19 Days in Japan: Our Ideal Itinerary
We would venture to say that 90% of people you ask ‘Tell me three dream travel destinations’ would include Japan in the top. And I don’t blame them, as it’s one of the best destinations we’ve ever been to. After visiting and enjoying this wonderful country, here is our detailed itinerary of 19 days in Japan.
This destination was part of our 7-month sabbatical in Asia and Oceania and was not in our initial selection due to budgetary reasons, as it is a more expensive country than the whole of Southeast Asia. Finally, after an improvised modification of our plans, we decided that it was time to fulfil this dream. And I can tell you, we will never regret it.
You will have deduced that our budget, being part of such a long trip, was totally tight. We set ourselves the premise of spending 1100€ per person for the 19 days we spent in the country, and we almost made it (final deviation of 100€ per head).
What is special about our route?
You will find a thousand itineraries around Japan, most of them very similar because the route is really very good. We think ours is good and special for the following reasons:
- VERY small budget (1300 per person 19 days, without flights).
- Consequently, a lot of free activity and recommendations of where to invest the money.
- Accommodation quality – price TOP. We spent a lot of time researching hotels and got it right.
- We tried almost all the typical food in each city.
- Very nice pictures, see for yourself below…. (yes, we have to stop being humble here, as we LOVE THEM).
- We went in winter. It’s not the best time of year, but it has its advantages which we’ll tell you about below.
- It was a backpacker trip and we have seen few articles like this from Japan.
That said, will you join us on our 19 days in Japan?
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Previous considerations
- We did not take the JR pass, as since the price update it is not so cheap. We looked at the cost of all the trips we wanted to make and it was more expensive.
- We wanted to try traditional ryokan and a capsule hotel. We missed going to a temple to sleep, we will do it next time.
- To save money in these 19 days in Japan, we wanted to eat cheaply. If we ate out one day, we made up for it by eating at the supermarket (which, to be honest, is pretty good value for money).
- We selected beforehand which temples or places we wanted to pay for because we really wanted to. Japan has a lot of free things to do. If you want to save money, don’t pay for the sake of paying.
Day 1: Fukuoka - Hiroshima (19 days in Japan)
It may seem strange to you, but our 19-day tour of Japan starts in the southern city of Fukuoka. This is because we found cheap flights from Bangkok. We landed there in the morning and, as soon as we arrived, we took a 3-4 hour bus ride to Hiroshima.
The first day of our 19-day tour of Japan was not very productive, as between arriving in the city, buying warm clothes (it was very cold) and dropping off our bags, it was almost time for dinner.
But we did do something very cool, try the typical dish of the city and of many places in Japan, okonomiyaki. Hiroshima has a 4-storey building full of okonomiyaki restaurants. It’s called Okonomimura and we highly recommend it.
Where to sleep
There was not much cheap (for us) in this city, but we managed to stay in a hotel that was very good value for money. It is the Hotel Livemax Hiroshima. We recommend it because it is ideally located and the rooms are very new and well equipped.
Where to eat
We had lunch on the bus and dinner at Okonomimura. It is difficult to tell you where to eat within the 4 floors of restaurants, just wander around and select the one that catches your eye (or you can sit down). One of the best culinary experiences of these 19 days in Japan.
Day 2: Hiroshima
We started this second day of our 19 days in Japan by visiting the most relevant point of the city. As you all know, Hiroshima was the site of one of the most disastrous events of humanity, since in 1945 the first nuclear bomb was dropped, causing the death of almost 80,000 people and bringing the Second World War to an end.
Today, in the area where the explosion took place, we have the Memorial Park, which houses different monuments commemorating this event. These are:
- Atomic Bomb Dome
- Atomic Bomb Children’s
- Monument
- Flame of Peace
- Cenotaph for the A-bomb victims
We recommend you to take a quiet walk through this place and reflect on life and the barbarities of the human being, we always like to do it in places like this.
After visiting this park, we had an unfortunate event, as we had to go to the emergency room with Andrea. I mention this as a reminder of the importance of having a good travel insurance, as apart from saving us the VERY HIGH cost of a Japanese hospital, they helped us find where to go and managed everything super fast. We always travel with IATI insurance, this is the first time we use it and we give it a 10. We take this opportunity to leave you our link with 5% discount.
