How to Spend 14 Days in Japan - A Japan Travel Itinerary

Japan, the land of the rising sun. From the megacity of Tokyo, to the mountainous region of the Japanese Alps. Japan is full of diverse and unique places waiting to be explored. For many, Japan is at the top of the list of places to visit, and I was no different. Japan is one of my favorite countries to explore and I had the pleasure of visiting once again. I will be

travel

ing around this amazing country, visiting 7 different cities and trying to fit all the essentials into a two week

itinerary

. And I will share it all, with the aim of helping you explore this fascinating country.

This is how I spent 14

days

in Japan. Here's an overview of the journey ahead. We arrive in Osaka, the cuisine of Japan. A city famous for its love of food and nightlife. We then headed to the secluded temple town of Koyasan. Where we will

spend

the night in a Buddhist temple. Later we visited the city of Nara, famous for Nara Park and its deer population. From Nara we headed to Kyoto. The ancient capital of Japan, rich in culture and traditions. After Kyoto, we hopped on the train and headed to Kanazawa, known for its gold leaf production and home to one of the three great gardens of Japan.

We then continued towards the mountainous region of Takayama. Where we will explore the old town and relax in a Japanese onsen. And finally our two-week trip ends in Tokyo. While in the city, we spent the remaining time visiting the most essential places. Before you get started, here are a few things you'll need to know. We decided to visit Japan in November, during the fall season, and it is by far my favorite season to visit, due to the beautiful fall foliage and mild weather conditions. Public transportation will be the main way to get around. For that, you will need to get an IC card.

IC cards are rechargeable

travel

cards that can be used to pay fares and even purchase products in some stores. They operate in most major cities, but for more remote areas, you will need to purchase a specific local ticket. A few words about the Japan Rail pass. If you strictly follow this

itinerary

, you will not need the JR Pass. A JR Pass is great if you plan on doing a round trip. Since it will cover the expenses of the return trip. But since this is a point-to-point trip, we will start in Osaka and end in Tokyo. It is actually more affordable to buy single fare tickets.

For navigation, I have always used Google Maps in Japan, it works well and even tells you the connections you will need to make. For more detailed information and to plan ahead, I recommend visiting the HyperDia website. We start our trip in Osaka. Osaka is known for being the cuisine of Japan. With many of the country's favorite dishes, originating from the city. It is a modern and lively place. Where the focus is on having a good time. People here seem to talk louder, eat louder, and drink more. Not that I'm complaining. We arrived quite late in Osaka and headed towards our hotel.

After leaving our belongings. We immediately headed to the Dotonbori area in central Osaka. The area is known for the Glico-Man sign and for being a busy tourist spot with neon lights, shops, and plenty of food options. We explore the area and pick up some goodies along the way. But it was time to eat and we headed to the ever-popular Ichiran ramen, because it's tonkotsu ramen. It was Lisa's first time here and she definitely approves. The next day we spent the morning at Namba Yasaka Shrine. It is a small shrine famous for its lion-head stage. If you plan to visit many shrines and temples in Japan, it's always a good idea to know how to pay your respects.

Below we briefly explain how to do it. First, ring the doorbell if there is one. Bow twice. Clap your hands twice. And bow once. After finishing at the sanctuary. We arrived at Osaka Castle. The castle is one of the most famous landmarks in Japan. And it played an important role in the unification of Japan during the 16th century. For over 40 years, Amerika-mura has been known as the center of Japanese youth culture in Osaka. Similar to Harajuku in Tokyo. This is where you can find the latest fashion trends in Osaka. We opted to do a little shopping to see if we could find anything interesting.

To get a better view of the city, we decided to visit the Umeda Sky building. While you are here you can access its famous viewpoint, which offers a great view of the entire city of Osaka. When it's time for dinner, we head to possibly my favorite Okonomiyaki shop in the city, Okaru. Okonomiyaki, are these tasty Japanese pancakes made of flour, eggs, cabbage and the protein of your choice. Don Quijote is a well-known discount chain in Japan. But what's unique about it in Osaka is its Ferris wheel, which you can take a ride on. It's a pretty gimmicky experience, but it does offer a view of Dotonbori.

If you have more time in Osaka, here are some more things to do. An old neon-lit neighborhood south of Minami. Koyasan is the name of a small, secluded temple town, nestled in the mountains of Wakayama. It is best known as the center of Shingon Buddhism in Japan and is home to more than 100 temples, 50 of which allow overnight stays. We decided to buy the Koyasan World Heritage ticket, which covers the entire trip to Koyasan. It takes almost 2 hours to reach Koyasan from Osaka. The cable car ride from Gokurakubashi Station to Koyasan is clearly the highlight of the 2-hour trip.

