Genuine Food & Travel Review

Not sure where to go on your first trip to Japan?? I am sharing my 12 nights high level itinerary. I know not exactly 14 days… but want to leave a day for you for flexible trip 🙂 You can add a day of your favorite cities to this list, I have a few suggestions at the end of this blog. I have had friends that have reached out to ask about my trip and would love to share it with you all! For context, I was traveling by myself so the itinerary was gearing toward solo traveling with an affordable budget. I was able to get around to all these places once in Japan via train, bus and walking. Perfect for 14 days first time Japan itinerary.

The goal for this post is not to provide a detailed activities in each day but rather the route that I took and maybe some suggestion for considerations. For your first time Japan itinerary 14 days, I would recommend checking out first a relatively tourist areas to get your Japanese bearings and also it will be likely easier to navigate as many would speak English. However, if you have enough time, feel free to venture out to a less known area once you get a bit more comfortable. Immerse yourself with the locals is the best way to travel!

Check out my instagram moodfoodliving for reels from my solo travelling Japan trip.

My 12 nights itinerary (*Add an extra day to this list for Japan itinerary 14 days) – More suggestions at the end.

1st – 3rd night in Tokyo (3nights)
I was staying at a hostel near Shinjuku area. However as you can imagined there are many activities and things you can do based on your preference. You could probably stay in Tokyo for the whole month to barely fully uncover Tokyo and its surrounding cities but here are some of the recommendations. *Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list of things to do for Tokyo but I would consider these options as you build your plan.

• Within Tokyo – popular areas
  • Asakusa (Temple/Senso-ji) – If you are staying in the area, strolling at night in Senso-ji area gives it a very different feel. The shops and shrines are not open but you can still walk around the area.
  • Shinjuku (Restaurants & Bars)
  • Ginza (Shopping)
  • Akihabara (Anime)
  • Ueno (Park)
  • Tsukiji (Fish Market)
  • Shibuya (Clubs/Restaurants/shopping)
  • Tokyo tower and Tokyo Skytree (Optional: If you want to look at the view. It is not super cheap. Also be mindful of the clouds as you may not see as much).
  • TeamLab (Optional: If you are in for an art type of immersive experience where you can take pics and videos)

• Outside of Tokyo – day trips
  • Yokohama – Chinatown and port city
  • Kamakura – Temple and cultural sites. (Highly recommend)

4th night in Nikko (1night)

• I really highly recommend spending the night here. Do the research on the bus pass if you are staying the night. Bus is the only realistic way to navigate around. At night things close relatively early so ensure that you eat food or have food around the lake. About 2hours via express train or a little longer via local train from Tokyo to Nikko
  Activities:
  • Temples (To fully explore this will take quite a while)
  • Lake Chuzenji (I stayed at a hostel by the lake. Fantastic view)
  • Trails and waterfalls.
    • Trail from Ryuzu falls to Yudaki Falls then to Yumoto Onsen.
      • Roughly 5.5km from Ryuzu falls to Yudaki falls. Relatively easy difficulty.
      • Then from Yudaki falls to Yumoto Onsen is about another half an hour.

5th night in Tokyo (1night)

Refer to above for activities. I wanted to rest in Tokyo before I travelled to Kyoto as I want to spend more time at Nikko so I stayed another night in Tokyo. (Optional: I think you can go straight to Kyoto to save time)

6th-9th night in Kyoto (4nights)

Honestly one of my favorite city in my whole trip to Japan. Great balance between night life, culture and food. I can easily spend another week here.

Within Kyoto – popular places

• Temples. There are many of them and the view is fantastic. I am not going to bother even list them all here. A quick search would give you a full list of temples you can explore.
• Nishiki Market – Market that you can walk around for food and shopping
• Imperial Palace – I didnt have a chance to go so I only saw on the outside 😦
• Arashiyama Bamboo Forest – Iconic spot for pictures
• Sannenzaka – Beautiful area on the way to Kiyomuzu temple
• Night life – Check out Kiyamachi street and Pontocho district. Many bars for you to choose from. I went to Kitsune night club and I really liked it there. For my preference, its not the biggest night club city compare to Osaka or Tokyo but I think it has way more nightlife than I anticipated. For perspective, I went out more nights in Kyoto compare to other cities.

Outside of Kyoto – Day trip

• Nara – Deer park and temple

10th-11th night in Osaka (2nights)

I personally didnt spend as much time in Osaka. But its a great city for night clubs and shopping if you are into it.

• Osaka Aquarium (Great comparing to ones in North America that I have been)
• Osaka Castle (Not sure if its worth going up the castle which I did but still great to walk around the area and see the castle)
• Shinsaibashi, Dotonbori – Shopping/bars/clubs

12th night in Tokyo (1night)

Refer to above Tokyo suggestions. I primarily was just resting at this point to prepare for my flight back. I did go to the Teamlab planet on my quieter last night in Tokyo. In the morning I walked around a bit before taking the train to Haneda airport back home.

Few suggestions for an additional nights to complete 14 days/13nights itinerary that didnt make on my list:

• I didnt get to go to Mount Fuji. I know that it is typically on everybody list but I didnt go so plan around it after Tokyo or from Tokyo to visit Mount Fuji.
• I also didnt go to Hakone for the onsen. This is also another popular town so this would also be after Tokyo if you are into hotsprings.
• I also decided not to add Hiroshima to the trip. Consider adding this after Osaka or Kyoto if you have enough time.