After leaving the hospital, we went for lunch and headed to the Hiroshima Castle area, now restored after the bomb blast. It’s a nice area to walk around and, if you go on a weekend like we did, you might find an event inside. In our case it was an archery competition and ninja show.
Finally, we leave for last the star visit in Hiroshima, the island of Miyajima. It is one of the most iconic images of Japan, with the famous red torii in the middle of the water.
To get there, we went by public transport to Miyajimaguchi and took a ferry. The island offers different things to do apart from seeing the torii, such as going up Mount Misen by cable car, but we simply wanted to walk to the Isukushima Shrine (torii in the water) to photograph it and we tried the oysters in a small stall. They are very typical of the area and you can eat 3 for 3€. We spent an hour and a half visiting the area.
Finally, we took a 6 hour night bus to Osaka, the only one of our 19 days in Japan.
Where to sleep
Night bus we took through Willer Express, the best way to book buses in Japan.
Where to eat
We ate at Cusco Café, which was next to the hospital and had a cheap menu that was quite good.
Dinner was at the station, in a place that we liked but did not have written down.
Day 3: Osaka (19 days in Japan)
Arriving around 5am, the first thing we did was to go to the flat to sleep for 3 hours, we needed it.
After waking up, we went to see all that Osaka had to offer. It is a perfect city to visit in 1 day and a place that surprised us for good in our 19 days in Japan.
The first stop was the city’s most famous landmark, Osaka Castle. It is a castle built in 1583 located in the centre of the Castle Park and you can visit the inside to see various exhibitions of period objects and go up to the viewpoint. We did it and it’s cool, but the main attraction of the place is the outside, it’s very beautiful. It costs 600 yen to go inside.
After this visit, we headed for our favourite spot in the city, the Kuromon Ichiba market. Osaka is said to be the food capital of Japan, which you will see here. There are so many different places and foods, you’ll be spoilt for choice. We decided to try:
- The takoyakis (we loved them).
- We went into a butcher’s shop where they made the meat on the spot (the best meat of the 19 days in Japan). Perfect to try kobe or wagyu beef.
- Try the sweet potato fries.
With our bellies full, we continued to enjoy the city, now in the Namba and Dotombori neighbourhoods. Strolling through these shopping arcades is madness, as they seem to be kilometres long and there are so many shops that you get overwhelmed. We recommend Shinsaibashi-suji, Ebisubashi-suji and Namba Walk.
If you keep walking, you will come to one of the most famous spots, the Glico sign. This place became famous as it is in one of the busiest areas of the city and many tourists stopped to take pictures of themselves imitating the sign’s pose.
We were dead from the day’s thrashing, so after having ramen for dinner (a life insurance on your trip to Japan), we decided to go to bed to face the second day in the city, which we were really looking forward to.
Where to sleep
We didn’t have it all together with this place because the reviews weren’t the best but hey, we liked it and it delivered. It was a very small flat with two beds, bathroom and kitchen, which was good and well located near convenience stores and an underground that connected you quickly with the whole city. His name is Enzo Chidoribashi.
Where to eat
For lunch, we ate at Kuromon Ichiba Market (the best place in the city and one of the best of our 19 days in Japan) and ramen at Mensyo Hachi, which we liked very much…
Day 4: Universal Studios Japan
You don’t know how much we were looking forward to visiting this place. We love amusement parks and we had read that this is one of the most spectacular parks in the world in terms of atmosphere. After visiting it, we can tell you that we loved it, it is very cool, especially if you are a fan of Jurassic Park, Harry Potter or Super Mario.
We will bring you soon our guide to visit it and we will leave the post here so you have all the details of how to visit it fully.
To sum up, the highlights for us:
- Harry Potter Simulator
- Flying Dinosaur from Jurassic Park
- Super Mario Zone
To buy tickets, it is important to note that the official app does not allow you to pay with a foreign card. That’s why you will have to use an external activity provider. In our case, we always rely on GetYourGuide for this kind of activities, and we leave you here the link so you can buy your ticket.
Where to eat
We ate inside the park. It is very expensive to eat inside, but you can’t bring in outside food, so we opted for the cheapest place we could find. For dinner, we ate at McDonalds at the park gate (we ate more than we would like in fast food places in these 19 days in Japan).
Day 5: Nara and Kioto
Nara was one of those places we were hesitant to go to during our 19 days in Japan, as we didn’t like what we saw in videos of the deer in the park. And after visiting it, we can corroborate that we did not love it.
