Travel scedule 14 day’s from Oska

Deal All,

This is a polite question for some travel ideas or travelling schedules.
We have 14 days in Japan with 2 adults and 2 sons (20+) starting from Oska at the beginning of July '24.

We like to see Japan at its best but are overwhelmed by the possibility and all kinds of train options etc. Is there somebody who can share a super-travelling schedule we can follow?

I return I can make a nice travelling schedule in The Netherlands or give a personal tour in Delft.
Looking forward to hearing from you,

Arigato gozaimasu,

Start by asking what the 4 adults wanna do.

We know nothing about your interests.

So doing a whole itinerary would be premature.

Start by going through this website and return to ask questions.

14 days From osaka
Day 1:kansai airport to downtown
Buy JR kansai area 1 day pass= 2800 yen

Day 2 ,3, 4 :kyoto,kobe,nara,wakayama
Buy surutto kansai 3 day rail pass= 7000 yen

Day 5, 6, 7 ,8,9,10,11:kansai +sanin area
JR kansai sanin area pass 7 day=18000 yen

Day 12 ,13 ,14: Greater Tokyo +narita/haneda
Buy JR Tokyo wide pass 3 day=15000 yen

There are lots of day trip possibilities, plus numerous regional rail passes that could save you money. So far you said you're entering Japan through Osaka. Are you leaving from there too, or want to fly open-jaw such as from Tokyo?
There is a generic itinerary you can look at here:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_osaka_12.html

But it does not take into account your travel pace or any specific interests.

Dear Ken,
Our trip starts and ends in Osaka.
Do you recommend fitting Tokyo into this schedule? It's a difficult decision to make as we have "only" 14 days to spend.
Regards Paul,

Most people manage to visit Osaka and Kyoto on a 14 days round trip from Tokyo, so there's no reason you would not be able to fit Tokyo in your itinerary as well. That being said, if you do not have any FOMO or anything specific you want to see there, you could leave out Tokyo, and still have an absolutely delightful trip.

The 17-days itinerary will give you more ideas/options: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_osaka_15.html (with limited time, you'll have to choose between Kanazawa or Hiroshima, depending on your interests).

"We like to see Japan at its best" is very vague. If you mean "the most famous places", then the example itineraries on this website will be perfect.

You are from the NL. Are you prepared for the humid heat of July ?
If not, reschedule or spend most of your time in Hokkaido. Which I wouldn�ft recommend though to a first time visitor specially from Northern Europe.

Dear LikeBike, I know about the weather conditions, we have to deal with it ;-) We are already very lucky that we can travel to Japan and explore it. I see in your Bio that you are an expert in travelling to Japan and also living in The Netherlands (Zuid-Holland). If I have more questions I hope I can use your expertise? Regards Paul

Main thing I would think about is whether you want:

1) a whistlestop tour of the "best" places in Japan always on the move, "gotta catch them all", or

2) a more in depth trip, concentrating on a smaller region

There are plenty (this site has v good examples) of "Golden Route" itinerary trips, and they work perfectly for loads of people on their first trip to Japan - although possibly tending to be a bit heavy on cities (not so tempting to me in the heat of Summer).

If your thoughts tend to option 2 - you could see quite a variety of places in a circular route from Osaka without travelling too far (Wakayama, Shikoku, Naoshima and the Seto Sea, Lake Biwa....)

Dear All,
After long consideration, we have finally made a tour for 14 nights/15 days.
As this is our first trip to Japan I would like to ask your honest opinion about this schedule.
First of all is it not too ambitious, secondly did I forget something which is a must-see as a first timer :-)
If somebody has some good ideas to stay overnight or to do activities please add your ideas.

