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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Tacox706 on 2025-09-17 20:25:50+00:00.
Hi all!
My husband and I are gearing up to pull together our plans for our first trip to Japan next October! I’m the type to book things early/plan ahead so I would love some insight on if the current itinerary we have planned is sound.
We are planning to be on the ground in Japan October 14th to October 29th. We are lucky to have a lot of points saved up so we plan to use points for all hotels besides our Ryokan stay. We are coming from the East Coast US.
We are planning for 5 nights in Tokyo to start, 4 nights in Kyoto, 1 night in Hiroshima/Miyajima, 3 nights in Osaka and 2 nights back in Tokyo. We prefer to go back to Tokyo vs. leaving from Osaka.
Over time, I learned that super detailed travel is just not for us. We like structure with the flexibility to still explore. I had wanted to do DisneySea but it doesn’t seem like it’ll work out so we removed it entirely. We also swapped Kinosaki for doing the Ryokan on Miyajima since we were already going to Hiroshima. Just things to put on the list for a future trip.
Our structure is as follows;
Wed 10/14: Arrive in Tokyo. Planning to stay at Hyatt House Shibuya w/ points for 5 nights total.
- No plans for this day. Our flight would most likely arrive in the afternoon so just going to focus on getting to the hotel, checking in and staying awake until a decent time to help adjust to jet lag.
- Will walk around the area around our hotel, hit up a 7-11 for the first time
- May even take a peek in Don Quijote but not buy anything just yet
Thu 10/15: Sightseeing in Tokyo
*Focusing on Shibuya, Harajuku & Shinjuku
- Meiji Shrine/Yoyogi Park
- Takeshita Street
- Cat Street
- Explore Shibuya (crossing, shopping, visit PARCO)
- Visit Shinjuku, specifically to visit the Godzilla head, walk around
Fri 10/16: Sightseeing in Tokyo
*Focusing on Akihabara & Asakusa
- Senso-ji Temple
- Nakamise Shopping Street
- Shopping in Akihabara
- Interested in dinner in this area, maybe a themed izakaya
Sat 10/17: Day trip to Kawagoe
* All day in Kawagoe- Leave Tokyo for Kawagoe
- Main focus is the Festival
- Visit the Hikawa Shrine & Candy Alley
Sun 10/18: Sightseeing in Tokyo
*Light day before we leave for Kyoto
- Ueno Park
- Maybe Tokyo National Museum (we love museums)
- Pack/send luggage/rest up
Mon 10/19: Depart Tokyo for Kyoto. Planning on staying at the Hyatt Place Kyoto w/ points for 4 nights
- Nothing planned on the arrival day so we have the freedom to get settled in
- If all goes well with traveling, we could probably easily visit Nijo castle or Gyoen National Garden
Tue 10/20: Sightseeing in Kyoto
- Fushimi Inari
- Higashiyama area
Wed 10/21: Half or Full day at Nara
- Nara Park
- Todai-ji
- Kasuga Shrine
Thu 10/22: Sightseeing in Kyoto
- Arashiyama (not the monkey park, most likely)
- Back to central Kyoto, whatever we missed on that first day
- Keeping this day light as its the day before we leave for Hiroshima
Fri 10/23: Depart Kyoto for Hiroshima and ultimately staying overnight in a Ryokan on Miyajima Island. Current front runner is Miyajima Kinsuikan. I have a tattoo, so planning to splurge on a room with its own bath. This is for 1 night.
- Mainly visiting the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima before heading to Miyajima
- Check in to the Ryokan and stay there
Sat 10/24: Depart Miyajima for Osaka; In Osaka, staying at Caption by Hyatt Namba w/ points for 3 nights
- Sightsee on Miyajima Island like the Torii Gate, Itsukushima Shrine and Daisho-in
- Depart Miyajima to head to Osaka, enjoy the evening there
- We would only have overnight bags with us here as we would’ve sent our luggage from Kyoto to Osaka
Sun 10/25: Sightseeing in Osaka
- Taking it easy this day. We will probably be running on fumes and could use a reset
- Just sticking to exploring Osaka at our own pace, Den Den Town, Dotonbori and lots of snacks/food
Mon 10/26: Full Day Universal Studios Japan
- Sort of self explanatory here. Spending the day at USJ!
- We’ve been to Florida so familiar with Universal. I think HHN will be going on and not a separate ticket like Florida
Tue 10/27: Depart Osaka for Tokyo. Planning final stay at the Hyatt Centric Ginza w/ points
- Same as the other travel days, not planning anything on purpose so we aren’t rushing around. May really get into shopping here since we are nearing the end of the trip but we do have the following day
Wed 10/28: Last minute shopping in Tokyo
- Keeping this open but my husband wants to go Gundam model shopping
- I figured at this point we can now really shop for the things we want to take home
- Calling it early this day in order to get prepared to fly home the next morning
Thu 10/29: Depart Tokyo going back to the US
- Our flight should be leaving mid morning so not much here but getting back to the airport
I see so many different types of itineraries in my research to sort of come up with what I think works for us and what we want to do, so I’m hoping I’m on the right track!