Japan 15 day itinerary — How to spend 15 days in Japan on a budget pefectly?

• 08:00 AM: Go to Ueno Park to see the cherry blossoms blooming early, have breakfast at the park.
• 11:00 AM: Visit the Edo Tokyo Museum
• 01:00 PM: Go to the extremely busy and bustling Shinjuku district, eat at Memory Lane including meat skewers and seafood and then eat Ramen noodles at the underground Metro area.
• 04:00 PM: Go to Meiji shrine, Harajuku, then to Shibuya Crossing to see the rush hour scene in Japan.
• 06:00 PM: Heading to Shinjuku to eat sushi buffet.
• 09:00 PM: Playing at Shinjuku at night, experience the nightlife in Shinjuku, Kabukicho red light district and bars in Golden Gai.

Japan travel itinerary 15 days — Day 9: Tokyo

• 09:00 AM: A sunny day after 2 gloomy days in Tokyo, I decided to go back to Sensoji in the morning, buy Toeio Metro day tickets.
• 12:00 AM: Return to Chiyoda Park to see cherry blossoms, walk around the river with white cherry blossoms blooming on both sides of the river.
• 02:00 PM: Back to Shinjuku, Memory Lane, lunch with beef hotpot
• 04:00 PM: Go to Shinjuku Park to see flowers
• 06:00 PM: Walking in Harajuku.
• 08:00 PM: Dinner at Tokyo Station: Set Hakata style zouni soup and another part of sushi bar.

Japan 15 day itinerary — Day 10: Kawaguchiko

• 06:20 AM: Take the bus at Yesu South – Toky Station to Kawaguchiko
• 08:50 AM: Arrive at Kawaguchiko and check in and send my luggage at Plaza Inn Kawaguchiko from $37/night (Agoda.com or Booking.com), buy a bus ticket to touring around Kawaguchiko area – 1500 yen. The ticket is valid for 2 days.
• 10:20 AM: Visit Arakurayama Sengen Park and Temple
• 01:00 PM: Take a bus around Lake Kawaguchiko, Mt. Fuji around the lake like Nagasaki Park, Oishi Park, ..
• 05:00 PM: Wandering to take photos of Mt. Fuji Station
• 08:00 PM: Dinner near Kawaguchiko station

Read more: Kawaguchiko travel blog — The fullest Kawaguchiko travel guide & Lake Kawaguchiko itinerary 2 days for the first-timers.

Japan 15 day itinerary — Day 11: Kawaguchiko – Hakone

• 06:00 AM: Wake up early and trolling around Kawaguchiko station area.
• 09:00 AM: Take the bus to Saiko Ancient Village ‘Iyashi no sato NENBA’.
• 11:00 AM: Take the bus to continue to Oishi Park, Nagasaki Park to revisit for the murky day before.
• 01:00 PM: Take the bus to Gotemba, then change the two buses to getting to Sengoku – Hakone Yumoto. The distance was long and the have to wait the bus, and it was horribly crowded in the late afternoon of the bus in Hakone.
• 05:00 PM: Check in the Hakone Suimeisou hotel (Agoda.com or Booking.com), take an onsen shower right in the hotel, walk around the streets of Hakone Yumoto.
• 08:00 PM: Eat fried chicken, namerou at a nearby restaurant.

Japan travel itinerary 15 days — Day 12: Hakone

• 07:00 AM: Get up early in the morning to take the bus to the Tozan onsen resort for onsen bath.
• 10:00 AM: Take the train to Gora, then take the cable car to the top of Ōwakudani and down to Lake Asashi, lunch ramen in Ōwakudani.
• 03:00 PM: Take the Ashi Lake cruise, the last point is Lake Ashi cruise pier, walk to Hakone Shrine.
• 06:00 PM: Take the bus back to Hakone Yumoto (waiting for the bus to take more than 1 hour).
• 08:00 PM: Dinner with Mince bluefin tuna & welsh right at the Hakone Yumoto area, take advantage of time to buying specialty cakes in Hakone as gifts.

