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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/abunni on 2024-11-30 14:17:12+00:00.

Caveat that this is a long post but I hope it’s useful for folks! My partner and I like to travel with very packed itineraries and I’m very type A so I plan most things down to the hour. It was his first time but I’d been to Japan before, so I have experience in navigation etc. It also helps that I’m Chinese so I can read kanji which helps a ton with menus and signs etc. Also we’re from New York City so we’re used to public transportation and walking everywhere - that being said, my feet were still sore after the first two days. We spent 6 full days in Tokyo, Lake Kawaguchiko & Kyoto. Note that all prices below are for the two of us! —

Day 1/Arrival: Arrived HND at 5:25 and took public transportation to my friend’s apartment - arrived ~7:30. Took a quick shower and nap, and left around 9:30 to explore the area. Quick coffee stop and walked around the Waseda area. Headed to an omakase tempura lunch (shunkeian arakaki, Michelin 1 star) in the Tsukiji area. Lunch was amazing and lasted ~2 hours, easily top 10 meals of my life ($305). Then did harajuku, Meiji shrine, and shibuya crossing. Went back to friend’s apartment and finished the day with an easy 7-11 dinner (plus was still waaay stuffed from lunch). * Steps: 22k * Spend: $21 transportation, $325 food

Day 2: Headed to Tsukiji for brunch; it was super crowded and we were there for ~2 hours ($40). Wanted to go to the national museum but it was closed (bad planning on my part). Headed to Asakusa / Sensoji - walked around for ~1hr. Wanted to go to the imperial palace gardens but was also closed! Did the Korakuen instead ($4, which turned out great - they had a little stamp scavenger hunt in the park and you ended up with a beautiful postcard souvenir), then Akihabara, and then Tokyo City View ($22) in Roppongi. Went to Ginza for a little shopping appointment (we got his wedding band!) then finished off the day with a sukiyaki dinner at Kisoji ($87). * Steps: 27k * Spend: $17 transportation, $147 food, $26 sightseeing

Day 3: quick taxi ride ($25) to Tokyo station before hopping on the bus ($30) to Lake Kawaguchiko. We took a taxi as I just had zero desire to navigate morning rush hour commute with two carry-on suitcases. Took the sightseeing red line bus directly from the train station to our hotel (Ubuya) and dropped our luggage off. Weather was awful with no Fuji in sight. Did the ropeway ($13, which was silly in hindsight because there was nothing to see), maple corridor, and oishi park. Wanted to go to the kubota itchiku museum but closed (again). Checked into the hotel around 15:00 and spent time in the hot springs / chilled in the hotel lounge for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was served at 18:50 - it wasn’t bad, but I was expecting slightly better food to be honest. The whole day was a slight bummer due to not being able to see Fuji, but the hot springs really cured my sore body/ feet. * Steps: 6k * Spend: $73 transportation, $18 food, $13 sightseeing, $452 hotel (1 night, inclusive of 2 meals for 2 people)

Day 4: woke up at 6:00 and lo and behold, the mountain!! For those of you debating whether Ubuya is worth it or not, it IS. This view from our bedroom was just insane, I easily stared out the window for 30 minutes. Went for a quick morning hot spring dip, then breakfast. Again - wasn’t bad, but expected slightly better. Checked out at 9:30 and the hotel shuttled us to the train station where we stored our suitcases ($6), then hopped on the train to shimoyoshida for arakurayama sengen park. Spent ~1.5 hours there, got amazing pics, then train-ed back to Kawaguchiko. Got on our bus ($30) to Mishima from there, then transferred to the Shinkansen at Mishima ($140). Everything was seamless and easy and before we knew it we were in Kyoto! Quick subway ride to our hotel (the new Four Points Flex - it’s clean and new but beware that it’s TINY! Staff were super nice though). Walked to a conveyer belt sushi place nearby ($27, food was nothing to write home about, but I love the concept), then a 20 min subway ride to Fushimi Inari Tasha. It’s indeed way less crowded at night, but deeper into the temple it started to get a bit creepy. Subwayed home and PTFO’d. * Steps: 16k * Spend: $186 transportation, $39 food, $6 luggage storage, $215 hotel (2 nights, no meals)

Day 5: late start today! We left the hotel around 9:30 and took a taxi ($13) to kiyomizu-dera. It was super crowded with a bunch of students on field trips. Spent ~1hr there, then walked around in the small streets of Gion. Waited ~20 min in line for Gyukatsu Katsugyu ($33, good and honestly well priced!), then took a long bus ride to Kinkaku-ji. Again, sooo many people but this temple was beautiful! Totally worth it. Spent ~1hr there ($6), then took a bus to the manga museum. Slightly overpriced tickets ($15) but was pretty cool - we missed out on slots for a manga-style portrait though (sad). 10 min walk back to hotel, then rested for a bit before heading to Nishiki Market and Pontocho. Had dinner at a great little izakaya in the alleys (kokodonemo, $44), then walked back to our hotel. * Steps: 20k * Spend: $18 transportation, $85 food, $21 sightseeing

Day 6: checked out of our hotel and left our luggage there, then took a train to arashiyama for the bamboo forest and tenryu-ji. Didn’t end up going into the temple but spent ~1hr in the bamboo forest / surrounding area. Quick stop at the rilakkuma cafe and the miffy cafe (obsessed with both, honestly), and enjoyed a fish cake snack by the river. Took a bus to Nijo Castle ($17) which was super cool to see for those of us who enjoyed watching Shogun on Hulu. Walked 20 min back to our hotel with a family mart fried chicken pit stop on the way. Scored two pairs of adidas sneakers for $50 total on a Black Friday sale, then collected our luggage and made our way back to Kyoto station. Shinkansen-ed to Tokyo ($186), got back to the apartment, and went for a quick dinner at a popular student spot nearby. Re-packed and got ready to depart the next day. * Steps: 19k * Spend: $199 transportation, $50 food, $17 sightseeing

Day 7/Departure: that’s all folks! If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading 😂 public transport back to HND for our morning flight out! * Steps: 3k * Spend: $9 transportation

— Spending summary * Actual shopping (ie things I needed and were cheaper in Japan than in the US): $2165 (95% of this was wedding band which is irrelevant to the trip) * Food: $664 * Accommodation: $640 (3 nights) * Distance transportation: $386 * Meals I invited my friend to to thank her for hosting us: $196 * Local transportation: $137 * Sightseeing: $77 * Misc: $26 (e-sim, luggage storage, etc) * Gifts for family & friends: $28 * Random shopping (ie things I didn’t need): $24 * Not including flight prices here as our tickets included onward flights to china

Overall it was a great trip and I’m super grateful to have had a friend who we could stay with in Tokyo and leave our larger suitcase with. Suica made transportation super easy and 8G of data on Airalo across the two of us was perfectly sufficient for 6 full days of traveling. And the favorable exchange rates definitely helped a ton!