Planning a trip to Japan is not for the faint of heart. There are so many places to see, a language barrier to overcome, and many many hours that separate the United States from the island of Japan. However, this was by far my favorite trip I’ve ever taken and the most rewarding to see my plans come to life.
I’ve shared my travels around Europe (Italy 1 and 2, Amsterdam, Portugal, London. You can browse all of my travel posts here) and those trips have mainly centered around museums. Visiting museums is a passion of mine, but during this trip to Japan we didn’t visit a single one – every cultural site we visited, and indeed nearly every street we walked down, held so much interest and was so different from our home that I felt constantly in awe and stimulated.
Day One – Arrive in Tokyo
We flew on a direct flight from Newark to Haneda and from there took a monorail then subway to our hotel. You can use the Welcome Suica mobile app to add money to your digital wallet and use it on nearly every form of public transportation. We found Google Maps to be very helpful for navigating all of Japan and we didn’t take any cars during our stay.
We stayed at The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho and this is one of the nicest places I’ve every stayed. The view of the city was phenomenal, the accommodations were luxurious, and we found the location to be convenient.
We visited at the end of March/beginning of April and we were so eager to see the cherry blossoms in bloom that we left the hotel right away and visited the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. You have to pay for entry and that was easy to do when we arrived at the park.
Day Two – Ginza, Imperial Palace, & Shinjuku
After breakfast at the hotel, we started the day by walking around Ginza which is a high end shopping area. My favorite place we visited was Itoya, a multi-floor stationary shop. I got stationary for myself and for friends and wanted to come home with everything. The quality and design of all of the items, for a reasonable price, makes me wish that they shipped internationally!
We went to the Imperial Palace next and while it was nice to see, you can’t get that close. The gardens were closed on the day we visited (I can’t believe I missed that in the planning!), so maybe that would have made this a more interesting destination.
After that we did one of my favorite activities to do in any city – we had a photoshoot! I love to do this not only to get great pictures to appreciate after the trip, but also because it’s always a good way to meet someone who is local to the city who can orient you and make recommendations. Our photographer Joe was awesome!
After the photoshoot, we stayed in the same area and took a food tour. We found food tours to be more essential in Japan than anywhere else we’ve traveled because of the language barrier and because there were so many dishes the we never would have tried if we didn’t have someone to introduce us to it. We took this tour and loved our group.
Day Three – Tsukiji Outer Market
This was our rainiest day, so while we originally had more on the agenda, we decided to just stick with our early morning food tour of the Tsukiji Market and then relaxed for the rest of the day at the hotel. The Tsukiji Outer Market is the surrounding area of Tokyo’s famous fish market where you can try a wide variety of foods and shop for tableware.
We took a tour and again appreciated having someone to recommend food and even take us behind the scenes in restaurants and certain parts of the market. This is another place where I liked shopping for small souvenirs.
Day Four – Sensō-ji Shrine, Ueno Park, Meiji Jingu Shrine, & Shibuya
Another day, another shrine, and another great tour! We started our day at the Sensō-ji Shrine and appreciated all of the cultural facts and rituals we learned from our guide. We participated in some (like getting a fortune pulled) and observed others (like washing your hands before approaching the shrine). One of the reasons I love to have tours mixed into our travel plans is that we can learn and gain a greater appreciation for what we are seeing.
Next we headed to Ueno Park to see the cherry blossoms – we had the same ideas as hundreds of other people! I thought I knew crowded from being a New Yorker, but this was a whole other level.
We headed to the Harajuku neighborhood, which is know for its youth culture and vintage shopping. We had lunch at Harajuku Gyozarou and the wait was worth it.
Our next stop of the day was Meiji Jingu Shrine. It was a shrine contained within a forest right within the city. The change from one type of environment and energy to the next was startling and welcome!
Finally we went to see the famous Shibuya crossing and had dinner at a sushi train restaurant called Mawashizushi Katsu Seibu Shibuya Store within Seibu Shibuya Department Store. It was a unique experience to pick out whatever sushi caught your eye as it went past and we really loved being able to order additional pieces from a touchscreen at our seat.
