Honeymoon in Japan help

[MaiaInEurope]

Hi everyone,

My wedding is next year and we have decided to go to Japan for our honeymoon. We have both always wanted to visit and so we’re trying to plan a romantic and once-in-a-lifetime trip. Our wedding will be in September so we’re thinking of booking this soon for October 2024. I have some time off this week so DP has asked me to write down some ideas for a plan!

So far the rough plan is this:

Day 1 -3 : Tokyo
Day 4 -6 : Hakone, with private onsen
Day 7 – 9 : Kyoto
Day 10 – 11 : Miyajima Island/ Hiroshima trip
Day 12 – 13 : Osaka
Day 14 : Tokyo

Do you think this is too much? I want us to see as many things as possible and have already made a list of a few places, like the deer park (Nara) near Kyoto. We are planning to get the Rail Pass to make travel easier.

I would appreciate recommendations of good hotels and things to do to add to my list. Even restaurants you’d recommend, anything that comes to mind. Thanks :)

Are day 1 and day 14 full days in Japan or travel days? If they are mostly travel then, to me it looks like you may be really rushing Tokyo. I’d say that as a minimum (if you are happy to pack stuff in and walk a lot) you want a full day and evening for Shibuya/Harajuku/Shinjuku, a full day and evening for Asakusa/Ueno/Akihabara and a day for Tsukiji/Ginza/Imperial Palace and I’d also try to visit Odaiba too. If you have 4 full days of Tokyo then you’ll be OK and will be able to get a sense of the city but if it’s really only two days with day 1 and 14 as travel days then I’d consider spending longer in Tokyo.

You might also want to look at whether flying in and out of Tokyo is actually any cheaper than flying into Osaka and out of Tokyo or vice versa. We are going next Easter and it was actually slightly cheaper to fly into KIX and out of HND than to fly return to
either airport.

I wouldn’t personally want to cram that much in and change hotels that often, but you know best whether that’s your thing. I’d be inclined to stay in either Osaka or Kyoto and use that as your base in Kansai. They are close enough together that you can stay in one and use it as a base to visit the other and to visit Nara (which is actually a bit closer to Osaka than Kyoto, I think… but very reachable from both), but that’s because I’d hate to have to up and change hotels every two days. That might not be something that bothers you.

Thanks for your advice so far.

@Takoneko yes day 1 and day 14 are travel days. I think you are right that we will need more time in Tokyo. Maybe I will take out Hiroshima but still need to decide.

I also like the idea of switching hotels less often. I’m now considering a hotel for Tokyo, a hotel for either Osaka or Kyoto and a stop in a traditional Japanese inn between them, as this is something we really want to experience.

I flew into Tokyo and out of Osaka

We did 5 hotels in the end due to flight times (early/late) so stayed at airport hotels.

We stayed Osaka to visit Kyoto and Kobe.

It was a knackering holiday as constantly doing stuff. Hotels are expensive and small so hard to chill out in them much too.

I would suggest you need three weeks minimum. I'm an ex travel agent and would strongly recommend Wendy wu to plan your itinerary, they did mine recently including China, and it came in at under 10k which was a lot less than budget.

Oh no @burnoutbabe would you not recommend Japan as a good honeymoon location then?

We usually like a busy holiday with lots to do. I think we would get bored if it was a beach type holiday. I’m trying to find some nice hotel but it’s hard to find an idea of prices because many of them just say ‘no available dates’ which is odd.

My friend has just come back from Japan, and absolutely loved it. She stayed in 5 different places in the 16 days she was there.

She said the one place they wished they hadn't gone to was Nara - she said she wished they'd done more in other places they'd been to. Hiroshima was a highlight for her, she said.

We did two weeks for our honeymoon and our itinerary was very similar!

Tokyo
Hakone day trip
Kyoto
Nara day trip
Okayama day trip
Kurashiki
Hiroshima day trip
Miyajima
Kanazawa
Takayama day trip
Tokyo

My advice would be to not miss Hiroshima. The museum is harrowing but I think it's something everyone needs to see given the opportunity.

The overnight we did on Miyajima was also unmissable.

