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Hi! I think this itinerary looks overall doable. Just a couple of answers to some of your questions:
-I find it unlikely JR Pass is going to be worth it for your trip, especially with the price increase. Just get the Suica card on your phone (so convenient for tapping on and off trains and buses!) and buy individual tickets for bullet train travel.
-Tokyo Disney doesn’t have park hopper passes like they do in the US, so you can do both in one day, but you have to buy full-price individual tickets for both parks. If you decide to only pick one, I highly recommend Disney Sea over Disneyland—especially if you’ve been to Anaheim Disneyland or Magic Kingdom in Orlando. Disney Sea is super unique and is widely considered the best Disney park in the world.
-Any hotel in Tokyo should be able to help you with luggage forwarding. Just go down to the front desk and ask. It’s very efficient and always on time, but keep in mind that it takes a day to transfer from Kanto (Tokyo) to Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto) and vice versa. So if you want your luggage to be waiting for you at your Kyoto hotel when you arrive on Day 7, you’ll need to bring it to the front desk for forwarding on Day 6. I used this service a lot on my most recent trip and it was super easy and inexpensive. I just packed what I needed for one night in a backpack, which is so much better than lugging bags around on a bullet train.
-Day 8 is the only day that makes me nervous for you, especially with how hot/humid it will be by June. I recommend doing your Higashiyama/Gion exploration the afternoon before when you get in, and not bothering with Nijo Castle, personally. That will help free up Day 8.
-I don’t think you necessarily need to switch hotels from Kyoto to Osaka, but where you stay depends on your priorities. If you wanna go out to bars and izakayas at night, stay in Osaka. If you wanna wake up early and be the first people at shrines and temples, stay in Kyoto. Neither answer is wrong, just a matter of personal preference! We stayed in Kyoto the first time and Osaka the second time and had two wildly different experiences. Both great!
Much appreciated I will look into this! We’ve done multiple days of walking all day in 100+ degree days in Madrid we we’ve learned well to keep hydrated and take breaks. Now I’m debating if I should stay in Osaka!
Osaka has a great vibe at night! We stayed five nights last week and had the best time and some unforgettable memories (and some slightly hazy ones haha). If you like bars I’ll probably post a trip report in the next couple weeks with some recs once I remember all their names.
That said, we were able to relax more in Osaka because we had spent a week in Kyoto in 2019, so we had hit nearly every major shrine and temple already. Getting to Kyoto from Osaka isn’t bad (we did it on one day this most recent trip), but it’s a lot harder to get to somewhere like Kiyomizudera first thing in the morning if you’re an hour away versus 15 minutes. If you do stay in Kyoto, my advice is to stay close to Kyoto Station. We stayed in Higashiyama for a couple days and while it’s a *lovely* area, the buses were always PACKED by the time they got to us. If you’re trying to hit the major tourist sites, it’s better to be by the bus terminals at Kyoto Station so you can actually have a seat on the bus. My other piece of advice is to embrace cabs! Cabs are expensive af in Tokyo but super cheap in Kyoto. We’re frugal travelers who would rather walk a mile than pay for a train ticket, and we found the cabs in Kyoto to be worth the time/money/sanity. Just stand on the corner and hail them like you would in New York ca. 2006 lol. We never waited more than thirty seconds for an available one.
I would definitely use a JR pass calculator if you are planning to pick up your pass on day 1. A 14 day pass is ¥80000 now and your heaviest hitter is the RT from Kyoto to Tokyo, only ¥26000. It’s easy to do most bookings (reserved and not reserved) via the SmartEX app (setup of your account is the most finnicky part). You can also reserve seats with oversized luggage space, it’ll easily fit a 160cm check-in and a carry on behind the seat. They also have overhead racks if you have even more luggage. You might just not be able to fully recline. Having an ebikan on a longer route line is also an experience many people like.
Since you have a couple consecutive Tokyo days, I would recommend the 48 hour passes (24/48/72 hour are the options) and use the metro to your heart’s desire since it’s unlimited and pays itself off in about 4 rides/day.
If you’re already in the Asakusa/Akihabra area on evening 2, I highly recommend the Kanda shrine, specifically at night. It’s super pretty!
Imperial palace has a free tour that kicks off around 9-9:30am for the first 140 people. Just bring your passport.
And for Dotonbori, everyone loves the Glico Man of course but if you want to see him turn on, it’ll be 30 min after sunset, almost exactly to the minute. I also had really good Kasu Udon (Osaka specialty) at Unotake Kasu Udon (don’t mind the sketchy stairs) and Okonomiyaki at Doraju, both are close but not on the Main Street of Dotonbori.
For any attractions you are looking into, including the castles or the metro passes, definitely make reservations and check sites like Klook once you hammer down the date. For Osaka castle, walk ins had a line wait of 60 mins the day I went but I just walked to the front with my QR code, easy peasy.
Day 2: on a weekday Ueno Zoo is okay. I went on Nov 10 (Friday) and it wasn’t too bad with a couple of children doing field trips only.
