Hey everyone! I recently took a 16-day trip to Japan with my parents (I’m in my 30s, parents in their 60s), and I wanted to share our...
This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Professional-Key2249 on 2024-10-17 15:28:24+00:00.

Hey everyone! I recently took a 16-day trip to Japan with my parents (I’m in my 30s, parents in their 60s), and I wanted to share our experiences. We came back yesterday. This was a special trip for us, as it was the first time me and my parents had visited a country in Asia. I’ll provide an overview of our trip, along with daily details about what we planned versus what we ended up doing. Feel free to ask about anything!

General Impressions:

  • Positives: Japan is absolutely beautiful. The people are incredibly polite and respectful, the country is clean and organized, and public transport is fantastic. Even the small quirks like the music at stations and traffic lights add to the charm. We loved the food, and the coffee…amazing. The public toilets were always clean (smart toilets are amazing), and people patiently line up for buses, which was refreshing to see.
  • Negatives: Over-tourism, particularly in Kyoto, where some tourists didn’t follow the rules (like cutting lines and making a lot of noise). It was quite frustrating.

Tips for Future Travelers:

  • Bring good shoes: You’ll walk a lot, and there are many inclines, especially in temples and shrines.
  • Get a Suica card: It’s super convenient for public transport.
  • Use luggage delivery services: We had 4 different hotels, and having our bags sent ahead to the next destination was great (we send it day before check-in in the new hotel). Hotel staff helped us with the paperwork, and when we arrived, our luggage was already waiting in our room.
  • Book attractions in advance: We pre-booked TeamLab Borderless, the bus to Shirakawa-go, and the Gion Corner performance. For the Shinkansen, we booked tickets the day before traveling, though once we struggled to sit together when we booked it on the day itself.
  • Take rest days: We underestimated how physically exhausting it would be. By the last day in Tokyo, we were burned out. Don’t hesitate to use public transport more to avoid walking fatigue.
  • Weekends are busier: Crowds are significantly larger on weekends, so plan accordingly if you’re crowd-sensitive

Day 1: Arrival in Shinjuku

  • Original Plan: Arrival at Narita, Suica cards, Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue, Shinjuku exploration, Golden Gai, Hanazone Shrine, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building view
  • What Happened: After a long 13-hour flight, we were exhausted but managed to get through customs quickly thanks to QR codes we pre-arranged. We arrived in Shinjuku, checked into Century Tower Hotel, and after resting a bit, we ventured out to explore Kabukicho, Golden Gai (mainly populated with tourists), and visited our first shrine (Hanazone Shrine) Had dinner at Japanese Risotto Otsu and visited Don Quijote, though it was a bit too much stimulation for my parents. We had good coffee and cake at Shu Premium Shinjuku. After that we called it a day and went back to the hotel to get some rest.

Lesson learned: Jetlag hit us hard, so we didn’t manage to visit Shinjuku Gyoen or Meiji Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue as planned.

Day 2: Walk to Shibuya from Shinjuku

  • Original Plan: Meiji Jingu, Treasure Museum, Harajuku, Takeshita Street, Togo Shrine, Cat Street, Shibuya Scramble, Hachiko Memorial Crossing, Shibuya Parco, Nintendo Tokyo, Pokemon Center, MEGA Don Quijoto.
  • What Happened: One of my favorite days! We visited Meiji Jingu, strolled through Harajuku, and stopped by a café called Reissue, where they 3D printed foam lattes (I got Totoro!). We visited the Togo shrine and walked via Cat Street to Shibuya, where we had a coffee at Coffee Sakan Shu Premium Grand Shibuya (good coffee and cake like previous day). We visited Shibuya Scramble and Hachiko Statue but skipped Shibuya Sky as it was sold out. Mega Don Quijote, Nintendo Tokyo, and the Pokemon center were overcrowded, so we didn’t spend much time there and it was not enjoyable. Had a meal at an izakaya in Shibuya before heading back.

Note: Plan attractions like Shibuya Sky in advance because tickets can sell out, especially for popular viewpoints.

Day 3: Kamakura Day Trip

  • Original Plan: Visit several temples, the bamboo forest, Komachi-dori, Kamakura Daibutsu, Hasedera, and Yuigahama Beach.
  • What Happened: Kamakura was great as well. We explored Komachi-dori, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, and had coffee in a lovely hidden garden café. The bamboo forest at Hokokuji Temple was unique and impressive, and we had matcha tea there. Hasedera Temple was one of the best temple experiences—beautiful grounds and serene atmosphere. The little statues were so cool.
  • Daibutsu was okay but didn’t compare to Hasedera. Made less of an impression on us. Dinner at Onari Yokocho Kamakura was delicious, with (vegetarian) sushi.
  • We did not manage to visit the Chokozan Myohon Temple, Zeniarai Benten Shrine, and the Kakakura Yuigahama Beach.

