14 days solo across Japan
Spent 14 days solo across Japan this July. Did the golden route (Tokyo/Kyoto) with small detours when transiting between them. I stayed in hostels and booked my flights in February which allowed me to keep a decent budget for the 2 week trip, without having to think too much about if I am spending too much on food and shopping.
Itinerary:
Kyoto (5 Nights): I landed at Tokyo Narita airport and transferred to Kyoto on the same day by Shinkansen. Since my return flight was from Tokyo, doing this saved me one hotel transfer and a lot of time and effort. I stayed at Piece Hostel Kyoto, which was pretty close to Kyoto station. Visited Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari and a few other shrines and temples. Walked along the philosopher's path at night. I also made a friend online, who was much more adventurous than me and we ended up doing 2-3 hikes along marked and unmarked trails. If you like hiking/walking trails, I would suggest downloading the Yamap app and walking on some of the trails in Kyoto. It is surprising how a trail only 200-300 meters away from a major tourist attraction will barely have any people at all. I also did a day trip to Asuka, Nara from Kyoto. Rented a cycle for a day and cycled through the town and the rice fields. Also visited the Asuka-dera and Tachibana-dera temples. If you're looking to visit the Japanese countryside, Asuka would definitely tick that box. It was a peaceful day out with barely other tourists or cars on the road and I loved cycling through the town.
Nakasendo trail - Magome -> Tsumago (1 Night): After spending 6 days in Kyoto, I transferred to Magome-juku in the Kiso valley. This is a post-town along the Nakasendo trail, which connected Kyoto and Tokyo in the Edo period. Most of the houses here still hold that old-time charm and spending the night here was one of my best decisions in this trip. I stayed at Magome Chaya which had dormitory-style rooms. The next morning I started the day early and walked the Nakasendo trail from Magome to Tsumago which is another post-town. The distance was around 8kms and it wasn't very difficult to walk. The trail is really beautiful and it passes through forests and along running streams. You will also find 2 waterfalls along the trail. Tsumago-juku was just as beautiful as Magome. I had lunch here and then left for my next destination.
Shuzenji Onsen (2 nights): I really wanted to stay in an Onsen town during this trip. While researching I noticed that Hakone was a popular destination, but I wanted to get away from the crowds. Further research helped me finalize on Shuzenji Onsen and the town DID NOT disappoint. I spent my 2 days here relaxing and going to different public hot spring baths. It was fun walking around the town in the evening and relaxing by the river dipping my feet in the free-to-use hot water footbath. This was also the only place I got to interact with locals. I had a fun time talking with them (with one person who knew English translating) in a small bar. I stayed at Hostel Knot. The place was great and on the second day, I was the only person in the entire hostel. I cannot recommend Shuzenji Onsen enough, if anyone reading this wants a small detour when traveling between Tokyo and Kyoto.
Tokyo (5 nights): By the time I went to Tokyo, I was already pretty exhausted from the rest of the trip. I decided to take it slow here and did not go to every place I had initially intended to. I spent a lot of time in Akihabara, browsing through buildings filled with anime and manga merch and also spent a lot of time in the video game arcades. I also visited the Senso-ji temple and Meiji Jingu shrine. Visited Shibuya, Shinjuku and the area around the Tokyo Tower. I had initially planned to go on a day trip to Kamakura but couldn't do it since I could not get myself to wake up early in the morning. I stayed at Nomad Hostel Classic, which was in a peaceful neighbourhood near the Sumida river. This allowed me to have some slow days as I wasn't immediately hit by the crowds when I was out.
Flew out of Tokyo Narita airport to finish my trip
Budget and costs: I had budgeted around 2 lakhs INR for this trip and I was able to keep all my spends within budget. Since I stayed in hostels and also booked flights for a decent price, I did not have to think much about my day-to-day costs to be within my budget.
Flights: 50k INR BLR <-> Tokyo Narita. I flew on Singapore Airlines with a layover in Singapore on both legs. Flight and travel costs can be reduced by a lot if flying out of Mumbai or Delhi as you would be able to use the Hello Blue sale by ANA to also get a free domestic flight and avoid the costs associated with Shinkansen.
Accommodation: 30k INR for 13 nights. My accommodation costs were pretty low as I stayed in hostels.
I spent 120k INR on food, shopping, travel inside Japan and other miscellaneous costs. Overall, it was an amazing trip that I was looking forward to since a very long time and I am glad I got to do it solo. DMs are always open if you're also planning a Japan trip and have any doubts or would like any recommendations.