06-jul-24 Kansai Airport Himeji
07-jul-24 Himeji Hirosima
08-jul-24 Hirosima Hirosima
09-jul-24 Hirosima Kanazawa
10-jul-24 Kanazawa Kanazawa
11-jul-24 Kanazawa Tokyo
12-jul-24 Tokyo Tokyo
13-jul-24 Tokyo Tokyo
14-jul-24 Tokyo Kamakura
15-jul-24 Kamakura Kyoto
16-jul-24 Kyoto Kyoto
17-jul-24 Kyoto Kyoto
18-jul-24 Kyoto Osaka
19-jul-24 Osaka Osaka
20-jul-24 Osaka Kansai Airport

It's ambitious but it is doable. Although you did not give any info on your typical travel pace, plus you are only listing cities and not more detailed plans. I would prefer to spend a bit more time in some places, but you have enough time to see a number of good sights, and nobody sees it all in one visit anyway.
The one change I would suggest is to take half a day off of Osaka and go see Nara Park. Since you are also seeing Tokyo, you don't need that much daytime in Osaka, but evenings there are wonderful. You could just go there after a day of sightseeing in Kyoto, for example.

7 hotels in 14 days. Eww. Lots of time travelling and changing hotels.

Places like Himeji and Kamakura. Just do day trips.

I also agree with the above responder that the trip is fast. Really decide if Hiroshima or Kanazawa are must-dos.

Agree with the 2 PPs. Doable but on the faster side.
I would do Kamakura as a daytrip to avoid changing hotels. And I would totally eliminate Osaka. (I just haven�ft found yet anything interesting to do in Osaka that can�ft be done better in other places in Japan). However you don�ft say what you want to do in each place , so maybe you have a specific reason for Osaka. But even then I�fd argue to do it as daytrip from Kyoto.
Definitely add Nara as a daytrip (although it deserves so much more)
I kind of get your idea of staying the first night in Himeiji for this itinerary

Just overall it seems you�fll go and see top 10 sightseeing spots only. Which will all be very full of tourists. Just consider if that�fs what you really want. Or more of a mix of �gtop 10�h and �gunderrated places �g. In that case I would just stay in Kansai area, eliminate Kanazawa, Tokyo, Kamakura and add places around Lake Biwa, Wakayama and or Nara prefecture.

For me the one big problem that remains is the heat but you said you are prepared to deal with it.

I think your travel plan is doable and quite normal for first time traveller to Japan. I would suggest a slight change.

Hiroshima 3 nights (Himeji as a stopover)
Kanazawa 2 nights
Tokyo 4 nights (Kamakura day trip)
Kyoto 5 nights (Osaka day trip if needed)

Your travel dates will be so-called �gTsuyu season�h which is hot and rainy days. This is not continuous rain but you should expect half of your days will be rainy. This is not so bad because if it�fs sunny it will be extremely hot in this season. Another bright side is the hotels tend to be vacant so you can choose from many. Tourist spots will not be overcrowded.

All of your destinations are cities so you don�ft need to bring many belongings: if you are not picky persons, your accommodations will provide towels, nightwear, toiletries, etc. Even if you want something you can easily find stores selling them. Note that Japan is extremely cheap these days.

I recommend pack light. 30-40 L backpack for each person is enough. Bring 3 days of clothes and wash them in your hotel. If you choose apartment hotels they should have in-room washing machine. If you still want to bring big suitcase, consider delivery system.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

As for travel passes, your first 4 days will be covered by JR West Kansai Hiroshima Area pass.

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_hiroshima/

On day 4 you will go from Hiroshima to Kanazawa. Hiroshima to Tsuruga is covered by the pass (you should transfer at Shin-Osaka, not Kyoto since Shinkansen between these two cities is not covered by the said pass). So you should buy somewhat tricky base fare ticket :Tsuruga to Kanazawa to Tokyo to Kyoto. This will save some money than to purchase each leg (Tsuruga to Kanazawa, Kanazawa to Tokyo and Tokyo to Kyoto). You can buy JR tickets in almost all major JR train stations (in your case, Kansai Airport, Himeji, Hiroshima). Note that you need separate Limited express ticket.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_001.html

You can be flexible for your trip. For example if it's heavily raining you can skip Himeji castle, etc.