Hi everyone,
We’re looking to stay at a minshuku or small ryokan for a couple of nights, slightly off the beaten path. We don’t have a lot of time in Japan (9 days) so we’re trying to avoid 3 hour trips away from the main places we are staying (Kyoto and Tokyo). I have looked into places like Uji, which is not far from Kyoto, but was wondering if anyone has some other suggestions for other towns, either close to Kyoto or Tokyo? Our first step is really to find an interesting area and search for a place to stay after that, but our goal is to get an experience at a minshuku or small ryokan that may not exist in some of the bigger cities.
We like the idea of Uji because of the tea farms, but that’s not a necessity for us. We’re looking for local culture, and enough things to do so that we can wander around for 2 days. We’re not huge into onsen so we’re not seeking that out specifically. We’re not night life people but we love good food.
Hope that’s enough info! Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.
17 comments
Near Tokyo:
Bessho Onsen, Chichibu, rural parts of Saitama or Okutama are probably the areas that make may sense at a lower price ranger. Okunikko, or Shuzenji are a possibilities, if you want to splurge a little bit more.
Make sure it’s refundable as there are no guarantees that Japan will be open for tourism in July.
Went to a minshuku close to muro-ji in south of Nara. It is a bit remote so I might not stay 2 nights, but that area totally deserves a couple of days, like Kashihara, Asuka. Easy to do using Kintetsu pass.
We loved Kawagoe north of Tokyo. Great street food, sake tasting, historic buildings etc. not sure about accommodation there but should be something reasonable. They’d spruced it up a bit for the Olympics (was hosting the golf). In terms of Kyoto, you could take a look at Miyama… thatched village but not sure if there’s accommodation there and you’d need to hire a car. We did it as a day trip from Kyoto and was a lovely side trip. Not a lot to do though if staying for multiple days.
I lived in Uji before and there’s not a lot to do. I’d say it’s good for spending a few hours there, see byodoin, get some matcha snacks, walk along the river but that’s it. Most shops close around 5pm.
You should definitely go to Hakone. Nice town, excellent food, hiking, walking, mountains, smal villages all around like Gora Onsen. You don’t have to use the onsen but it’s there. Many activities for more than 2 days and maybe a festival around that time.
Consider Kanazawa. You could do a Tokyo – Kanazawa – Kyoto – Tokyo loop and not have it feel like too much transit if you’re settling for a few nights at each spot. There are a lot of cute spots to stay in, good tea culture, really good seafood, nice museums. It’s a smaller city that is pretty walkable in its core, and close to the sea if you want to work some of that into your trip, too. Certainly enough to do for two days.
Kamakura is a really nice city near Tokyo. Used to be the capital 800 years ago and has a ton of cool temples/shrines, a beach, and enoshima island. Definitely worth a day trip
Get as far into the Japanese alps as you can. July is hot in Japan and the alps + Hokkaido are the only escape.
From Kyoto, to the Shiga region around biwako is nice. Otsu, Hikone etc
Osaka, Nara?
There isn’t that much in the way of Tea fields in Uji proper but there are load in the next town over (Wazuka) all along Pref Road 5. A car drive or a bike ride through the area can be quite nice!
Alternatively, near Tokyo, Iruma City has a huge set of tea fields, nearest station Kaneko Station.
I really liked Kamakura. Watch out for the hawks!
Uji is nice for a half-day trip. Recommend it.
Don’t go to Uji, apart from visiting the Byodoin and trying matcha theres not much to do there. Try Kawagoe near Tokyo.
I basically copy-paste this in any thread about going to Kansai in July:
>Mid-late July in particular is a MASSIVE festival season in Kansai–Including the Gion Festival (all of July, with the biggest events from the 15th-17th, and other large events from the 22nd-24th), Tenjin Festival (24th-25th–especially the 25th) Motomiya Festival (21st-22nd), and Mitarashi Festival (last 10 or so days of July). I also highly recommend Kobo-san at Toji on the 21st and/or Tenjin-san at Kitanotenmangu on the 25th, though I wouldn’t sacrifice going to the Tenjin Festival just to go to Tenjin-san Market.
>That said, these festivals are among the ONLY good reasons I come up with to suffer through the heat of summer if going at another time of year is feasible. If you’re not really planning to enjoy such festivals to their fullest, I would strongly recommend picking another time of year (mid-November to early-December or mid-February to mid-April are my top recommendations). Also keep in mind that attending festivals takes time away from doing other things. Typically I would recommend roughly at least a full week just for a quick run-through of the highlights of Kansai (Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe/Nara/Himeji area), but given the sweltering heat of the late summer and the extra time needed for festivals, I would give it 10 full days or more if you’re going around this time (again, just as a starting point).
With only 9 days, I would pick either Kansai or Kanto, not both–especially if you’re in Kansai in mid-late July.
Nara is always may go to side trip when in Kyoto. It’s less than 3 hours if you take the trains (about an hour actually), and plenty of the same sort of stuff to see and do in and around the stations. It has the same style and feel as Kyoto to boot, so it really does just feel like a side trip. The closest attraction to the city’s main station I would consider to be Ukimido, but better resources like Wikivoyage exist.