Advice on 16 day itinerary & questions
 

Hi all. Our dream trip to Japan is happening in November and we can’t wait! We will be going for 16 days and are in the middle of planning our itinerary. Can I please ask for your help to check it and perhaps advise on any adjustments? Does it make sense or do I need to revise anything?

This will be our first time ever in Japan and we’ve been looking forward to this trip for many, many years and are so excited. So we don’t mind doing the touristy clichés and we just really want to soak up all the important places! Saying that, we also want to make sure we relax too and find some quieter days/spots.

This is what we’re thinking so far…

Day 1

Arrival from London to Tokyo Haneda at 7am

Showering at Haneda Terminal 3.

Possibly using Yamato to transfer our suitcases to our hotel in Shinjuku

Or taking them ourselves… unsure yet!

Chill day in Tokyo, taking it easy and fighting jet lag as long as possible until the evening

Staying in Yuen Shinjuku hotel (with onsen on 18th floor)

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Day 2-4

Tokyo

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Day 5

Taking a coach from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko

Exploring Kawaguchiko and local area

Staying in Mizno hotel (with onsen)

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Day 6

Kawaguchiko and local area

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Day 7

Taking a bus to Mishima, then Shinkansen to Kyoto

Kyoto

(No hotel booked yet)

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Day 8-9

Kyoto

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Day 10

Taking the train from Kyoto to Nara

Spending day in Nara

Taking the train from Nara to Osaka in the evening

(No hotel booked yet)

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Day 11

Osaka

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Day 12

Osaka until afternoon

Then taking the train from Osaka to Lake Biwa and spending the night in one of the ryokans with onsen

We haven’t picked the town yet

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Day 13

Breakfast at the ryokan, checking out

Taking the train from Lake Biwa to Tokyo

Arriving in Tokyo in the afternoon

(No hotel booked yet)

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Day 14-15

Tokyo

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Day 16

Spending the whole day in Tokyo

Flight back to London in the evening

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Our main issues are:

1. Does the order of cities/towns make sense logistically?
2. We’d love to experience a traditional ryokan with onsen, maybe once or twice. Our stay in Mizno hotel will be “similar” to ryokan, but it’s mostly just a hotel with private onsen to hire and fancy food. I initially booked a ryokan in Kyoto to stay 2 nights, but then I read online that people recommend staying in ryokan only for one night. Also, everyone is saying that ryokans in Kyoto don’t make sense and it’s best to experience them in an onsen town. Hence we’re thinking of doing this in Lake Biwa after Osaka to take the rest from busy cities before we go back to Tokyo. Does this plan make sense? Should I cancel my ryokan in Kyoto and get a normal hotel? Or perhaps “machiya” will be better?
3. We’d love to book a traditional Japanese room with tatami floors, futons, a lovely view on the inner courtyard/garden in the Japanese style with a sliding doors onto the garden (I guess I watched too much anime/films haha). Where would be best to do that? I can’t really find good boutique hotels/machiyas that offer this garden view. Where would be best to do this / fit this in?
4. Luggage forwarding - we’d love to use Yamato luggage forwarding from city to city, but we are aware that for this to make sense it needs to be done well in advance. So after Tokyo, we’re thinking of forwarding it straight to Kyoto and go to Kawaguchiko just with hand luggage. And then, from Kyoto, we’re not sure… Since we’ll be only staying in Osaka for 2 nights and in Biwa for 1 night, it doesn’t really make sense to forward our luggage there does it? Should we send it directly from Kyoto on Day 10 to Tokyo, and just have hand luggage for Osaka and Lake Biwa? It means 3 days without the main luggage, may be tricky if we want to shop in Osaka…
5. We wanted to try going to Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, but we realised that it will simply be too much and we won’t manage to fit it in. We decided it’s probably better to take a day in an onsen town (Biwa) and relax instead of stressing to go to Universal.
6. We wanted to try a capsule hotel for one night, possibly in Osaka. Is this a good idea for “fun” experience? Again, we’re worried about the luggage situation. Also this would mean that we’d spend only one day in a normal hotel and one in a capsule hotel, so the stay will be a bit hectic. Is it better to do the capsule hotel somewhere else?

This is a lot of moving around, and I think you're really shortchanging Kyoto with only two full days. Personally, I would skip Osaka and add that time to Kyoto.

1) Yes
Am curious about how you came about putting Biwako on your itinerary.
Not that you would know the difference if I didn't mention it but the public baths at Yuen Shinjuku are probably not fed by water from a hot spring (onsen).
I did not look to see if Yuen is convenient to a subway/train station (important).

2) Wrong to say that Mizno is “similar” to a ryokan. It is a (onsen) ryokan of a type known as "ryokan hotel" The 'but' and 'just' in your description are undeserved :). You must be thinking of traditional ryokan. IDK about Mizno but some ryokan hotels are wonderful. They have traditional features just in a different form.

The issue with staying two nights in a ryokan in a city is that the stays (typically) include dinner as well as breakfast. That would mean missing out on the restaurants in the city. Some ryokan offer rates that don't include meals or just breakfast and maybe your ryokan has those options. Consider that often a fancy traditional ryokan IS the destination, especially when it has an onsen. Not just a place to stay AT your destination.

