Please help, leaving in 10 days and need a fresh pair of eyes

DAY 1 - ARRIVAL @ kix osaka airport 9am
Accommodations in kyoto
Activities and sight seeing locations for the day:
Arashiyama - Bamboo Groves
Arashiyama - Tenryuji Temple
Arashiyama - Togetsukyo Bridge
Togetsu Bridge and Riverside Area
Okochi Sanso
Arashiyama - Monkey Park Iwatayama
Visit Tenryuji Temple
Evening:
Yasaka Shrine
Pontocho area
Kamogawa River
Kodaji Temple

Arashima is not in the center of Kyoto, it's in the west. Depending on where you accommodation is you might have a long time getting from KIX to Kyoto, then to your airbnb, then back to the train, then to Arashima

That is also a rather full day. Will you be jet lagged, will you be tired?

DAY 2 - Osaka
Bicycle tour in osaka Central 10am-2pm(ok so I have to do a bit of explaining here.i originally had booked the tour for day 1 but realized that I could not make the tour in time as it would start at 10,the only next available date was for day 2 and the tour is nonrefundable)
Kuromon market
Dotonbori

Well I wouldnt bother with Osaka if you are seeing Tokyo later. You dont really have very much time in Kyoto and no time for Nara. It would have to be a VERY expensive bicycling tour for me to not just punt it.

debating about buying a ticket to see the Universal Studios Harry Potter world thoughts?

Totally not my thing. Generally though I question going all the way to Japan to see America.

DAY 3 - Kyoto
Fushimi inari
Kiyomizudera
Nishiki market

This is all you have in Kyoto? It's frightfully little time. I would re-prioritize the sights, for me the best part of Kyoto is in the eastern hills (philosophers path) and you are ommiting that. I would probably not go to Arashima.

Fushima Inari is open 24 hours a day. So it would be a good thing to do late at night if you find yourself jet lagged.

Bullet train to Hiroshima around 6pm
Overnight accommodation is on miyajima island
Dinner + see the great torii
*will it be too late to see anything else? *

If you take off from Kyoto at 6pm you wont arrive at Miyajima until 8:30 or so. Everything will still be there and lit up, but it wouldnt be my choice.

DAY 4 - Miyajima + hiroshima
Daisho-in Temple and Mount misen
Momiji-dani-koen Park
Omotesando Shopping Street
5 Story Pagoda
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Hiroshima Castle

I wouldnt spend your time in Hiroshima's castle(redone and made of concrete). I wouldnt bother with the 5 story pagoda(kyoto has far nicer). I'm not sure I would plan on too much at Omotesando Shopping Street.

Hiroshima is great for riding the historic trolly, the peace park, abomb museum, and it's famous pancakes. Beyond that, you are better off looking. Miyajima is good for getting away from shopping and commercialism

Catch overnight willerexpress bus @8 to tokyo

OK, so here's were I get stuck. I know the areas I want to hang around and see, just don't know what days to apply them to based on the plans that I already have set.
Areas I want to see: Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ginza, roppongi, a sakura (sensor temples, tsukiji market, ueno, odaiba, akihabara any other areas to consider?

Lots of other cool stuff in Tokyo, but it depends on what you are interested in. I assume your airbnb near Shinjuku is going to be for the whole time? That means half those areas are rather far away. You might want to reconsider some other locations that are closer to Shinjuku, and consolidate what is left of Odaiba, Asakura, Ginza Ueno, Tsukji, Akibara etc into one or two days out.

I also wouldnt spend too much time in Tokyo looking at temples. You will regret not spending time in Kyoto's temples, which are larger, older, more detailed, and despite Kyoto being a little touristy, much less crowded than Tokyo's, as Kyoto has so many more for a much smaller population.

I have been staring at this itinerary for way too long. Its come to the point where I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I am mostly concerned over the 4 days in Tokyo and not knowing what areas to see during which days. It does not help that I booked a bunch of airbnb experience activities without thinking. Would love any pointers and advice!

Your Tokyo days seem the most sane and easiest to deal with. Your whirlwind tour of Osaka, Miyajima, Kyoto, and Hiroshima in less than 4 days is making my head spin.

I would do Kyoto and only Kyoto. If I got bored of temples I would take a day trip to Himeji for the largest original castle left in Japan and stop by Kobe or Osaka for some dinner/nightlife/shopping on the way back. If I really wanted to see more temples, I would go to Nara. I would not go to Hiroshima and Miyajima. It's too far, it's cutting deep into Kyoto, it's a lot of money to travel down that far.

Arashima is not in the center of Kyoto, it's in the west. Depending on where you accommodation is you might have a long time getting from KIX to Kyoto, then to your airbnb, then back to the train, then to Arashima
That is also a rather full day. Will you be jet lagged, will you be tired?

Well I wouldnt bother with Osaka if you are seeing Tokyo later. You dont really have very much time in Kyoto and no time for Nara. It would have to be a VERY expensive bicycling tour for me to not just punt it.

Totally not my thing. Generally though I question going all the way to Japan to see America.

It was only about 60CAD, I might just ditch the tour then. And yes good call. I think I fell back on Universal Studios because I'm getting a bit of a headache planning but it would be shame to miss out on other stuff i can't see anywhere else

This is all you have in Kyoto? It's frightfully little time. I would re-prioritize the sights, for me the best part of Kyoto is in the eastern hills (philosophers path) and you are ommiting that. I would probably not go to Arashima.
Fushima Inari is open 24 hours a day. So it would be a good thing to do late at night if you find yourself jet lagged.