Personally we weren't fussed by the hustle and bustle of Tokyo (Ikebukuro and Asakusa are our favourite parts) and we were more interested in seeing more of Honshu so we went out of our way to travel around as much as we could. Bullet trains make everything so simple.

I'd agree with that. If you just want Nara for the deer, OP, then they're also on Miyajima island and are totally up for bowing for biscuits 😅

So much great advice on this thread, I’m taking notes! Can anyone recommend any hotels/ accommodation?

@TheBirdintheCave We are animal lovers so we are mainly going for the deer 😂 good to hear they are also on Miyajima Island. I wanted to see the snow monkeys too but I think they are too far from where we are planning to go, sadly.

i'd just not think its a romantic type holiday. it will be busy. With time difference and doing so many steps we were generally in bed, asleep, by 9pm most nights lol

hotels can generally only be booked 6 months ahead so you won't see next year available now.

i wasn;t fussed on Kyoto so we managed around 3 hours there before heading back to Osaka. We did theme parks and pokemon cafe type stuff so very differerent itinary. Kobe for a steak dinner was fun for a day trip.

@MaiaInEurope As a chain we liked The B. The one we stayed in in Asakusa fell foul to the Covid years unfortunately but others still exist.

In Kyoto we stayed at an aparthotel as we wanted easy access to a washing machine.

On Miyajima island we stayed at Hotel Miyajima Villa.

Love Japan! We went on our honeymoon too.

From memory we did:

Tokyo (6 nights) - day trip to Lake Kawaguchi for Mt Fuji
Kyoto (4 nights) - day trip Nara
Fly to Okinawa (4 nights) - this was our “honeymoon” part of the trip and we loved it!
Osaka (3 nights)

We are desperate to go back as there’s so much more to see and do, but we were wary of trying to fit too much in to our schedule.

We stayed at a Monterey Hotel last time we went… the Monterey Ginza. It was over a decade ago now though and it looks like the hotel is maybe a bit dated. We found the room size pretty good compared to some Japanese hotels we’d seen. This time round we’ve booked a Henn na Hotel in Osaka (possibly not honeymoon vibes) and an APA Hotel in Tokyo (but not the standard double room, which looks tiny). Time will tell if that’s a good choice.

We had quite specific locations that we wanted to stay in and chose the hotel based on what looked like the best value around the area we were interested in. We were happy to go with business hotels.

I’d work out what you want to do and then decide where to stay based on that. In Osaka we plan on using it as a base to visit other places and come back to in the evening for dinner and night photography so wanted to be walking distance from Dotonbori. In Tokyo we expect to use it to explore the city and we also want to do two days at Disney so being somewhere well-connected and on the Keiyo line was important to us. We’ve booked somewhere walking distance from stations on the Keiyo line, Hibiya line, Ginza line, Asakusa line, Yurakucho line and Marunouchi line. It’s a much less bustling area but really well connected.

It’s interesting that a PP said they weren’t so fussed about the bustle of Tokyo. I love megacity holidays, so I wouldn’t want to cut that short but maybe you’d rather spend more of your time elsewhere.

I think @burnoutbabe and I may be quite similar as I’m more of an Osaka than a Kyoto person and also have the theme parks on my itinerary (which I know is quite controversial on Mumsnet). Horses for courses!

Miyajima is unmissable - stay overnight because once the ferries leave it is magical. Hakone is ok but nonessential in my opinion - I prefer a day or overnight in Nikko. It’s nice to hop off the train in on your way back from Hiroshima just to see Himeji castle.

I agree that you might need more time in Tokyo, and second the recommendation to squeeze in Odaiba if you have time while you're there.

Personally, I would take out Osaka before I would sacrifice Hiroshima/Miyajima. Depends what you want to do though.

I'm not that fussed about Nara either. It's nice, but I would prioritise more time in Kyoto if I were you.

Hakone is nice and onsen not to be missed. Should be nice in October.

We loved Hakone. Think we stayed 2 nights. Aside from the onsen experience (which you could also do at night, to save time for other things in day), we did the outdoor sculpture museum which was great, plus cable car up to sulphur springs , and the pirate ship trip across Lake Ashi. We went in October.

We went with Inside Japan Tours; they can put together a bespoke itinerary.

