Japan
Tokyo
Tokyo Links
https://roadbook.com/tokyo/city-guide/
Tokyo Google Map - I saved a lot on my google maps just to have handy as we were walking throughout the trip.
Our itinerary/some reccos to think about
Depending what time you land - you will most likely be a bit jetlagged. Make an easy reservation for dinner and get some rest for the first night. Highly recommend making lunch/dinner reservations unless you are okay waiting 1-2 hours to get a seat.
Day 1 - Arrived in Tokyo
We arrived in Tokyo mid-day, checked into our hotel, took a nap and had dinner and took it easy. We had dinner at Sabasu pizza - it was ok not worth checking out.
Day 2 - Explore Daikanyama & Nakemeguro/ebisu (brooklynish - cute shops/cafes)
Most places don’t open up until 10-11am so if you are jetlagged and a breakfast person, I would highly recommend thinking in advance what you’d like to do for breakfast.
We had breakfast at Garden House crafts and it was delicious if you are looking for a bakery + western breakfast. Another option is Ivy Place that’s close by. Highly recommend checking out Tsutaya t-site bookstore - favorite bookstore ever. We walked around the neighborhood and walked all the way to Shibuya. Checked out shops, shibuya crossing, and Hachiko statue.
Day 3 - Yoyogi park & Meiji Shrine/Harajuku (cute culture), Roppingi
We had breakfast at Camelback that was right by the Yoyogi park entrance and made our way to Meiji Shrine. We found a random sushi place for lunch and walked over to Roppingi. We later explored Akihabara (electronic district).
Day 4 - Tsujki Market, Asakusa Temple, Kappabashi Street
We started our morning at Tsujki market -while yes its touristy, it is still worth visiting. Food stalls are really good - get some sushi and egg omelet. We too the train up to Asakusa temple and then walked over to Kappabashi street (kitchenware district). I would have stopped by the kitchen district on my last day to take things back next time.
We got back to our hotel and then made our way to Tokyo Station to get lunch for the train ride to Kyoto. Give yourself time to explore the food hall at Daimaru basement and get to the train before the stated time as that it is the time it will promptly leave.
Hotels
The Edition Toranamon—We stayed here with points. If you stay here, there’s a pool/jacuzzi that is amazing after a long day of walking. They have incredible views of the city and service. They have a gorgeous bar, but we were too jet-lagged to try it. It is close to metro stations. Toranamon station has a food hall and a delicious bakery called Beaver Bread.
Hotel wishlist
Hoshinoya
Trunk Hotel
Neighborhoods- Tokyo is huge… Below are food/reccos & sites by neighborhood
Daikanyama. Nakemeguro/ebisu
On our first day, we were very jetlagged and went to get breakfast. We then walked from Daikanyama to the Starbucks roastery across the Meguro River and then to Shibuya. Here are the stops we made and other records. Lesson learned on the first day: make reservations for lunch/dinner unless you are willing to wait an hour or more.
Breakfast: Garden house Crafts - western breakfast options and amazing bakery selection
Other options
Ivy Place
Happy pancake
Path
Lunch/Dinner - I didn’t get to explore these options, but on my list for next time
Tacubo
Dolce Tacubo
Pizza Marumo
Jyuban Ukyo - izakaya
Bars
Bar Martha
Bar TRENCH
Coffee
La Vie En Campagne
Onibus
Sidewalk cafe
Shopping/Sights:
Log Road - collection of restaurants, stores, and brewery
T-sutaya bookstore - amazing bookstore - a couple of locations in Tokyo, but the one here is huge and has an amazing cookbook selection
Tokyo bikes
Denim stores - UES, Evisu, warehouse & co - didn’t have the time to visit, but if you are into Japanese denim go check them out
SML
Marakuku
Peanuts cafe
Saturdays NYC
Green Bean to Bar Chocolate - stopped by and got some chocolate. Interesting flavors.. very pricey.
