My friend and I are travelling to japan on holiday and we are visiting the common tourist cities (kyoto, osaka and Tokyo) but I also want to visit another city along the path between tokyo and osaka. Any cities you guys highly recommend visiting?
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Between Tokyo and Osaka? From the top of my mind, Hakone, Kamakura, Shizuoka, maybe visit Kinosaki Onsen. And I don't agree with people saying Nagoya. You will already be experiencing everything the city has to offer in Tokyo, so why redo it in Nagoya. Maybe if you weren't on limited time it would have made sense.
Also, about Kyoto. I would recommend to avoid Kyoto all together but I get it, first time visiting Japan and everyone wants to go to Kyoto. If you're gonna go there then go to the lesser known places. Avoid the Shijo area. And if you want to go to the touristy spots then go early in the morning or late at night.
Kyoto is in a tough spot because it's suffering from overtourism. There is barely any time when there is a small crowd. Mid December would have been a good time to visit but late December, especially during the holidays and New Years, it's gonna be a mess. There is a lot more to look into when it comes to Kyoto.
And I just have to plug it, a personal bias, consider going central to Gifu and Nagano.
oooh thank you so much for your experience. We are going during mid feb so we expect to see a little less tourists around but yeah. We are still deciding the time we want to spend in each city. What you say about kyoto is interesting for sure we will take it into consideration.
If you were going as a tourist with around 17 days in japan how would you divide up your time? We were originally thinking something along the lines of 8 tokyo (visit hakone too) 5 osaka 4 kyoto. Do you think we would enjoy our trip more if we visited a couple more cities along our way or to spend most our days in the big ones? Perhaps less time in Kyoto and Tokyo? Our plan is to arrive at Narita airport then leave from the kansai int airport.
Oh! Well you can expect less people then. There is such a big mob in November and December, compared to those times February will be less crowded, but still more crowded than most other places in Japan.
I think 5 days for Tokyo is enough. Arrive at Narita and then explore Asakusa or Ueno (both can be covered in one day) for the first day as most people do. Then Shibuya, Akihabara (obviously). Dedicate a day to Hakone and go to an onsen maybe. And then for the last day in Tokyo, personally I would visit some of the quieter districts like Sangenjaya (huge plus point if you're a Persona fan), Kichijoji, Koenji has some cool clothing stores, Ebisu an absolute recommendation, Yanesen area, and so much more. Which one you should visit, depends on your personal preferences. Some of these places are great for quiet walks, observing the lower city, some has great food spots. Obviously these aren't flashy places that will blow your mind away, it's just nice to dedicate a day to these cozy places.
Tokyo is massive and could be a whole trip itself. There is just too much to cover. Once again, it depends, do you prefer urban or rural. Those who like rural would spend even less time at Tokyo. I think 5 days is a good balance.
After that you could spend a couple of days at Nikko, it's only 2 hours from Tokyo. But if you're already going to Hakone which is better than Nikko, then maybe go to Kanazawa instead. It's less crowded compared to Kyoto and easy to get around. You can take day trips to Fukui, Takayama, Toyama. There is a lot to see in Kanazawa itself.
3 days for Kyoto is enough to cover everything you would want to see in Kyoto. Kiyomizudera Temple, Imperial Palace, Fushimi Inari Taisha etc. Spend a day for a hike from Kurama to Kibune. Maybe consider going to Uji as well.
Then 2 days for Osaka should be enough. After that, you should still have some days left, which you can use to go Himeji, Kobe or Amanohashidate etc. Himeji is great if you want a mixture of everything, and Kobe is for the city vibes and food. And Amanohashidate is only if you're open to going a bit further (Approx. 2.5 hrs from Osaka). And spend the final day in Osaka just for food.
If you don’t dislike seafood, I recommend Shizuoka. There are several famous fishing ports.
Also, if you don’t have too much luggage, a boat trip could be an option.
（https://www.isewanferry.co.jp/en/）
If you’re interested in history, exploring shrines around the Kii Peninsula might be a good idea.
（https://www.hongutaisha.jp/english/）（https://www.isejingu.or.jp/en/）
Enjoy your trip bro
I lived in Japan for a few years, and actually just helped a friend plan their trip which they just got back from. They had a similar length trip and in the Kansai region they really enjoyed Kobe and Nara. I have a personal bias for Osaka as I have family there and as Im sure you know from your research good spots there to hit are USJ, the aquarium and dotonbori
If I had to recommend an activity outside of Osaka, it would have to be Nagashima spa land. Despite its waterpark being closed this time of the year, you get a very nice Onsen experience if you book one of the park hotels. And the rollercoasters there are insanely fun.
Kobe won't be too different, you would only need a daytrip max. Compared to Osaka, Kobe's harbour is much cleaner and less industrialized. You could get to Kobe early in the day on the way to Osaka and hang out there for a while before heading to Osaka for the evening.
In the end don't try and pack your itinerary too full too make sure you can enjoy the whole trip fully, you may think you might get bored in the same city for a while. But you will be happily surprised at how much there is to do.
i arrived in japan 17/12 and will be leaving on 23/12, i went to lake kawaguchi, lake tanuki i think its better than kawaguchi lake since theres less crowd but its a lake for camping so theres no store but the view was magnificent and went to gotemba premium outlet theres like ton of store there, rn we’re at kamakura. Teamlab borderless at tokyo is good to go tho its like art event and required a ticket
during our time and fuji (2days) we see full fuji on both days, btw isnt it better on february to see fuji since theres much snow at the top and more beautiful, the say we arrived at fuji theres snow there in the morning but luckily when we we arrived at afternoon its a clear sky, snow on the floor with clear fuji view is so damn good
this is a link thai i did research
https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+152853i recommend u spend around 2-3 days since theres a chance you cant see the fuji if theres a lot of cloud or foggy or smth.
My plan was to go to
yamanakako lake
tanuki lake
kawaguchi lake
shiraito falls
starbucks in fujinomiya tolls that has view of fuji mt.
cookie, chesscake ( its around lake kawaguchi i forgot the nane )
gotemba outlet
oishino hakkai
chureito pagoda
we didnt made yamanakako lake and starbucks and have 2 hrs at gotemba ( its not enough, you can stay there like half day if u want to go shopping or maybe even full day) because we took long time taking photo at some places
if u dont rent a car u can only make kawaguchi lake, chureito pagoda and oishino hakkai and maybe need to took bus to gotemba.
I recommend u to rent a car and stay around fuji for like 2-3 days
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