We went from Osaka on a 1 hour train and we left our bags in the train lockers as we were going to Kyoto. We recommend stopping at Kintetsu Nara Station, which is the best place to visit the most important area of Nara, Nara Park, where you will find most of the tourist attractions.
Inside the park, you can visit
- Kofuku-ji
- Temple of the Great Buddha or Todai-ji
- Kashuga Taisha or Stone Lantern Temple (our favourite, it’s very cool).
Obviously, the deer are a tourist attraction and, as we are against tourism that involves feeding native animals, we do not participate and do not recommend it, as we do not feel comfortable.
We spent about 4 hours visiting everything. Then we walked around Higashimuki Shopping Street, the shopping area of Nara, which looks like a tiny Dotombori of Osaka.
After this, we proceeded to Kyoto, one of the top places of these 19 days in Japan.
Where to sleep
The best accommodation of our 19 day trip to Japan. It’s called Guesthouse Goettingen and it’s in a great location near Kyoto Castle, it’s very well kept and the rooms are comfortable, new and spacious. It also has a free washer and dryer and a fully equipped kitchen. We couldn’t ask for more.
Where to eat
We ate at a VERY special place in Nara. It is an izakaya owned by an old lady, which serves super cheap lunch menus (1000 yen). The special thing is that she is an old geisha and the place is full of photos of her dressed up. An experience that we highly recommend. It is called Ajimi Restaurant.
We had dinner at the supermarket, taking advantage of the evening specials (from 6 o’clock onwards they reduce the price of fresh produce).
Day 6: Kyoto (19 days in Japan)
What a wonderful city Kyoto is! It’s a cliché, but it’s our favourite of our 19 days in Japan. It mixes tradition with being in a big city and areas that feel more like a village. It was also the capital of Japan for many centuries, so it is a place of great historical importance.
Visiting Kyoto can be overwhelming as it has almost 2000 temples and many places to see. We made a list of the ones that caught our attention and spread them out over 3 days.
On the first day, we were able to visit:
- Golden Temple or Kinkaku-ji: very nice to see but it is a short visit, in 30 minutes you are there.
- Kyoto Imperial Palace: historically interesting and free. The gardens are very beautiful.
- Nishiki Market. Very similar to the one in Osaka, very good to eat.
- Yasaka Shrine
- Strolling around Gion and getting lost in the streets (the best).
It was a more relaxed day, wandering the streets many times aimlessly, as it is our main recommendation in Kyoto, to get lost and enjoy a city that seems to be still in the past.
Where to eat
We ate at the Nishiki market, where we were able to try sake, tempura, seafood, gyozas and mochis.
Again, we had a supermarket dinner at our hotel.
Day 7: Kyoto
On this second day in Kyoto of our 19 days in Japan, we started with one of the most iconic places in the city, the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. We really liked this place (although it is very crowded) as it is a pleasant walk among giant bamboos, something unique that we had never seen before, and there is also a park where you can avoid the crowds in the bamboo area and take a quiet stroll (something that is appreciated in Kyoto).
From there, we went to Higashiyama, one of the city’s most authentic neighbourhoods with lots of shops and charming corners. It’s the perfect place to dress up in traditional costumes and take photos. If you want to do it, you can book directly from this GetYourGuide link to have it already planned.
The first thing we did was to see the famous Yasaka Pagoda, one of the classic photos in Japan. Then we strolled through the streets of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, the most famous ones. Our recommendation is, as usual in this kind of places, that you get lost in the streets and don’t just follow the typical tourist spots, it is worth discovering your own corners.
After stopping for lunch, we ended up visiting a spectacular temple, the Kiyomizu-dera temple that stands out for its views of the whole city and for having the Otawa waterfall, where the 3 jets represent wisdom, love and success (WARNING, do not drink from the 3, it is said to be greedy ;)), and the small sanctuary of Jishu Shrine, famous for its love stones: if you walk from one to the other with your eyes closed, you will find true love.
Once we had seen this, we wanted to visit a special gyoza restaurant recommended by a friend, which is very good.
After an early dinner, we went for a walk along Pontocho Street, one of the most authentic and beautiful streets and perfect if you want to go to an izakaya.
Where to eat
We ate near the beginning of Higashiyama, at a ramen place that delivered perfectly. It is called Aburasoba Nekomata.
For dinner, we went to Gyoza Chao Chao. We highly recommend it.