Read more: Hakone travel blog — The Hakone travel guide & how to spend 2 days in Hakone for the first-timers.

15 days in Japan budget — Day 13: Hakone – Osaka

• 06:00 AM: Get up early to check out the hotel, take the train to Odawara Station to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka and go straight to Himeji Station
• 11:00 AM: Train arrives at Himeji Station, where the famous Himeji Castle is located. Send my luggage at the station and walk to the castle, visiting and take photos.
• 01:00 PM: Take the train back to Osaka, you can choose Shinkansen or JR Lines, usually the JR line has more trips.
• 03:00 PM: Check in hotel in Osaka, then continue take the subway to visit Osaka Castle.
• 06:00 PM: Go to the busiest area of Osaka: Namba, Shinsaibashi and Dōtonbori. Dinner and hang around the whole night here.

Read more: Osaka travel blog — The fullest Osaka city guide for a wonderful trip to Osaka for the first-timers.

15 days in Japan itinerary — Day 14: Osaka

• 09:00 AM: Have breakfast and go to Kuromon Ichiba Market
• 11:00 AM – 08:00 PM: Spend all of the day shopping in the Shinsaibashi area. Lunch and dinner are here as well, especially Hozenji Yokocho alley with lots of restaurants as well as many beautiful vintage shots.
• 09:00 PM: Return to the hotel to pack my luggage and take the train to the airport.
• 11:00 PM: Go to the Kansai airport, spend the night at First Cabin Kansai Airport (Agoda.com or Booking.com) at the airport entrance when you exit subway.

Japan travel itinerary 15 days: Day 15: Osaka – Hanoi

Check out hotel and catch flight to Hanoi in the morning. End of Japan 15 day itinerary. Note that the airport in Japan is quite large, the boarding gate is usually have to take a short tram route to reach. To ensure you not to be miss your flighty, you should arrive at the airport early, at least 3 hours in advance. For example, I had a flight at 9am so I went to the airport the night before and slept at the airport hotel for sure!

Ended the 15 days in Japan (all the days allowed on the visa), but to say it is enough is probably not. Japan has many other places worth visiting, and each season has an unique beauty of that season. I went to Japan in cherry blossom season, next time I will go to Japan in the red leaf season.

Actually this is a “inspired and going” trip so I did not plan in detail at home. Intending to go, I apply for a visa right away, and right after 1 week I go. So the luggage is simply a 2-week JR Pass, and 2 Japanese 7Gb Sims card, exchange money and go.

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, to and from Tokyo you can refer to

• Private Narita International Airport Transfers (NRT) for Tokyo 23 Wards, Hakone, or Karuizawa
• Private Haneda International Airport Transfers (HND) for Tokyo 23 Wards, Hakone, or Karuizawa
• Airport Limousine Bus Transfers from/to Narita and Haneda International Airport (Free Wifi Onboard)
• Tokyo Amazing Sightseeing Bus Day Tour
• Tokyo Highlights Private Day Tour
• Nikko Day Tour from Tokyo
• Mt Fuji & Hakone Day Tour: Lake Ashi & Ropeway Day Trip from Tokyo
• Nikko Cultural Day Tour from Tokyo
• Tokyo Subway Ticket (24, 48, or 72 Hours)
• Tokyo Skyliner and Tokyo Subway Ticket
• Shuttle Bus Transfers (One Way/Round Trip) from Shinjuku/Ikebukuro to Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea
• Sky Hop-on and Hop-off Bus Pass
• 4G Prepaid Sim Card (JP Airports Pick Up) for Japan
• 4G WiFi (Japan Pick Up) for Japan
• JR Pass for Whole Japan (7, 14, or 21 Days)

Are you finding more top things to do in Tokyo: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Read more: Tokyo travel blog — The fullest Tokyo city guide for a budget trip for the first time visiting Tokyo, Japan.