Day Five – Hakone
We decided to make a stop in Hakone before going to Kyoto. I have a few thoughts/tips to share here:
- We took the Romance Train from Tokyo to Hakone and needed two tickets – 1) The Digital Hakone Freepass and 2) the Romance Train limited express ticket. We also had to print out these passes and exchange one for a paper ticket and one for a digital page. It feels confusing in our digital age, but just do yourself a favor and print everything to be safe.
- We stayed at Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu hotel and it was wonderful! If you can, request a room that is side or rear facing. We liked that better than the front facing rooms that have a great view, but also have road noise. We also highly recommend getting the teppanyaki dinner. You get a private chef and a seven course meal that is to die for.
- Allocate a good amount of time for taking the bus up the mountain. We used public transit during our entire stay in Japan, but found the more remoteness of Hakone to mean that it took longer to get places.
- Stay for two consecutive nights if you can. Our hotel did not have availability, so we did one night on the way down to Kyoto and one night on the way back to Tokyo, but we felt we wasted too much time in transit and didn’t get to do any sightseeing in Hakone.
Our hotel had private onsens (a natural hot spring / bathing facility) for each room and public spots. I appreciated both! The food was excellent and the room felt very traditional with tatami mats on the floor. Definitely take your time in putting on the clothing you can wear around the hotel and to the bathing facility. I didn’t look up how to tie the sash properly and felt a little embarrassed when I realized I had it on wrong.
Day Six – Kyoto History & Food
This was an excellent day! We took the Shinkansen train to Kyoto, checked into our hotel (The Chapter Kyoto), and then went straight into activities. First we went to the Gion-kobu Kaburenjo Theater to see a geisha performance. It was incredibly beautiful and interesting. I am not sure if there are performances is all year, but we went for the first day of the spring season.
Next we visited Maruyama Park and got some street food to hold us over before we went on yet another food tour! There are many shops around here that we enjoyed browsing.
Day Seven – Fushimi Inari Shrine, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji Temple, Golden Pavilion, & Kiyomizu-dera Temple
This was our busiest day and my absolute favorite! It started with a light breakfast at 7 Eleven and then we headed to the Fushimi Inari Shrine bright and early. Despite going very early in the day it was still crowded, so just be prepared. We didn’t make it all the way to the top of the mountain, but we did appreciate the sheer magnitude of gates.
Next we went to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and Tenryu-ji Temple. This place took my breath away. I loved all of the warm wood tones and silver accents and could not get over the natural setting.
The next stop was the Golden Pavilion. It was nice, but very crowded and I could have done without visiting here.
We took a lunch break at McDonald’s and it was delicious! The menu was entirely in Japanese, so we made our best choices based on the pictures and were not disappointed. It was primarily locals in the restaurant and most people ordered and then had waitstaff bring their food to them.
After a nap at the hotel, we headed back out and walked through the Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka – these streets are incredibly quaint and have truly charming shops. I especially loved the Studio Ghibli shop and the Peter Rabbit shop. They lead up to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
Seeing this temple at night, with its view of the city and atmospheric lighting ambience at every turn literally moved me to tears. I cannot recommend coming here enough, especially at night.
We made our way back towards our hotel and went to a small sushi place for dinner that we really enjoyed. The presentation of the sashimi was beautiful and they gave us cherry blossom themed mochi for dessert.
Day Eight – Back to Hakone
Like I shared earlier, we felt we spent too much time in transit going from Kyoto back to Hakone. Because it took many hours by train and bus to get back to our hotel, we didn’t get to enjoy the resort for very long. It was still nice to have some time in the onsen and to have a good last dinner, but we definitely recommend doing two consecutive nights instead.
Day 9 – Return Home
We made our way from Hakone to Tokyo (bus to train to subway to monorail) and then flew home! We were excited to get back to our baby, but sad to see the end of an amazing trip.
I hope this itinerary and advice provides you with inspiration for your travels!
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