@Oriunda Oh the Hakone loop is so much fun :) That was our worst weather day but it was still brilliant. Then we did the onsen in the evening followed by a yakiniku dinner before bullet training back to Tokyo 😍

That doesn't look unmanageable, but it will be an active holiday. Assume you will be doing the two week railpass?

Personally I would consider dropping Hakone and consider somewhere smaller for the room with private rotenburo - but that might just be because I found Hakone a bit commercial.

I'd even consider whether you really need Osaka as well as Tokyo. I'd consider a visit to Himeji castle and or Naoshima (if art / architecture are of interest).

While we lived in Japan we did a week's honeymoon doing the following:

Tokyo
Kyoto (Ryokan Tawaraya)
Nara
Kanazawa (Gardens and Pritzger prize winning art gallery)
Shinagawa-go (Thatched houses in a valley)
Hida-Takayama (visit town, Hida folk village, and stay at Ryokan WanoSato a taxi-ride outside town)
Tokyo

Also just back from a two week trip to Japan where we did (a busy trip) that included:

Tokyo
Shikoku
Naoshima Island (Art / Architecture)
Kyoto (Kikusui Ryokan near Nanzenji)
Amanohashidate (a scenic view probably not worth the journey)
Tottori
Matsue (castle, Lafcadio Hearn, Samurai house and Adachi Museum of Art - gardens)
Arifukuonsen (Nushiya Ryokan - best ryokan in Shimane - recommended if you are anywhere near)
Kyoto (AirBnB traditional house just South of Kyoto Station)
Tokyo

Found the much less travelled West / northern coast of Honshu a good trip, through definitely benefitted from having a friend with a car as tour guide from Amanohashidate to Tottori via Ine and a fantastic lunch at Mitaki-en near Chizu.

If you do go to Hiroshima and Miya-jima I would recommend staying on the island as then you get to see it without as many tourists.

In Kyoto, we would probably recommend the ryokan we stayed at this time - near Nanzenji shrine over Tawaraya - which might be a 'grand dame' but is probably less good on a cost/performance basis.

Early October will still be quite warm in the day, but do pack layers.

Happy for you to PM me if you would like to ask questions about any of the above.

Japan is wonderful whatever you do and wherever you go. I lived there for a year in my twenties. The best memories are of the obscure little ryokans and onsens in the countryside, but even the occasional swanky hotel is good because Japan-style is like nowhere else on the planet. Hole in the wall sushi bars in Tokyo often better than anything you'd get in the best places outside Japan.

We are doing 4 days Tokyo, 2 days Hakone with private onsen rooms. 5 days Kyoto in traditional house self catering, 2 days Hiroshima and 3 days Osaka with universal studios at the end... flying home from Osaka.
Me DP, and two teen children.

We are going in May, trip with inside Japan

If you'd consider self catering for part of the trip, stay in one of the old machiya houses in Kyoto. We stayed in https://www.kyoto-machiya-inn.com/accommodations/akebono/ (pic is in the tatami room looking into the tiny garden)

And for a restaurant recommendation in Koyto, Kyotofu Fujino above Kyoto station. Might sound a bit odd recommending a station restaurant, but it's really good - beautifully presented food, some cooked at the table (simmered in a little basket on the built-in hotplate - pictured), and a marvellous view over the city. Gets busy though, so if you don't have a reservation go early - by 7pm, or even earlier they stop letting people in.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Yes we are going to get the rail pass. From what you’ve all said, I think I will include Hiroshima after all. DP is very into museums and things like that, and prefers these to other things like theme parks (unfortunately he isn’t a fan of rides so we will be skipping Disney).

I actually based part of our itinerary on the examples I found on Inside Japan. I prefer to organise things myself (and hopefully this will also keep the costs down as we don’t have a massive budget.)

Your experiences sound good, especially the descriptions of the food. I like ramen so hope to sample a lot of authentic Japanese ramen while there.

Reddit has some very good and active Japan travel boards which will give you tips on your itinerary. Also the Japan rail pass has recently gone up in price a lot so may not be worth it for your trip.
Jorudan website has train costs, and I’m sure there are others too.

@MaiaInEurope I'd also recommend renting a pocket wifi from the airport. We found this invaluable.