Shibuya
Shibuya is kinda of the Times Square of Tokyo, but much cleaner and less chaotic. Still a lot of people but you can find quiet streets throughout the area. A lot of shopping, but know that most of the stores have multiple locations in Tokyo. We found a random soba place for lunch since we were starving, but below are some suggestions for the area.
Hachiko - If you’ve never heard of Hachiko - do yourself a favor and get some tissues before watching the movie. Statue is right by Shibuya station.
Shibuya loft - great place to get souvenirs - stationery, stickers, and galore. I ended up finding another location in Kyoto and went back for more.
Shibuya Food Show Hall
Food
SG Club - Bar/izakaya - we went here for dinner/drinks and it was so good. Highly recommend.
Trunk Kushi- We tried this restaurant on our last night in Tokyo - pretty good and great for a last-minute reservation.
Saved for next time:
Bars
Music Bar- Cave Shibuya
Memento Mori
Bar LIBRE
The Bellwod
Bar Ishinohana
Coffee:
Komeda Coffee
Real Drip Coffee No. 12 Ueshima Coffee House
Yoyogi Park /Harajuku /Roppingi
On our last full day, we went to explore Yoyogi Park & Meiji Shrine. Our first stop was at Camelback for some light breakfast. Right next door is Coffee Supreme. After exploring the sights we walked over to Harajuku/Roppongi for lunch. Roppongi is right next to Harajuku and has a lot of shopping as well. Grabbed some conveyor belt sushi. Harajuku was a single street - very touristy and not as impressive as I thought it would be. At night we explore Akihabara (electronic district)
Sights to explore:
Meiji Park
Yoyogi Park
Tsujiki Market/Asakusa/Kappabashi
On our last day, we woke up early to go to the fish market and tried a bunch of delicious sushi and things. It was rainy so we didn’t spend a ton of time there but then headed up to Asakusa and from there walked to the kitchen district/kappabashi. A lot of kitchen stuff - wish we would have left this when we returned from Kyoto to pick up goodies. They also open a bit later than the hours they state online. From there we headed back to the hotel and headed to the Tokyo train station and got some food for the train. Head to the Daimaru’s food hall in the basement for some delicious to-go food.
KYOTO
Our itinerary
We loved Kyoto so much and are craving to go back already. It has the nice mix of nature, city, and history. We stayed here the longest and had quite a bit of time to explore but there are still more places we’d love to see. It is a super bikeable city and it is a great way to explore the city. Some historical sites may make sense to Uber.. We didn’t use public transportation as it didn’t seem as easy for us to use. We went in February when it was a bit slower so while we had some reservations there were still some spots that took us in without reservations - that may change by the season.
Day 1
We arrived mid-day to Kyoto, settled into hotel and had dinner at Coppie. The delicious meal would go back again.
Day 2
We had breakfast at our hotel, explored the imperial palace, and had lunch at Awomb. We then biked back to our hotel, rested, walked over to Gion, and explored. It can get crowded but it’s so worth checking out historical Kyoto. Note that there are certain rules about taking photos of geisha’s and certain historic streets. We hiked up to Kiyomizu-dera temple and somehow found our way down. We found a random place for ramen for dinner.
Day 3
We woke up early to go check out Arashiyama bamboo garden. It is gorgeous but it is actually not a huge park, but we found ourselves on some random trail inside and it was gorgeous.They gave us free matcha after and loved it . We escaped the rain and ate some breakfast at Chiron.. note you might have to sit on the floor but delicious pastry tower. We then stopped by bread and espresso next door.. cute and looked liked delicious pastries. We then headed to went to Fu Fu No Yu Onsen and loved it and then afterwards we headed to lunch at Mama Arashiyama.. delicious Italian place. highly recommend. We checked out Arashiyama downtown a bit but it was quite rainy so we headed back to the hotel then headed over to Pontocho Alley for dinner and then randomly went into bars before heading back to the hotel.