After arriving at the temple town, we will check into our temple accommodation called Saizen-in. The rooms are traditional Japanese, with tatami floors, sliding doors and shared bathrooms. So this is our temple stay during the day and night, much more luxurious than I imagined. The first place to visit was the Danjo Garan temple complex. It is one of the first complexes built by Kobo Daishi and houses around 20 temples and buildings, including Konpo Daito, the great pagoda. Not far from the complex, you will find the large Daimon Gate. This was the original entrance to Koyasan, but now also serves as the final destination of the ancient Choishi Michi pilgrimage trail.

From Daimon Gate, we headed to Kongobu-ji, the main temple of Shingon Buddhism in Koyasan. We explored its many rooms and halls, as well as Banryutei, Japan's largest rock garden, which is supposed to look like a pair of dragons emerging from a sea of ​​clouds. We had a quick snack at the local store and then decided to head to Koyasan's main attraction, the Okunoin Cemetery. This misty, moss-covered cemetery is the largest in Japan, stretching for 2 km and housing more than 200,000 tombs. It's a serene and peaceful place, and I highly recommend taking about an hour to just explore.

Okunoin is also home to Kobo Daishi's mausoleum, this is where Kobo Daishi is said to be in eternal meditation. No photography or video is allowed after the bridge, so you will have to visit it yourself to see it. As night falls, we return to our temple accommodation, where we will be greeted with a traditional Buddhist meal. The food itself is strictly vegetarian and resembles traditional Kaiseki style dining. If you decide to stay at a temple, don't forget to attend the morning ritual to complete the experience. Next, we head to Nara, a city located between Osaka and Kyoto.

The city is best known for its park of the same name and the many deer that roam around. If you're interested in feeding one or two, you can purchase crackers from local vendors around the park; The deer will politely thank you. The first place to visit in Nara is the great temple of Todai-ji. It houses the Nara Daibatsu Buddha statue, which is the largest bronze statue in the world. While exploring the temple, we also came across this square hole in a pillar, known as Buddha's nostril. It is said to bring good health and luck if you manage to get through it.

As we explored more of the park, we came across Kasuga-Taisha. A Shinto shrine known for its hundreds of bronze lanterns. Many of which have been donated by the faithful over the years. The lanterns are only lit twice a year during two lantern festivals, one in February and one in August. We decided to get some exercise and climb Mount Wakakusa, a 342 meter high hill located in the park. Just going up, the little hill or mountain, here it is in Nara. Lisa is right behind me. It's a pretty small climb. But... Nothing too difficult and... Well worth it... the small climb, to get an excellent view of the city and Nara Park.

After walking so much we needed a quick bite to eat, and you can't come to Nara without witnessing this little mochi shop's famous mochi show. The mochi was excellent too. For more things to do in Nara, try the following. Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, home to several important temples, shrines, palaces and gardens. The city is, therefore, an important tourist destination, second only to Tokyo. Early in the morning we will board a train to Arashiyama, an area known for its natural landscape. The first place to visit here is the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Right next to the bamboo forest, you will find Tenryu-ji, one of the most important temples in Kyoto, as well as having one of the best gardens in the entire city.

From Tenryu-ji. We walked along the Katsura River, the main river that runs through Arashiyama. From there we will take a short walk to the charming Senko-ji temple. Arguably a hidden gem in Arashiyama. The temple offers a great view and the opportunity to meet the local temple dog. You can't visit Arashiyama without encountering Iwatayama Monkey Park, home to more than 100 Japanese snow monkeys. When we finish with Arashiyama, we also make a quick stop at Kinkaku-Ji. It is currently a temple and was formerly used as a retirement village for a shogun. For dinner, we craved a bowl of ramen, and one of the best places in Kyoto is Ramen Sen no Kaze.

It's a fairly well-known ramen shop, so expect a line during meal times. We started the next day exploring Nishiki Market. A well-known food market in Kyoto. There are more than 100 stalls and shops in Nishiki. Sale of local dishes, seafood and agricultural products. Gion is Kyoto's traditional entertainment district and one of the main tourist areas. The best way to explore Gion is to simply walk through the many historic streets, such as Additionally, Hanami-koji is a street famous for its teahouses and the place to see a geisha at work. The next morning we headed to another popular spot. destination, Fushimi Inari Shrine.

