NizzoFoShizzo

Hi all, will be visiting Thailand/Vietnam/Japan for 30 days in Dec/Jan. Mostly I'm a walking tourist type and like to check-off the sights and take photos along the way.

This will be my first time in Asia + first time visiting a Disney park.

Please critique my itinerary for the Japan portion of the trip ^^ The prices and travel times were really just notes for me to figure out JR Pass cost savings.

Trains:
1. For traveling around Tokyo I'll be using prepaid pass like Suica? (I need to figure what's more economical within Tokyo for me)
2. I'll be visiting Nikko on 2-day Nikko Pass ¥2,600
3. Rest of trip will be on JR 7-day pass ¥28,300. (I'll be taking good advantage of this one, I have almost ¥50,000 worth of traveling)
Hotels Tried to minimize the hauling around of luggage
1. 6nts in Tokyo
2. 1nt in Nikko
3. 2nt in Hiroshima
4. 1nt in Osaka
5. 3nt in Kyoto
6. 1nt in Narita

Jan 4th - Day 1: Asakusa& Ueno
Arrive from either Thailand or Vietnam to Haneda
Get to hotel to drop off luggage
Senso-Ji
Jan 5th - Day 2: Toyko Disney
Toyko Disney of the seas
Jan 6th - Day 3: Shinjuku& Shibuya
Hachiko Square to watch the "scramble crossing", Meiji shrine, stroll around Harajuku, Tokyo Metropolitan Building, Kabucki-Cho
Jan 7th - Day 4: Tsukiji& Ginza
Fish market for breakfast, Sony Building, Ginza depatos
Jan 8th - Day 5: Akihabara & Imperial Palace
Akihabara electronics quarter, Kanda Myojin, “Maid” cafes, Imperial Palace
Sleep in Tokyo
Jan 9th - Day 6: Yokohama OR Kamakura day-trip
Travel from Tokyo-Yokohama (25m / ¥260) and back
Yokohama: Red Brick warehouses, Chinatown
OR
Kamakura: temple walk Engaku-Ji/Enno-Ji/Kencho-Ji/Tokei-Ji
Sleep in Tokyo
Jan 10th - Day 7: Nikko
Travel from Tokyo-Nikko (Using 2-day Nikko Pass ¥2,600, 2hrs travel)
Rinno-Ji/Futura-san Jinja/Taiyu-In Mausoleum, Tosho-Gu
Sleep in Nikko
Jan 11th - Day 8: Nagoya
Travel from Nikko-Tokyo-Nagoya (Nikko Pass + JR Pass 7day pass starts)
Travel from Nikko-Tokyo (Using 2-day Nikko Pass ¥2,600, 2hrs travel)
Travel from Tokyo-Nagoya (JR Pass ~ 110m / ¥10,600)
Lazy layover day, Toyota plant tour if we get there early enough
Travel from Nagoya-Hiroshima (JR Pass ~ 154m / ¥13,430)
Sleep in Hiroshima
Jan 12th - Day 9: Hiroshima
Peace park, A-Bomb dome, Miyajima ferry
Sleep in Hiroshima
Jan 13th - Day 10: Osaka & Kobe
Travel from Hiroshima-Osaka (JR Pass ~ 100m / ¥9,950)
Lazy day, can travel back & forth between Osaka & Kobe on JR Pass
Sleep in Osaka or Kobe
Jan 14-17th - Day 11-14: Nara & Ise & Kyoto
Travel from Osaka-Kyoto (JR Pass ~ 30m/ ¥540)
Nara (1 day): Nara Daibatsu, Nara Koen deer
Ise (1 day): Grand shrines
Kyoto (2 days): East side, West side
Sleep in Kyoto
last day Travel from Kyoto-Narita (JR Pass ~ 245m / ¥13,950). Sleep in Narita on 17th. JR Pass ends.
Jan 18th - Day 15: Narita
Sleep and be ready for a noon flight the next day and then go to sleep at home for about 2 days straight. Don't know if there was a flight from Kyoto instead of Narita, kind of wish I had planned my departing flight better.

jib71

Since it appears your flight to Japan is still not decided, you might consider flying directly from HAN / SGN / BKK to KIX or FUK (some of those routes are not daily, so check multiple dates). With a connection (e.g. ICN) you could fly to HIJ or some other regional airport. This would allow you to minimize backtracking during your trip.

Pureboy

The itin looks very solid!

1)Unless the Toyota tour is something very recommended (I don't know about it), I would consider using that day to hit an authentic castle. Since Himeji will still be under renovation, consider Hikone castle. From what I hear, the rest of Nagoya is boring.

2)I'd skip Osaka and spend Day 10 in Kobe. Osaka's castle is a 1960's reconstruction and Kobe is different geographically from all the other cities.

3)I was in a somewhat similar situation in my last trip to Japan, coming straight from a business trip in Vietnam to a cold Japanese winter. I repacked my bags upon arrival, with all of my business/tropical clothes stowed away in my big suitcase, leaving me with a smaller roll-aboard for Japan. When I arrived at my first hotel, I used a takyubin (luggage delivery service) to ship my suitcase to the final destination hotel in Tokyo. That way I didn't have to deal with it until the end of my trip. The more shinkansen (bullet train) trips you are taking, and checking in and out of hotels, the more you will appreciate traveling light.

rts123

Day 6 - Yokohama Red Brick warehouses are nice from the outside, but pretty much just more stores inside. The area around them, and the adjacent Minato Mirai area, makes for a pleasant walk on a nice day. If you have bad weather on Day 3 and don't get good views from the Tokyo Metropolitan building, Landmark Tower is worth a visit if you're still looking for a nice view from a high vantage point.

Yokohama's Chinatown is really no better or worse than others so unless you have a specific reason for going there you might want to skip it. However, if you find yourself there in the evening around dinner time or later, I can point you to some nice small bars I frequent when I visit my Japanese work colleagues in Yokohama.

With a long-ish day you could hit both Kamakura and Yokohama.

NizzoFoShizzo

Great advice, I need to look into leaving my luggage, this would be a great life (and back) saver

quirrow

Not possible to do the Toyota Plant Tour for your case. If I remember correctly Toyota only conducts one tour and it starts in the morning around 10:45am. From Nagoya Station it took me about 1.5 hours to get to the plant. Though if you are stopping in Nagoya, head to the Meitetsu department store beside JR Nagoya station, head to the top floor and find a restaurant serving unagi (eel). They are considered one of the best in Japan, and it is a local delicacy in Nagoya! The dish itself is called Hitsumabushi.

Otherwise there are a lot of other Toyota-related museums around Nagoya city centre itself and the bullet train museum.