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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/tr0p3 on 2024-12-29 12:14:01+00:00.
I recently finished a one-month solo trip (Nov-Dec 2024) and decided to jot down some thoughts and experiences.
Itinerary Overview
Osaka - 6 nights. split into 3 + 3 with an overnight stay in Koyasan in the middle
Koyasan - 1 night
Kinosaki - 2 nights
Hiroshima - 3 nights
Kyoto - 5 nights
Kanazawa - 2 nights
Takayama - 2 nights
Kawaguchiko - 2 nights
Tokyo - 6 nights
Highlights - Kinosaki, Miyajima, Nara
Lowlights - Kyoto. Okay, maybe not a lowlight exactly; I'm happy I went, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the trip.
Itinerary
- Osaka 6 nights felt like the right amount of time here, especially that half of those days was spent on daytrips out of Osaka and the first day was just getting things sorted out - picking up the rail pass, booking train tickets etc.
Kaiyukan is 100% worth it. It may seem like a regular aquarium initially, but once you get to the main tank with the two whale sharks it's something else entirely. On my first day, I also did an organized food tour + red light district tour. A good way to meet some people and try some local food. The red light district is quite interesting too; a very different vibe from Amsterdam, for example.
Nara - Nara really surprised me and in a positive way. Yes, it's quite touristy but not even close to feeling as overcrowded as Kyoto. The parks are beautiful - it was peak autumn colors when I was there; the temples as well. And you get to feed some deer and/or watch people being chased by hungry deer :D. A really fun day out.
Himeji and Kobe - Not great, not terrible. One of the more forgettable days of this trip. I'd say if your time in Japan is more limited, you shouldn't go out of my way to see either of these. If you want to see an iconic Japanese castle, this is it. Inside you're walking in a long line through a wooden house with very not much explanation. Had to go for some A5 Kobe beef while in Kobe - I'm not a big beef eater in general, so while it'd be silly to say it wasn't good (it was; rich and buttery), it's far from being the best meal I had in Japan.
- Koyasan An overnight trip from Osaka. Staying overnight allows you to do the night-time tour of the Okunoin cemetary (needs to be booked in advance online) which was led by one of the monks and actually gave a lot of info on both the place as well as the buddhist teachings/philosophy. And then you spend the night in the temple, eat dinner and breakfast there and join in the morning rituals. Additionally, there's loads of other temples spread around the area. I think I enjoyed it more because it was right at the start of my trip; had it been towards the end of it, I might have been too templed-out to care much.
- Kinosaki The highlight of the trip. Also my first time in an onsen. The problem when traveling solo is that most ryokans seem to do room + food packages for 2 people, so I ended up booking a room-only package. That turned out not to be a problem as you can then buy breakfast and dinner separately on site. The ryokan breakfast was amazing and the kaiseki dinner (from sashimi to hida beef and snow crab) was the best meal I had in Japan. In the ryokan they show you how to wear your yukata, then you put on your clogs and join the other people making their way from one onsen to the next. There are 6 different ones open on any one day in Kinosaki (they rotate), ranging from small indoor one that's basically a large hot tub to a large outdoor pool with a waterfall. Spent two days chilling, eating great food and soaking in hot water. Bliss.
- Hiroshima Miyajima was another highlight of this trip. Beautiful scenery, gorgerous autumn colors, wonderful temples - especially once you get away from the main torii gate. The hike up Mt Misen is very rewarding too. Just be mindful that if you want to take the cable car back down, it closes quite early (around 4pm I think), so you cannot stay on top to watch the sunset and then ride it down.
- Kyoto In Kyoto you get to understand why some cities around the world are pushing back against overtourism. And yes I do see the irony in me, another tourist, complaining about it. Honestly, Kyoto felt like a Japan theme park somewhere in China and I think it becomes more bearable once you frame it like that. So go with the crowd, stand in line for the major "rides", get an ice cream, rent a kimono. Repeat the next day. The caveat, like elsewhere in Japan, once you walk a few blocks from the main touristy sights you tend to find yourself on half-deserted streets.
