evanyi, are you going to japan on your own without tour agency?
guess you must have done alot of homework......i thought of doing the same to save money but no confidentlah, so plan to use tour agency

Hi All,
I will be traveling on this coming 17th October until 24th October.
First time travel to Japan.
17th October afternoon will arrive at Narita Airport.
24th October afternoon depart from Narita Airport.
Now still planning on the following option, need some input for my planning

Accommodation: Now planning either Airbnb or Hostel, keen to try out capsule hotel as well. Need a place to sleep. Any recommendations are welcomed.

Option 1: 17th after landed on Narita, straight go to kyoto by Shinkansen (which means I will purchase a JR pass). 20th morning head back to Toyko and 24th depart back to home. (itineraries for Kyoto will be mainly temples and shrine, tokyo part still doing research, but Disneysea is a must go!)

Option 2: Only in Tokyo as Tokyo itself has a lot of interesting places and nearby cities for me to explore (itineraries still doing research).

I'm worried that Option 1 would be too rushed.
Or would it be better to have another trip in future solely on Kansai Region like Kyoto Osaka Nara etc.?

For first timer, is it better to explore Tokyo (and nearby cities) only?

I'm looking forward for all the feedback.
Thank you for your inputs.  

Yea going on my own.. not engaging any tour agency as i kinda enjoy planning for my trip..
actually u can just scroll thru other member's itinerary and pick&plug from other online sample... then just ask the sifus opinion to finalize ur itinerary... 

hi.. mind to share your itinerary? hehe my initial plan was also Kyoto but sifus here advised to stick with Tokyo only, so i am still finalizing my trip itinerary... appreciate if you can share some tips too!

any good & cheap airbnb/hotel to recommend?

How old are you? Your Dec13 freaking ambitious, unless you very young and full of stamina, it'll be an extremely long and tiring day.

This is so familiar- you copy from japan-guide itinerary? for my case I removed the shinjuku part because shibuya is quite big and should stay longer

this my preliminary itinerary, need advice on japan expert on how to perfect it
1. i've never been there so i dnt know how big is 1 specific area because for each area, i've set a few places to visit and eat but not sure can visit them all or not
2. im trying to cramp as much places in a day ...prolly 2-3 area in 1 day but really not sure can finish or not
3. there are so many places to visit/eat that some of them didn't end up on the list below especially on the last day because thats the day i checkout and need place to go until my midnight flight

Dec 12 – Arrived At Tokyo midnight, proceed to Airbnb
Dec 13 – Harajuku(Yoyogi park, Meiji Shrine Takeshita Dori + Omotesando Street), Shibuya(Hachiko, Shibuya crossing), Shinjuku(Golden Gai. Robot Restaurat, Omoide Yokocho)
Dec 14 – Hakone
Dec 15 – Disney Sea
Dec 16 – Tsukiji Fish Market, Ginza, Roppongi
Dec 17 – Asakusa, Sensoji Temple. Nakemise Street, Ueno park, Ameyoko Shopping, Akihabara, Tokyo Skytree, sumida park
Dec 18 – Tokyo. Imperial Palace East Garden, Akihabara, Odaiba,
Dec 19 – Shimokitazawa, Shin okubo, Ikebukuro,
Dec 20 – Shinjuku, nakano???, sugamo for ramen(if have enough luck)???

since u post urs here, i post mine. really rough, n i will be flying in less than 3 weeks

not in particular order,
Japan day 0: Arrive nite
Tokyo Day 1: Kichijoji surrounding + Ghibli Museum at Mitaka.
Tokyo Day 2: Kamakura + Inoshima
Tokyo Day 3: Tsukiji Fish market, Ginza (and/or perhap Meiji Jingu), Tokyo Tower (at nite)
Tokyo Day 4: Akihabara + Odaiba (not sure if wanna go Joypolis for full/halfday yet)
Tokyo Day 5: Kawagoe
Tokyo Day 6: Asakusa, Sensoji, Euno park
Tokyo Day 7-8: IDK yet. lulz. perhaps Nikko n Disney Sea.
Kansai Day 1: Kyoto, Kiyomizu Dera, Yasaka Temple (Maruyama Park), Gion (nite/evening stroll), Nishiki Market (food).
Kansai Day 2: Kyoto, Arashiyama area, Kinkakuji.
Kansai day 3: Kyoto, Fushimi Inari (early morning), n few other place i missed/interesting. or perhaps to Kibuneyama.
Kansai Day 4: Osaka, Shitenno-ji Temple, Osaka Castle, Dontonbori, Umeda Sky
Kansai Day 5: Nara.
Japan final day: Leave morning.

