Comparing honeymoon plan options: Mt. Koya vs. Naoshima Art Island (14 days, Golden Route + Hiroshima)

Looking for advice on a whirlwind 14-day belated honeymoon along the Golden Route, arriving Sun April 9 and departing Sun April 23.

(Background info: husband has never been but I have visited and lived there more than once and know Japanese, although I’m a bit rusty on reading things with more advanced kanji etc. now)

I was mostly wondering if anyone could help us decide between:
A) taking a detour down to the memorable Mt. Koya/Koyasan and staying in a temple lodging
B) taking a spin around Naoshima Art Island (literally, on bikes) for a day or most of one
Or even C) finding time for both of these by cutting time from something else?

I have been to neither of these, nor Kawaguchiko, but have been to all the other places listed. I am hesitant to cut time from Kyoto since it’s my favorite city in Japan (fond study abroad memories there) and there’s so much for us to see in the area.

We will likely get a 14-day JR pass — I checked on one of the calculators and it seems worth it.

By the way: If you’re wondering about the order of destinations, I wanted to save Fuji/Kawaguchi and Tokyo for last for a few reasons (shibazakura fest near Kawaguchi is from late April, the wisteria north of Tokyo are also better around that time, and I don’t want us to have to stress out about rushing back from across Japan to make our flight on the last day).

So, I thought about going west to east, but there is a decent chance that on the slower trains with the JR pass, we wouldn’t get out of Narita in time to sleep in Hiroshima that first night (nor to catch a flight there, if we went that route with a shorter JR pass). And so we have this order of heading straight to Kyoto, then going west to east after leaving there. Open to suggestions on a different order though!

—

Option A: Kyoto to Tokyo, no Naoshima, yes Koyasan

Day 1:
Arrive Narita 3:55 pm
Shinkansen to Kyoto evening
Day 2: Kyoto
Day 3: Kyoto w side trips to Uji/Nara, eve in Osaka?
Day 4: Kyoto
Day 5: Kyoto
Day 6: Himeji to Kurashiki to Hiroshima
Day 7: Hiroshima/Miyajima
Day 8: Hiroshima/Miyajima
Day 9: early shink to Osaka, down to Koyasan Station
Day 10: AM back to Osaka, then to Kawaguchiko arr. 6:00ish
Day 11: Kawaguchiko + shibazakura festival at Motosu
Day 12: Kawaguchiko, get back to Tokyo for evening out
Day 13: Tokyo
Day 14: Tokyo (see Ashikaga wisteria or Kamakura?)
Day 15: JR pass inactive. Get Skyliner to NRT around 2, flight 4:55 pm

Option B: Kyoto to Tokyo, yes Naoshima, no Koyasan

Day 1:
Arrive Narita 3:55 pm
Shinkansen to Kyoto evening
Day 2: Kyoto
Day 3: Kyoto w side trips to Uji/Nara, eve in Osaka?
Day 4: Kyoto
Day 5: Kyoto
Day 6: AM Kyoto to Naoshima, stay in Naoshima or Kurashiki
Day 7: Kurashiki in AM, then half-day Hiroshima
Day 8: Hiroshima/Miyajima
Day 9: Hiroshima/Miyajima
Day 10: AM shink Hiroshima to Himeji, see castle, leave ~2:30-4?,
Go to Kawaguchiko, arrive late
Day 11: Kawaguchiko + shibazakura festival at Motosu
Day 12: Kawaguchiko, get back to Tokyo for evening out
Day 13: Tokyo
Day 14: Tokyo (see Ashikaga wisteria 2hr north?)
Day 15: JR pass inactive. Get Skyliner to NRT 2ish, flight 4:55

Thanks in advance!

1 comment
  1. Would you consider flying round trip to KIX? Skip Tokyo and Kawaguchiko, find flower spots in Kansai, do Nashima and Mount Koya and add onsen at Kinosaki or Arima onsen. Could also save money on shorter pass or even just a JR West pass.

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