Day 4: Senso-ji, Ueno, and Yanaka

  • Original Plan: Visit Senso-ji, Ueno Park, and Yanaka Cemetery.
  • What Happened: Great day! Senso-ji was crowded in the morning, but we returned later in the evening when it was quieter and much more enjoyable. We walked along the Sumida River and watched the Skytree from afar. We visited a café called Bee Friendship, which had a bee/honey theme. Delicious coffee, cake, and ice cream. We made our way to Ueno, where I twisted my knee, so we visited Ueno Zoo for a low-key activity, and skipped the park exploration. Also, my parents wanted to see the Panda exhibition. Yanaka was a hidden gem—we were the only ones in some temples. One of the temples being the Kannonji Temple which is said to have connections with the Ako Ronin. We finished the day at Tayori for dinner, then revisited Senso-ji at night.

Day 5: Minato and Odaiba

  • Original Plan: TeamLab Borderless, Tokyo Tower, Zojo-ji Temple, Atago Jinja, Hamarikyu Gardens, Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba Marine Park, Gundam.
  • What Happened: TeamLab Borderless exceeded all expectations—the immersive rooms and music were great. We walked to Tokyo Tower and Zojo-ji Temple, but we felt lackluster due to the bad weather (all day rain). We attempted Odaiba afterwards, but the malls were overcrowded, so we quickly left after seeing the Gundam statue. Ended the day with ramen at Soushi Menya Musashi and visited the 2d cafe in Shinjuku afterwards.

Tip: Odaiba can get extremely busy on rainy days when everyone heads to the malls.

Day 6: Central Tokyo and Akihabara

  • Original Plan: Explore Tokyo Station, Tokyo Character street, JP Tower, Intermediatheque, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Imperial Palace Gardens, and Akihabara.
  • What Happened: We explored Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace Gardens, but we noticed some walking fatigue, so we decided to have a rest. Akihabara was packed—way more than we expected for a weekend—so we didn’t stay long. It was not enjoyable to visit the stores with these crowds. I went back out to Shinjuku for some last-minute arcade gaming and Don Quijote shopping.

Note: Saturdays and Sundays can be overwhelming in areas like Akihabara. Also looking back, we should have taken more rest as we were not prepared for this crowdedness and the physical impact of walking a lot of steps everyday.

Day 7: Tokyo to Takayama

  • Original Plan: Take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Takayama, explore Takayama Old Town including the different temples.
  • What Happened: We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya and transferred to the Limited Express Hida to Takayama. The journey through the mountains was scenic and relaxing. After arriving in Takayama, it started raining, but we still decided to walk through the old town streets. The main people we saw were tourists. After dinner at an izakaya, we found a temple (Sakurayaam Hachimangu Shrine), where people were chanting inside. That was a very cool experience during the rain and darkness. I believe it was the preparation for the Autumn festival that took place in the following days in Takayama. We had coffee at Cha-Mama Cafe, and went back tot he hotel, where I relaxed in the onsen. In the end, we only visited 1 temple out of the 4 planned.

Day 8: Shirakawa-go Day Trip

  • Original Plan: half-day tour of Shirakawa-go. Visit museums in Takayama.
  • What Happened: We took the bus to Shirakawa-go, and luckily it was dry when we explored the farmhouses. We wandered through the village and it was peacefull and much less crowded than expected. We ate the famous pudding (pudding house), had coffee and cake and “Kyoshu” Traditional Coffee shop and had some hida beef skewers at Zensuke. Delicious. After coming back to Takayama, we visited some oter temples like the Hida Kokubun-ji temple. Afterwards, we had dinner at Cha-Mama Cafe, where we took the Hida beef menu. Good god, never in my life did I taste such good beef. A real gem. Afterwards we went back to the hotel.

Tip: If you’re planning to visit Shirakawa-go, definitely book your bus tickets in advance. The bus was fully reserved.

Day 9: Takayama Autumn Festival

  • Original Plan: Morning markets, Shoren-Ji Temple, Higashi…

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1g5tk4u/trip_report_japan_16_days_tokyotakayamakyoto/