Sun, Mar 17, 2024

New York to Tokyo

It’s on! We are finally off to Japan!!!

• Flight: Japan Airlines 5, New York NY, JFK - Tokyo, HND
  • 1:40pm - 5:15pm +1 days, 14h 35m, Non-Stop

Monday, March 18, 2024

Tokyo

Woho! Arriving in Tokyo! Time to find our way to our hotel and then some yummy food!

• Hotel: Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel
  • Mar 18-23

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tokyo - Shibuya

First real day in Tokyo and we have decided to stay in the area where our hotel is located, Shibuya.

• We’ll start off by visiting Meiji Jingu Shrine & Yoyogi park .
• Next we’ll stop by Harajuku ] and Takeshita Dori for some shopping (atleast window shopping).
• Next up is lunch and Malin has her eyes on A Happy Panncake .
• On the way back to the hotel we’ll stop by Nintendo’s flagship store as well as a quick reconnaissance visit to the Hello Kitty store.
• After a well needed rest at the hotel we’ll check out the Shibuya crossing on our hunt for dinner.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Tokyo - Taito/Sumida

• New day and a new part of Tokyo is up for grabs. First we are heading over to Taito City to visit the Senso-Ji Temple and Nakamise Street thar runs between the tempel’s outer and second gate.
• On our way to the next stop we will stop by Sumida Park and the Cheery Blossom Festival , if we are too early for the blossom, we might go back here the last days before heading home.
• Next up is the observation deck at the Tokyo Skytree where we will enjoy Tokyo from the sky!
• Final destination for the day is Akihabara , where we will check out some anime and manga culture.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Yokohama & Kamakura

• Today is train day, and we’ll be visiting Kamakura and Yokohama.
• Kamakura is a 60 minute train ride from Tokyo. We might want to see when rush hour is, and maybe avoid the worst of it :)
• Once in Kamakura, the plan is to head south, and check out the nearby beaches. But first, we’re going to stop by Giraffa for some famous giraffe curry bread! Aaaah, so excited!
• Next we’ll head north, passing by the shopping street Komachi-dori Street , and maybe stop by the Oxymoron Cafe to eat curry. Also yum!
• From there we’ll head towards the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine , which rounds off our lightning Kamakura tour, and then we head back towards the train station to catch a train to Yokohama.
• In Yokohama we’ll mostly be exploring the area around the station, but that includes cool stuff like:
  • Yokohama Sky Garden , that’s supposed to have an awesome view.
  • The amazing Cup Noodle Museum . I’m really excited for this!
  • Red Brick Warehouse
  • Gundam Factory!! . Aaah, gigantic robots!

Friday, March 22, 2024

Tokyo Tower/Borderless

• Time to visit teamLab Borderless , the world’s first digital art museum, looking forward to an amazing experience!
• And now time for some fun, next stop is the Tokyo Tower, specifically the Red Tokyo Tower digital amusement park.
• We’ll finish off the day with dinner at Sushi Masashi .

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Tokyo to Nikko

• Time to get on the road and see some more of Japan. We’ll pick up a rental car and hopefully manage to navigate out of Tokyo without to many detours and drive 2h north to Kairakuen Garden .
• We’ll then head towards Nikko where we will stay the nigh and also check out Shinkyo Bridge .
• Hotel: Nikko Kanaya Hotel
  • Mar 23-24

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Nikko to Nagoya

• There was some snowfall in the mountains March 23rd so to not risk getting stuck or stranded we decided to take an alternative route on our way to Kanazawa. So instead of driving via the mountain resort town of Karuizawa we will be heading south west and drive as far west as we think we can in one day.
  We plan to stay the night in Nagoya before continuing north towards Kanazawa.
• Hotel: Hilton Nagoya
  • Mar 24-25

Monday, March 25, 2024

Nagoya to Kanazawa

• Since we are in Nagoya we will be paying the Caslte a visit before we continue.
• Destination of the day is Kanazawa . We will stop by Shirakawago , a small mountain town famous for it’s sloped roof farmhouses on our way there.
• Hotel: The Hotel Sanraku Kanazawa
  • Mar 25-27