It is a shrine dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice, and is famous for its thousands of torii gates. As you can see, it gets very crowded, but the higher you go, the less crowds it becomes. We've heard that temples are often great places to view fall foliage. Firstly, there is Nanzen-ji, famous for the great aqueduct and surrounding temple area. Beside. We found the Eikan-do temple. A place famous for autumn foliage, thanks to its pristine garden. The last place we visited while we were in Kyoto was the small alley of Pontocho. Famous for its atmospheric dining room, full of restaurants and bars, we decided to have our last meal here and tried very expensive beef.

And if. It was definitely worth the price. Do you have more time in Kyoto? Well, here are some extras. We have to board the JR Thunderbird Limited Express. It would take about 2 hours to reach Kanazawa. This was the perfect opportunity to try the many bento box train meals, which were sold at various stations throughout Japan. Kanazawa is often called "little Kyoto," and one can see why, as the city has maintained many well-kept historic districts. The city is also known for its gold leaf production, responsible for over 99% of Japan's production. Add to that some fantastic art museums and one of the best gardens in the country, and Kanazawa is a hidden gem.

Although most of the main attractions are located in the center, it is possible to walk. Buses remain the main means of transportation. You can use an IC card on the JR Machi bus line. But other lines require a local day pass or pay the fare. We decided to visit Omicho market since it was close to our hotel. The market has a 300-year history dating back to the Edo period. It is now a popular food market with more than 170 stalls, earning it the title "The Kitchen of Kanazawa." We opted for a quick lunch at the very popular Mori Mori Sushi, a well-known conveyor belt sushi restaurant that resides in the market.

Ordering, like many other places in Japan, is done via tablet, or you can simply grab a dish from the conveyor belt itself. Kanazawa has many museums. But one that especially caught my attention was the D.T. museum. Suzuki. The museum was opened to celebrate the life and work of Suzuki "Daisetz" Teitaro. A prominent Zen Buddhist. A more popular museum and one of the great attractions of Kanazawa is the Museum of Contemporary Art of the 21st Century. It is a much larger museum incomparison with the D.T. Suzuki, and you can easily get lost for hours exploring the many rooms and exhibits.

For dinner we decided to visit a small and cozy sushi shop called Sushi Ippei. The restaurant was run by an elderly couple, and the elderly woman was especially friendly and attentive, explaining any pieces of sushi worth mentioning. - This seafood is only found in Kanazawa. - Only in Kanazawa. - Local, local seafood. - Ah OK. - Not anywhere else. - Oh well. - Alone here. - Alone here. - No soy sauce. - Just eat. Well. Our goal for the next day was to visit the last must-see places on our Kanazawa bucket list. We start by visiting the Oyama Shrine.

During our visit, we were lucky enough to witness a wedding ceremony being held at the sanctuary. From the shrine, we take a short walk to Kanazawa Castle. A partially restored castle, it was the headquarters of the powerful Maeda clan. After walking through the castle grounds, we arrived at Kenrouku-en Garden. The garden is especially known for these protective ropes, which are tied in a cone shape around the trees, to provide support when the season turns to winter. It is one of the most beautiful gardens in Japan, and possibly also one of the best places to see the change of seasons.

Also in the garden is this small Japanese tea house. Where you can experience a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, if you are interested. Just outside the garden, you can also find Hakuichi, who sells soft serve ice cream covered in gold leaves. While in Kanazawa I had no choice but to try it. Higashi Chaya is one of three historic teahouse districts in Kanazawa, here geishas used to entertain the city's wealthy, with traditional dances, music and drinking games. While many of the buildings have been converted into restaurants and shops, it is still a place to visit in Kanazawa. While researching Kanazawa, I heard about this place, which served black miso ramen, and being a ramen lover, I knew I had to try it.

It is a small ramen shop, specializing in miso ramen. You can get miso in three different flavors and colors. I opted for black miso, which uses squid ink. As we walked back to our hotel, the last place we stopped was the Tsuzumi Gate, the iconic red gate and unofficial symbol of Kanazawa. Here it is common to find live street performances, like the ones we experienced during our trip. Takayama is a small city, located in the mountainous Hida region of Gifu. The small town is especially known for its woodworking, as well as its famous Hida beef and sake.

By its location. It is also a location close to many popular onsen spots, which was the main reason for our visit. We started the day exploring the old town, where there was a daily morning market. We also visited Takayama Jinya, a former government building and former headquarters of Hida Province. We then finished in Sanmachi-suji, a quaint historic neighborhood filled with traditional merchant houses and sake breweries. It's the ideal place to try the city's famous sake, if you're interested. Takayama is often a popular stop on the way to the famous Shirakawa-go if, however, you don't have time to visit it, like us.

