This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/vskhosa on 2025-10-17 01:16:38+00:00.
My wife and I just got back yesterday so wanted to share what worked for us. We are very active and don't mind a lot walking and long days when we travel. This wasn't really a vacation, but more of an exploration trip. Some of you might find it quite a lot, but it was great for us.
This might get a little long.
Oct 3 - Arrived at Narita airport and got our Welcome Suica card and 7-day JR pass. Took Access Express to Asakusa where we were going to stay for 5 nights. Checked in at the hotel around 8 pm and walked straight to Senso-ji temple. It was quite and peaceful. Took some night shots and prayed in peace.
Oct 4 - Started the day at 6 am and went to Ueno park. Walked quite a bit in a peaceful setting. Came back towards Senso-ji via Kapabashi street. Bought a knife. Visited Senso-ji at crowded time when all the shops were open. Went back to the hotel to get a power nap due to jetlag. Woke up late afternoon and took the subway to TeamLab Planets. Called it a day after that.
Oct 5 - Again long tokyo day. Started early. Visited Shibuya, Meji Jingu, Yoyogi Park, Takeshita St, Cat St, Metropolitan building, Shinjuku Gyoen Garden, Shinjuku shopping. After all the crowd, we went to Odaiba and relaxed by the river and watched rainbow bridge lit up.
Oct 6 - Day trip to Nikko via Tobu Nikko. Visited Toshogu Shrine and others in the area. Took the bus to Lake Chuzenji and saw Kegon Waterfalls. Left Nikko at 5:30 pm back to Asakusa.
Oct 7 - Day trip to Kawaguchiko. This didn't go as planned due to weather. It started raining so we didn't get to see Mt Fuji. But we still go to Oishi park and waited for it. We didnt go to the Pagoda because it requires climbing 400 steps which wasn't a great idea in rain. This was our shortest day.
Oct 8 - Start of our JR pass. Took the early morning Shinkansen to Kanazawa. Visited Kenroku-en garden, Kanazawa Castle and Samurai district. By the time we reached Higashi Chaya the shops were already closed. It's a ghost town after 5 pm. But we still strolled around Higashi Chaya.
Oct 9 - Rented a car for a day and drove to Shirakawa-go. Took the non-highway route. It was scenic and avoids toll. This was one of the best days as we could go at our own pace. On our way back, we visited Ainokura as well. It was so much quieter than Shirakawa-go.
Oct 10 - Took early morning Shinkansen to Kyoto. There was a transfer a Tsuruga station to Thunderbird train. Just to note, Thunderbird train has spacious top rack for medium sized luggage just like shinkansen. Upon arrival in Kyoto, we stored our bigger luggage in coin locker and took the train to Nara. Spent half day in Nara, visited Toda-ji temple, deer park, had ice cream. On the way back, we stopped at Uji for a few hours. Strolled along the river, visited Byodo-in temple and did some matcha shopping. Came to Kyoto around 6 pm. Checked-in and walked to To-ji temple. Our accommodations was fairly close and the temple looked amazing at night.
Oct 11 - Started early morning, went straight to Fushimi Inari. Hiked all the way to Mt Inari. The crowd gets half after the viewpoint so it's nice and quiet. Came back to Kyoto station thinking what to do next. Since we had JR pass, we hopped on Shinkansen to Himeji. Took a quick tour of the castle. Unfortunately, the tickets were sold out to go inside so we could only see it from outside. Still it was great. Came back to Kyoto around 3 pm and went to Gion district. Strolled around, went to Yasaka shrine and the park behind it. Checked out Pontocho alley but couldnt find a place to eat due to long line up. So went to a Mexican place for some burritos. Absolutely delicious.
Oct 12 - Woke up a little late. Went to Arashiyama and visited Adashino. Arashiyama was too crowded but bamboo forest was right there by the entrance. So we didn't go too deep. Came back and relaxed. In the evening, we went to Yamato to send our medium sized luggage straight to Narita airport. It cost us 3300 yen. It was totally worth it.
Oct 13 - Early morning Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Went straight to peace memorial museum. This was one of the highlights of the trip. It was such a a heartfelt experience. We easily spent 2-3 hours in the museum and then went to A-bomb dome. In the afternoon, we went to Miyajima Island. Spent 3-4 hours there. Spent the night at a rooftop bar for a few hours before going to bed.
Oct 14 - Early morning shinkansen back to Tokyo. We had two options, either go straight to Tokyo and wait for the check-in or make a quick stop somewhere in between. We decided to take a detour to Kamakura and Hiroshima. It was a cloudy day so not great for the beach but we paid respect to the great Buddha and took the train to Enoshima. From there came back to Tokyo around 6 pm.
Oct 15 - Our flight was in the evening, so we took this time to do some shopping in Ueno and Asakusa. Left for the airport around noon. Bought some Hokkaido cookies at Narita airport and boarded the flight.
Stats for 13 days:
Steps - 277,000
Avg steps per day - 21,300
Distance walked - 188 km or 116 miles
Avg distance per day - 14.4 km or 8.9 miles
Cost (excluding flights) - $2300 CAD or $1600 USD per person
The JR pass was totally worth it for us as we used it wherever we could from the starting till the last day.
I would love to answer any questions that you might have while it's still fresh in my mind. I might have skipped a lot of details to avoid making it any longer. Thanks for reading. Hope it helps.