3) Rather than hotel/machiya I think what you want really is a ryokan. You might find what you want in a city but more likely in an onsen town. Sorry, can't help as I have seen so many places that offer what you are looking for.

4) Yay! You are working on a "luggage plan". It always makes sense to me to use the luggage forwarding services in Japan. I like to leap-frog the luggage. GENERALLY (not always) if you ship it today then it will arrive tomorrow afternoon. That means that if you sent it yesterday then it will arrive today. THAT means if you sent one bag yesterday and one bag today that the first bag will be there when you arrive You travel hands-free (or almost) today and the second bag catches up with you tomorrow. Towards the end of your trip, and a few days before you flight, you can send a luggage piece containing used clothing to the airport (or to your final hotel).

5) Consider visiting Arima Onsen. Go overnight or day trip from Osaka (take the "onsen bus" or train or go via Mt Rokko). Definitely look at staying in Hakone. Osaka can be skipped entirely.

6) I can't imagine that staying in a capuseru hoteru would be fun. If you want to experience one for fun, ok, they are cheap. Just keep your hotel room and leave your luggage there. Go and try out the capsule and maybe stay the night or just go back to your hotel. If you don't want to keep your hotel room then I would expect that they will store your luggage overnight.

I like that you are planning to visit Nara (I think it's underrated), but I agree with memejs: I'd want more time in Kyoto. I felt hard-pressed to see what I wanted to see in Kyoto in four very full, very busy days. YMMV.

And like mrwunrfl, I can't imagine finding a capsule hotel fun. But if you want to try it, his suggestion to give it an hour or so makes sense to me.

If you are at all a theme park fan, then Tokyo Disney Sea is outrageous. Nothing can prepare you for it. It is not owned by Disney; it was developed by the Oriental Land Co., and they threw a ridiculous amount of money into the project. I doubt anyone will ever build something like this again. it is unique unto the world.

Otherwise, Tokyo is a big modern city with many great features, but the traditional parts, save for the Asakusa neighborhood, pale in comparison to Kyoto. I agree that I'd move a night in Osaka to add more time there.

I lack the comprehension that staying in a capsule hotel could be considered fun.

Another no staying in a capsule hotel, some Japanese chain hotel rooms are small enough as is. Sleeping in something slightly bigger than a coffin holds zero appeal for me unless that is the only option available and certainly not for fun while on a long planned vacation.

Why are you showering at Haneda airport.. or have I mis read???

I also wondered why the showers at Haneda, then saw your arrival time. Can you use the showers (I'm assuming in the lounges?) after you clear immigration?

I'm a huge fan of ryokan, and always stayed a couple of nights on every trip. The traditional ones in Kyoto tend to be more expensive than in other cities, but they are really lovely. We've stayed at many of the historical ones like Sumiya, Hiiragiya, Tawaraya, Yuzuya, and a bunch of the ryokan hotels (can't remember the names offhand), but there are lots in Kyoto. A few things to know:

-In the really historic wooden ryokan, the garden rooms are often the oldest rooms. Gorgeous, but not always well insulated, sometimes no central AC/heat, sometimes no toilet or bath in the rooms. Ask up front!

-Many of the mid-range ryokan I've looked at since Covid do not serve the fantastic Kaiseki dinners anymore. Quite a few have gone to just serving breakfast. In the ones that do still serve the meals, they tend to repeat every couple of nights, so we'll often stay two nights, then switch to a regular hotel in the same area.

-That said, I prefer two nights instead of one, because for us, the ryokan is the main attraction. They (politely) boot you out after breakfast and you can't come back till late afternoon, so you still have time to do things during the day. Lunch or just snacking all day is fun, but if you have specific food or restaurants you plan to visit, you might want to spend only one night. Ryokan are $$$ and the price is per person, so you really don't want to miss an included meal!

-For rural Onsen not too far from your itinerary, you really want to go to an onsen town. There are lots of them all over the place. Check Japanguesthouses.com. Some areas we liked were on the Izu peninsula, Hakone, Arashimaya, Gifu. Kinosaki is fun- about 2 hours from Kyoto. The ryokan there usually come with a pass to visit all the Onsen. You'll wear your yukata and stroll by the old canals shaded by weeping willows. I'd skip Osaka and go there!

I'm another who would not be interested in a capsule hotel- The ones I've seen have a lot in common with a bunk on a noisy train.

There are showers land-side at Haneda. Would be nice after a 7AM arrival on a looong-haul flight, no matter the class. You might not be able to check in to your hotel until 3PM. You can take luggage with you, or store it, or better yet send most of it to your hotel.

Your route works well, no backtracking. Kawaguchiko before Kyoto is smart.
Skip the Kyoto ryokan. Do a proper one in Lake Biwa instead. Better vibe, better value. Ogoto Onsen is a good option.
For a tatami room with garden view, try a machiya in Kyoto (Gion area) or a ryokan in Biwa. Check Nazuna Kyoto or look on Rakuten Travel.