Should I add 2 days of Kanazawa, Hiroshima+Miyajima, or Kobe or something else to our travel plans to Hokkaido and Kyoto/Osaka? Or simply add more days to Hokkaido and Kyoto?
Background: I have travel plans for a 2 week trip in May, with my partner (we’re mid-30s) and parent (60s). All of us are okay with walking 20-30k steps daily.
Parent’s must-see’s are Hokkaido and Kyoto, and wants to avoid Tokyo (too crowded for them, and partner and I have been before so we’re okay with skipping this time). We’re flying into Hokkaido and out of Osaka, so Osaka is the “compromise” for a big city.
Trip breakdown (still filling in what to do and reviewing for activity overlap):
Hokkaido: 4 days (fly toward Kyoto 4th day)
(2 days to go somewhere before Kyoto)
Kyoto: 4 days
Osaka: 3 days (fly home 3rd day)
…hence the question of whether to add any of those places or just add 2 days to Hokkaido and Kyoto for day trips. Usually when I travel I like to set up in one place for at least a week and take things in, but with the distances between the must-see’s, this trip feels more pressed to be on the move.
Interests: FOOD, Japanese culture (for parent), learning about subcultures, onsen and ryokan, markets, Costco and konbini and Donki (lol). I found a few wagashi-making classes that look pretty fun. Also, into trains+transit but will be flying for time-efficiency.
Less/not interested: museums, theme parks, bars and drinking (we’ll get an occasional drink with a meal), tallest places/most billboards-type of tourist attractions
by rex_we_can