Instead, you can visit Hida Folk Village, which is an open-air museum displaying several similar mountain village houses found in Shirakawa-go. It was time to go to our ryokan. We took a bus to Okuhida onsen and arrived at our ryokan for the night. The ryokan features traditional Japanese rooms with the option of having your own private onsen, as well as access to the rooftop onsen. Before taking a dip, we went down for dinner, which was a Japanese Kaiseki, a multi-course meal. Returning to our room after dinner, we were pleasantly surprised that the room was set up for a good night's sleep.

I know this is common in a ryokan. But I still thought it was nice. But instead of calling it a night, we headed to the rooftop onsen. There are two separate onsens to try, and we pretty much had them to ourselves. Despite the light rain and clouds covering the night sky, it was a decent experience. The next morning we decided to get up early and enjoy our last moments with our onsen. The morning light did a great job of revealing the beautiful scenery we missed last night. We then headed downstairs for a quick breakfast before checking out.

Before embarking on our long trip to Tokyo, we decided to visit the Shinhotaka Cable Car. It is one of the most popular tourist places in all of Gifu. The cable car ascends almost 1,000 meters to a mountaintop observatory that offers a panoramic view of Japan's Northern Alps. A place that I am looking forward to visiting again on another date. We board the Shinkansen bullet train and head to our final destination of this trip, Tokyo. Skyscrapers, bright lights, busy and efficient. There's not much to say about Tokyo that hasn't already been said. It's a modern supercity, packed with sights and activities that would keep any traveler busy for weeks.

During our stay in Tokyo, we stayed at the Tokyo Zen Capsule hotel. While I've stayed in capsule hotels before, this place was a little more upscale. Inspired by traditional Japanese rooms, each capsule had much more space than a normal capsule, making the stay more comfortable. The hotel had the expected amenities, so overall it was a pleasant stay. On our first day in Tokyo we decided to visit the Meiji Shrine. The entrance is marked by a large torii gate and leads to a forest area where the shrine is located. The shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife.

It is one of the most popular shrines in Japan and receives more than 3 million visitors a year. Not far from the sanctuary. You will find Harajuku. The center of Harajuku is Takeshita Street, with its many side streets lined with fashion stores, fashion boutiques and fast food outlets, all aimed at Tokyo's modern youth. Inside Harajuku we decided to visit a small cafe, where the main attraction is hanging out with micropigs. It's my first time in a cafe, but animal-focused cafes are very common in Tokyo. But don't expect too much from the drinks list, which, to be honest, is not the point of visiting cafes like this.

From Mipig Cafe, we headed to the famous Shibuya Crossing, a popular crossing in Shibuya, and at rush hour thousands of pedestrians cross, what many believe is the busiest crosswalk in the world. To get a better view of the crossing, we headed to the Mag's Park building, where you can access a great rooftop view of the crossing below. As hunger strikes, we dive into the popular sushi chain Uobei Sushi. Known for its affordable prices and conveyor style system. The next day we decided to

spend

the entire day exploring Akihabara, Tokyo's famous electric city. It is a lively shopping area, famous mainly for being the center of geek culture in Japan.

Anime, manga, video games and Maid cafes are shown here in their entirety. Whether you like this or not, it's still an area worth exploring. First, try out Akihabara's many arcades, perform your favorite dance moves, or maybe win a prize if you're lucky. You can also do a lot of shopping here, so who knows, you might find the perfect souvenir. On our last day in Tokyo. We decided to visit Teamlab Borderless, a digital art museum with several unique exhibits. Below are some highlights. World without borders, for his artwork inspired by a waterfall. There is also the world of glass, which has thousands and thousands of colored LED lights.

The Forest of Lamps is probably the most popular exhibit at this borderless museum, so expect long lines. I also want to make a brief mention of At Tea House, which displays a piece of digital art on your tea. After Teamlab, we headed to one of Tokyo's many popular and atmospheric alleys, Omoide Yokocho, also known as "Memory Lane". It's a narrow, atmospheric alley, filled with small restaurants, paper lanterns, fake maple leaves, and the smell of yakitori grill. . My advice is to explore the many izakayas and try anything that might interest you. If you have more time or are just looking for different things to do, here is a short list.

The iconic Tokyo tower. A symbol of Japan's rebirth after the war. The ancient Senso-ji temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo. Kabukicho, the famous entertainment district located in Shinjuku. This video wouldn't be complete without a full budget breakdown. The total cost for two people for this two-week trip was around $3,100. This was my two-week trip to Japan. I don't think I'll ever get tired of visiting this country and I hope things improve around the world soon so we can all travel again. But most importantly, I hope this video has been useful or at least inspired you if you are planning a trip to Japan.

But if you have any questions or comments, leave them in the comments below and I'll try to get back to you. But until then, stay safe and we look forward to a better year ahead.