May itinerary
 

Hi guys,

Can you please help review my below itinerary, thanks

Sat, May 12
Syd (SYD) --> Osaka (KIX)
Land in Osaka (7.10pm)
• Leave customs, get cash from ATM
• Get pocket wifi from post office
• Purchase ICOCA + Haruka
Kansai Airport station → Kyoto Station (JR Haruka)
Quick bite to eat, Check in to hotel and rest

Sun, May 13
kinkaku-ju, Tenryu-ji, Ryoan-ji
Bamboo Grove, Monkey Park, Okochi Sanso Villa
En Tea Experience?

Mon, May 14
Fushimi Inari Shrine (2-3 hrs hike?)
Nishiki Market, Kamogawa Odori (Geisha)
Gion

Tue, May 15
Kyoto --> Hiroshima
Visit Atomic Bomb Dome, Hiroshima Castle, Hiroshima Peace Park & Museum
Hiroshima --> Miyajima
Check into Accommodation (Ryokan?)

Wed, May 16
Mt Misen Hike
Miyajima --> Tokyo
Check into accommodation and dinner somewhere

Thu, May 17
Shibuya, Harajuku
Shinjuku (VR zone?)

Fri, May 18
Asakusa (Sensoji Temple)
Ueno (Temples, Shrines, Museums)
Check out Sanja Matsuri

Sat, May 19
Tsukiji Fish Markets (morning)
Ryogoku (Sumo)

Sun, May 20
Mitake-San Hike
Michelin Restaurant

Mon, May 21
Tokyo --> Hakone
Cruise on Lake Ashimo, Onsen
Hakone --> Osaka
check into accommodation

Tue, May 22
yamazaki distillery tour
Dotonbori, City walk sights of minami

Wed, May 23
Explore Osaka (Osaka Castle, Osaka Aquarium, Umeda Sky Building)
Leave for Kansai Airport
8.40pm Osaka (KIX) --> Sydney (SYD)

Looks like a nice itinerary to me, not over stuffed with plenty of wiggle room.

The concern I have is the Sunday May 20 Mitake San hike. We joined my father-in-law during Spring 2016 for a walk along the beautiful gorge starting at Hatonosu station. Only problem was that parts of the trail had been closed following the 2011 Touhoku Earthquake which meant long (and unexpected) slogs along busy highways with no pedestrian areas. We had a very wriggly 6 year old with us and the highway parts were extremely unpleasant (didn't help that her super power energy levels were drained whenever there was no dirt under her feet - almost as if tarmac was kryptonite).
There was very little information about the closures and detours, and I don't know how I would have managed it at all if I had been travelling without Japanese speakers/readers.
When doing your research for the trail you choose, do please make sure that the information is recent and has been conscientiously updated if it is not.

In our case, we ended up having to find and take a taxi to get to a station. Be careful also to have the timetables to hand for the trains as the routes are not very regular. I believe you'll have a few faster trains that are laid on on the weekends to make the journey easier. Be sure not to miss them. (We also had an hour or so delay on our week day return to Tokyo - there was something wrong with the power cables, ended up being a rather long day. Very pleased we didn't have a restaurant to go to afterwards!)

Mon, May 21
Tokyo --> Hakone
Cruise on Lake Ashimo, Onsen
Hakone --> Osaka
check into accommodation

That's my only concern. That's quite a bit of traveling for not much. The cruise is, what, 15 minutes long? The onsen should be relaxing, but then will you lose that relaxation by having to go from Hakone back to Osaka that night?

And JR Pass necessary if you're doing a back and forth like that? Or is it better to just pay for the higher level bullet train to save time?

Would the Kansai One Pass offer any discounts to the places you go? It's just the ICOCA card with discounts at lots of touristy places. Slight extra step to get it than any plain ICOCA card, but since you're already at the airport...

May 13 looks pretty aggressive/hectic to me. What do other folks think?

What will be will be. I looked at that list and read it as an aspiration - but I expect the OP will find his own rhythm and pace. Some people race around Kyoto and others prefer to linger in one or two gardens for longer.

Looks really over-packed to me. Be prepared to trim the schedule as you go. You probably can't do everything you have planned. Also, look at some maps, particularly Kyoto. You can make your site visits more efficient by not running back and forth around the city.