Day 8: Kyoto
With all the sorrow in our hearts, the last day in Kyoto arrived. We started by going to a temple that surprised us, because of its peace, beauty and surroundings, which were very beautiful. It is the Silver Temple or Ginkaku-ji.
Just outside, there is a place that invites you to stroll and reflect. It is called the Philosopher’s Walk in honour of Nishida Kitarō, who used to take it every morning in silence to think. It is a 2 km walk that we found beautiful and we believe that in springtime, with all the flowers blooming, it must be even more so.
After doing this, it was time to visit Kyoto’s star attraction and one of the highlights of our 19 days in Japan, the Fushimi Inari Taisha Temple, famous for its countless toriis. It seemed to us that the fame lives up to its beauty and curiosity, as you actually walk all the way from the bottom to the top along a walkway of toriis. It’s a real treat and invites you to stop and photograph every nook and cranny. You will spend about 2 hours on the visit between going up and coming down.
After seeing this place, Andrea was not feeling very well so we went for lunch and back to the hotel after the visit.
Where to eat
We ate at Ramen Street in Tokyo Station. We liked it a lot, it is a super cool place to try ramen and you have all kinds you can imagine, as there are about 20 places to choose from.
Dinner, of course, was at the hotel in peace and quiet, after a trip to the supermarket, a classic in our 19 days in Japan.
Day 9: Kanazawa (19 days in Japan)
On the 9th day of the tour, we headed out to get a little colder, as we wanted to go to the Japanese Alps.
In particular, our first stop was Kanazawa, a town famous in Japan for several curious elements:
- It was a place of great power in the Edo period, home to many powerful samurai and a lot of geisha culture.
- It is also famous for its gold foil production, and you will find all kinds of items covered in gold foil.
On this day we were able to see:
- Omicho Market, perfect for tasting fish
- Kanazawa Castle Park
- Kanazawa Castle: not worth it, don’t pay the entrance fee.
- Kenroku-en Gardens: one of the three largest gardens in the country. We liked it, it is worth it.
- Higashi Chaya neighbourhood: the best of the city. These are very traditional streets that served as tea houses for the city’s geisha. You can still see some of them today if you are lucky.
After this, and tired of walking and moving around, we headed back to the hotel to rest.
Where to sleep
We slept in Guesthouse Kintoto. It is a small hostel with very small rooms. It’s no big deal, but we were lucky enough to be the only guests for the day, so we had the whole hostel to ourselves.
Dormimos en Guesthouse Kintoto. Es un hostalito con habitaciones muy pequeñas. No es nada del otro mundo, pero nosotros tuvimos la suerte de ser los únicos huéspedes del día, por lo que tuvimos todo el hostal para nosotros.
Where to eat
We highly recommend a place to try udon. We fell in by chance and loved it. You can find the location here.
You can also choose to go to the Kanazawa market, they have a great offer of fresh seafood, given its proximity to the sea.
For dinner, Lawson :).
Day 10: Shirakawa-go and Takayama
It was a bit of a crazy day as we were in 3 places in the same day :D.
Our bus left at noon, so we had a few hours left in Kanazawa which we took advantage of to visit the samurai quarter of Nagamachi. We thought it would be just a place to visit and we liked it, as you can see the typical houses where they lived, enter some of them for free and you have a museum inside a house (yes, you have to pay and we didn’t go in) called Nomura-ke.
After seeing it and eating, we went to our bus, which we took with Getyourguide and which takes you from Kanazawa to Takayama stopping for 2 hours in Shirakawa-go.
How beautiful is Shirakawa-go! One of the advantages of travelling to Japan in winter is to see the snowy places. This mountain village is famous for its curious houses made of wood, straw and ropes with a triangular roof. This type of construction is called Gasshō-zukuri.
The village can be seen quickly, but it is very cool to walk around and photograph the place. Also, if you have time, you have a viewpoint to have a great view of the whole valley, river and village.
Finally, the day took us to Takayama, one of the most beautiful villages in the area and on our 19-day tour of Japan. We arrived late, so we only had time for dinner (the best ramen of our 19 days in Japan, by the way).
Where to sleep
We slept in a very traditional, ryokan-style guesthouse, which we liked very much. Perfectly located, with a very good atmosphere, kitchen and traditional tatami rooms, highly recommended. It is called Murasaki Guesthouse.
