When my husband and I took our trip, our third day in Tokyo was by far the most tiring. Our first stop of day three was the Tsukiji Fish Market for a sushi breakfast (we took the subway). While the tuna auctions, inner market and wholesale operations of the market moved to Toyosu in October 2018, the outer market, with all of the wonderful food stalls and sushi joints, is still there for the public to enjoy.

We wandered the stalls and stuffed our mouths with mochi filled with custard and topped with strawberry and dipped into a sushi restaurant for my husband to get his fill of his favorite food--they brought me a bowl of miso soup to enjoy with him. For more tips on what and how to eat your way through Tsukiji Market, check out this article.

After taking in a feast for the senses, we walked with full bellies to The Imperial Palace East Garden. This was by far the most impressive garden we experienced on our trip and it is well worth the sore calves and aching arches. Admission is free and we spent about two hours exploring the grounds.

Even though my legs were dead, I thought it would be a great idea if we walked to Ginza to visit a stationery store called Itoya. Ginza was very fancy, like the Rodeo Drive of Tokyo, but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see it. I would however suggest a stop at Tokyo Tower instead and I wish we had done that ourselves. Itoya was a quick stop and then we took the Ginza Line to have lunch at Tonkatsu Maisen in Aoyama. We were starved and exhausted but I wish we had spent more time in that neighborhood than in Ginza. It’s a trendy part of town with cute boutiques and cafes--there’s a Dominique Ansel bakery and luxury brands and second hand shops abound. Koffee Mameya has great reviews.

Dining at Tonkatsu Maison was one of the most memorable dining experiences we had in Japan. Upon arrival, you wait in line and when you get to the front, they seat you. If you are taken upstairs, it is tatami-style so be prepared to take your shoes off. The extensive menu is divided into cuts of pork and a variety of breeds. For example, you can order the belly of a Japanese black pig nurtured with care by Hayai Okita of the Okita-Kurobuta Ranch. Or the loin of a pig who was raised on a diet of green tea. We absolutely loved the care that went into the husbandry of these pigs and their preparation--it was a beautiful example of the respect Japanese people have for the animals and their land. These cuts of meat were simply prepared and served with rice, cabbage and sauce. It was one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had and my husband and I still talk about it over two years later.

After you’ve had lunch, you can either make your way to Shibuya Crossing if you haven’t visited yet or return to your AirBnB to rest. In the evening of day three, we walked to Isetan in Shinjuku for souvenir shopping, although most of it was out of our budget. I did buy some Paul and Joe lipstick for myself and my friend for her birthday. Once we had window-shopped up an appetite, we headed to the depachika (food court) downstairs which is a food-lover’s delight. The beef fried rice and pork gyoza we tried were exceptional, but you can find any dish you’re craving plus tons of beautiful options for sweets and gifts to take back home. ​

Our seasonal menu for the evening included an appetizer of lotus root terrine with pumpkin soup; a simmered dish of Largehead hairtail fish, rolled egg, wax gourd, oyster mushroom and yuzu; a selection of sashimi; Yakimono course of Japanese beef accompanied with an earthenware grill; Hanmono course of eel and steamed rice; Hassun course of grilled eggplant with fig, sesame vinegar and perilla; and dessert of mango ice cream, pudding and white peach. Everything about this meal, from the hospitality to presentation to taste, was impeccable.

Following dinner is more relaxation and sleep. You'll awaken to the sound of the river and birds chirping, dress up in your yukata then head back to the dining room for breakfast. For us, breakfast was a combination of Western and Japanese dishes, such as a salad to start, followed by a soup with bread for dipping, then scrambled eggs with a side of fish and potatoes. Breakfast was finished off with fruit.

Once breakfast has been thoroughly enjoyed and you’ve packed, it’s time to head back to the Hakone Yumoto Station to start your shinkansen journey to Kyoto. If you didn't get a chance to explore the shops, this is your chance to do so.


