Travel

Japan

June 9, 2019

Visiting Japan in spring is PRIME TIME!!!

My husband and I have been planning to visit Japan for years and we finally decided this year to make it happen. Japan is one of those trips that you have to book pretty far in advance since prices skyrocket around cherry blossom season.

We decided to keep our itinerary pretty simple and split our time between Tokyo and Kyoto. We visited a few shrines and historical sites but spent the majority of our time shopping and eating LOTS of ramen.

Scroll through to see some of my favorite photos and our general itinerary down at the bottom.

Now for the iPhone photos…

View from our hotel room. We stayed at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo and we plan to stay here next time we visit Tokyo in 2020. The hotel is in quiet part of town with a large garden so it was the perfect getaway from the busy city.
At the first ever Michelin star ramen shop- Tsuta Ramen. This place uses a ticket system where you go early in the morning to put a deposit down and get a ticket for a specific time slot to come back during that day. The process takes about 2 hours.
Temple in Ukyo- Ku (Kyoto, Japan)
Shibuya Crossing
Our last morning in Japan we took a boat out at Chidorigafuchi to see all the cherry blossoms and it was the highlight of our trip. Get there early because this place gets packed even before they open.

Now for the Itinerary. We kept a very basic itinerary due to wanting to really just explore the street life. We spent a ton of time shopping. We ended up with about 25 pairs of chopsticks, new plates and bowls for the house, candy, kimonos and lots more!!

Day 1 

  • Fly LAX > Tokyo (We took a direct flight on Delta which was about 12 1/2 hours) 9:57am

Day 2 

  • Land Tokyo
  • Shinjuku: Shinjuku is the entertainment capital of Tokyo and the streets are filled with hundreds of bars/restaurants/arcades and karaoke. This is also home to the famous Robot Restaurant. 
  • Yakitori alley, Memory Lane  
  • Tokyo Hotel : Chinzanso Tokyo (We highly recommend this Hotel if you want something not smack in the middle of the busy city.) 

Day 3

  • Spend all day exploring Tokyo
  • Sensoji Temple : Senso-ji is one of Tokyo’s most famous temples and the oldest. The temple is just a few minutes walk from Asakusa station and is open daily from 6:00am – 5:00pm 
  • Ueno Park: This park is the prime location to walk around and enjoy the Cherry Blossom/Sakura Festival
  • Electric Town – Akihabara (1 mile from park)
  • Imperial Palace and Chidorigafuchi Park (2 miles from Akihabara)
    Opening Hours: Gardens open daily 9:00am – 4:00pm (Summer opens until 5.00pm) This is another place to see the cherry blossoms. 

Day 4

 – Travel Tokyo > Kyoto (Bullet train 3 hours) You can easily purchase a ticket online or at the train station (where you can also request to be on the Mt Fuji viewing side of the train). I believe the tickets are about $150 per person each way but the ride is quick and enjoyable. Another bonus is that the train leaves about every 10 minutes so you have plenty of options of when to leave each day. 

Day 5

  • Spend all day exploring Kyoto
  • Daigo-ji Temple, Kyoto
  • Fushimi Inari – Taisha Shrine (This place is packed at all time in the day so visit as early as possible)
  • Yasaka Shrine
  • Nanzenji Temple 
  • Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
  • Arashiyama

Day 6 

  • Travel Kyoto > Tokyo (bullet train)
  • Meiji Shrine
  • Shibuya Crossing

Day 7 

– Travel Home: Tokyo > LAX 

  • Fly LAX > Tokyo (We took a direct flight on Delta which was about 12 1/2 hours) 9:57am

Day 2 

  • Land Tokyo
  • Shinjuku: Shinjuku is the entertainment capital of Tokyo and the streets are filled with hundreds of bars/restaurants/arcades and karaoke. This is also home to the famous Robot Restaurant. 
  • Yakitori alley, Memory Lane  
  • Tokyo Hotel : Chinzanso Tokyo (We highly recommend this Hotel if you want something not smack in the middle of the busy city.) 

Day 3

  • Spend all day exploring Tokyo
  • Sensoji Temple : Senso-ji is one of Tokyo’s most famous temples and the oldest. The temple is just a few minutes walk from Asakusa station and is open daily from 6:00am – 5:00pm 
  • Ueno Park: This park is the prime location to walk around and enjoy the Cherry Blossom/Sakura Festival
  • Electric Town – Akihabara (1 mile from park)
  • Imperial Palace and Chidorigafuchi Park (2 miles from Akihabara)
    Opening Hours: Gardens open daily 9:00am – 4:00pm (Summer opens until 5.00pm) This is another place to see the cherry blossoms. 

Day 4

 – Travel Tokyo > Kyoto (Bullet train 3 hours) You can easily purchase a ticket online or at the train station (where you can also request to be on the Mt Fuji viewing side of the train). I believe the tickets are about $150 per person each way but the ride is quick and enjoyable. Another bonus is that the train leaves about every 10 minutes so you have plenty of options of when to leave each day. 

Day 5

  • Spend all day exploring Kyoto
  • Daigo-ji Temple, Kyoto
  • Fushimi Inari – Taisha Shrine (This place is packed at all time in the day so visit as early as possible)
  • Yasaka Shrine
  • Nanzenji Temple 
  • Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
  • Arashiyama

Day 6 

  • Travel Kyoto > Tokyo (bullet train)
  • Meiji Shrine
  • Shibuya Crossing

Day 7 

  • Travel Home: Tokyo > LAX 

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1 Comment

  • Reply Mack jean July 12, 2019 at 6:30 pm

    The cherry blossoms! You look so adorable. Sounds like somewhere to add to my bucket list

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