Currently planning out a late summer/early fall trip back to Japan (theoretically I am narrowing down a few destinations but already know Japan is winning… again). Currently leaning toward having Tokyo (Shinjuku) and Osaka as my two “home base” destinations this time because of HND (also I love Kabukicho and can always find something to do in Tokyo) and because I did Kyoto last year and felt like I really didn’t spend enough time in Osaka and there are a few nice day or even afternoon trips I would like to take. But nothing is set in stone
The past times I have gone I have loved onsens (and learned the fun way that I was an idiot and should have rested my muscles and feet before the last day of the trip…) and will likely go to a few throughout the trip regardless. And, over the course of my research for this year, it sounds like Kinosaki is a pretty popular destination from Osaka/Kyoto and can very much envision leaving Osaka in the morning, arriving for late breakfast, going up to Onsenji Temple, and then spending the afternoon and evening walking around town and checking out the onsens, and then heading back to Tokyo for almost the entirety of the next day.
I am not super huge on the Ryokan style lodging (I am traveling solo so it is mostly just an extra cost for the place I am sleeping) and am perfectly fine with public baths, but would probably still go that route just to be “in town” as it were because the real appeal is the idea of just walking around town, eating way too much, checking out the sites, and hitting up a few onsen all in a “traditional” yukata.
So a few questions:
1. I know that tourism is increasingly both a boon (large influx of cash) and scourge (the kind of foreigners who make it hard to get annoyed at being called “gaijin”) because of the devaluation of the yen. I’ve heard that Hakone is increasingly a miserable tourist town unless you thread the needle in terms of off times. Is Kinosaki still a mostly sedate affair where you can generally experience the culture of Japan while trying to avoid making an ass of yourself? Or is it also basically a theme park at this point? And any good alternative onsen towns? My Japanese is “really really bad” on a good day but I can generally point at things and apologize a lot. Mostly I am just thinking of when I went to Fushimi Inari last year. Got there early and had a truly beautiful experience hiking up and most of the way down. But as I got near the base I started hearing incredibly loud shouting and people angry about how they “don’t want to eat <SLUR> food” and arrived to two giant groups of basically the worst kinds of tourists there are.
2. I generally travel with (effectively) a small backpack and a suitcase and really liked just sending my suitcase ahead of me so that I could still do a bit of tourism in between checking out of one hotel and arriving at/checking into the next with the idea that I drop it off the morning before I check out. Never thought about it before, but would I be able to, for example, drop my suitcase off at the hotel front desk on Monday to be delivered to my next hotel on Wednesday or even Thursday? If it is just one or two nights in town I would rather just throw a spare outfit and some underclothes in my small backpack and not deal with my suitcase until I get back to Tokyo. I’m assuming this would just mean they don’t ship it from the origin hotel for an extra day or it sits in a closet at the destination but I want to make sure this wouldn’t be considered rude or “gaming the system”.
3. Any tips for lodging for a solo traveler? Ryokans seem like the way to go (even if they are overkill) because they tend to have a good location to walk around town, come with a yukata rental, and even have “free” passes for the onsens. And I am not completely opposed to getting ripped off a little bit as a solo traveler if it is just one night. But “There Has To Be A Better Way”.
4. Thoughts on one versus two nights? Thinking if I can get an early enough train from Osaka then I can drop off my backpack at the front desk of my lodging (or find a coin locker?), head up to Onsenji Temple and the art museum, get back into town, properly check in, and then spend the late afternoon/evening walking around, eating, and going to the onsens. But not sure if that is an insanely too dense itinerary. The main issue is that I am not entirely sure I would appreciate multiple evenings of just wandering the town but I basically will never turn down a ropeway and it sounds like it is more respectful to go to Onsenji Temple first.
Thanks
by Zestyclose_Leg_3626