Where to eat
We had a quick lunch at Kanazawa Station and dinner at Ramen M in Takayama. Takayama is famous for its soy ramen, and we highly recommend you try it, as it was our favourite of our 19 days in Japan.
Day 11: Takayama (19 days in Japan)
In Takayama, there is famously an open-air market by the river every day from 7am to 11am. It’s called the Miyagawa Morning Market and it’s good for browsing local handicrafts and sampling food. We tried the Hida beef sushi at this place, which is said to be one of the best in Japan. We can’t tell you how brutal it was, so if you try it, write to us and let us know what you think.
Just at the end of the market is the old town, where you can wander around, especially along the main street Sanmachi Suji. It is a place where I recommend a sake tasting at one of the breweries. It is a cheap experience (about 9 euros with a free glass) and we liked it a lot, as you serve yourself with coins and try the style of sake you want. We did it at Funasaka Sake.
If you follow that street to the end, you have a 2 hour walk up the hill to see lots of different temples and the ruins of the castle. Unfortunately for us, when we got there all the paths were full of ice, which made it dangerous to walk, so we saw some of the temples we could access but not the whole path.
But in this life, every cloud has a silver lining, and thanks to that, we discovered a magical café in that area, run by an old lady with a captivating atmosphere. It is called Sugi. We recommend you try the macha tea there, it was VERY tasty.
After this visit, there was not much left to see, as the other attractions of the town were on the outskirts and we decided to rest.
Where to eat
Day 12: Transfer day to Yudanaka
We have little to tell about this day, as it took us from Takayama to Matsumoto first and then to Nagano. Once there we had to take a train to Yudanaka.
The highlight of this day was that we stayed in a traditional ryokan with its own onsen. This is an onsen area, with up to 7 public baths to go to in the village of Yudanaka and Shibu Onsen. We relaxed a lot in the one at the hotel, a great and fun experience.
Where to sleep
楽奇温泉旅館, we put it in Japanese because the name in booking is like this. As we said, one of the best options in Yudanaka village to stay in a ryokan with its own onsen and a typical Japanese room.
Where to eat
Fast food on the way.
We had dinner at a place where they made a BRUTAL katsu box (chicken in batter with rice). It’s in Yudanaka and you can find it at this link.
Day 13: Jigokoudani National Park (19 days in Japan)
We had seen many photos of this place and didn’t know what to think. After seeing it, it was one of the highlights of our 19 days in Japan.
Jigokoudani National Park is located high in the mountains and is famous for being home to snow monkeys, the most northerly living monkeys in the world. These animals became famous because they began to use the hot springs in the area to warm themselves in the cold winter, showing an incredible adaptation to the environment.
The truth is that it is a very special place, to see them in that environment, bathing in a relaxed way, was amazing. Besides, it is a very photogenic animal, so you will be able to take some amazing pictures.
To finish enjoying the area, we are going to recommend a great place just outside the park, a hotel with a private onsen that you can enjoy for 1 hour for €9 per person. Really, it’s amazing. It is the Kanbayashi Hotel Senjukaku.
Once we got to Yudanaka again, we headed to take the train to Nagano and from there to Tokyo, to spend a night before going to see Mount Fuji.
Where to sleep
&AND Minamisenyu Hostel. Few things we saw better value for money in Tokyo. We slept here for this night and 5 more nights after visiting Fuji and it is VERY good. It is well located, has a kitchen, washing machine (for a fee) and the shared bathrooms are great, with individual shower capsules. Highly recommended.
Where to eat
We ate at Yudanaka next to the hotel, a very tasty katsudon at this place.
For dinner, we went for fast food as we arrived late in Tokyo.
Day 14: Kawaguchiko (Mount Fuji)
One of the things we were most looking forward to doing in our 19 days in Japan was going to see Mount Fuji.
You have many options as it is huge and can be seen from almost all the surrounding region (and even from Tokyo skyscrapers), but surely the most famous place to do it is Kawaguchiko. We got there in 2 hours by bus from Tokyo.
Before I tell you how to see Fuji and what to do, keep in mind that you will most likely not see it clearly, as the days of crystal clear visibility are few per year. We had one VERY lucky day and one very unlucky day, but we were very glad we went.
We stayed in Oishi, next to Lake Kawaguchi. From there, we took bicycles to go around the lake. If you stop to take photos and relax in the parks and viewpoints, it takes about 4 hours. It’s a pleasant ride, in a quiet environment, in nature and without much traffic. If you are lucky, you will see Fuji at some points.