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Kanazawa

• There is much to do in Kanazawa, unfortunately we only have one day here so we will need to get as much in as possible.
  • Kanazawa Castle
  • Kenrokuen Garden
  • Ninjadera (Ninja Temple)
  • Nagamachi Samurai District
  • Omicho Market

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Getting to Kyoto

• Next up is Kyoto and todays main activity is to get there since we already stopped in Shirakawago on our way north!
• Hotel: Good Nature Hotel Kyoto
  • Mar 27-31

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Kyoto

• We have a quite packed day ahead of us. On todays list of places to see is:
  • Kiyomizu-dera Temple
  • Chion-in Temple
  • Shoren-in Temple
  • Nishiki Market
  • Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine
  • Gion Shimbashi

Friday, March 29, 2024

Nara

• Our earlier rerouting gave us an extra day in the Kyoto/Osaka area. We have decided to use this day to visit Nara Park and it’s bowing deer.

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Kyoto

• Another day full with seightseeing!
  • Tenryu-ji Temple
  • Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
  • Okochi-Sanso Villa
  • Kinkaku-ji Temple
  • Imperial Palace
  • Pontocho Alley

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Kyoto to Osaka

• Today we’ll be exploring Osaka.
  • We’re going to be checking out the Osaka Castle along with the surrounding gardens.
  • And we’re not going to miss the area that Osaka is famous for, Dotonbori . Lots of exciting street food, and we have to take a photo along the canal
• Hotel: W Osaka
  • Mar 31 - Apr 3

Monday, April 1, 2024

Hiroshima

• A bullet train to Hiroshima.
  • We’ll be taking a bullet train to Hiroshima in the morning. The ride is about 90 minutes, with the trains departing ever 10 minutes or so! Once there, we’ll be sure to check out the Peace Museum .
  • Once back in Osaka, the plan is to head to the Shinsekai district (also known as the retro district), and find something good to eat or buy. Ooh, they have some crazy pancakes there, okonomiyaki, so we’ll be trying these guys!

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Kobe & Hime-ji castle

• Kobe and Hime-ji castle
  • On today’s agenda is visiting Kobe, and eating lots of beef! Woohoo!
  • And maybe a visit to Hime-ji Castle , depending on how much beef we eat :)

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Osaka & Lake Hamana

• Aquarium and driving to Lake Hamana
  • Osaka has one of the world’s largest aquariums Osaka Aquarium , so we’ll try to check that out. Maybe we can find one of Malin’s lost relatives!
  • After this, we’re going to be driving out to Lake Hamana, where we’ve found a relaxing ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn), where we’ll be spending the night. They had two meal alternatives, the Western option, and the traditional option, consisting of eels and pufferfish! (ok, we chickened out, and got the Western option).
• Hotel: Hoshino resorts KAI Enshu
  • Apr 3-4

Thursday, April 4, 2024

Lake Hamana to Hakone

• More ryokan chilling!
  • We’re making out way back to Tokyo, but first we’ll going to take a couple of days to relax a little at a ryokan near Mt Fuji.
• Hotel: Kinnotake Tonosawa
  • Apr 4-6

Friday, April 5, 2024

Hakone

• Ropeways and museum
  • The play for today is take a ride on the Hakone Ropeway , and the Hakone Open Air Museum .

Saturday, April 6, 2024

Hakone to Tokyo

• Heading back to Tokyo, and ninjas!
  • Today we’re driving back to Tokyo for round two. Dinner will be pretty exciting at the Ninja Tokyo Restaurant .
• Hotel: Conrad Tokyo
  • Apr 6-9

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Tokyo

• Imperial Gardens and Palace
  • We’re winding down a little now, and checking out the Imperial Palace .

Monday, April 8, 2024

Tokyo

• Shopping!
  • We’ve gotten some requests for thing to buy people in Sweden, so today we’re going to be heading off to the Hello Kitty megastore to see what we can find :)

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Tokyo to New York

• Teamlabs, and flying home :(
  • Our last day in Japan. In the morning we’re going to check out the teamLab Planets Exhibition , and then make our way towards the airport for the flight back home.