​A NOTE ABOUT TRYING TO SEE MT. FUJI

One of the main reasons why I wanted to add a stop in Hakone was to be able to see Mt. Fuji. There is a really cool-sounding circuit of cable cars and gondola to see the mountains. The trouble was that we visited in September, which is tsunami season. The skies were overcast and it rained a lot, there was no visibility of Mt. Fuji that day and we basically wasted a whole day and a lot of money to get only halfway there. It is an expensive and time-consuming journey, one that is probably not worth it for most people. On any given day, the chance of seeing Mt. Fuji is around 20%. If you are okay with the time and financial commitment, have an extra day to dedicate to this adventure and you are going on a sunny day/season, then it might make sense. Otherwise, I would highly recommend skipping a sojourn to Mt. Fuji and make your way straight to Kyoto from Hakone.

​If all goes well and you've arrived at the Kyoto train station around 2 p.m. from Hakone, head to your lodging and check-in. To get to Kyoto from your ryokan in Hakone, you'll need to get yourself back to Odawara station, then hop on the Tokaido-Sanyo shinkansen to Kyoto Station. For our stay in Kyoto, we booked a room at the Hotel Granvia which is adjacent to the station (or right above it? I never could figure it out). I loved staying here because it's easy to get to from the train (and I knew we would be hopping on and off the train a lot in the next three days), there are great restaurants both inside the hotel and within walking distance, and it was affordable.

Once you've checked in, take a bus to eat at any of the restaurants on this Inside Kyoto list of best restaurants and spend the evening leisurely wandering around wherever you decide to have dinner.

I would recommend eating gyoza at Chaochao Sanjo-Kiyamachi or tempura at Tendon Makino Kyoto then taking a stroll across the river to the Gion neighborhood. This is the perfect opportunity to explore the plethora of shops along Shijo Dori to find souvenirs. If you're traveling in July, be sure to stop by the Yasaka Shrine for the Gion Matsuri festival, the most famous festival in all of Japan, to experience the float processions and food stands. Depending on the time, you can also make your way to Kiyomizu-dera Temple--usually it closes at 6 p.m. but on certain days in spring, summer and fall, the temple stays open until 9 p.m. for illumination. 

Our first night in Kyoto looked much different than this. We stumbled into our hotel room close to 8 p.m., starving, and headed upstairs to the on-site restaurant. There, we enjoyed an incredible view of the city and a pumpkin soup so delicious, I still daydream about it. The soup actually came as part of my husband's meal and I asked them for my own bowl--that's how good it was. Then we slept.

One of the most beautiful and culturally rich parts of Kyoto is the Arashiyama neighborhood. This is where you'll find the famed bamboo grove, the Tenryuji Temple, and other wonderful food and natural experiences. The best way to experience most of it is with a food tour of the area with Japan Wonder Travel.

Our guide met us at the train station and led us through the town to a variety of food stalls, shrines, temples and restaurants, answered all of our questions and gave us insider tips on where to eat and what to see in the rest of Kyoto. I don't want to give away too many details of where we went because my description won't give the day justice--suffice it to say that I think everyone who wants an authentic experience with a local should book this tour.

If you have time and energy after your tour, make the trek up the hill to the Arashiyama ​Monkey Park Iwatayama. This was on my list of places I wanted to see on our trip, but didn't have energy leftover in my pregnant state to make it. 
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Our food tour of Arashiyama ended around 3 p.m. and because the bites are small and I was always hungry, by the time we took the bus back toward our hotel, I wanted dinner. We walked from the Karasuma Gojo bus stop to Ginjo Ramen Kubota which came highly recommended by our tour guide. To order food, you simply wait in line, place your order on the vending machine and give your ticket to one of the chefs when you sit down. The broth of this ramen was so thick, rich and flavorful, tasting as though it had been simmering for hours. It was the best ramen we had in Japan.

You can spend the rest of the night doing whatever you choose, whether that's bar hopping, exploring Nishiki Market, or sleeping. I'm sure you can guess what we did.

