Hi Everyone-
I will be going to Japan with a tour on July 19. I realize that people on here don’t seem to like escorted tours, and honestly, I don’t really either. However, I am going by myself to Japan and that is adventurous enough for me already!
I do have a lot of free time to explore on my own, which I am very happy about and I was hoping for some suggestions about what to see and where to eat alone.
I am actually flying in a day early, so I will have 2 full days on my own in Tokyo, plus an afternoon and 2 evenings. I have an afternoon and evening free in Takayama and an afternoon and two evenings in Kyoto.
Any and all suggestions would be very greatly appreciated, I am 28 from NY, I am mostly looking to explore different areas, like to walk around neighborhoods, go to museums, temples, etc. and am not at all into bars or clubs.
I realize I am running long already, but wanted to include where we are going on the tour to help with the suggestions...

Tokyo- Visit Meiji Shrine, the Asakusa Kannon (Sensoji) Temple and the Nakamise Shopping Arcade. Then drive past the Parliament Building, Imperial Palace Plaza and along Ginza Street.

KAMAKURA / HAKONE-Great Buddha statue, Then drive along the Pacific Coast to Hakone National Park for a short cruise on Lake Ashi. Next, an aerial cable-car ride (weather permitting) provides views of 12,388-foot Mount Fuji. Tonight relax in the hot springs at your hotel.

HAKONE / MATSUMOTO / TAKAYAMA. Leave Hakone and head to Matsu*moto. Matsumoto Castle, From here, a scenic drive across the Japanese Alps and through the Abo Tunnel takes you to Takayama.

TAKAYAMA / SHIRAKAWA-GO / KANAZAWA. at Kanazawa
Start the day with an early morning visit to the colorful riverside market, where farmers display locally grown vegetables, fruits and flowers. Then drive through the scenic Shokawa Valley to Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Next is Kanazawa, a beautiful old castle town. On arrival, visit Kenrokuen Garden, dating back to the 17th century.

KANAZAWA / KYOTO.
Follow the Sea of Japan to Eiheiji. Visit Eiheiji Temple Continue on to arrive in Kyoto by the early afternoon.

KYOTO- This morning’s tour includes a visit to the 17th-century Nijo-jo Castle, Next is Kinkakuji, also called the Golden Pavilion, and Kiyomizu-dera Temple


I really really appreciate any help anyone can give me. Suggestions on restaurants or other types of places for lunch or dinner where I could grab some food would be great as well. Thanks so much in advance!
:0) Joanna

I made something similar some years ago; we took a tour in Japan, but arrived two days earlier and left osaka one day after the tour has been finished.
I suggest you to look in a travel guide, you can do this also in Fodor's- destination, take from there a list of sightseeing and compare with what you will do in the tour. In this way you will have a list of things that you can do on your own.

We contacted by email a private guide in tokyo and spent our two days (before the tour) with her. This was very helpful and saved us lot of time.

You can be sure that the guide of your tour will make also suggestions for things to do in the free time; you can ask at the hotel or the guide about recommended restaurants.

In Tokyo I would be sure to see the Edo Tokyo museum. Lovely displays from all of Tokyo history and very assessible even if you speak and read only English. And you could also walk around the Asakusa neighborhood not a far walk from the museum with its temple and small restaurants and shops still in a traditional style.

So only one day on the tour in Tokyo?
You can do the Ueno area with the park, zoo, shrine and a few museums...
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3019.html

http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/

Plus many other wonderful museums throughout Tokyo.
Enjoy!

Joanna: This looks like a nice tour...sorry I can't answer your questions, but I'm looking for a tour myself...what tour company are you using.

A friend of mine that worked in Japan said we should not miss Nikko also. We are also going to try to visit Hiroshima as a day trip from Kyoto.

Thanks so far for the suggestions everyone!


(I'm going with Brendan Vacations.)

