**28 days in Japan – 20th October till 16th November**
Hey all, I’ve been reading up on a lot of the itineraries and we’ve tried to piece ours together. We’re arriving in Osaka and departing from Tokyo. During this time we’d love to see an equal part of nature and city life and hope that this itinerary makes sense, especially for autumn. A very big question we’re also been trying to find out, is whether a JR Pass would make sense for our itinerary and if that would be the 14- or 21-day pass with all the days in Tokyo.
We’re both very active, traveling very light (small backpack only) and would love to see as much as possible while maintaining flexibility with regard to the weather. We’ve been doing long distances in short periods of time with lots of travel time in-between in Europe, so seeing the train travel times for similar distances in Japan feels like a blessing!
We’d love to get some feedback from you! Thank you in advance!
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**Day 1 – Osaka**
As we’ll most probably be jetlagged, we’re focusing on walking around the city, eating and shopping a bit. Nothing too complex.
**Day 2 – Osaka & Nara Park or Arashiyama (Kyoto)**
We’re planning a day trip for day 2. Considering we’ll be visiting Kyoto later, we don’t know if this makes sense right now. In the late afternoon/evening we’re going back to Osaka to enjoy the nightlife in town.
**Day 3 – Osaka & Koyasan or Yoshino**
Rise early and do a day trip to Koyasan or Yoshino. Recommendations are welcome. Go back to Osaka for the night.
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*Then we have 2 options depending on the weather:*
**Option 1:**
**Day 4-6** – Himeji/Onomichi -> Shimanami Kaido -> spare day
**Day 7-9** – Kyoto
**Day 10-12** – Kumano Kodo trail (part of it)
**Day 13** – travel day + stay somewhere close near the Nakasendo trail Magome-juku -> Tsumago-juku
**Option 2:**
**Day 4-9** – Kyushu (if the weather is better over there)
**Day 10-13** – Kyoto
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**Day 14** – Magome-juku -> Tsumago-juku
Wondering if we should stay the night in the area or move on. Considering it’s just a small distance between the two towns. Or should we extend our trail?
**Day 15** – Matsumoto
**Day 16** – Takayama
Including Hida village.
**Day 17** – Kanazawa
During trip Takayama – Kanazawa visit Shirakawa-go.
**Day 18** – Karuizawa
**Day 19-20** – can be used as extra days in the area or to stay longer at one of the above-mentioned places. Kurobe possibly? Other places that are recommended that would be nice to see with the autumn foliage?
**Day 21-28** – Tokyo
Including Nikko daytrip.
Worth to do Hakone, Yamanashi, Kamakura, Yokohama, Kawagoe as well? Probably too much, right? Which would you suggest?