I am planning a month long trip with my girlfriend for end of October / November. I know it's a little late to the game, but looks like we can still find accom so trying to plan things out. We're planning to do a mix of big city and countryside (incl. smaller cities). Big cities focused around Tokyo and Kyoto (with a day trip to Osaka), smaller cities (Kanazawa, Takayama), countryside (Kiso Valley, Kumano Kodo). We were also considering the Iya Valley – accom looks a little tougher there, but could be open to switching out the Kumano Kodo. Knowing that Japan has endless places to explore we are trying to keep to the following prefectures: Tokyo, Gifu, Nagano, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Nara and Wakayama (open to swapping for Shikoku island).
If anyone has experience / opinions on the following that would be great:
- Favourite countryside locations – currently considering Nagano / Takayama, Kiso Valley, Kumano Kodo (potentially Iya Valley)
- Favourite Ryokan experiences (max budget US$1000 per night for both)
- Im thinking of targeting either Nagano / Gifu for where we'd stay in a Ryokan. We're targeting an authentic experience over high-end. I looked at ones like BYAKU Narai 歳吉屋 and it feels too polished (if thats a thing ahah)
- Feedback on any of the planned activities / inspiration for others e.g., tours, museums, etc.
- Museums targeted at Tokyo (noted below), but open to ones across our destinations.
- Favourite restaurants overlapping destinations. We're also into coffee so have Onibus, Passage Coffee, KOFFEE MAMEYA
- Foods to try in addition to the following: Karage, Yakitori, Takoyaki, Black sesame ice cream, Kabayaki, Kushikatsu, Ayu (fish), shirasu don
The full itinerary looks as follows:
Day 1-3: Tokyo:
- Bridgestone Museum of Art (Artizon Museum)
- Nezu Museum
- Edo-Tokyo museum
- Teamlab Borderless
Day 4-8: Nagano / Takayama Area
- Snow Monkey Park (Jigokudani Yaen Koen)
- Matsumoto Castle
- Kamikochi
- Shirakawa-go
- Gokayama
- Karuizawa (?)
Day 9-10: Kanazawa
- Kenroku-en
- Samurai district
- Hoping to have a relaxing city stay in general. I've heard its a lower key version of Kyoto
Day 11-13: Kiso Valley
- Nakasendo trail starting in Narai Juku > Agematsu > Tsumagojuku > Magomejuku
Day 14-20: Kumano Kodo – waiting for confirmation on accommodation from the Kumano travel website (big if!)
- Plan will be to start with the Nakahechi route and continue on the Kohechi route to Koyasan. We're experienced hikers (with experience across Patagonia, Andes, Norway, Mont Blanc) so don't expect this to be overly challenging
Day 21: Koyasan
- Visit the temples, Okuno-in by Night. Mostly hear for the nature / end of the Kumano Kodo. Temple stays look fairly pricey and would rather allocate this to a good ryokan elsewhere
Day 22: Nara
- Exploring the city / deer park, visit the mochi shop (heard its worth the hype)
Day 23-26: Kyoto
- Activities: Higashiyama Jisho-ji, Mount Kurama, Kurama-to-kibune-hike, Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari Shrine / Mount Inari, Minoo park, Himeji day trip
- Plan will be to return to Tokyo and potentially spend a few more days there
by fir_trader