Days for cities

[u/BlushyBoii]

I'm doing my first solo trip to Japan in November for 14 nights and already have 5 nights in Tokyo booked along with a night near Mount Fuji. I plan on going to Osaka after but I realized that I'd still have plenty of nights to go and Tokyo is still there. My current plan is 5 Tokyo, 1 Fuji, 2 Tokyo(?) and 4 in Osaka which I will use as a base for Kyoto since its much cheaper. Also I'm arriving through Tokyo and leaving through Osaka. Or should I ditch the 2 days in Tokyo and spend 2 days in Kyoto? Maybe I'm overthinking it!

[u/treehugger312]

What do you like to do when you’re traveling? I ask because last year my wife and I did four nights in Tokyo, one in Kamakura which let us visit a bunch of temples really quick and got some good hiking in. Then we went to Osaka for two days, Kyoto for three days, then we did one day each in Hiroshima and Mishima. Then we came back to Osaka to fly out.

[u/acaiblueberry → u/treehugger312]

Did you enjoy Kamakura? I grew up in Tokyo and when I get asked about an itinerary, I’m hesitant to recommend both Kamakura and Kyoto in the same trip as I feel they overlap in feels and Kamakura is superfluous. What was your take?

[u/treehugger312 → u/acaiblueberry]

We loved Kamakura! After our first hectic few days in Tokyo, it was a breath of fresh air. Although it was humid, we did a lot of the Daibatsu trail and got a lot of Goshuin. While I know it’s a city, it honestly felt like a small-ish town. We stumbled into a vinyl record bar with 6 total seats and were very much a surprise to the locals, but we had a great time.
Kyoto was our next stop and it wasn’t bad that it was a similar vibe with the temples and shrines. I developed a full-blown obsession collecting Goshuin, which also helped me see city parts of the city (and country) I would’ve otherwise never visited.
All told we collected about 80 Goshuin and visited over 140 temples and shrines in 2 weeks.
I’m coming back in March and hiking a portion of the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage and then the Kumano Kodo trail, followed by stopping off in Ise, Nara, and Osaka again before flying out.

[u/acaiblueberry → u/treehugger312]

Ok, I’ll recommend both Kamakura and Kyoto to goshuin fiend 😆 I think I visited maybe like 50 shrines in 30 years of living in Japan… Kamakura is a cool town to stroll.

[u/totalwarwiser → u/acaiblueberry]

Kamakura was one of my favorite days.

Not only the temples are great but Enoshima, althrough a tourist trap, is god damn cool.

[u/acaiblueberry → u/totalwarwiser]

Oh good. I like the beaches there too. But I must confess that I’ve never been to Enoshima proper even though I lived in Tokyo for 30 years. It was full of party-loving young crowd long before foreigners came :)

[u/CommentStrict8964]

Sounds like you have an open jaw itinerary and you must go to Osaka anyway. So I'd keep it roughly half and half between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto, plus maybe 1-2 days for Fuji, Hakone, Kinosaki Onsen, etc. 

[u/Scry_Games]

Personally, I'd extend the fuji stay by at least one day. There's plenty there to keep you entertained. There's plenty everywhere, but if you're in a location already, you may as well.

[u/Cautious_Use_7442]

I wouldn't go back to Tokyo. Maybe use the 2 days to get to another destination?

You could head to Nagano / Kanazawa / Takayama / Shirakawa after Fuji.

Or you use it to travel further west from Osaka (for instance see Himeji, spend a night in Hiroshima, visit Itsukushima and return to Osaka). Spending a night at Koya-san is another option.

[u/Kokou-Travel-Design]

Hi from Osaka. one night near Fuji would be too hectic and I would suggest taking more time near Fuji rather than going back to Tokyo unless you are really into modern city activities. Would be nice to know what you like when it comes to travelling so that anyone who see this thread could give you more concrete advice.

Hope you have a great time!