Tokyo - Osaka - Kyoto
Here comes a review of the trip me and my boyfriend were planning. Thanks to all the comments!
Itinerary changes
- Moved the Fuji day trip to a day with highest visibility. It paid off and we were rewarded with the best view of Fuji-san ever!
- Skipped the Imperial Palace and did not regret it at all.
- Split visiting the Ueno Park area and Senso-Ji. It got too stressful otherwise.
What worked well
- We used the luggage delivery services and loved it.
- The heated toilet seats and washlets.
- Booking the shinkansen online wasn't a big deal, recommend it via the official website. Afterwards, we did have to look for the machine to get the ticket stubs printed out, since the QR code didn't work.
- Not over-stuffing out itinerary. We kept it for a major highlight + two-three optional stops and had a good time on our way.
- Planning the types of food we wanted to try and not where. This means we were much more flexible and could enjoy anything we saw on the street.
- Staying in Ginza, Tokyo. We had shopping we could do within 10 mins from the hotel, the metro line was in front of the hotel - it was very practical. The main station was also not far away. Would probably do it again.
- Overall, the time spent in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka was well-distributed. I was happy we listened to someone and spent a day extra in Kyoto, it was worth it.
What didn't work out
- Tea ceremony. Was booked out and most of the ceremonies involved matcha, which we don't like.
- Shopping larger sizes at Uniqlo. I didn't realize they would have the same approach as with the German branch. I didn't figure out the delivery to the hotel option, so left it at that. Thankfully, they had some XL t-shirts that we used.
Packing wins
- Taking extra tissues we were used to from Germany (Tempos). Life-saver!
- Only packing one set of comfortable shoes with the idea of buying more on the spot. We knew which brands were comfortable to us (Skechers, On) and focused on those.
Packing fails
- Shorts. Didn't need them. Switched to linen trousers from Uniqlo.
Other tips
- Get the Welcome Suica card and load it up with 3000-5000 yen, if you are going to travel a lot.
- Shopping "little as you go," worked much better than having a whole shopping day. Japan tends to have streets dedicated to certain products, so it would be much better to get into a random store on your way to anywhere.
- Taking a break in the hotel. We aren't sporty, so that helped avoid feet hurting and gave us more energy for an evening in Shinjuku or Shibuya.
- We withdrew about 20,000 Yen in cash per person and that was enough for card reloads and any cash purchases.
- Sticking to the veggie options in the 7/11 probably helped with the fibre intake. And their smoothies were amazing!
Apps we used a lot
- CardReader to read the suica card. The Apple wallet suica card worked well, too.
- Airalo for an eSIM.
- Merlin Bird ID - feeling like a Pokemon trainer catching Pokemon... or random bird sounds in this case.
- YEN to EUR converter.
- Google Translate.
- Maps. However, they weren't quite as effective when navigating the multi-layer shopping areas in Osaka Umeda.