, 2 Disney parks isn't a good idea maybe. These disney theme parks are extremely tiring. Maybe we'll go to Disney Sea, as it isn't there elsewhere and probably Universal Studios.
This will give us an extra day to explore some other place or maybe an extra free day in Tokyo.

From looking online, kawaguchiko seems to be this quaint little town where really we just go to relax, like go cycling by the lake kind of a place.

I just feel keeping 1 night at places sometimes don't make sense, all you do is keep checking-in and checking-out.

I just feel keeping 1 night at places sometimes don't make sense, all you do is keep checking-in and checking-out.

That depends on your travel style. I did a loop in the Tohoku region with 7 different hotels over 8 nights (traveling by public transport), which would be too much for some people, but was ok for me and my SO.

It is not the check-in/out that takes time, but packing and unpacking. Checking-in is 10 minutes max in most cases, and checking-out can be as simple as dropping your room key in a box. If you pick a hotel next to the train/bus station, you can leave your luggage there before check-in time, and go sightseeing.

Hi. I am taking my 22 year old to Japan for first time in May/June too for 2.5 weeks. I read alot of trip reports and did research and listened to the advice I got here and cities and nature seems to be a good blend for a successful trip. We are not doing any Disney parks so can't help you there. We are doing Tokyo for 3 nights, Takayama for 3 nights (very excited for this portion since we have a half day ebike tour with a market visit, plan to visit Kamikochi for a day hike, will visit Hida folk village (closer and way less touristed than Shira-go, and stay in our first ryokan. From here we are going to Kyoto for a week (visits to Osaka, Nara, Uji) and then to Hiroshima (will visit Himeji castle on way) and staying on Miyajima for 2 nights with some bike rides and kayaking. Last night in Fukuoka before we fly to Busan for our Korean arm.

Maybe just pick either Osaka or Kyoto as they are close to each other? Will you daughter be ok with big busy cities?

@Plambers
Please create another thread, or reuse one of your previously posted questions.

@Plambers
Argh, I'm really sorry, you were answering the OP. I thought you were asking a question!
Yeah, staying in Kyoto instead of moving hotels could be an option, but I feel like OP isn't as much of a nature lover as you are ^^

@plambers,

Thank you for your reply. We are really looking forward to going to Takayama and are excited about it. However, I think the issue is that we are trying to fit in a lot within the limited amount of time we have. I love the idea of extending our stay in Kyoto instead of staying in Osaka.

One of my goals for any holiday is to experience as much of a country as possible with the fewest number of hotel changes. I�fm wondering if I can achieve this by staying in Osaka, extending my stay in Kyoto, and perhaps visiting Osaka only twice – once to go to Universal Studios and the second time to explore the city. Do you think this is feasible and a good idea?

In fact, @mellye, we both love nature, which is why we wanted to stay in Kawaguchiko for 2 nights, as it seems like a beautifully laid-back place.

Do you have any input to offer on this "Alpine Route Tour" I recently came across? To me, it seems overly touristy and like it would make for a long, tiring day.

As Plambers said, it is absolutely doable to make day trips to Osaka from Kyoto (or the opposite).

Regarding natural landscape, Takayama is a small town, but it's still a built area (not sure if it fits your idea of nature)
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1412384,137.2591711,3a,90y,247.05h,89....
You would need more than one night there to explore the countryside.

I suggested Kawagoe and Sawara, but closer to Kyoto there's also Omi Hachiman with a similar "old town": https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7075.html

For nature spots near Kyoto:
- Kurama-Kibune https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3933.html
- Mount Hiei
- Mount Kasuga (Nara) https://www.visitnara.jp/lists-and-stories/story/hiking-the-forest-of-...
- Lake Biwa