You've explored the shrines and temples and have eaten all the food so your third day in Kyoto is the perfect launching point for a day trip (or overnight trip depending on how much extra time you have and how far you'd like to go). On our third day, we ate breakfast at the buffet in our hotel, which was amazing by the way, then took a 45-minute train to Himeji Castle and were able to get back to Kyoto by dinner time. 

One of my coworkers, who has 10 days in Japan, wants to fit in an overnight trip to Hiroshima, which is definitely doable because the fastest shinkansen train ride is less than two hours. If you want to go this route, I would recommend checking out of your hotel, heading to Hiroshima in the morning, staying the night then returning to Kyoto the next day. Here is a sample itinerary for a day trip to Hiroshima.

There are so many options for day trips based on your personal interests. Check out this article on JR Pass's website for a selection of day trips.

On our last night in Kyoto, we ate gyoza and went souvenir shopping on Shijo Dori (my recommended itinerary for the first night). If you already did this, take your time to explore a different part of the city or check other items off of your bucket list. If you have the time and energy, make sure you stop by Fushimi Inari Taisha before leaving Kyoto. We were planning on visiting this shrine the morning of our eighth day, but wanted to save our energy. Not seeing those famous torii gates is one of my two regrets of this trip, the other one being not going to the monkey park. We're already planning our return to do and see everything we missed the last time we were in Kyoto.

The last day of our eight day, eight night trip to Japan was by far my favorite because we went to Tokyo DisneySea! We skipped on the Fushimi Inari Taisha to save our energy for Disney because I was pregnant and easily exhausted. 

Around 8 a.m., we filled up on our hotel's breakfast buffet, checked out and headed down to the train station to take the Tokaido-Sanyo shinkansen to Tokyo and the Keiyo line to Mahaima Station, a trip that took about 3 hours. For an incredibly seamless and easy check-in and theme park experience, book a hotel room that's located along the monorail. We stayed at the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel because it has good reviews and it was affordable compared to the other options. Be forewarned though that the beds are quite small; my husband and I had to sleep on separate beds because we couldn't fit on one together. Having a whole bed to yourself is not the worst problem to have.

Upon arriving at the Mahaima Station, you walk with your luggage to an area where all of the hotels have check-in services. Here, you can check-in to your hotel, receive your room number and keys, leave your bags to be taken to your room and head straight to the park. This totally blew my mind! I was planning on spending an extra hour at the very least going to the hotel, leaving our bags there then going back to the park entrance. But this setup was so unexpectedly wonderful. From the get-go, Tokyo Disney wants to make sure you have a pleasant experience. 

Now, you may be debating whether to go to Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea or you might think it's not worth your time at all. Let me stop you right there--Tokyo DisneySea was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and YOU NEED TO GO. It's a totally unique park with attractions you won't find at any other Disney Park in the world and it's where Imagineers go to have their wildest ideas realized. Even if you don't care about Disney, or perhaps especially if you don't care about Disney, this park is for you. Everything about it is so perfect and beautiful. The attention-to-detail in the decor is on another level; even the benches fit the theme of whatever world you're in. 

The food is cheap and delicious. My husband got a three course lunch with salad, chicken cacciatore with squid ink risotto and dessert plus a drink for $12. All snacks are between $2-4. It's not crowded. The rides are in Japanese which is especially fun if you've ever wanted to be yelled at in Japanese by the Finding Nemo crew in 3D. They have the best merchandise. Everyone who goes together wears matching outfits and it's so heartwarming. HAVE I CONVINCED YOU?!​

This is technically the ninth day in Japan but I don't consider it to be an actual day because all you're doing is having an okay breakfast at the hotel buffet (if you want a better meal, splurge for the more expensive buffet), checking out and taking the Airport Limousine Bus to the airport for your return flight home. Book your seat on the bus ahead of time and head down to the loading area in front of your hotel to board. I hope this itinerary helps you have the best possible time in Japan! This has been one of my favorite countries to visit because the food is delicious, the people are so welcoming, and there is natural beauty at every turn. If you've traveled to Japan, let me know what your most memorable experience has been in the comments below.