I found that only Kinkakuji wasn't crowded early in the morning; maybe because it's further away than the likes of Kiyomizudera or Fushimi Inari. It is quite stunning, especially once the sun is out. Fushimi Inari - it gets better when you hike higher up the mountain, past the herds of instagrammers in the first section.
Railway Museum - I decided to check it out one day to take a break from temples. I think it's better if you're there with kids as there's a LOT of interactive stuff aimed at kids, but other than that it wasn't anything special. Pretty light on English-language info too.
All in all, out of all the big cities - Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto - Kyoto is the only one I don't really want to go back to.
BTW, if you're doing a daytrip to Uji, don't go early in the morning to try to beat the crowds. The temple may be open but the rest of town doesn't open up till around 11am, so you'll be standing around twiddling your thumbs.
- Kanazawa I was expecting a little bit more, having read about Kanazawa online, incl on reddit, before the trip. The samurai / geisha districts are both very small. The garden is pretty nice but, by now, you've probably seen a dozen similar gardens elsewhere. What is great is the seafood, which is amazing here. I loved the kaisendon (raw seafood on rice) which you can get pretty much everywhere.
- Takayama A change of climate and scenery. A small, historic-looking town - a lot more so than the historic districts in kanazawa - and in December it's covered in snow. Very picturesque. There's a nice hiking trail around town that takes you past some snow-covered temples & through fir/pine forests. Much like Kinosaki and other smaller towns, everything closes down and the place is dead by 6pm. While it's not that far from Mt Fuji, it's on the other side of the Alps, so getting to Kawaguchiko by train and bus will essentially take a full day. Express to Nagoya, Shinkaksen to Mishima, and a bus to Kawaguchiko - all in about 8 hours.
- Kawaguchiko Your time here will depend on the weather obviously. I got lucky with two days of perfect blue skies. I think you need to do Kawaguchiko overnight, as it's best early in the morning. By noon, the sun is directly above Fuji (in winter at least), which doesn't make for the best photos. Then, in the afternoon, the side of the mountain you see is hidden in the shadow. Also, early in the morning, you'll have the main sights like Chureito Pagoda pretty much to yourself. Beyond Chureito Pagoda, there's a hiking trail up to a viewing platform on top of that mountain. I was the only person there and only ran into some people on my way down around 10 am. Buses in Kawaguchiko start running around 9am, if I remember correctly, so if you want to get somewhere early you'll need to take a taxi. A ride from the lake to the pagoda was about $20. Taxis accept cards.
- Tokyo I had been to Tokyo before, so I wasn't doing that much sightseeing this time. The goal here was just to chill, eat and do some shopping. I liked staying in Akasaka. From Akasaka-Mitsuke station, it's just a few stops from Shibuja, Shinjuku and Ginza. Also, it's a more of a business area, so there's loads of restaurants and bars open and you'll see throngs of salarymen after work and hardly any tourists.
Uniqlo. I've been to a few of them, but ultimately I'd do all of my shopping in the Ginza flagship store. It does seem busier, and it may take some time to get up to the 10th floor, but once you know your size the rest is quick and easy. And they have everything here.
Onitsuka Tiger. The Shibuya one is obviously super busy, but there's another one at Narita airport. It's smaller, but if you didn't bother with the Shibuya one, there's another chance here.
TeamLabs. Borderless is an absolutely mesmerizing experience and you can get lost in it for hours. You're also free to roam around and return to rooms later; you're even encouraged to do it, as the rooms change over time. Planets, on the other hand, is a much shorter and linear experience. The locker / transition area between the different zones feels a lot more disorganized and chaotic too. Also be aware that you'll be up to your knees in water here :). If you need to pick one, go to Borderless.
MISCELLANEOUS
- E-sim I went with the e-sim from Klook and it worked perfectly everywhere. Setting it up was so straightforward too that it was basically a non-event. I recall having more difficulties setting up an Airalo e-sim on some earlier trips. I paid about $20 for a 1-month 20gb pack. In the end, I used about 5gb in total. I had downloaded offline google maps and the Japanese language pack for google translate, which probably helped reduce the data usage.
- Google Maps / Translate Both worked nearly perfectly. Google lens obviously is super useful in supermarkets etc where there's no English labeli...
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