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Japan - Help with itenerary

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We are planning a first trip to Japan in November this year and were looking for some help planning our trip. I have looked at a few websites for information and worked out an itinerary that may look a little ambitious! Being the first trip to Japan I do want to cover as much as possible, though the better half has warned me about making her run around too much...

  1. Day 1 - Fly in to Osaka and transfer to Kyoto
  2. Day 2 - Visit Nara or Koyasan
  3. Day 3 - Visit Hiroshima and Miyajima
  4. Day 4 and 5 - Time in Kyoto
  5. Day 6 - Transfer to Takayama and possibly see the ropeway. Spend the night in a ryokan
  6. Day 7 - Check out in the morning and visit some breweries. Transfer to Tokyo in the evening
  7. Day 8 - Visit Nikko
  8. Days 9 to 10/11 - Time in Tokyo
  9. Fly out on the 11/12 th day

There are a couple of sites that suggested that Hiroshima and Miyajima could be covered in a day trip, and others suggested skipping this and spending more time in Kyoto instead.

We are trying to choose between Nara and Koyasan. Nara seems to be easier to do in a day trip but is there enough there to see? Koyasan has been suggested as an overnight trip in a temple by most people but we want to avoid changing hotels too often. If the temple stay is worth it I am open to changing this around.

Takayama is pretty high up on our list as we have heard a lot about the Hida beef there and the possibility of visiting the sake brewerys there. We want to spend one night in a good ryokan and this seems like a good place to do it in. The only issue was I could not find one with a private open air spring. Any suggestions for this or would we be better off looking at another village.

Posted by
565 posts

My head is spinning from just looking at this. This is way, way too much, especially since your travel partner doesn't want to move around as much as you.

I spent my entire two weeks in Japan in Tokyo/Yokohama and still never ran out of things to do, so I think you might be underestimating the amount of activity in Japan. You will also have to maneuver yourself around one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and with luggage at times, I might add. It can be exhausting.

Limit yourself to Kyoto and Tokyo, with one side trip in each city. I like the idea of staying in a ryokan for a night.

Travel to Japan is on par with Europe pricewise. It's not as expensive as it used to be, so assume you will get back sometime in the future. Enjoy yourself and take it all in!

Posted by
2094 posts

We spent 5 days in only Kyoto and had more to do. The temples in Kyoto are magnificent and deserve as much time as one can devote IMO. The Philosophers Walk was nice. We took day trips to Nara, Himeji castle, and to other locations (sorry, but I can't recall the names....one place famed for hundreds of red torii and a garden setting full of stone lanterns). Pretty poor description I know. Japan was the one place we really felt "culture shock". It was my impression that the Japanese place great stead in etiquette and formality; I would study up on cultural rules of interaction. Your itinerary seems awfully ambitious, but our travel in Japan was limited pretty much to Kyoto after we completed a cruise. Have a great trip!

Posted by
11294 posts

If you want a fast-paced itinerary, this could work. If you don't, you will be miserable.

But even if you do want fast-paced, you haven't taken jet lag into account. If you're coming from North American, to assume that on day 2 you will be able to take a daytrip and not fall asleep by 3 PM is wishful thinking. You will find yourself waking up very early on your first few days.

I went with my father, and a daytrip from Kyoto to Hiroshima and Miyajima was not optional for him. I really didn't want to go so far for the day, but he insisted. Well, it turned out to be a great and very memorable day, and I'm glad he insisted. But, we had been in Japan about a week by then, so we were over our jet lag. There's no way I'd do that so soon after arrival.

Do look into Japan Rail (JR) passes. We went in 1997 so I have no idea of the situation now, but our day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima would have been about 200 USD; however, it was all covered by our JR passes (train from Kyoto to Hiroshima, boat from Hiroshima to Miyajima, and ropeway up to the top of Miyajima).

Posted by
2297 posts

With just 10 days I would also suggest to split the time between Kyoto and Tokyo with a side trip from each. Nara is one I'd highly recommend, I would skip Hiroshima on such a tight timeline.

Another question: do you have a direct flight to Osaka or do you transfer in Tokyo? We made the mistake to fly to Tokyo, then transfer to fly into Osaka and then get a mini-bus transfer to Kyoto on top. It's a waste of time. It is much easier, quicker and more fun to take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto!

Posted by
89 posts

We had similar amount of days while in Japan. We divided them between Tokyo (5 days), Kyoto (3 days), Hiroshima & Miyajima (2 days), Osaka (1 day) with a daily trip to Nara somewhere inbetween. It was intensive and rushed but yet full of great experience. And Japan Rail Pass was great deal of help but you need to buy it from abroad, it's cheaper this way.
If your better half doesn't want to run too much, limit yourself to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima & Miyajima and a trip to Nara.
But it does make much sense to go to Hiroshima for one day and yet go for a trip to Miyajima.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you everyone for your inputs and suggestions.

We are looking at stripping it down to one day trip each from Kyoto and Tokyo. Still undecided between Nara and Koyasan. We will be picking up a JR pass as the cost of all the trips was coming to slightly over what individual tickets would cost. While its not a substantial difference I would rather have the pass than have to buy tickets multiple times.

Posted by
380 posts

OK, we all agree that your itinerary is too ambitious.

I suggest leaving out Nara too. It's another temple, granted there are deer to feed. People tend to overdo the temples in Kyoto and leave out other experiences. I suggest choosing just 1-2 temples to visit. Spend some time at the Handicraft Museum, go to Nishiki Market, walk through Gion.

You can go to a ryokan with outdoor onsen north of Kyoto instead of traveling to Takayama.

You can stay overnight in a temple in Kyoto. You don't have to go to Koyasan for that. Check the Ninji Temple and Myosin Temple websites. They're inexpensive enough, that we do not plan to check out of our hotel. Just pack an overnight bag.

For your day trip, go to Uji, known for their green tea. You can get a tea ceremony there for about 5 yen. Oh, yes, there are UNESCO heritage temples there too.

If you like sake instead of green tea, then do a day trip to Funari (?spelling), south of Kyoto.

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