It’s time to relax! We’re headed to rural Japan for food, hot springs, and making new friends.
Day 1: Tokyo > Osaka
We finally reached the hotel after 24 hours straight of travel! It’s just before midnight here but we should sleep well tonight. Originally we weren’t going to travel quite so much today but had to adjust our plans due to the typhoon canceling our original flight.
Day 2: Osaka > Shirahama
We had originally planned to spend the day at the beach and see a neat cave, but the rain and wind caused us to change our plans. Still had a super fun day!
Day 3: Shirahama > Totsukawa
We left the ocean behind today and took to the mountains. As a bonus, the typhoon has finally blown by and left beautiful weather in its wake!
Day 4: Totsukawa > Koyasan
We left our cute cliffside inn and headed even deeper into the mountains to stay at a Buddhist temple for the night. This entire area is considered very holy, so much so that women weren’t allowed here until 1872!
Day 5: Koyasan > Tokushima
After morning prayers with the monks, we said goodbye and headed back to the sea to catch a ferry to Tokushima to learn how to dance, ride a ropeway up a mountain, and enjoy unlimited drinks at a brewery.
Day 6: Daytrip to Takamatsu
We explored a castle, rode in a rowboat, and wandered a garden with a lot of food and tea breaks.
Day 7: Tokushima > Naruto > Udatsu > Tsurugi
After a quick stop in Naruto to see the famous whirlpools, we did a little day-drinking, shopping, and eating in Udatsu, hiked to see a waterfall and river, and then settled down for the evening in Tsurugi at another riverside inn.
Day 8: Tsurugi > Nagoro > Miyoshi
Today we hiked to the top of Mt. Tsurugi, viewed the scarecrows of Nagoro, and settled in at Miyoshi.
Day 9: Miyoshi > Kochi > Nakatosa
Today we took a bunch of trains, explored a castle, did some shopping, and ended up at the most amazing inn by the sea!
Day 10: Rest day in Nakatosa
We learned how to cook fish and ate ate ate today, but it was mostly a relaxation day at the inn (which was perfect since it was a little drizzly).
Day 11: Nakatosa > Yusuhara
A super fun day of crafts, art, and eating/drinking with friends.
Day 12: Yusuhara > Kochi
Today was the last day of the “rural relaxation” part of the trip (although most of us are staying longer to enjoy Tokyo for a bit), but we ended strong with exploring a gorge, roasting and brewing tea, pear picking, and a yakiniku dinner!
Day 13: Kochi > Tokyo
We said goodbye to some of our tripmates today and then hit Tokyo hard! After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we went straight to the Skytree and then hit up Shibuya before finally collapsing back at our hotel. We all love this city so much.
Day 14: Tokyo
We did some shopping in Ikebukuro, wandered around the imperial gardens and Ginza, and met all the new trip goers over dinner + drinks!
Day 15: Tokyo
We leave tomorrow, but managed to pack a lot in to today. I visited the Google Tokyo office, walked a ton and did some shopping, and met a capybara! 🥰
Day 16: Tokyo
We leave tomorrow, but managed to pack a lot in to today. I visited the Google Tokyo office, walked a ton and did some shopping, and met a capybara! 🥰
Day 17: Tokyo
And that’s a wrap! After 3-4 hours of sleep (oh my gosh, why did we stay up so late last night 😵), we took one last short walk this morning and then headed to the airport.
