Hello! My husband and I will be traveling to Japan next April for 3 weeks (arrive March 30, depart April 21) and are planning to stay one week in the Kyoto area and one in Tokyo. We're having trouble deciding what to do for our open week and would love some advice/recommendations. Here's an outline of our current itinerary:
March 30 – April 6 morning : fly into HND, take the train straight to Kyoto. For this week we're staying in Kyoto (already booked) and planning on a day trip to Nara and probably at least one other day trip as well.
April 6 – 12 :Â This is the week we're unsure about. Some context for any recs:
- Technically this is our delayed honeymoon, so we're looking to get into nature and relax/hike/look at some beautiful things. Less go-go-go than our other legs will probably be.
- Current front-running idea is: go to Osaka for the first 2 days, then make our way to Kyushu or to Shikoku from there. Both islands seem beautiful and impossible to choose between.
- We also considered: Hokkaido and basically all of Honshu, especially the alps region. Realistically we haven't ruled anything out 100%, but are cautious of how snowy it might still be in higher altitude spots.
- Reluctantly planning to rent a car if we need it for this leg.
- We'll need to get back to Tokyo from wherever we go, so easy airport or shinkansen accessibility is a plus.
April 13-21: Staying in Tokyo, with an overnight to Hakone (already booked) the 15/16.
Are there any locations you recommend highly? We're trying not to overthink it, but because there are so many good choices, we're struggling, especially knowing that we may never make it back to Japan since we're coming from the east coast of the US. TIA for any advice!
by Intro-Never-Mind