During the whole day we didn’t see it too well, but our big luck came when we finished our bike ride, which took us to Oishi Park, located in front of our hotel and where there is one of the best views of the mountain. The sky cleared up and gave us an incredible view. If you are in the area, you can’t miss this place.
We spent more than an hour photographing from different perspectives, the moment was worth it.
Where to sleep
In these 19 days in Japan, we wanted to try the experience of a ‘capsule’ hostel (we put it in inverted commas as it was not the typical capsule, but it was similar).
We chose one that was very nice, very new, clean, with a restaurant, games room and common area. We liked the place, we recommend it if you want to live this experience. It’s called Dot Hostel&Bar.
Where to eat
We ate at a chiringuito on the road owned by two very nice older men that we loved, as we tried the melon bread, Japanese croquettes and curry. It is right at this location.
For dinner, we took food from 7Eleven.
Day 15: Fujikawaguchico and Tokio (19 days in Japan)
We have to tell you that something quite hard happened to us on this day which meant that we were able to visit less things than we wanted to. We lost our external memory stick with all the photos of our 3 month trip. We spent 2-3 hours going to the police station and tourist attention to see if they would help us and finally we found it! We had left it on the bus to Kawaguchiko.
That said, when we knew it was at Tokyo station, we headed to Shimoyoshida to see two of the most famous places to see Fuji, the Chureito Pagoda and Honcho Street. On this day it snowed and was overcast, so we didn’t see Fuji anywhere, but we were left with the previous day.
Anyway, we highly recommend going to this place, the views are cool and if you can see Fuji, it’s a spectacle.
Where to eat
We ate at a place in Shimoyoshida that we didn’t like very much… We’ll leave it here but it’s better to look at other options, because we didn’t think it was anything special. It is this place.
Another time, we dined at a supermarket in Tokyo.
Day 16: Tokyo
We were starting one of the things we were most looking forward to doing in our 19 days in Japan, visiting Tokyo.
We distributed our 3 days in zones so that it would be easier for us to visit everything in an optimal way and taking as little transport as possible. This first day we were going to see the neighbourhoods of Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku and Roppongi.
We started in Shinjuku, one of the liveliest and most popular neighbourhoods in the city. We spent about 3 hours in Shinjuku, where we saw the following points of interest:
- Tokyo metropolitan Government – free viewpoint and one of the places we liked the most, brutal views and you can see Fuji on clear days.
- Kabukicho – red light district and nightlife area.
- Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai alleys, traditional and perfect for a drink (Golden Gai) or an izakaya (Omoide Yokocho).
We then headed to Shibuya, which has one of the most famous places in Japan, the Scramble Crossing, the busiest crossing in the world, where it is estimated that between 1000 and 3000 people pass every 3 minutes, which is crazy.
In this area, we also entered the Shibuya 109 shopping mall, saw the famous Hachiko dog statue and strolled through Dogenzaka, where you will find many hotels by the hour.
We moved on to the third area on foot, via Cat Street, a bohemian street with lots of cafes and shops of all kinds. This connected us to Omotoseando Street, the centre of the Harajuku district. This is one of the most luxurious streets in the city, like the Champs Elysées in Paris.
From there, we recommend going to Takeshita-dori street, where many people who follow the Kawaii fashion, very famous among young Japanese, gather every evening and where there are many places to try food. Please note that we saw a lot of shops that were against animal welfare, so don’t contribute.
Then we tried to go to the Meiji Shrine, one of the most famous in the city, but we didn’t check the timetable and it was closed, so we settled for a stroll through Yoyogi Park.
To finish the day and have dinner, we went to Roppongi, a very important luxury shopping area. We were also surprised that there were quite a few quiet and beautiful streets in the surrounding area, we recommend walking from the underground stop and getting lost in the area.
We ended up having dinner in Roponggi Hills, a shopping area with the best viewpoint in the city (we didn’t go up) overlooking the Tokyo Tower, the Mori Tower.
Where to eat
Ichiran Ramen, the most famous and viral. This is ramen in capsules, where you eat in private and in silence, one of the most curious experiences of our 19 days in Japan!
We had dinner at Shake Shack, the famous American hamburger chain, which is inside Roppongi Hills.
