Worried that we are trying to do too much in our short trip? We’re concious of wanting to see things but not spending TOO much time on shinkansens and local railways. My partner is dying to see some sakura ever since a young girl. We are very restricted to our time off/holidays we can take however so we are trying to maximise out potential to see some sakura.
It’s worth mentioning we’ve already this past winter done:
Kyoto main attractions
Tokyo (Crossing and Temples)
Nara Park & Temples
Snow Monkeys
Hakone for Fuji
​
This Spring have planned, but by no means locked in to:
**4th-6th April: Osaka/Kyoto (Hopeful to catch the end of the bloom)**
07:30 Arrive Osaka International Airport (4th)
Check blossom updates, head down to Kyoto main attractions to see blossom if still in bloom. (30 minute train ride)
Osaka Dontaburi area for night food at night time
Osaka Castle during the daytime
Relax around Kyoto eating and walking the city.
**7th April: Hiroshima**
07:00: Direct train to Hiroshima (1 hour 40 mins)
09:00: Memorial park and dome
15:00: Hiroshima Castle
Check in to hotel at night.
**8th April: Miyajama**
08:00 Day trip to Miyajama (40 minute train)
18:00 Evening train back to Kyoto (2 hour 30 minute train & cheap stayover hotel next to station)
**9th April: Kinosaki Onsen**
08:00 Train to Kinosaki Onsen (2 hours)
10:00: Arrive Kinosaki Onsen & walk the town
15:00: Check in to ryoken and check out the local onsens.
Hopefully some late blooming blossom at this time?
**10th April: Kinosaki Onsen & Nagoya Stopover**
09:00 Enjoy breakfast and slow start to the day in ryoken.
12:00 Try the ropeways and views at Kinosaki.
18:00 Evening Train from Kinosaki, through Kyoto, on to Nagoya. (3 hours)
Nagoya is purely a cheap hotel stopover on our way to Nagano (Matsumoto) otherwise this is quite a big journey.
**11th – 13th April: Matsumoto / South Nagano (Proposal)**
*Now i hope this part of the Itinerary hasn’t raised any eyebrows, as i don’t think this is a very popular place. Checking the forecasts for Sakura, our best chance at blooms are within this area. Our base for these 2 nights/3 days is a beautiful ryoken in the heart of Matsumoto. Having researched the best spots for sakura I have found:*
**Matsumoto Castle**
11th:
07:00 Train from nagoya to matsumoto (2 hours 30 minutes)
14:00 Castle if no sakura
18:00: My plan is to do the castle at the night time, as there is meant to be live music and celebrations here underneath the sakura.
**Takato Joshi Park – Propose**
12th: Rent a car and drive down to Takato Joshi Park (public transport is horrible in this area from what I can research). Take in the sakura sights and if all the right things align, propose to my partner under the sakura.
**Wasabi Farm (not for sakura)**
Check this out in the mornign time (my partner said they’d love to check out a wasabi farm so this would be a cool suprise for them). We can do this on the 12th if the sakura is not in bloom and head out early on the 13th.
**13th April: Tokyo, or go off the beaten track to Takayama & Shirkawa Go?**
Currently my plans are:
After the wasabi farm in the AM,
Head back to Tokyo (3 hours train) for 2-3 days to see some sights we didn’t get to last time. Such as the sumo wrestling that will be on, and i’d like to take some time to explore the ‘electric city’ with the old gadgets and collectibles (pokemon etc). Fly out of Tokyo on 16th April.
However—
Would we be missing a huge opportunity here to visit Takayama & Shirkawa Go, and then fly back out of Osaka on the 16th? We can fly out of either osaka or tokyo.
Hope we’re not missing anything egregious
here.
​
​
by MandalaMan28