Three weeks in Japan Travel Itinerary

Why you need to travel to Japan

By now, you can probably tell that we like Japan a lot. And at this point, I would like to share some of the main reasons with you:

1. People are super friendly. Even though most of them don’t speak English, they always tried to help us. Additionally, they are very polite. So, the overall atmosphere in Japan is very calm.

2. It’s extremely clean! Although you won’t find trash bins on the streets, the cities are extremely clean. There is no trash on the streets, no graffiti on the walls, nothing.

3. The mix of modernity, culture, and nature.

4. The food!!! You guys have no idea how much we ate in Japan. Even as a vegan—a concept Japanese don’t want to understand and support, I think, hahaha—you always find options, and everything tastes so good! We ate vegan Ramen, lots of Sushi, Bento, and so much more. You still have to check if something is actually vegan or not, but the options are getting more and more.

How we travel

We never just go from one touristy spot to the next and do all the sightseeing. We always try to find cool neighborhoods and like to stroll around, grab a coffee, and get an idea of what life might be like there.

So, I usually go to social media and Google Maps to find inspiration. I try to find local content creators on social media and check for places they go and where they eat and drink. This usually gives me a good idea of where it’s less touristy and more local. I then check these areas on Google Maps and just click through places for more inspiration. I mark my favorite cafés, restaurants, locations, etc., and plan our days based on that.

Our Japan Itinerary

We traveled around Japan with our Horizn Studios pieces, and today, we will share our travel itinerary with you.

As mentioned, we spent 2.5 weeks in Japan. We wanted to spend most of the time in Tokyo as we had marked down many areas we wanted to see. However, we also wanted to explore more of Japan and decided on two other bigger cities: Osaka and Kyoto. We ended up staying in Osaka and only made a day trip to Kyoto, but more about it in the following.

Week 1: Tokyo

When we came to Tokyo last year, we were utterly overwhelmed by this big city. Tokyo is huge, with many neighborhoods that all have a different vibe. We didn’t know where to start, what neighborhood to explore first, or what we wanted to see generally.

That’s why we spent the first week in Tokyo. The plan was to discover one new area per day. We stayed at an Airbnb close to the JR line, which was very convenient. Getting around and taking the train to the areas we wanted to explore was easy. My favorite areas were Omotesando, Harajuko, Nakameguro, Ikebukuro, and Yanaka. Some of the more touristy areas like Ginza, Shibuya, and Shinjuku are definitely worth a visit, and we went there a couple of times as it’s easiest to find vegan food options there. But I would always prefer more local neighborhoods for just strolling around and enjoying the Tokyo vibes.

We spent 11 nights in Tokyo and saw a lot. But we still haven’t visited all the areas I have marked in Google Maps. I think this demonstrates very well how big the city is, haha.

Generally, I would say that you need at least five days in Tokyo to see the main attractions and get an overview of the city. But if you want to explore more and have enough time not to rush anything, I would suggest at least two weeks.

Week 2: Osaka and Kyoto

After the first week in Japan, we took the Shinkansen train to Osaka. It’s not the cheapest (we paid around 90 Euro one way per person), but it’s super fast. It takes only 2:22 hours to get from Tokyo to Osaka.

We had decided to stay in Osaka rather than Kyoto because we were told that Osaka is more hip and less touristy than Kyoto.

Spoiler: even though we spent only a day in Kyoto, we liked it better than Osaka and regretted our decision not to spend some nights there. As both cities are very close to each other (only 40 minutes by train), I suggest planning at least two nights in each of the cities.

We spent five nights in Osaka and had plenty of time to explore. Osaka is much smaller than Tokyo, and I only had a few areas I wanted to explore. I must say that even though it is an interesting city, we didn’t really vibe with it. We only stayed in the city, but there is also a lot to explore outside of Osaka that is easy to reach by train. So, if you spent two nights in Osaka, I would plan at least one trip to the surrounding area, such as Nara.

For us, there was more we wanted to see in Kyoto and close to Kyoto, which is why a day trip wasn’t enough at all. We only saw a small part of Kyoto and liked it a lot. Of course, there were many more tourists than in Osaka, but the general vibe was more like Tokyo. We loved that you find history and culture in every corner, and it’s very green. We just walked around and saw so many beautiful corners. We tried to avoid the main tourist spots, but you actually don’t have to go to these if you want to see stunning temples and shrines.

How to travel around Japan

When we were in Japan, we stayed in five different accommodations in two different cities. So we had to move quite a lot. Of course, we didn’t come with backpacks only. Instead, we traveled with two large suitcases, one small suitcase, one backpack, and one big bag. One thing that makes traveling with a lot of luggage easier is opting for high-quality products. The quality makes a huge difference in handling the products and in terms of longevity. This part was taken care of by traveling with products from Horizn Studios.

Another thing that made traveling around Japan easier was the luggage delivery service between hotels as well as airports and hotels. We used this sometimes, mostly when we changed cities. It’s super easy: you go to a convenience store (we used Family Mart) that works with Yamato – the name of the transport company – and just drop off your suitcases there. You can then have it sent to a hotel, Airbnb, or the airport – any address in Japan works. If you don’t send it to a hotel, you just need to ensure you or someone else is at the address to take delivery. Our suitcases had around 25kg each, and we paid 15 Euro for both together for one way, sending them from Tokyo to Osaka and from Osaka back to Tokyo.