First Time Tokyo 5-Day Itinerary- Please Judge!
Hi! I will be going with my friend to Japan soon for the first time and will be in Tokyo for about 5 days. I am reviewing the itinerary city-by-city and would really appreciate any insight on whether we're doing a good job haha
We want a mix of an authentic/cultural experience, plus the pop-culture stuff (we're big geeks!). Touristy things are OK for us but only when they are genuinley good (We don't need to brag that we went to the smallest mom-and-pop shops, but we don't want to do exactly the same thing every tourist is doing either). Some things are obviously popular for a reason, but we would love to also explore some hidden gems
We also want to make the most of the trip, since there's no telling when we will be back, so we'd rather be on the busier side than the empty, but exploring/breathing time is very important so we want each day to have room to explore around the areas of whatever activity we're doing that day.
Our current ideas for Tokyo (Jun 6-11) are:
Sat Jun 6:
- Arrival. Taking it easy as we've been traveling nearly 20 hours
- Walk around Shibuya, where our hotel is. See Shibuya Crossing, get some food, overall chill and not scheduled
Sun Jun 7:
- Big shopping day (we're basically packing nothing lol). Focused on walking around different areas, stopping by gardens/shrines when we pass, but the focus is exploring the market areas
- Harajuku--> Takeshita St, Cat st, Meiji Shrine sometime during this time
- Shibuya
- End the night at Shinjuku
Mon Jun 8:
- The day we have the most open
- Thinking Shibuya Sky
Tues Jun 9:
- Akihabara + Yanaka Day
- A deep dive of all the pop culture in Akihabara. Major exploring-- no set things we must see
- Explore Yanaka Ginza in the evening
Wed Jun 10:
- The only day we MUST wake up early
- Tsukiji fish market + wander market stalls
- Senso-ji Temple, Kaminarimon gate, Nakamise shopping street, explore Asakusa backstreets
- Miraikan Museum
- Odaiba waterfront
Thurs Jun 11:
- Checkout, send bags to Kyoto via Takkyubin
- Tokyo National Museum + Ueno park
- Leave for Kyoto
Thank you for the advice!