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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Unusual-Camel-5802 on 2025-09-04 12:06:57+00:00.

Hi all! As a way of saying thanks to everyone on this sub I’m posting a “quick” report on our 18 day trip. Me and my gf, both mid thirties from Italy. Hope you find it useful, feel free to ask any questions!

• Mon 11: arrival at Fukuoka late afternoon, quick stroll along the river and dinner at yatai, there were only a few even though it was a national holiday. Ok ramen, great grilled mentaiko!
• Tue 12: shinkansen to Hiroshima, train to Miyajima. Itsukushima shrine, then mt Misen then Daishoin. Train back to Hiroshima to see the atom dome, okonomiyaki dinner and train to Onomichi. Quick stroll to see Onomichi temples from outside at night.
• Wed 13: Shimanami Kaido to Imabari. We stopped at Kosanji and did a detour to Oyamazumi shrine, plus a quick swim. Get the electric bikes if you want to see more stuff, and use them on max! Yakiniku at Imabari near the station for dinner.
• Thu 14: Train to Matsuyama. Matsuyama castle via the Ninomaru (on foot) then took the ropeway down, then Dogo Onsen tour and private bath at the annex. Wanted to see the cave tunnel at Ishiteji but it closes at 16:00 so we missed it. Train to Marugame, izakaya dinner since it was late, great udon!
• Fri 15: we decided against getting up super early to go to Kotohira and instead went directly to Takamatsu. Visited Ritsurin without rushing, then train to Tokushima for Awa Odori. Amazing experience. We had tickets for the show at Sansan at 20.20, so much fun. Stayed at an AirBnB (only place available when we booked).
• Sat 16: early train to Takamatsu then Okayama. Stopped for Korakuen. Train to Himeji, managed to get a spot on the official english tour at 13. Then onwards to Osaka, after checking in we headed to Dotonbori.
• Sun 17: train towards Nara, stopping first at Horyuji and then Yakushiji and Toshodaiji. Check in at Nara just before seeing the sunset in the park in front of the museum. After dark we walked to the gate at Todaiji, seeing the kongorikishi lit up at night alone was great!
• Mon 18: Todaiji, Kasugataisha, Kofukuji for the museum (fantastic statues!) because obviously the pagoda is under renovation, then the free machiya at Naramachi Nigiwai-no-le. Around 8 pm we took the train to Kyoto, checked in, then went to see the last day of illumination at Kodaiji.
• Tue 19: early start at Kinkakuji, then Ryoanji. Then Arashiyami, bamboo grove and Senryuji. Then ukai cormorant fishing, awesome! Dinner at an izakaya in pontocho.
• Wed 20: first Toji since it was near our hotel, then Nijojo. Nishiki market afterwards. In the afternoon Kiyomizudera for the sunset, walk through Higashiyama and Gion, then kawayuka dinner.
• Thu 21: Toji once again since we learned of the huge flea market held on the 21st of each month. Then Nishi and Higashi Honganji. The huge gate at Higashi was open so we climbed it. Afterwards we took a train to Uji for Byodoin, then crossed the river for Ujikami shrine, and took the Keihan train to Fushimi for sake tasting. After that we got to Fushimi Inari a bit after sunset, and climbed to the top at night with way less crowds. Yakitori for dinner.
• Fri 22: last day in Kyoto, we were missing some of the main attractions (imperial palace gardens, Ginkakuji, Heian…) but we decided to escape the crowds and the heat and went north for the Kurama-Kibune hike. We even managed to get a spot at the nagashi somen kawadoko place! In the afternoon back to Higashiyama for Sanjusanjendo and the national museum, which closes at 20 on fridays. For our last meal in Kyoto we found a minuscule obanzai restaurant (literally just someone’s kitchen).
• Sat 23: train back to Osaka to catch the Nankai express for Koyasan. Okunoin in the morning, fire ceremony, check in at Kongo Sanmain, and then in the afternoon we just had time for the museum before everything closed. Back to the shukubo for dinner (delicious shojin ryori!) then a night stroll at Okunoin again. We didn’t do the guided tour, too expensive and with so many people it would have lost all the atmosphere.
• Sun 24: morning ceremony, breakfast, then Kongobuji, Tokugawa Mausoleum and the other sights. Took the train back to Osaka in the early afternoon since we had an helicopter ride booked to see the Daisenryo Kofun (mindblowing!). Then shinkansen to Tokyo. After check in, we managed to see Sensoji lit up.
• Mon 25: day trip to Nikko. Rinnoji, Toshogu, Futarasan, Taiyuin and Kanmangafuchi Abyss. Simply amazing. Quick outing at Shibuya to see the scramble when we got back to Tokyo.
• Tue 26: train to Yamanashi for wine tasting at Katsunuma Winery. Then back to Otsu to take the train for mt Fuji, and the Fujiyoshida fire festival. One of the most amazing experiences in the whole trip.
• Wed 27: from Fuji directly to Kamakura. Kotokuin, Hasedera, and Tsurugaoka. We could have done more temples but we decided to take it easy and managed to go to the beach for a bit. Back to Tokyo for the night.
• Thu 28: Sumo exhibition tour at Tachikawa. So much fun, 6 hours went by so fast! In the afternoon Meiji Jingu, a bit of shopping at Shibuya, then managed to see the fireworks at Ota City.
• Fri 29: last day in Japan, breakfast at Tsukiji market, then the national museum. Flight back home in the late afternoon.

All in all… fantastic trip! First time in Japan for both of us. Spent around 3500€-4000€ each including flights and everything.

Notes: the heat in august is no joke. Be sure to keep hydrated… pocari sweat FTW! Also, we used waaay more cash than we expected. Everywhere we read online said card was accepted 99% of the time… well not really. Luckily withdrawing in yen at the 7/11 ATM was easy and cheap (commissions-wise).

Thanks for reading!