[Itinerary Check & Recommendations] From East to West!

12 comments

1. Nothing wrong with this plan, but if you’re used to the ‘hub’ and day-trip vacation type, you could base yourself in Osaka and do day trips around there. Like Himeji, Shikoku, Kanazawa (this might be an overnighter) etc. It’s still easy to reach Hiroshima and Fukuoka too.

2. Meiji-mura is very cool and I would highly recommend it. Way cooler than Inuyama Castle in my books, although you could do both in one day if you move quickly.

   My personal concern would be that it feels like you have a huge distance of shinkansen line travel punctuated by 1-2 days in cities with “*find something to do*”. Unless those cities are places you really want to go, it seems like perhaps your route is too dictated by the constraints of getting from one place to another and not what you want to see.

   If it were my trip I would either (A) cut out Kyushu entirely and spend more time in Chubu or a city hub you haven’t explored, if any; (B) skip Osaka for more days in Kyushu, and fly back from Kumamoto to Tokyo; or (C) if Hiroshima is not a must-see, fly from Nagoya to Kumamoto, then back from Southern Kyushu to the Kansai area or Tokyo. Open-jaw flights can also reduce travel time.

3. They haven’t announced end of 2022 dates yet, but I’d head to Enoshima that last day of November for the Shonan no Hoseki event.

4. They’re opening the borders in November?! Can you provide a source on this please?

5. How do you plan to do Takachiho Gorge? Kumamoto is 3+ hours from Osaka on the Shinkansen and then Takachiho is about 2 hours driving from Kumamoto (pretty much impossible by public transportation). Factoring in renting a car to get there and then BACK to Kumamoto for the night that’s a lot.

6. Have you checked trains for the Nagoya-Nachi-Osaka day? Just the Nagoya-Nachi part it’s something like 4 hours by train and bus and Nachi-Osaka is another 4 hours… if you want to visit Nachi, I’d recommend staying at Kii-Katsuura for one night and visit Nachi from there early in the morning before heading back to Osaka. At least that way you wouldn’t be +8 hours on a train 🙂

7. In Nagoya, try to go check the castle. The palace is a really nice and authentic reconstruction.

   While I think that Nachi falls can be nice, I am not sure I would do a huge detour like that and spend a full day on the train for it. Same for Takachiho gorge, it is not that close from Matsumoto, do not see how you can fit it and have time to do something then go to Fukuoka, not sure it is worth all this time in the train.

   While I am fine changing city daily, I think that this is rushing over a way too big area, I would for sure try to cut down on the amount of train. And some of the places you selected would be worth more time, like Fukuoka is easily 2-3 days, Hiroshima 2, Kumamoto itself would deserve at least one.

   I just feel that you have a couple of things you want to see and just try to make them fit in a single trip, even if it does not make that much sense.

   To make it more fun, I would try to cut down on the number of regions, try to do things that are closer to each other, like max 2-3 hours of train in a day (at most, 4h total for a day trip). Try to do more in a single region, and do a different region next time you go, I feel that there is a lot of things between all there area that would absolutely be worth a stop.

8. If you’re able to visit in mid-November there should be a number of fall leaves light-up events in gardens/shrines/temples in some of the places you are visiting. These are nice as, usually, these places close at about 5 pm so by planning to go to the light-up location nearest you before or after dinner you can squeeze in another sightseeing spot you otherwise might miss. It’s also fun to visit at night. Kyoto had a lot when we visited in mid-November but you should be able to find others in the various cities you plan to visit too.

   – [Kyoto Trip Report: Autumn Leaves Illuminations (mid-Nov to early Dec) ](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/mjt5yf/kyoto_autumn_night_illuminations_at_temples_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
   – [5 Autumn Leaves Locations in Tokyo at Night ](https://jw-webmagazine.com/best-places-to-see-autumn-leaves-in-tokyo-at-night/)
   – [Top Places for Autumn Leaves in Cubu (Nagoya) ](https://centrip-japan.com/article/1155.html)
   – [Best Spots for Autumn Leaves in Kyushu ](https://travel.gaijinpot.com/autumn-leaves-2020/the-best-spots-to-see-autumn-leaves-in-kyushu/)

   A day trip to Arashiyama for the sightseeing train and riverboat cruise would also be gorgeous in mid-November.

   – [Kyoto Day Trip: Arashiyama Scenic Railway and Riverboat Ride](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/mibm8t/kyoto_sagano_scenic_train_hozugawa_riverboat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)

   I haven’t done a trip report yet but we also recently used the [JR West Kansai All Area Excursion Pass ](https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_wide_excursion/) to do a 3-day/2-night side trip to Himeji Castle and Kinosaki Onsen from Osaka. If you like onsen this is a quintessential Onsen town that is walkable and all the public onsen are tattoo friendly. We stayed at [Koyado En ](https://goo.gl/maps/vaKbypg4XEpKMrAPA) which also had 2 private onsen. The attached restaurant, [Irori Dining](https://goo.gl/maps/kdNtXDVFttyempWv9) serves an amazing Tajima (Kobe) beef dinner that while a splurge is worth it. We went in early December so the snow crab was at its freshest and there’s lots of restaurants to try it. We also did the Kinosaki Ropeway and paid to go inside [Onsenji Temple](https://goo.gl/maps/cABLVhirvjL46JbWA) which was *definitely* worth it as you get to see the statues very up close and they’ll give you a sheet in English explaining what you are seeing. Really enjoyed our 2-night stay in Kinosaki and highly recommend it.

   – [Visit Kinosaki ](https://visitkinosaki.com/)
   – [Kinosaki Onsen Guide and Map ](https://www.insidekyoto.com/kinosaki-onsen-guide-and-map)

   Another side trip option might be to use the [JR Hokuriku Arch Pass ](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tohokuhokkaido.html) to travel between Tokyo and Osaka so you can stop off at Takayama and Kanazawa. We haven’t visited Kanazawa, but have been to Takayama twice, both times earlier in the fall, and loved it. You could also see the Shirakawago grass hut village.

   – [Takayama Trip Report: Autumn Weekend (Gifu)](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/mg8ir9/autumn_weekend_in_takayama_gifu_prefecture/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)

   Happy planning!

9. Connect from TYO to KMJ, start trip in Kumamoto, then work your way to Tokyo = gain at least 1/2 day you are otherwise sitting in transit.

10. Unless you plan to rent a car in Kumamoto (for Takachiho Gorge) – this part actually may be impossible (at any rate will be extremely rushed and enjoyable).

11. If it’s November, I recommend you to appreciate the autumn leaves in Kamakura and Yokohama. Yokohama is a garden famous for autumn leaves and hydrangeas called “Sankeien”.

    The best time to see autumn leaves every year in Tokyo and Yokohama is from the middle to the end of November.

    https://koyo.walkerplus.com/detail/ar0314e123975/

    https://koyo.walkerplus.com/detail/ar0314e154526/

12. >It will be her third time, my sixth time

    I don’t know if each of you ever been there, but I would recommend spending few days in Yokohama instead of Tokyo. I has a pretty good food (Chinatown, Ramen Museum), interesting historic architecture (Red Brick Warehouse, Custom Office buildings, former consulates buildings) and unique landmarks (Osanbashi Hall, Marine Tower, Landmark Tower). All of these places are close to each other and located next to seaside (except for Ramen Museum). You can also make a daytrip to Kamakura to see Great Buddha Statue and visit Enoshima.

    Yokohama is a hidden gem unfairly omitted by tourists visiting Kanto.