1 week Japan Itinerary - the Golden Route
For a short span of 1 week, the typical Japan “Golden
route” would be excellent for first timers. The route covers Tokyo, Kyoto and
Osaka. From the dense Japan cityscape, its heritage to its scenic landscape.
Here’s the itinerary for my trip during this spring. My party of 8 consisted of adults and half of them are seniors. We had started in Osaka and ended in Tokyo. It was planned this way to coincide with the sakura bloom which started slightly earlier in Osaka than in Tokyo. If you start and end in the same city, you may need to drop some spots or add a few more days.
Day 1, Osaka 大阪:
The party arrived in Osaka at night. Hence, the rest of the night was spent simply by having takeout meals, wash up and sleep well.
We chose to stayed in Tennoji station area. It offered Japan Rail line and subway lines which made getting around and beyond Osaka convenient.
Day 2, Osaka 大阪:
Osaka Amazing Pass will be an value-for-money choice to cover the day's admission fees to the places mentioned above and subway rides. Though the Pass offered some river cruise, we weren't in time to capitalise on them.
When in Osaka, we had tried its street food, such as Takoyaki and Okomoniyaki, that were readily available at key sights.
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| Top row: Minamitenma Park Middle row (L-R): Osaka Castle Park & Okonomiyaki Last row: Sunset view from Floating Garden |
Day 3, Nara 奈良:
This day was spent at the ancient city of Nara which was about 50min train ride away from Tennoji (Osaka). The key sights we visited are the Todaiji 東大寺大仏殿 and the deer park.
If your time permits, try the iron pot rice at the popular Shizuka 志津香. Line at this small restaurant starts forming before it opens for business at 11am.
As Nara is not a big city, it can be covered by walking. Alternatively, one may purchase a one-day bus pass to get around if there are many other sights to cover. As we only took 2 bus rides, it wasn't worth it for us to buy the bus pass.
For my group, we had check-out of our accommodation in Osaka and brought our luggage along to Nara because our next place of accommodation was at Kyoto. There were lockers in Nara station and paid luggage storage service at Nara Tourist Information Centre.
For my group, we had check-out of our accommodation in Osaka and brought our luggage along to Nara because our next place of accommodation was at Kyoto. There were lockers in Nara station and paid luggage storage service at Nara Tourist Information Centre.
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| Top row: Todaiji & manhole cover Bottom row: Messenger of God & Iron pot rice |
This was our only full day in Kyoto and we were ambitious to cover east to west of it. We began our day early to avoid the crowd at the Arashiyama 嵐山's Bamboo Forest. From the Bamboo forest, we followed the path through the Arashiyama Park to reach the Katsura river bank. As we spent less time sightseeing in Arashiyama than planned, we decided to squeeze one more sight into the day's itinerary. So, we took a bus (need to change another bus mid-way) to Kinkakuji 金閣寺. After a late lunch, we made our way to Kiyomizu 清水寺 and Sannenzaka street area by bus. If you aren't tired by dinner time, roam around Gion Shirakawa for chance encounter of geisha.
We had took the JR Line from Kyoto to Saga Arashiyama station but, for the rest of the day, we had used the one-day Bus Pass to save on bus fares.
For foodie, check out tofu meal at Saga Ine Tofu (Arashiyama), warabi mochi/dango at Fujinami 藤菜美 (Sannenzaka), Arabica Coffee and green tea dessert at Nakamura Tokichi 中村铭茶.
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| Top left to middle (clockwise): Kinkakuji, Bamboo Forest, quiet corner on Katsura River Bank, warabi mochi/dango, Pagoda at Kiyomizudera & Arabica Coffee |
Day 5, Kyoto / Lake Kawaguchi 河口湖:
Before we left Kyoto, we made a quick visit to the Fushimi-inari shrine 伏見稲荷大社 where the path to the summit is lined with thousands of red torii gates. As we were short of time, we didn't go all the way to the summit. The rest of the day was spent travelling from Kyoto to Lake Kawaguchi via Shinkansen (to Mishima station) and bus (to Kawaguchiko station). Arrive at Lake Kawaguchi in late afternoon.
Experience a Shinkansen ride in Japanese way by buying a bento meal to dine onboard.
The route we had taken from Kyoto to Lake Kawaguchi was not the most direct and cheapest. It was chosen so that we could experience travelling by Shinkansen. The most direct route is actually via long distance bus.
Day 6, Lake Kawaguchi 河口湖:
At Lake Kawaguchi, one would look for the best spot for a view of Mt Fuji. Go up to Mt Tenjo via Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway (formerly known as Kachi-Kachi ropeway) for an excellent view on a clear day. Consider other spots such as the Oishi Park, Iyashi no Sato or Chureito Pagoda. Besides these spots, my chance encounter for an fantastic panaromic view of Mt Fuji was at the top floor of Q-STA building which is situated at Fujisan station.
We got around Lake Kawaguchi with the two-day Red and Green line Sightseeing bus pass which was already worth it for 1 day for the route we had planned. The route we took was from Kawaguchiko station ---> Iyashi no Sato ---> Kawaguchiko station ---> Oishi Park / Kawaguchiko Natural Living Centre ---> Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway.
Try the local delicacy Houtou noodles for lunch. The popular place to try this dish was at Houtou Fudou which was situated opposite the Kawaguchiko station. If you would like to avoid queue, one of restaurants by the lake also offered pretty yummy ones.
