My partner and I are travelling to Japan for the first time from late August – early September 2026 (14 nights), and I'd love some feedback on our itinerary- especially whether we're trying to fit too much in, anything we should skip/add, and any transport or booking advice.

We're Australian passport holders and are mainly interested in Japanese culture, food, shopping, cafés, bars, scenic places and unique experiences. We're not particularly interested in anime.

Overall route

Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka → Tokyo

TOKYO

Day 1 Arrival at night- so not much planned

• Sleep!

Day 2 Ginza / Roppongi

• Slow morning
• Ginza shopping
• Cafés
• Dinner- Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu
• Drinks/bars around Roppongi/Nishi-Azabu

Day 3 Asakusa / teamLab

• Senso-ji / Asakusa
• Nakamise shopping street
• Explore/cafés
• Toyosu
• teamLab Planets
• Ichiran for dinner

Day 4 Go-kart / Harajuku / Shibuya

• Shibuya go-kart
• Harajuku / Takeshita Street
• Omotesando
• Cafés + shopping
• Shibuya
• Shibuya Sky around sunset + night city tour
• Zen Okonomiyaki
• Bon Dance if timing works

Tokyo → Hakone

• Our large luggage is being transferred directly from Tokyo to our Kyoto hotel
• Hakone sightseeing using our 2-day Hakone Freepass
• Planning the Hakone loop: Owakudani → Ropeway → Lake Ashi → Hakone Shrine → Gora
• Onsen + dinner at hotel

KYOTO

Day 1 Arashiyama

• Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
• Tenryu-ji
• Togetsukyo Bridge
• Lunch
• Cafés / shops
• Pontocho in the evening

Day 2 Higashiyama

• Kiyomizu-dera
• Ninenzaka / Sannenzaka
• Yasaka Pagoda
• Gion
• Nice/fine-dining dinner

Day 3 Fushimi + shopping

• Fushimi Inari
• Fushimi sake district
• Nishiki Market
• Teramachi / Shinkyogoku shopping
• Pontocho/Kawaramachi bars

We're considering doing one proper tea ceremony somewhere in Kyoto as our main cultural experience.

OSAKA

Day 1 Namba / Dotonbori

• Kyoto → Osaka by JR Special Rapid
• Leave luggage at hotel
• Kuromon Market
• Namba
• Dotonbori
• Hozenji Yokocho
• Ura-Namba
• Bars/food

Day 2 Osaka

• Osaka Castle
• Umeda
• Umeda Sky Building around sunset

Day 3 Hiroshima + Miyajima

We've booked a group day tour from Osaka covering Hiroshima + Miyajima.

Day 4 Osaka → Tokyo

🇯🇵 FINAL TOKYO DAY

Keeping this completely flexible for:

• Shopping
• Anything we missed
• Cafés
• Japanese skincare/beauty shopping
• Quirky Japanese stores
• Bars
• Final nice dinner

Questions for everyone:

1. Does this look too packed, particularly Kyoto?
2. Is Arashiyama + Fushimi Inari + Kiyomizu/Gion a good split?
3. Would you change anything about our Osaka days?
4. Anything we're missing that you think is a must-do for first-time visitors?
5. Any recommendations for reasonably priced but really good vegetarian-friendly (my partner is vegetarian) restaurants, particularly in Kyoto and Osaka?
6. Any transport tips we should know?