Intention is to have this during the first two weeks of November, to catch some fall foliage views. Not my first trip to Japan, been to Kyoto/Osaka/Nara region in the past, so skipping Kansai this time.
Are there any apparent oddities with the schedule or order of locations? There’s a lot of moving around in central Japan, but at a glance, there’s not much back and forth travel. I think there’s at most one transfer on each trip.
I spend 1-2 full days at smaller locations, is it too hasty? Which ones would you +1? Would you skip some entirely and allocate the days to other destinations?
Any useful train passes for this trip? With a quick search seems like the trip goes between JR east and central areas, so no specific ones apply. I could check the nationwide JR pass worthwhileness myself.
Open to any critique. Go wild.
Location | Activities
:–|:–
Haneda – Ueno, Tokyo | Ameyoko
Tokyo | Ashikaga flower park
Tokyo | Enoshima
Tokyo | Akihabara
Tokyo |
Tokyo – Suwa |
Suwa | Suwa taisha, Takashima castle, Suwa glass village
Suwa – Nagano | Matsumoto castle
Nagano | Togakushi shrine
Nagano – Unazuki | Kurobe gorge, onsen lodging
Unazuki – Takayama | Hida folk village
Takayama | Takayama old town area
Takayama – Kanazawa |
Kanazawa | Kenrokuen area, Kanazawa castle park, Nagamachi
Kanazawa | Omicho market, Higashi chaya
Kanazawa – Hamamatsucho, Tokyo | Kanazawa Hyakubangai
Hamamatsucho – Haneda | Flight
1 comment
Apart from the nationwide JR Pass, there’s Hokuriku Arch Pass which will cover the entire Hokuriku Shinkansen. You will need to go to Matsumoto via Nagano and pay the extra fare, though at 25,000 yen for 7 days you are probably better off with the nationwide pass. The only major drawback of the nationwide pass is on Tokaido-Sanyo-Kyushu Shinkansen, but your itinerary didn’t include those.
Kurobe George railway be be really packed on peak fall foliage date. Book your ticket early.
I wouldn’t spend the night in Suwa. You can probably do all of that on the way to Matsumoto.
Also, maybe add Shirakawa-go? And also Kamikochi if you like hiking. You are also skipping over Toyama. Maybe a hop to Wakura Onsen if you like Onsen.
Another option is to skip Unazuki/Kurobe and do the Tateyama Alpine Route from Nagano to Toyama
The routing look solid and since there are a lot of little place I don’t think this is packed at all. It might even be on a loose side, which is why I suggest adding 1-2 more place.