Japan Itinerary

Please help with our Japan itinerary. We are going to Japan for the first time May 1-14, and we�fll have 12 full days. We came up with a list of places we would like to cover, but there�fs no way we can make it to all of them in 12 days, so we need help with trimming down the itinerary. We are husband and wife in our late twenties, pretty fast paced when it comes to traveling. Out of all the places, Kyoto and Tokyo is a must, but we would also like to see the villages and experience the culture. We are arriving and leaving out of Narita. Here�fs our current itinerary, which would take 14 full days when we only have 12. What do you think we can eliminate or change? Thank you so much for your help!

Day1 Arrive Tokyo @4pm + Train to Kyoto
Day2 Kyoto
Day3 Kyoto
Day4 Narra (daytrip)
Day5 Mount Koya (daytrip)
Day6 Kyoto
Day7 Hiroshima
Day8 Miyajima Island (overnight) + Himeji Castle
Day9 Takayama/Shirigawa go/Kanazawa (overnight)
Day10 Hakone (overnight or daytrip)
Day11 Tokyo
Day12 Tokyo
Day13 Nikko (daytrip)
Day14 Tokyo
Day15 Kamakura (daytrip)

I strongly recommend to stay in Mount Koya overnight at a temple. Otherwise, drop Koyasan.

Day 9 is impossible. Too packed (and in the wrong order - should be opposite: Kanazawa - Shirakawago - Takayama). So, I recommend to drop it entirely.

Thanks! We've decided to stay overnight at Mount Koya in a temple. Sounds like a really interesting experience. But we still have to decide what place to skip. I know that Takayama/Shirigawa go/Kanazawa is impossible in one day, but I really want to stay overnight in Shirigawa go. We'll have to skip either Takayama or Kanazawa. Which one do you think is better?

Also, we have to skip either Hiroshima, Hakone, Nikko or Kamakura? Any suggestions?

Do you think 2 full days in Tokyo is enough? We are thinking of doing 2 full days in Tokyo, 1 day in Nikko and 1 day Kamakura or Hakone or both. For Kyoto we are deciding between 2 or three days as well (that's not including day-trips) What are your thoughts? Thank you so much.

Sounds like "Europe in one week" to me.

And I thought only japanese come up with such tough shedules :)

Anyway: "2 days for tokyo is enough?" - well... not really.

I would focus on one or two towns and take more time there. Kyoto is wonderful!

It sounds like a go-go-go trip. You can always curtail your day trips if it gets "too busy" or hectic.

Otherwise, you will be having lots of fun moving from one city to another.

Be sure to pack light and Enjoy!

Hello. I spent 3 weeks in Japan in 07 and went to many places with the rail pass. But even my itinerary wasn't this packed. It needs to be cut down quite a bit. But doing that will make your trip much better.

As for Takayama or Kanazawa, I did not go to either, but looking at this site, I'd recommend Kanazawa because of the Kenrouken garden. Takayama has a historic district, but it looks like Kanazawa does too.

Day 1-6 can remain the same with adding a night stay in Koyosan. As for Day 7 of your trip, I'd travel from Kyoto, stop in Himeji. See the castle for a couple hours in the morning, and then keep going to Hiroshima in time to go to the museum there and see the Peace Park. Then for Day 8, go to Miyajima island. Make sure to climb to the top of Mt. Misen and if it's cloudy, it can clear up in the afternoon for an awesome view (it did that for me). Then Day 9 leave Hiroshima and go to Kanazawa via Osaka. This would leave you just the afternoon to view the garden. Day 10 travel to Shirakawago and then spend the night there. Day 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 I'd stay in Tokyo. I did not go to Hakone, but I did go to Fuji Five Lakes. If you want to go to Hakone primarily to see Mt. Fuji, I would instead go to Fuji Five Lakes, by taking the Express train from Shinjuku (in Tokyo) and then transferring at Otsuki to the train that takes you to Kawaguchiko (Fuji Five Lakes area). It's right next to the mountain, as opposed to Hakone. You can tour the area, hike near the base near the Ice Cave and Wind Cave (go in those two, and in the Bat Cave, very fun), and view the whole area and Mt. Fuji from a hill that you get to by ropeway. When I went to see Mt. Fuji, I wanted to make sure that the skies were clear, so during my stay in Tokyo, I checked the weather forecast daily, and when it was forecast to be clear, I left on that day for Fuji Five Lakes. I was rewarded by an excellent view of Mt. Fuji the whole day. Being flexible is the key. As for Kamakura, I did not go here, but I've read that if you go to Nara and see the big Buddha statue (which I did) and see the many temples in Kyoto (which I did), Kamakura is not necessary. I would recommend cutting out Kamakura. But for Nikko, I would recommend going there as a day trip from Tokyo. Very beautiful shrines and a beautiful forested area.

So basically, if you're in Tokyo for 5 days, two of those days could be for Nikko and either Fuji Five Lakes or Hakone. And then 3 full days in Tokyo. I would recommend at least those 3 days (not just 2) because Tokyo is so gigantic and there are so many fun and great places to explore there.

The tightest part of this itinerary would be traveling from Hiroshima to Kanazawa. Hopefully this would work, but you might want to look into it some more.

Good luck and I hope this helps. Have fun!!!

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. We are getting close to finalizing the itinerary, but we have one more question. We have to skip 1 of the 3:
1) Hiroshima and Miyajima (stay overnight in Miyajima)
2) Mount Koya (stay overnight)
3) Takayama and Shirigawa (stay overnight in Shirigawa)
From what I've been reading all 3 are very interesting places to stay overnight, but how would you rank them? Which one was your favorite? least favorite?