Day 4 -
We let this day be a bit chill and started off with walking around getting coffee at Weekenders coffee. It was quite busy but if you are into the coffee scene, worth a try. We checked out Nishiki Market and a bunch of shops - give yourself time to explore and look through many of the fun stores from pottery to knives to clothing. We had lunch at Gion Sushi Nakamura.. it was good sushi but prob not amazing.. will need to do more research next time. We gave ourselves the afternoon to continue perusing before dinner at Gion Nikuryori Oka.. .which was not only delicious, but probably one of the hospitality experiences. Highly recommend.
Day 5 -
We had made reservations at Happy pancake - so worth it. hard to replicate at home even though we’ve tried many times. We we back to Nishiki market because we found a random art gallery we loved and got a ton of art from there at a decent price. We had lunch at Ki - which is a Moroccan place right by the hotel.. and it was delicious & casual We decided to head over to the philospher’s path. It’s quite the trek but well worth it. gorgeous .. don’t expect as much shopping but great for nature/historical sites. Afterwards we back to the hotel and relaxed before trying out a neighborhood izakaya - Moshimoya. We ended up talking to a Japanese family that spoke some english and it was the perfect way to our end our last night in Kyoto.
Hotel
Genji Hotel
We stayed here with points but would honestly pay out of pocket for the incredible hospitality. We loved the location because it was tucked into a neighborhood vs. in the hustle and bustle.
Where We ate
Awomb (different concept sushi- fun and delicious)
Chiron (we randomly found this spot while it was pouring rain. so good we had a pastry tower!)
Mama Pizza (amazing pizza, obsessed with the design - go here after visiting bamboo forest)
Gion Nikuyorki Oka (incredible meat forward omakase)
Ki: (Lebanese food in Kyoto… I know. why, but just try. delish)
Coppie (a really delicious and innovative tasting menu. I still dream about the sangria I had there).
Moshimoya (we wandered into this izakaya right by our hotel and it was soo good and we ended up making some friends!)
Other Noms
Breakfast
Lorimer Kyoto
Coffee
Walder
Walden Woods Kyoto
Weekenders Coffee
Bread, Espresso and Arashiyama
eX Cafe Kyoto Arashiyama
Goodman Roaster Kyoto
KeFU stand
Nittodo and Kyto Cafe
Loose Kyoto
here Kyoto Kiyomizu
Kissa Kishin Kyoto
Kursasu Ebisugawa
Momoharu
kew
YUGEN
On my list for next time
Ixey Non Alcoholic Spirits
Green Terrace
What to see
Toji Temple
Arashiyama
Sagano Bamboo Grove
Kinkaku-ji
Kimono Forest
Shopping
Good Nature Station
Beams Japan Kyoto
Ippodo Tea Kyoto Main Store
Kyoto Loft
Kikuo Shoten
Pottery Tanuki
Sou Sou
Tsutaya Bookstore
Mumokuteki goods & wears Kyoto
Daimaru Kyoto
Kyoto Handicraft Center
Un petit coup d’oeil
Niseko, Hokkaido
We definitely splurged on these hotels given it was our honeymoon but if we returned I’ve added the below of what I’d look into. We mostly spent our time skiing so can’t really say we explored the area too much. You might wanna check what is open given that it is not ski season. We spent most of our time skiing/snowboarding and then enjoying the very nice hotels for our quick trip. Would highly recommend making dinner reservations ahead of time.. it gets booked up fast.
Hotels
Zaoborin - it is super pricey but if you have the $ and time.. recommend spending one night at this gorgeous ryokan.
Ritz Carlton Niseko - it is a gorgeous hotel and great staff, but it did seem a bit cookie cutter in terms of design and hospitality.
Other options
Setsu Niseko
Niseko Konbu Onsen
Restaurants -
J’ai La Patate - Really amazing food - tucked in the town
Niseko Takahashi Dairy Farm - great ice cream and they have a pizza place next door so goood.
Roketto - didnt get to go but high on my list for next time - they have casual lunch but then tasting menu for dinner (make reservations through ig)
Niseko Bang Bang - didn’t get to try.. quite the wait, but on my list.