u also missed out a few area in your tokyo part...really can't finish it all
my side trip list very long, non whatsoever made it to my itinerary above
joypolis of odaiba also not in my visiting list
disneysea should allocate 1 day, it will be until night(closing time)

Joypolis, my bro recommend me one. not really in my list, but if he guide me, i follow him lor. he wanna try Zero Latency VR but im afraid of queue/reservation only.

n iinm, Disneysea has half price evening ticket. after 5pm? which if u dun wan to play the ride but experience the happening n closing fireworks. n lesser ppl as well. if u n ur fren doesnt mind sitting seperately, u can queue at "Lonewolf" lane. which is faster in a way compare to express tix holder.

n i just realise i forgotten bout Shinjuku. i guess i will 2 days empty spot for em n gift/snack shopping.

You done this again one more time you are out from here.
I am Serious here.

Please quote all message you want reply and done under one post.

Hi , here with some idea for your advise

1. Choose the hotel which is near to OSAKA STATION / UMEDA STATION so that is easier for you to travel within OSAKA, KYOTO, NARA
2. If you have 2 days extra , plan a short trip to KOBE and HIMEJI too.
3. Most of the train station are operate until 11.50pm, but you don't need to worry as most of the shop operation hours is until 8pm only.

Things to do / Attractions :

OSAKA : Dotonbury , Umeda Sky Building , OSAKA castle
KYOTO : Fushimi inari, Kiyomizu dera , Arashiyama ( Bamboo forest , Otagi nenbutsugi ) , Nishiki Market
KOBE : Arima Onsen
HIMEJI : HIMEJI Castle ( Top 3 Castle in Japan )
NARA : NARA Park , Todaiji Temple

One of my favorite hotel is Grand-Fine / Fine-Garden , you may take a look on it.
I hope it would help you on the idea for your itinerary , i am traveling to Osaka on 29th October  ,

Same here, will be travelling on 29th Oct to 6th Nov. Fly with AA, and both flight also been rescheduled.

Travelling to Kansai or Tokyo?

Hi guys,

Will be heading to Hokkaido this coming October with 3 of my friends. Did some read ups and research on the place itself and we came out with this itinerary. We will be taking train/buses/cycling to travel around.

Just to you guys a rough idea about where we're heading
Day 0: KL > CTS
Day 1: Arriving CTS early morning, will be taking a train all the way to Sapporo, then transit to Asahikawa.
Day 2: Asahikawa Day Trip (Asahiyama Zoo etc)
Day 3: Asahikawa > Furano on early morning
Day 4: Furano/Biei day trip
Day 5: Furano > Sapporo by Chuo bus, will be spending the rest of the day @ Sapporo
Day 6: Day trip to Otaru
Day 7: Day trip to Jozankei
Day 8: Day trip around Sapporo
Day 9: Half day @ Sapporo, half day @ Chitose
Day 10: Flying back to KL early morning @ CTS

Initially we planned to get the 4 days flexi pass so that we can cover places like Toya, Hakodate, but the travelling time could be an issue to us as we will be on the move all the time. After all, we just want to enjoy the Autumn season to the fullest.

Do let me know which part of the itinerary can be improved. Thanks guys!

Day7: Take out Jozankei put in Sounkyo. Don't tell people you visit Hokkaido Autumn if you didn't visit Sounkyo.

I'm not too sure is it a good idea to visit Furano/Biei around October as its way past the Lavender season.