First time in Japan – 28yo – 26 days from mid Oct to mid Nov: Okinawa – Tokyo – Japan Alps & Nakasendo – Kyoto – Koyasan – Hiroshima – Onomichi – Hakone

Hi all! We are planning our first trip to Japan, so advice on the feasibility would be amazing!  

We are 2 couples in their late 20s, all first timers. We will be backpacking, so no big luggage to carry.  

We are nature lovers, and we like off-beaten destinations, but we don't want to miss the more common destinations and cities. We are happy to wake up early and to visit places at weird hours to avoid crowds and we like to walk a lot. We are not so much into nightlife, even though we would like to enjoy some nights out here and there.  

We organized our itinerary with 4 people, so it's the best compromise so far to make everybody happy. Since (at least 2 of us) are planning to go back to Japan, we'll focus on central-West Honshu, and we keep, for example, Kyushu and Hokkaido for another trip.   

For each trip, we checked all train and bus options-times, so we know our program is theoretically feasible. We also though about it in a way to be relatively flexible (meaning that if we want to skip something on the spot, we skip, because we know not everything goes as planned). My fear is we will not be able to practically enjoy some areas, especially in the last part of the trip. Therefore, at the end of the post, you find a plan B to make the end of the trip a bit less packed. So we would like to have your opinion about the feasibility of plan A or whether it is better to go for plan B. 

Don't worry about the overnight stays, places to leave the backpacks, onsens and restaurants, we have already thought about these. 

Itinerary, plan A: 

Day 1-4: Okinawa 

1. Arrival at 10:40, afternoon explore Naha, Makishi public market 
2. Ferry to Zamami Island, spend the day there 
3. With rental car -> Explore Okinawa from Shuri castle and Gyukusendo caves, South coast from East to West, sunset at Ryukin Hot Springs 
4. With rental car -> Explore Okinawa Central part of the island 

Day 5-6: Tokyo 

1. Arrive in Tokyo in the morning, arrive around 12. Go to Akihabara area (close to our hotel). In the evening maybe Asakusa or Nihonbashi areas (open to suggestions) 
2. Shibuya, Meiji-jingu, Metropolitan government building, then Shinjuku and Golden Gai by evening 

Day 7: Nikko day trip Shinkyo bridge and Daiya river, Kanmangafuchi abyss, Shrine area, and optionally some trekking, maybe to some waterfalls. Come back to Tokyo for the night. 

Day 8: Tokyo Imperial palace, Hie shrine, Roppongi area. We are planning to travel to Kamikochi on an overnight bus leaving from Shinjuku station, so the plan is to go back to Shinjuku in the late afternoon and spend some more time there (maybe Kabukicho) until around 22 when the bus leaves. 

Day 9: Kamikochi – Hirayu Onsen The bus would arrive to Kamikochi at 5 in the morning, is it realistic to wait somewhere at the bus station until we can hike in Kamikochi? After the hike we'll take a bus to Hirayu onsen town and spend the night there. 

Day 10-11-12: Takayama 

1. First and second day: Arrive in Takayama in the morning, visit the town and some shrines. As optional activities deepening on the available time: Hida no Sato open air museum, visit sake brewery. Morning market and Miyagama river walk. Optional is to go to Shirakawa go or spend another day in Takayama (based on what we can do in the first day). 
2. Third day: Stay in Takayama or go to Hida Furukawa in the morning. Travel to Magome-juku for the Nakasendo Trail in the afternoon (it takes 5 hours). The aim is to be in Magome by late afternoon. 

Day 13: Nakasendo trail: Walk Magome-Tsumago part of Nakasendo. Travel to Kyoto as soon as we are done (is it realistic to leave around 17.30 to be in Kyoto around 20?) 

Day 14-15-16: Kyoto 

1. Morning: Kinkaku-ji, Imperial palace. Afternoon walk in Northern Higashiyama (Nanzenji, Kotoku-an, Okunoin, back to Nanzenji, Eikan-do, Path of Philosophy, Honen-in, Ginkaku-ji). 
2. Early in the morning visit of Fushimi Inari shrine. Move to Higashiyama: Kyomizu dera, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka, Yasaka-Jinja shrine, Maruyama Park and surrounding temples. Is this doable considering that we have the tea ceremony booked at 17 in Ninenzaka? Conclude the day exploring Gion. 
3. Arashiyama: Tenryu-ji, Jojakko-ji, Gjo-ji, Adashino Nenbutsuji, Daikaku-ji. Sagano train tour (2 ways) from Saga station. 

Day 17: Kyoto – Nara stay in Kyoto in the morning (suggestions wanted?) then go to Nara for lunch time, visit Nara Park and temple area. Come back to Kyoto for the night. 

Day 18: Koyasan Leave from Kyoto with the 8.10 direct bus arriving in Koyasan at 11.00. Explore the city and Okunoin by day. Temple lodging with dinner and bath. Night guided tour to Okunoin.  

Day 19: Koyasan – Osaka in the morning explore the rest of the temples in Koyasan and do some activities with the monks: Kongobuji, Garan and Daimon gate. Leave with one of the last possible options to Osaka (around 15 in the afternoon). We'll sleep in a hotel next to the station. We are not really interested in Osaka, but we considered it a nice base for our next movements.  

Day 20: Hiroshima-Miyajima visit Hiroshima (peace memorial) and Miyajima.  

Day 21: Onomichi, Shimanami kaido cycling: leave Hiroshima early morning and stop in Onomichi. Rent a bike to cycle along part of the Shimanami kaido road. Get a train to Osaka again and sleep close to the station. 

Day 22-23: Hakone 

1. Leave Osaka early morning, travel to Gora in Hakone. Chill afternoon exploring the palces nearby, spend time at the onsen. 
2. With the Gora ropeway, reach Owakudani, then take the ropeway down to the port, navigate the lake with pirate cruise. Walk back via a piece of the Old Tokaido Ancient Cedar Avenue, Heiwa no Torii, Hakone Mototsumiya shrine. Go back to Gora. 

Day 24: Yamanashi Travel from Hakone to Yamanashi (Fujiyoshida) early in the morning. Spend the day visiting the Chureito pagoda and park, and the Kawaguchiko lake.  

Day 25-26: Tokyo 

1. Leave from Yamanashi direct to Ghibli Museum. After the visit, move to the other side of Tokyo to reach our hotel close to Teamlab planets area. Maybe visit Ginza for the rest of the day 
2. Teamlab planets (first group at 9 am). Free time and shopping until late afternoon, then we cry and we leave Japan.

Plan B, second option:  

Keep everything the same from day 1 to day 18, and change the rest like this: 

Day 19: Another day in Koyasan 

Day 20-21: Osaka (this means skipping Hiroshima and Onomichi) 

Day 22-23: Hakone 

Day 24-26: Tokyo (this means skipping Yamanashi) 

The rationale is that Hiroshima and Yamanashi are more easily accessible for our next trips than Koyasan + the trip is quite long, so it could be tiring to do all this in the end.

Thanks everybody in advance!