Hello! I’m roughing out an itinerary for a 28-day trip in May. Sorry for the long post, and thank you so much for any help you can offer!
We plan on 8-10 nights in Tokyo (split at beginning and end of trip), 6 nights in Kyoto (day trips to Osaka), 1 night in Nara, and 2 nights each in Hakone and Lake Kawaguchi.
For the middle part of the trip, we’re considering Takayama, Nakatsugawa, and Kanazawa. We are not sure if we should cut one or more of them. My rough travel times are from Google, but I’m missing on-the-ground considerations. My questions main are:
1. Which overall route looks the most manageable and logical?
2. Are Takayama/Hide; Nakatsugawa/Magome & the geisha/samurai areas of Kanazawa too similar? If so, which would you recommend skipping? (If it helps, we love history, kimono & Ukiyo-e exhibits, gardens; and moderate nature hikes.)
3. Are they too hard to get to? Is the plan too hectic? We don’t want to be frantically racing about, but some train or bus travel, especially with pretty scenery, is fine.
**OVERALL ROUTE OPTION #1**
* **Tokyo to Kanazawa** (3.5 hours) 1 night Kanazawa
* ***Option 1 — both Takayama and Nakatsugawa***
* Kanazawa to Takayama (2.5 hours) — 1 night Takayama
* Tak. to Nak.(4 hours) — 1-2 nights Nakasutgawa
* Nakatsugawa to Kyoto (2.5 hours) — 6 nights Kyoto; side trip Nara
* ***Option 2 — skip Nakatsugawa***
* Kanazawa to Takayama (2.5 hours ) — 1-2 nights Takayama
* Takayama to Kyoto (3-4 hours)
* ***Option 3 — skip Takayama***
* Kanazawa to Nakatsugawa (4 hours) — 1-2 nights Nak.
* Nak. to Kyoto (2.5 hours)
* **Kyoto to Hakone** (2.3 hours )– 2 nights Hakone
* **Hakone to Lake Kawaguchi** (2.5 hours) — 2 nights Lake K
* **Lake Kawaguchi to Tokyo** (3 hours)
* We would do **Kamakura as a day trip** in this plan.
**OVERALL ROUTE OPTION #2**
* **Tokyo to Kamakura** (1.5 hours) — 1 night Kama
* **Kamakura to Hakone** (1.5 hours) — 2 nights Hakone
* **Hakone to Lake Kawaguchi**. (2.5 to 3 hours) — 2 nights Lake K
* **Lake K to Kyoto** (4 to 5 hours) — 6 nights Kyoto; side trip Nara
* ***Option 1 — both Takayama and Nakatsugawa***
* Kyoto to Takayama (3.5 hours) — 1 night Tak.
* Takayama to Nakatsugawa (4 hours) — 1-2 nights Nak.
* Nakatsugawaa to Kanazawa (3-4 hours) — 1 night Kanazawa
* ***Option 2 — skip Nakatsugawa***
* Kyoto to Takayama (3-4hours ) –1-2 nights Tak.
* Takayama to Kanazawa (3-4 hours) — 1 night Kanazawa
* ***Option 3 — skip Takayama***
* Kyoto to Nakatsugawa (2.5 hours) — 1-2 nights Nak.
* Nak. to Kanazawa (3 to 4 hours)
* **Kanazawa to Tokyo** (3.5 hours)
Note that I haven’t figured out a route if we end up skipping Kanazawa. Thanks again!!!
2 comments
I could have spent 10 years in tokyo and not seen everything.
Don’t skip Shinjuku or Takeshita street, lol that is really the name.
1. Vote four route 1, it’s much easier to go to Tokyo from Kawaguchiko than going to other locations. Also Kamakura is close enough to Tokyo that it does not really require a night, a day trop from Tokyo is fine. I king of prefer sub option 2. It’s not that Magome/Tsumago does not look interesting, but doing it from Kanzawa or Takayama… meh. I you really want to do it, it could make more sense to stop by Nagoya between Kyoto and Hakone and do it as a day trip. Like leave Kyoto at the end of the day to sleep in Nagoya, next day do Magome/Tsumago as a day trip and sleep in Nagoya, next morning go to Hakone.
2. Kanzawa, Takayama and Magome kind offer different things, so if you have enough time, yes, it can make sense do to 3 places.
3. Of course it’s a question of travel style, but I think it’s find. If anything, 2 night in Hakone and 2 in Kawaguchiko might be a bit much.