Japan - 13 days - new year

paddy111199

Hey all,


Itinerery in Japan for 13 days:

31st-4th jan - Tokyo - 5 days
5th-6th jan-Hiroshima-1.5days
7th-8th jan - Osaka - 2 days
9th-11th Jan - Kyoto -2.5days

Do you think there are enough days in osaka & kyoto?

Using the rail pass for 7 days so that is why i'm trying to cram!

Thanks all!:)

Third_Echelon

paddy111199 wrote: »

Hey all,


Itinerery in Japan for 13 days:

31st-4th jan - Tokyo - 5 days
5th-6th jan-Hiroshima-1.5days
7th-8th jan - Osaka - 2 days
9th-11th Jan - Kyoto -2.5days

Do you think there are enough days in osaka & kyoto?

Using the rail pass for 7 days so that is why i'm trying to cram!

Thanks all!:)

1 day is enough in Hiroshima. 2 days is enough in Kyoto.

You could spend weeks upon weeks in Kyoto with all the temples, but you can get 'templed out'. Pick the best 4 or 5 and go to them.

I would tag-on that extra day in Osaka to be honest. Not a whole lot of touristy things, but it is a great city for going out and shopping etc. Osaka castle is pretty cool.

5 days in Tokyo is just enough as well I think. Great City...

Some of my pics from Japan:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmnscttirl/sets/72157600394229936/

PunyHuman

You could capitalise on your short time even more by not staying overnight in Hiroshima. I liked the city, but once you've been to the museum and the bomb dome (half day of wandering about), there's not much to hold interest.

I also found Kobe to be a nice place. You could potentially break the journey back from Hiroshima there.

You could spend weeks in Tokyo and still not see it all. Actually you could spend weeks in Tokyo station and still not see it all.

I hope you like fish, by the way.

Richard Roma

To be honest I probably wouldn't bother going to Osaka if I were stuck for time. It's just a city. Tokyo and Kyoto are better. The top 3 things I did were:

Miyajima - The island with floating torii (red arch), loads of deer and snow monkeys

Nagasaki - Pleasent place, really bustling, great craic and people

Drinking in the park Hyatt Hotel bar - As seen in lost in translation, unbelieveble panoramic views of the city

Quball15

Also suggest cutting down/skipping Osaka.

Definately stop at Himeji Castle on the way to Hiroshima. There is also a fantastic capsule hotel in Hiroshima complete with its own baths. Don`t forget to go to Miyajima when going to Hiroshima.

Kyoto- get an all day bus pass (500 yen) when visiting Kinkakuji, ryoanji and arashiyama...you can then get the train from arashiyama into centre of town. Ponto-cho is an old style expensive restaurant street. Gion and hana-michi to see geisha/maiko.
Fushimi inari south of city is great too. Kurama onsen is supposed to be great, havent been yet though.

Only thing in Kobe of great interest is china town but yokohamas is bigger.
If going to Osaka, the aquarium is good, also the suntory museum is right beside it which has a huge imax screen.

Tokyo, dont miss tsukiji fish market. Odaiba island is cool too.

enjoy

Dont be at yourself

Ditto everything Quball15 said...

Definitely go to Fushimi Inari - just 10 minutes south of Kyoto by train. Go at night if you can, it's really creepy.

Osaka's not all that - it's a big, grim city. Lots of shops, but not much on the cultural side. Perhaps a day trip to Nara instead? It's less than an hour from Kyoto, and there's a temple with a giant Buddha statue inside.

In Kyoto, I'd also suggest Kyomizudera temple. It's 2 minutes from the Gion area downtown. Skip Ginkakuji (Silver Pavillion), as it doesn't compare to Kinkakuji (Golden Pavillion).

wrote:

Gion and hana-michi to see geisha/maiko.

I think the street is Hanamikoji, isn't it?

As for Tokyo? Odaiba, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa and Ueno are all nice enough. If you're into gadgets and technology, you could easily spend a day (or two!) in Akihabara. The world-famous Harajuku fashion market is on every sunday morning in Yoyogi Park.

If you're planning on hitting up a lot of temples, buy a temple book at the first temple you go to. It'll be about 1,000 yen, and you can get the name and and date of your visit written in Japanese calligraphy in it by monks at every temple you go to.

bringitdown

Hmm without wishing to hijack: I have just 1 week - 20 - 27 March with a flight in and out of Tokyo.

I mainly want to see Tokyo going by this thread a visit to Osaka / Hiroshima or Kyoto would be an idea too?

What would you guys think unmissable and importantly doable in 7 days ex Tokyo?

Glowing

I'm off to Tokyo in 3 days time - we only have 3 nights/4 days but will keep ye posted. Can't wait!

Plan is to take in Akihabara, Shinjuku, The fish market, Harijuku and Ginza for shopping! We're staying in Shiodome area ....