We did a 10 day tour with MagicalJapan.com (a UK based internet tour company) the end of May, and added some days on our own at the end. It was not an escorted tour, but an independent tour. It was fantastic!! All the arrangements were made on the internet with e-mails. Great communication. Their website is great and gave us all the info we needed. We were greeted at the airport by a nice young man who spoke very good english. He had all the vouchers, tickets and info we needed. We did an upgrade package on hotels with 2 onsen nights in Hakone in a traditional Japanese room. We plan on a return trip to Japan and now know how to do it all on our own, but wouldn't be able to without having taken this tour first. We want much more time in Kyoto and Hakone!!! They offered a day trip to Hiroshima, but it was very easy to do on our own from Kyoto (Hotel Granvia at the station) with a stop off at Himeji.

Thanks travMimi a light bulb just went off in my head, as they say!

Aloha!

any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

what area are you staying in in Tokyo and Kyoto?

In Tokyo we are staying at Le Meridien Grand Pacific, which seems to actually be called the Grand Pacific Le Daiba and seems to be far away from the center of things. In Kyoto we are at the New Miyako Hotel.

Hi, jhgreen -

To decide what to do with your free time, you might find it helpful to browse:

http://www.japan-guide.com/

Enjoy!

There is enough to do in Odaiba where the Meridien Grand is to fill at least one day.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3008.html

ok...not really knowing what you like I will just reco what I might do if staying in your hotels areas.

In Tokyo I'd might check out the Roppongi area one evening you are free to shop, look around and eat. Plenty of places to go while walking the area around the Hyatt and the adjacent neighborhood.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3031.html

I would definitely stop by the Ameyoko street market to shop and maybe eat lunch or light dinner

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3012.html

If you want you could check out the Shinjuku area in the day or night The area has so much to see and you won't have enought time so just pick one area of it and emmerse yourself.

If you are there in the evening you can have a Kobe beef dinner for one at Misono's Restaurant atop the Sumitomo Bldg with a spectacular view of the Tokyo skyline 49 stories up.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3011.html

Your hotel in Kyoto is filled with tour groups but is near Kyoto station which is a sight in itself. I have stayed in the Granvia Hotel which is right in the station.

There are a myriad of restaurants in the train station and the attached malls....I mean seriously close to 100 places to eat and over ten stories high. You won't go wrong checking out the all the shopping and restaurants located in the station area on your time off in Kyoto.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3922.html

If you miss the Misono in Tokyo there is one in Kyoto as well.....it is a must place imho if you want to try real Kobe beef.

Take a walk down the Pontocho in the evening and if you are lucky you can be transported back in time to the time of the geisha.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3921.html

Take a stroll down the adjacent Shoji Dori to shop and gawk. If you have any time after that look for a bath and go for a soak as you will need it.....have fun!

Aloha!

i really appreciate all of the thoughtful help so far! I will definitely look into everything you all suggested

by any chance, does anyone have a suggestion about how to actually get to my hotel from the airport? right now i'm leaning towards a limo service, just because the subway/rr option looks very confusing. however, the limo option looks very expensive. any thoughts?

Have you considered a bus service? I don't remember exactly where from, but we used the bus from the city back to the airport. It was very easy. A nice Greyhound style bus service from a central terminal directly to the airport. Luggage storage below the bus. The combination of a bus and then a taxi from there to the hotel could be a good choice if the stop isn't as close to the hotel as you would like. See the link below to the website of Narita airport for the various bus services to various locations in Tokyo. You could email your hotel to ask which service or stop is right for best access.

http://tinyurl.com/zn7sl

Actually, here is the page on the airport bus service that goes to your hotel. The first box is schedule FROM hotel to airport but look down the page and it is the schedule TO hotel from airport. Costis Yen 2700. If it's not obvious when you arrive, a polite "excuse me please do you speak English" at the airport to ask where you can find the desk to buy the ticket you will easily find it. Also, showing the page printed from the website can be helpful to make you get where you want. Have a great trip. We loved Japan.

Whoops I posted before I copied in the link to that specific route on the airport bus website. Here it is. http://tinyurl.com/69eexn

thanks laurie ann that looks like a great idea!