The eastern hills. Noted, that sounds awesome. I'll try to replan that to fit it in. Any other crucial places i'm missing out on? I know i can totally google this stuff but I was honestly did but everything kind of became a blur. Would love to know of any other places that are "not to be missed".

I wouldnt spend your time in Hiroshima's castle(redone and made of concrete). I wouldnt bother with the 5 story pagoda(kyoto has far nicer). I'm not sure I would plan on too much at Omotesando Shopping Street.

Ok, scrapping the castle, and the 5 pagoda. I could potentially catch the JR train for the next morning instead of staying in miyajima I suppose. I know my initial thoughts about staying overnight were based on avoiding the crowds and seeing the island after majority of people leave. Maybe it's not that important as I thought.

Hiroshima is great for riding the historic trolly, the peace park, abomb museum, and it's famous pancakes. Beyond that, you are better off looking. Miyajima is good for getting away from shopping and commercialism

great advice! will make sure to do those things

Lots of other cool stuff in Tokyo, but it depends on what you are interested in. I assume your airbnb near Shinjuku is going to be for the whole time? That means half those areas are rather far away. You might want to reconsider some other locations that are closer to Shinjuku, and consolidate what is left of Odaiba, Asakura, Ginza Ueno, Tsukji, Akibara etc into one or two days out.

I was originally thinking of doing asakusa +odaiba as a half day trip and I read somewhere about taking a river boat?
Which leaves me with tsukiji, ginza, akibara + ueno?
I debated about sushi dai but it seem ridiculous to get up and get there for 3 or 4 am to get a spot. Although, I am going solo, so I did read that it'd be faster for me to get a seat vs being in a party of 2 or more. I know I want to see a lot of the depichika's (which is ridiculous but I weirdly love grocery stores), i plan to go up the government building to see the bird's eye view. I like anime and manga but like i'm not crazy, crazy about it (more so sailor moon lol, fruits basket and a couple other old mangas), I wanted to get sutido ghibli tickets but I was a day late from when they went on sale and they sold out -_-
I searched up a few animal cafe's that seem really fun but that's kind of it. I've got a ton of restaurants/food places lined up so there's no problem with that. I guess I'm just trying to fill up the space in between it because I can't exactly eat my way through every minute. :(

Your Tokyo days seem the most sane and easiest to deal with. Your whirlwind tour of Osaka, Miyajima, Kyoto, and Hiroshima in less than 4 days is making my head spin.

sorry!!! :(

I would do Kyoto and only Kyoto. If I got bored of temples I would take a day trip to Himeji for the largest original castle left in Japan and stop by Kobe or Osaka for some dinner/nightlife/shopping on the way back. If I really wanted to see more temples, I would go to Nara. I would not go to Hiroshima and Miyajima. It's too far, it's cutting deep into Kyoto, it's a lot of money to travel down that far.

good point. I will rethink it over tonight. I think what appealed to me most was daisho-in and the little statues along the steps. Might not be a good enough reason and maybe i'll save it for another trip.
Thank you for being as thorough and taking the time write a detailed reply. Helps a lot!!

Great reply in number one,and I agree with pretty much everything written there.

Most imnportant being (IMHO)..more time in Kyoto,and concentrate your 'temple' stuff there.The 50th temple/shrine in Kyoto is more interesting than the first one in most other cities in Japan.Nara is one of its few (much smaller) rivals.

Tokyo...decide what to do when you are there.An itinerary based on one or two different areas a day is possible,or else just pick one thing you really want to see/do and then wander around that area to see what you come up with...there is interesting stuff everywhere in the city (esp.for the new traveller to Japan).

On the Miyajima question...arriving in the evening is a good idea IMHO.Assuming you still want to do that part..its a great place to sleep a night,have some traditional food in a ryokan for example.

The next morning you could climb the mountain,head to Hiroshima for late lunch (okonomiyaki) and then see the park/museum,before taking the bus to Tokyo.

Most imnportant being (IMHO)..more time in Kyoto,and concentrate your 'temple' stuff there.The 50th temple/shrine in Kyoto is more interesting than the first one in most other cities in Japan.Nara is one of its few (much smaller) rivals.
Tokyo...decide what to do when you are there.An itinerary based on one or two different areas a day is possible,or else just pick one thing you really want to see/do and then wander around that area to see what you come up with...there is interesting stuff everywhere in the city (esp.for the new traveller to Japan).

I am thinking of cutting Tokyo a day short and adding an extra day to Kyoto. Would that be a mistake?

Not for me.

Depends if your main interests are traditional, historic and cultural Japan....or modern Japan.

I am thinking of cutting Tokyo a day short and adding an extra day to Kyoto. Would that be a mistake?

Tokyo is certainly larger, but Kyoto has more easily accessible wow you experiences.

On a short time frame of ~2 weeks, most people spend the same amount of time in Kansai(Kyoto) as Kanto(Toyko). Typically 4-5 days in each is good before heading off to other places. The balance of more one than the other is about personal choice. If you like temples and gardens, Kyoto is where to get it.

I am thinking of cutting Tokyo a day short and adding an extra day to Kyoto. Would that be a mistake?

As others have said, it depends on your interests. For me, I would cut a day from Kyoto and spend that in Tokyo. I could spend weeks in Tokyo. Anything more than a day for me in Kyoto would lead me to the train station to get to Osaka every morning. But I've been to both Kyoto and Tokyo many times. I got over temples about 20 years ago. Once you take that out of the equation, Tokyo has a lot to do and see. Kyoto, not so much. I also find it much easier to get around Tokyo than Kyoto. The subway and trains go literally everywhere. In Kyoto, in many parts of town, it's all about the bus.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.