May 13 doesn't look too bad, since the sights are all in the northwest corner of the city. May 14 is a little more problematic. You may want to skip Fushimi Inari if you are going to the Kamogawa Odori (I hope you have a good source for tickets), since you have to be there at a specific time, and the performance lasts about two hours.

Looks alright to me for the most part.

Your 13 May schedule seems a bit busy but most probably doable (mind you I haven't been to all of the places you listed).
On the other hand, your 14 May plan is rather scant and I think you should add in Kiyomizudera, walking down from it along all the shops into Gion.
Fushimi Inari will be more like 1.5hr hike round-trip to cover most areas of interest, unless you want to go all the way to the top or you're extremely slow walking.

If it were me, I'd overnight in Hakone on 20 May to thoroughly enjoy the onsen experience and to give yourself more time to enjoy Hakone.

Thanks for all the feedback. I have decided not to stray too far from my latest plan. But I have decided to take out the Hakone day and add in another day in Kyoto. My revised thoughts below:

Day 1: arrive in osaka at night, purchase icoca and haruka, take jr haruka to kyoto

Day 2: arashiyama area

Day 3: fushimi inari, nishiki, kamogawa odori, gion, pontocho

Day 4: higashiyama area, aoi matsuri festival, kaiseki dinner

Day 5: activate JR pass, train to hiroshima via meiji castle, explore park and museum, ferry to miyajima

Day 6: itsukushima shrine, mt misen hike, train to tokyo

Day 7: shibuya, harajuku, shinjuku

Day 8: asakusa, ueno, sanja matsuri

Day 9: mitakesan hike

Day 10: tsukiji markets, ryogoku

Day 11: train to osaka, dotonbori, minami

Day 12: explore osaka

a couple more questions :
- is it still worth getting a JR pass?
- i was still keen on experiencing an onsen, do i have time for it? Could i fit it in one of the kyoto days?

Yes. A handy rule of thumb states that a JR pass costs roughly the same as an Osaka-Tokyo Shinkansen round-trip. So if you use the pass to cover that, everything else that you do with it is "gravy."

I think your Kyoto itinerary is a fairly "busy" one, so I don't think it gives you the best opportunity to lie back and relax in a hot spring. If you had an extra day in Kyoto, I'd suggest taking a walk in the mountains to the north of the city and stopping at Kurama Onsen for a break during the day (or staying overnight).
If you want a relaxed overnight experience with traditional accommodation and onsen, I would suggest looking at your options on Miyajima first. Speaking for myself, onsen is great after a good hike in the countryside. (For other people, the quintessential onsen experience is different. They might explain why they would prefer an onsen in Kyoto. Nobody is right or wrong). There are a couple of onsen ryokan on Miyajima. Prices are not the cheapest because it's a popular tourist destination, but that is also the case in Kyoto. It should help that you're there on a Tuesday night, which should be cheaper than Friday or Saturday.

We have a habit of hiking up and down Mt Takao and there is a great onsen at Takaosanguchi station where we bathe and eat before returning to Tokyo.
In your shoes, I'd be looking at a soak at Tsuru Tsuru Onsen after climbing Mt Mitake and before returning to the hotel.

Get a Kansai One Pass + Haruka in place of the usual ICOCA, it offers nice discounts to temples, castles, and other places.

After Arashimaya, you can try Nishiki in the afternoon. Not sure why you're including the Ao Matsuri festival, but without that you should be able to do Higashiyama/Gion/Pontocho in a day, especially with extra use of taxis. The next day, from Fushimi Inari you can head to Nara or catch up on anything you've missed.

If you're into Tokyo urban scenes, Harajuku/Omotesando and Shibuya will offer a proper crush on Sunday.

Hi,

Any idea on how to get luggage from kyoto to tokyo as we are just planning on taking an overnight bag to hiroshima? We are staying at an air bnb in tokyo.

takyubin to a combini near the airbnb should work

If you're using a rail pass, staying near Kyoto Station, and not pressed for time, you could leave the bags with the hotel if they're not that many. Then stop off to get them on the way to Tokyo.