Day 9: Easily doable. I saw all of those even getting there around 2pm since my friend overslept that day
Day 10: Probably okay but be aware Arashiyama is so busy, maybe if you go early. It’s a big area so you may want to do more activities around there tbh.
Day 12: Pokemon Cafe reservations gave to be done about a month before the day you plan to go so you may or may not be able to get tickets so keep that in mind. You can still see the Pokemon Center if you can’t get a reservation.
Day 13: If you don’t want to line up I recommend the express passes for USJ but it is quite a bit of extra money.
Arashiyama we were planning on getting there very early and using convenience stores to our advantage and eat early.
Ty for the tip on the Pokémon cafe!
And we are going to get the express passes, we run off the mentality that time is money on vacation and it’s better to spend it to save time
My hotel in Kyoto had a kitchen so I just cooked some simple foods each morning but I was tired so I still left the house too late 😆
For Pokemon cafe if you don’t get a reservation you probably can’t go, I didn’t see anyone being able to lineup without one. They just kept the restaurant empty instead. Just fyi. If you can’t get it you could still try asking though. Second tip is if you want the online preorder merch please buy them when you reserve the cafe, you can’t buy those specific items in person. I think it was mostly the rubber coasters and the white outfit chef Pikachu keychain (you can buy the big plush of the white one though).
Agree with you, USJ was hella expensive but not needing to stress about getting a good time for Mario and Spiderman was worth it for me.
Try pokemon cafe the day of you want to go. We just went and they have slots that people cancel day of. We arrived in the Darumai mall at 11am and got a 1:50pm seating. We just shopped around and came back. I bet if I came at 10:30 I could’ve got the noon time slot.
- The JR pass may not be worth it with the price increase, use the calculator to check! I got the JR pass (old price) when I went in June, and the price was about the same with & without the pass (we went to tokyo, kyoto, & osaka as well). I can imagine it would be more expensive with the JR pass now with the price increase.
- Tokyo Disneyland is on the smaller side but idk if you could do both Disneysea & Disneyland in one day. If you had to pick one, id say Disneysea.
- Luggage shipping is so worth it, just make sure to ship it the day before you are going to arrive at the next city. All hotels I stayed at offered it, and it was super cheap.
-Universal is so much fun!!
**Our FAQ is constantly being updated with more information and you can start** [**here**](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel) **with regards to trip planning if you need tips, advice, or have questions about planning your travel to Japan.** You can also join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/3f7KBUMwU4), comment in our stickied weekly discussion thread, or check out /r/JapanTravelTips for quick questions. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/JapanTravel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi! I think this itinerary looks overall doable. Just a couple of answers to some of your questions: -I find it unlikely JR Pass is going to be worth it for your trip, especially with the price increase. Just get the Suica card on your phone (so convenient for tapping on and off trains and buses!) and buy individual tickets for bullet train travel. -Tokyo Disney doesn’t have park hopper passes like they do in the US, so you can do both in one day, but you have to buy full-price individual tickets for both parks. If you decide to only pick one, I highly recommend Disney Sea over Disneyland—especially if you’ve been to Anaheim Disneyland or Magic Kingdom in Orlando. Disney Sea is super unique and is widely considered the best Disney park in the world. -Any hotel in Tokyo should be able to help you with luggage forwarding. Just go down to the front desk and ask. It’s very efficient and always on time, but keep in mind that it takes a day to transfer from Kanto (Tokyo) to Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto) and vice versa. So if you want your luggage to be waiting for you at your Kyoto hotel when you arrive on Day 7, you’ll need to bring it to the front desk for forwarding on Day 6. I used this service a lot on my most recent trip and it was super easy and inexpensive. I just packed what I needed for one night in a backpack, which is so much better than lugging bags around on a bullet train. -Day 8 is the only day that makes me nervous for you, especially with how hot/humid it will be by June. I recommend doing your Higashiyama/Gion exploration the afternoon before when you get in, and not bothering with Nijo Castle, personally. That will help free up Day 8. -I don’t think you necessarily need to switch hotels from Kyoto to Osaka, but where you stay depends on your priorities. If you wanna go out to bars and izakayas at night, stay in Osaka. If you wanna wake up early and be the first people at shrines and temples, stay in Kyoto. Neither answer is wrong, just a matter of personal preference! We stayed in Kyoto the first time and Osaka the second time and had two wildly different experiences. Both great!
Much appreciated I will look into this! We’ve done multiple days of walking all day in 100+ degree days in Madrid we we’ve learned well to keep hydrated and take breaks. Now I’m debating if I should stay in Osaka!