Day 17: Tokyo (19 days in Japan)
The second day in the world’s most populous city was also divided into zones. This time it was Asakusa and Akihabara. We wanted to do more, but we left it for the next day as we were tired.
We started in Asakusa, which we reached in 20 minutes on foot from our hotel. We were able to see:
- Senso-ji Temple, which surprised us by the contrast with the surrounding buildings and we quite liked it.
- Nakamise Street, a shopping street in front of the temple.
- Kappabadhi Street,
- Strolling along the banks of the Sumida River (we spent a long time relaxing walking, there was almost nobody there).
- View of the Tokyo Skytree
Once we finished our walk along the river, we headed to one of the most popular neighbourhoods, Akihabara, the otaku, video game and technology district. We spent the whole afternoon there, among giant technology buildings, playing games, pulling out gashapons and looking at figurines.
We recommend going to :
- Radio Kaikan (anime figures)
- Gigo Akihabara (games and photo booths, we tried everything 😍)
- Yodobashi Camera (amazing all the technology in this place, we had never seen anything like this in our life)
- Don Quijote Akihabara (it’s a huge shop with everything you want to find, especially cosmetics).
We spent the whole afternoon here and then we went to rest.
Where to eat
We wanted to try the sushi brought to you on a tape and we went to a famous chain called Kura Sushi, which has a restaurant in the Asakuka neighbourhood. We loved the sushi, cheap, quality and very curious. On top of that, they have a raffle game where you can win prizes for every 5 dishes consumed, which makes it fun and a bit dangerous 🙂
7Eleven dinner
Day 18: Tokyo
As we had not been able to do it the day before, this 18th day of our 19 days in Japan, we started the day by going to Ueno Park, the most famous park in Tokyo. We didn’t think it was anything special, I guess because we went there in winter and it’s during the cherry blossom season, but we still think it’s a must-see area.
From there we went to Tokyo University. We always like to visit places like universities and markets to see the life of the local people. We found this university, which is one of the best in the world, very cool, especially the xxx street, where you will see a very nice postcard with a long road and lots of trees on the sides and the entrance to the main building in the background.
From there, we walked to Yanaka, the most traditional neighbourhood in Tokyo, one of the few that was not bombed in World War II and that maintains its tradition and classic buildings. The ideal thing to do is to get lost in the streets and visit the cemetery, which we found brutal.
Once we had eaten, we headed for the last two neighbourhoods we wanted to see. We started in Ginza, the richest shopping area of the city, and especially in Chuo-Dori, the avenue with all the luxury brands. There you will be able to see the biggest Uniqlo in Japan, with 13 floors. It is an area for strolling through its streets, nothing super remarkable.
Finally, we headed to the Odaiba area, which we highly recommend, as it gives you a different view of the city as you can see the skyline from the other side of the water. They also have a walking area (Daiba Park) where we saw a fairly faithful replica of the Statue of Liberty. In Odaiba you can also visit the huge Divercity shopping centre.
Where to eat
We didn’t like the food too much, but there was little choice. We ate at Gincaco.
Dinner at 7eleven.
Day 19: DisneySea
You know that we love theme parks and we wanted to visit the second one in our 19 days in Japan. And it is one of the two Disney parks in the city, DisneySea. This place is inspired by Disney movies of the sea, so it is unique in the world.
We have a love-hate feeling about this park. On the one hand, we thought it was the most beautiful and best-set park we’ve ever been to, and on the other hand, it was so crowded that we didn’t get to try its most iconic attractions, so we didn’t enjoy it at all.
We got our tickets from GetYourGuide, who were very quick to send them to us and did an excellent job.
Do we recommend you to go? We think so, as we went on a Wednesday in winter, which coincided with the Chinese New Year, so we think the overcrowding was due to that (if we look at the app now, we get normal times, max 1 hour wait). The park is beautiful, the most beautiful we have ever seen, so if you can, you won’t be disappointed.
Where to eat
Food inside the park and fast food in the evening.
Map of our 19 days in Japan
We leave you a map with all our marked places in this 19 days route in Japan. We hope you find it useful 🙂
Japan doesn’t disappoint, no matter if you’ve seen 10,000 videos and sights of the country. It is a unique place in the world, with a special culture, incredible food and spectacular friendliness. 19 days were enough to make us realise that it is one of our favourite countries in the world and that we would love to go back sooner or later.
If you have any questions about the route, leave them in comments or on our social networks, we will be happy to answer them 🙂
