Hi, My first post here….hoping someone might have some interesting feedback/advice on a planned itinerary. We are parents and a tween. We travelled to Japan in 2019, so this is our second trip. I have a few specific questions, which I’ve listed up top….then my rough itinerary below. Welcome any suggestions.
Questions:
1. I’m unsure about including Osaka…the main reason would be to return to Nara, but I see there are deer at Miyajima. I’m not trying to trade animal experiences 1-1, but maybe we should trim the repeat of Nara and include something new instead?
2. Hakone daytrip or overnight for family who are not keen on Onsen (I am tattoed)? Any opinion?
3. We visited Takayama in 2019 and loved it. There is more we could see in that area, but I feel like this itinerary lends toward southern points…..and traveling north might be too much running around. So I didn’t include a return to that area. Is there another “small/quiet” town in our current route that would have a similar pace/scale?
4. I landed on Okinawa, not because I think we will swim. It just looks beautiful and coastal and provides an interesting contrast to the other parts we are visiting. I also think the attractions in the Northern part of the main island seem really fun and will have family appeal. For argument’s sake, should I consider Kyushu instead? I could build an initerary around Mt Aso, Beppo? Any thoughts?Â
5. Where is it best to exhchange our JR Passes? Tween and I arrive ahead of “Dad.” I need all three passports, so do we do it upon returning to meet him a week later?
Itinerary
Days 1-7 Tween and I explore Tokyo (we didn’t spend time there on the first trip – include Yokohama, Kawagoe). Meet “Dad” night of Day 7 at airport (pick up JR Passes here?).
Days 8-15 Okinawa main island plus Kerama daytrips (considered Ishigaki, but it feels like too much rushing around when I look at it on paper)
Days 16-17 Osaka (see my questions above)Â
Days 18-19 Kurashiki
Days 20-21 Hiroshima & Miyajima
Days 22-23 Okunoshima
Day 24 possible stop Himeji
Days 25-26 Tokyo (sidetrip to Hakone – better overnight?)
Day 27 fly home evening departure
2 comments
>I’m unsure about including Osaka…the main reason would be to return to Nara, but I see there are deer at Miyajima. I’m not trying to trade animal experiences 1-1, but maybe we should trim the repeat of Nara and include something new instead?
If unsure maybe best to leave it off for now as like you said you will see deer at Miyajima. You can probably fly from Okinawa to Hiroshima and then make your way to Tokyo.
>Hakone daytrip or overnight for family who are not keen on Onsen (I am tattoed)? Any opinion?
If travelling from Osaka to Tokyo then it probably makes sense to stop overnight rather than a separate day trip. Also remember that the ryokan and kaiseki experience can make the overnight worth it even if you don’t use the onsen (public or private).
>We visited Takayama in 2019 and loved it.
Are you looking for an escape to the countryside? It will be hard without going out of your way, which is why places like Takayama are special.
JR Pass, you can go on the official website to see all the stations where you can change it : [https://japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html](https://japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html) Could be at the airport in Tokyo or Osaka.
If there is nothing that interest you in Osaka, then skip it, but for sure there is enough in Osaka itself to fill 2 days.
2 days in Okunoshima seems overkill for me, I would maybe do one, do the other somewhere else, like Onomichi, that is a lovely city. Even Kurashiki for two days… maybe stay in Okayama and do Kurashiki as a daytrip from there and spend the second day in Okayama.
For sure one of the nice thing in Hakone is the ryokan with kaiseki meal and onsen experience. If you are really not interested by any of it, then ok, don’t spend the night there. IF you have tattoo, you could either get a room with a private bath in the room or select a ryokan that have a “family bath”, in other word a bath you can rent for an hour to use in private with your group.
If you were to tell me that you want to try onsen for real, then I would have recommended Kinosaki onsen. Like you could change the order, fly from Okinawa to Hiroshima, then Okunoshima-Kyurashiki, Himeji in the morning, take the train at 1:21, reach Kinosaki for 3:12, soak in the different public onsen that all accept tattoo (you would have to confirm for each ryokan), next day move from Kinosaki to Osaka.