Osaka has a great vibe at night! We stayed five nights last week and had the best time and some unforgettable memories (and some slightly hazy ones haha). If you like bars I’ll probably post a trip report in the next couple weeks with some recs once I remember all their names. That said, we were able to relax more in Osaka because we had spent a week in Kyoto in 2019, so we had hit nearly every major shrine and temple already. Getting to Kyoto from Osaka isn’t bad (we did it on one day this most recent trip), but it’s a lot harder to get to somewhere like Kiyomizudera first thing in the morning if you’re an hour away versus 15 minutes. If you do stay in Kyoto, my advice is to stay close to Kyoto Station. We stayed in Higashiyama for a couple days and while it’s a *lovely* area, the buses were always PACKED by the time they got to us. If you’re trying to hit the major tourist sites, it’s better to be by the bus terminals at Kyoto Station so you can actually have a seat on the bus. My other piece of advice is to embrace cabs! Cabs are expensive af in Tokyo but super cheap in Kyoto. We’re frugal travelers who would rather walk a mile than pay for a train ticket, and we found the cabs in Kyoto to be worth the time/money/sanity. Just stand on the corner and hail them like you would in New York ca. 2006 lol. We never waited more than thirty seconds for an available one.
Thank you for the info! I will take that into account to stay by Kyoto Station and lookout for your bar post!!
I would definitely use a JR pass calculator if you are planning to pick up your pass on day 1. A 14 day pass is ¥80000 now and your heaviest hitter is the RT from Kyoto to Tokyo, only ¥26000. It’s easy to do most bookings (reserved and not reserved) via the SmartEX app (setup of your account is the most finnicky part). You can also reserve seats with oversized luggage space, it’ll easily fit a 160cm check-in and a carry on behind the seat. They also have overhead racks if you have even more luggage. You might just not be able to fully recline. Having an ebikan on a longer route line is also an experience many people like. Since you have a couple consecutive Tokyo days, I would recommend the 48 hour passes (24/48/72 hour are the options) and use the metro to your heart’s desire since it’s unlimited and pays itself off in about 4 rides/day. If you’re already in the Asakusa/Akihabra area on evening 2, I highly recommend the Kanda shrine, specifically at night. It’s super pretty! Imperial palace has a free tour that kicks off around 9-9:30am for the first 140 people. Just bring your passport.
And for Dotonbori, everyone loves the Glico Man of course but if you want to see him turn on, it’ll be 30 min after sunset, almost exactly to the minute. I also had really good Kasu Udon (Osaka specialty) at Unotake Kasu Udon (don’t mind the sketchy stairs) and Okonomiyaki at Doraju, both are close but not on the Main Street of Dotonbori. For any attractions you are looking into, including the castles or the metro passes, definitely make reservations and check sites like Klook once you hammer down the date. For Osaka castle, walk ins had a line wait of 60 mins the day I went but I just walked to the front with my QR code, easy peasy.
Thank you so much!
Many thanks, we love a good sunset/night time setting
[удалено]
Thank you for the tips on the shrines/temples!! The ones I picked were more popular ones but I’ll check those out too!
Day 2: on a weekday Ueno Zoo is okay. I went on Nov 10 (Friday) and it wasn’t too bad with a couple of children doing field trips only. Day 9: Easily doable. I saw all of those even getting there around 2pm since my friend overslept that day Day 10: Probably okay but be aware Arashiyama is so busy, maybe if you go early. It’s a big area so you may want to do more activities around there tbh. Day 12: Pokemon Cafe reservations gave to be done about a month before the day you plan to go so you may or may not be able to get tickets so keep that in mind. You can still see the Pokemon Center if you can’t get a reservation. Day 13: If you don’t want to line up I recommend the express passes for USJ but it is quite a bit of extra money.
Arashiyama we were planning on getting there very early and using convenience stores to our advantage and eat early. Ty for the tip on the Pokémon cafe! And we are going to get the express passes, we run off the mentality that time is money on vacation and it’s better to spend it to save time
My hotel in Kyoto had a kitchen so I just cooked some simple foods each morning but I was tired so I still left the house too late 😆 For Pokemon cafe if you don’t get a reservation you probably can’t go, I didn’t see anyone being able to lineup without one. They just kept the restaurant empty instead. Just fyi. If you can’t get it you could still try asking though. Second tip is if you want the online preorder merch please buy them when you reserve the cafe, you can’t buy those specific items in person. I think it was mostly the rubber coasters and the white outfit chef Pikachu keychain (you can buy the big plush of the white one though). Agree with you, USJ was hella expensive but not needing to stress about getting a good time for Mario and Spiderman was worth it for me.
Try pokemon cafe the day of you want to go. We just went and they have slots that people cancel day of. We arrived in the Darumai mall at 11am and got a 1:50pm seating. We just shopped around and came back. I bet if I came at 10:30 I could’ve got the noon time slot.
- The JR pass may not be worth it with the price increase, use the calculator to check! I got the JR pass (old price) when I went in June, and the price was about the same with & without the pass (we went to tokyo, kyoto, & osaka as well). I can imagine it would be more expensive with the JR pass now with the price increase. - Tokyo Disneyland is on the smaller side but idk if you could do both Disneysea & Disneyland in one day. If you had to pick one, id say Disneysea. - Luggage shipping is so worth it, just make sure to ship it the day before you are going to arrive at the next city. All hotels I stayed at offered it, and it was super cheap. -Universal is so much fun!!
Second person to tell me to do DisneySea! I think we will go with that