22 days itinerary and budget
This was our first time in Japan, so we wanted to include all the fisrt-timers experiences and places as much as we could. Now after the trip, I think it makes a good itinerary for those visiting Japan for the first time on a somewhat low budget and without a travel card. Here is how it was for us.
Days 1-6: Tokyo with a day trip to Nikko.
Tokyo struck us with a massive contrast – we landed here from Madagascar, so it really felt like a different plannet. It was our first experience of a capsule hotel, heated toilet seats, cyber tech and robots, king crabs, japanese curry, skyscrappers, and many more. This time could be shortenned to 3-4 days to get a good feel of the megapolis.
Trip to Nikko was our first encounter of Japanese ancient sights with it’s beautiful temples and forests.
For us, since we as always arrived in a country without a plan, it took a few days just to understand the basics and outline what we want to do.
Day 7: Matsumoto – 1 night.
Visiting the original castle built in 1595. Took loads of pictures of fish. Bought a 2nd hand kimono on a little flea market near the castle.
Then we made our way to Takayama by buses, visiting an Onsen on the way- dedicated post here.
Day 8-10: Takayama – 2 nights.
Well preserved old town, temples and shrines walk, stunning cultural village.
Day 11: Kanazawa – 1 night
Visiting the famous garden and castle
Day 12-16: Kyoto – with a day trip to Himeji castle
Temples temples temples 🙂 traditional kimono, markets, gardens, very interesting and huge cemetery.
Himeji – day trip from Kyoto
Stunning castle and surrounding gardens – really worth a day trip.
Himeji 
Seb hates cliché pics
Day 17: Koyasan with an overnight in Hatsumoto
Absolute highlight for me – a taste of mysterious sublime Japan from movies and dreams. Not easy and not cheap, but a must see place. To save on accommodation we decided to spend the night in Hatsumoto, a town nearby. This was not easy logistically but to stay in Koyasan costs an arm, unless you manage to secure a booking in a single hostel with dorms, wich usually is fully booked for months in advance.
Day 18-19 trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima from Osaka – 2 nights in a bus
This was a crazy run. In order to save cash on accommodation we went from Osaka to Hiroshima and back on the night buses. Dedicated post about Hiroshima is here.
Miyajima is really beautiful – definitely worth a visit, not because of the iconic Shinto gate in the water, but because of the temple complex it is attached to.
Day 20-22 Osaka – with a day trip to Nara
In summary
This Japan itinerary is for 22 days on a low budget of 126 GBP per day for 2 people (Oct 2018). Low budget meaning sleeping in capsule hotels and occasionally dorms, without travel card, with some night buses to save on accommodation. We visited a couple of good restaurants (Kobe and sushi), but mostly were eating from supermarkets and street food stalls.
