Japan 10-day Itinerary
What a beautiful (and delicious) trip! This trip looked a little different as I was 21/22-weeks pregnant and have very difficult pregnancies. Some things and places were cut out since I wasn’t able to do it but I’ll list those below in the “Additional places” section!! Thank you for being here and happy reading!! :)
Day 1
Arrive in Tokyo
7-ELEVEN Shinjuku (to pick up Greek yogurt, snacks etc to keep in our hotel room)
Stay: APA Hotel Shinjuku Gyoemmae
Day 2
Takeshita Street:
Totti Candy Factory Shop Harajuku, Cat Café MOCHA, Long! Longer!! Longest!!!, Strawberry Fetish , Harajuku Takeshita-dori Yurinan (ichigo daifuku), Marion Crepes, Le Shiner (rainbow cheese sandwhich), Reissue café (3d latte art)
Ramen vending machine Oreryu Shio-Ramen Harajuku Ekimae
Shinjuku Kakekomi gyoza open 24 hrs
Stay: APA Hotel Shinjuku Gyoemmae
Day 3
Tsukiji Fish Market
Senso-ji
Seisuke Knife Kappabashi
Nakamise Shopping StreetKappabashi Kitchenware Street
Shochiku-en cafe
Kumachan Onsen Shibuya
Stay: APA Hotel Shinjuku Gyoemmae
Day 4
Shibuya Crossing
Loft Shibuya (souvenirs)
Mipig Café Harajuku
Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo
Shibuya Sakura street night time
Stay: APA Hotel Shinjuku Gyoemmae
Day 5
Tsukiji Market
Stay: APA Hotel Shinjuku Gyoemmae
Day 6
Shinjuku Gyoen National Park
Akihabara (manga and electronics)
Alpen Tokyo (shoes)
Dinner ramen orer shio
Hakkoku Omakase
Stay: APA Hotel Shinjuku Gyoemmae
Day 7
Omoide yokocho
TOKYO to KYOTO station-Nozomi Bullet Train
Nishiki Market
Tea Ceremony and Kimono Experience Kyoto MAIKOYA at NISHIKI
Stay: Hotel The M’s Kyoto
Day 8
Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine
Inarinadai Dohachi
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
Monkey Park Iwatayama
Dinner at the Kyoto Tower Food Hall
Stay: Hotel The M’s Kyoto
Day 9
Yasaka Pagoda
Panel Café Kyoto
Gion District
Shirakawa Canal, Tatsumi Bridge
Kiyomizu-dera Temple
Ramen Cooking Class at Ramen Factory in Kyoto
Dinner at the Kyoto Tower Food Hall
Stay: Hotel The M’s Kyoto
Day 10
Kyoto to NRT Train
Depart NRT
Tips:
-Strictly no eating or drinking allowed while walking or on trains.
-There are essentially no benches or trash cans (we found one bench in a park after a week). This is because they prioritize efficient traffic flow and since eating while walking is not appropriate, trash cans aren’t seen as necessary. Streets are seen as means of transportation, not socializing. This was a bit challenging given the fact that I was swollen and dizzy and often needed to rest/sit.
-The bathrooms had no paper towels and rarely soap. Women, from what we noticed, had a handkerchief and hand sanitizer. I bought a cute little handkerchief at a market in Japan.
-Crowds were large and moved very fast.
-7-Elevens are open 24/7 and have free public restrooms. We got all of our snacks and breakfasts here (Greek yogurt and pancakes (still craving/drooling over the packaged pancakes!!!))
-The strawberries are incredible!!!
-I recommend a photo translation app.
-Tokyo had more late night dinner options while Kyoto restaurants closed fairly early (we were eating dinner around 10:00pm to midnight most nights because of the time difference. We also ate snacks around 3:00am because we were always starving around then).
-The walk to see the monkeys is fairly difficult if pregnant. It was also muddy and slippery.
-The ICOCA app for trains is a must. You scan the app upon train station entry and exit and it calculates the fees for you after the fact so there’s no need to purchase tickets beforehand or anything (minus the long distance bullet train rides that must be booked separately). ICOCA truly made train transportation smooth and easy.
-Bring cash for the markets. Only a few take card.
-They do offer a luggage travel service which we did not use but we should have!! Not all train stations have escalators or elevators. The stations are very busy, packed and hard to get around.
-No loud talking on trains.
-If going to visit the Starbucks Reserve, you’ll want to set aside enough time. Sometimes the wait can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours. For us, it was a 45 minute wait.
-We booked this trip specifically for Sakura (as did all the other people there) but Sakura decided to be a week late so we missed it :( but we still found 2 beautiful beginning-cherry blossoms.
Additional amazing spots we didn’t get to visit:
Chidorigafuchi park boat
Onsen (hot springs)
Mario kart
Uji
Osaka
Nara Park
@anissajaworski