At the end of the day, travel to Tokyo. There are various routes to do so. If you are bound for Shinjuku and doesn't use JR pass, you may travel by bus. If you travel by train, do note that the journey between Kawaguchiko station and Otsuki station may not be covered by certain passes of Japan Rail. For our trip, we had travelled directly by bus from Fujisan station to Tokyo's Ikebukuro where our next hotel was situated.
Before we left Kyoto, we made a quick visit to the Fushimi-inari shrine 伏見稲荷大社 where the path to the summit is lined with thousands of red torii gates. As we were short of time, we didn't go all the way to the summit. The rest of the day was spent travelling from Kyoto to Lake Kawaguchi via Shinkansen (to Mishima station) and bus (to Kawaguchiko station). Arrive at Lake Kawaguchi in late afternoon.
Experience a Shinkansen ride in Japanese way by buying a bento meal to dine onboard.
The route we had taken from Kyoto to Lake Kawaguchi was not the most direct and cheapest. It was chosen so that we could experience travelling by Shinkansen. The most direct route is actually via long distance bus.
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| Fushimi Inari Temple Ground |
At Lake Kawaguchi, one would look for the best spot for a view of Mt Fuji. Go up to Mt Tenjo via Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway (formerly known as Kachi-Kachi ropeway) for an excellent view on a clear day. Consider other spots such as the Oishi Park, Iyashi no Sato or Chureito Pagoda. Besides these spots, my chance encounter for an fantastic panaromic view of Mt Fuji was at the top floor of Q-STA building which is situated at Fujisan station.
We got around Lake Kawaguchi with the two-day Red and Green line Sightseeing bus pass which was already worth it for 1 day for the route we had planned. The route we took was from Kawaguchiko station ---> Iyashi no Sato ---> Kawaguchiko station ---> Oishi Park / Kawaguchiko Natural Living Centre ---> Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway.
Try the local delicacy Houtou noodles for lunch. The popular place to try this dish was at Houtou Fudou which was situated opposite the Kawaguchiko station. If you would like to avoid queue, one of restaurants by the lake also offered pretty yummy ones.
At the end of the day, travel to Tokyo. There are various routes to do so. If you are bound for Shinjuku and doesn't use JR pass, you may travel by bus. If you travel by train, do note that the journey between Kawaguchiko station and Otsuki station may not be covered by certain passes of Japan Rail. For our trip, we had travelled directly by bus from Fujisan station to Tokyo's Ikebukuro where our next hotel was situated.
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| Top row: View of Mt Fuji from Q-STA Middle row: Red line bus, View of Lake Kawaguchi from Mt Tenjo (in winter) & Iyashi no Sato Bottom row: noodles at Houtou Fudou, Comic decor on Fujikyu train |
Day 7, Tokyo 東京:
Our first sightseeing spot was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building 東京都庁 which provided a bird's eye view of the dense city and at no charge at all. Move on to Shinjuku for some shopping and lunch. Spend the late afternoon viewing sakura at the Chidorigafuchi and Imperial East Gardens area. The last two iconic sights for the day would be the newly renovated Tokyo Station and Tokyo Tower. Our choice of viewing spot of Tokyo Tower was from the Shiba Park (at Onarimon station).
Utilise the 24-hr subway pass for this day's sightseeing.
See post on 3 Ramen Places to Try in Shinjuku to find your favourite ramen. If ramen does not interest you, there are no shortage of food places of various cuisine to try in Shinjuku and Tokyo station area.
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| Top row: Tokyo Station Middle row to Bottom row (clockwise from left): Yuzu tasting ramen at Afuri, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tokyo Tower, manhole in at Imperial East Garden area, & view from Tokyo Met Govt Bldg |
Day 8, Tokyo 東京:
As our flight was in the evening, we spent our final 8 hours in Tokyo by visiting sights at Asakusa 浅草 and Ueno 上野 . At Asakusa, there was a street full of souvenirs and local snacks leading up to the famous Sensoji which is Buddhist temple. We had also walked to the nearby Sumida Park which offered views of Tokyo Skytree and would be lovely if sakura continued to bloom. After lunch, we visited Ueno Park in hope of catching last bite of withering sakura. Ameyoko was our last shopping and eating spot in Ueno.
There are several street food to try at Asakusa, including the Suzukien's gelato with the highest concentration of green tea.
We didn't get a subway pass for this day as we travelled by JR and subway lines.
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| Top left clockwise: Gelato at Suzukien, Sensoji, rows of shops leading to Sensoji & Tokyo Skytree |
This was a 7 full days itinerary for Japan. It would take some effort to move according to the planned train timings and allow flexibility to stay longer or shorter at places.
Tips on Transport
Transport will be a significant expenditure for travelling in Japan. But, there are a variety of train and bus passes which could help travellers save some money.
I didn't get any Japan Rail (JR) Pass for this trip as I had done my sums and planning in advance. There several journeys during the trip that was best made with non-JR transport. Hence, I won't be able to maximise the JR pass if I had gotten it. In the end, the overall transport expenses of JR and non-JR transport was almost equivalent to the price of 7 day JR pass.
Some useful websites on transportation in Japan:
Japan Rail
Hypedia - check for routes suggestion and it includes schedules and price
Japan Bus Online - Information and booking site for long distance buses
Enjoy your planning for Japan trip!
Some useful websites on transportation in Japan:
Japan Rail
Hypedia - check for routes suggestion and it includes schedules and price
Japan Bus Online - Information and booking site for long distance buses
Enjoy your planning for Japan trip!
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