I will be going to Japan for the second time in January, the last two weeks of the month, and I have two itineraries in mind.
Last October I visited the country for the first time (Tokyo, Kyoto(favorite place) + Nara, Hiroshima + Miyajima), arriving in and departing from Tokyo.
This time we will arrive in Tokyo and depart from Osaka.
I have two itineraries in mind because of the weather. One includes Kanazawa, but I am afraid it will be too snowy or wet to make it nice to visit.
* Itinerary 1: (using Kansai Hokuriku Pass, still checking calculators)
* 5 nights in Tokyo. The day we will arrive to the hotel in the evening, so we would have 4 full days in Tokyo.
* 2 nights in Kanazawa. Shinkansen from Tokyo.
* 3 nights in Osaka. Shinkansen + Thunderbird.
* 1 night in Kinosaki.
* Last 3 nights in Osaka. This would include some day trips to Himeji, Kobe, Wakayama.. open to suggestions, especially considering the weather.
* Itinerary 2: (probably using the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass)
* 6 nights in Tokyo. 5 full days. One of the days do a day trip to Kamakura (Enoshima if possible, but not likely).
* 5 nights in Osaka. Shinkansen from Tokyo. The first full day we would visit Universal, and the others we would activate the pass and do day trips to places I have not been to before (Himeji, Kobe, Wakayama, visit Kyoto once more, Uji).
* 1 night in Kinosaki.
* 2 last nights in Osaka.
What do you guys think?
Again, I would like to visit Kanazawa but doing it while dealing with snow or rain may not be ideal. Also, doing so would increase the price of the trip because the detour.
On the other hand, the second itinerary would leave me more time to do day trips to places like Kamakura or Uji.
by Hey-Prague