This post offers a guide to sakura season in Kyoto, sharing our favorite cherry blossom spots, photogenic temples, plus tips & tricks for avoiding crowds that descend upon Japan every April. We also take a deeper dive into the topic, highlighting hidden gems for cherry blossom viewing where you’ll find fewer people and no busloads […]
This post offers tips for one of our favorite (and free!) experiences in Kyoto, Japan: Path of Philosophers. This iconic walk is not just an enjoyable journey, but it also connects Golden Pavilion to Nanzenji Temple, making it something that we include in almost all of our 1-Day to 1-Week Itineraries for Kyoto, Japan. Unlike […]
Kyoto’s Japanese tea is world famous, and matcha is a great take-home souvenir. Likewise, teahouses are a great option for a midday break after a long morning of touring Kyoto, Japan. In this post, we cover the best tea shops, plus our favorite tea ceremony, in case you’re interested in a more traditional, cultural experience. […]
Our Japan itineraries provide 1-day plans for every area of Kyoto, step-by-step itinerary, strategy, and walking tours of Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka, Nara, Miyajima Island, and more. These touring plans offer guides and tips for which temples to visit, where to eat, transportation, and the most efficient order of seeing the highlights of each area. None […]
Our Hiroshima itinerary offers a step-by-step touring plan for visiting the peace memorials & museum, seeing the city’s castle, and eating the best okonomiyaki in Japan. We’ll detail the must-see points of interest, and map an efficient route for your day in Hiroshima, Japan. The good news about this Hiroshima itinerary is that it’s entirely […]
As of 2019, Toyosu Market has replaced Tsukiji as Japan’s largest wholesale fish market, which is one of the top things to do in Tokyo. In this post, we’ll offer info about the changes, and whether you should plan a visit to Tsukiji, Toyosu, or both. Tsukiji Market has been serving Tokyo since 1935, and […]
Kyoto, Japan has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, all of which we’ve visited. In this post, we share the full list, ranking these temples & shrines from worst to best, and discussing which you should see and which you should skip. As a bit of background, UNESCO World Heritage Sites are landmarks selected by the […]
Our 1-day Nagoya, Japan itinerary is an efficient step-by-step touring plan for visiting the city’s best museums, eating, and visiting the castle. Best of all, it’s a jam-packed experience that can be accomplished as a day trip while traveling between Tokyo and Kyoto or Osaka on the Shinkansen. Along the way, you can visit a […]
When traveling to Japan’s Kansai region, Kyoto is a great home base. It’s easy to get to several other major cities by standard rail or Shinkansen in under an hour or two, and a few lower profile mountain escapes are also easy to access. We’ve done numerous day trips from Kyoto, and in this post, […]
Robot Restaurant is a crazy show in Tokyo, Japan’s Shinjuku district with dancers, lasers, monsters, and more. In this review, we’ll share how to buy discount tickets, assess whether Robot Restaurant is worth the money, what you should expect, and photos from our experiences. (Last updated February 26, 2019.) If you want the short answer: YES! Robot Restaurant […]