I am facing a dilemma.
My brother and best friend are studying abroad in Tokyo. My brother has school until April 28th 2023, and his flight out of Japan is May 4th. My partner and I want to visit them both while they’re there, but due to our work schedules, the very earliest we can go is April 24th.
This puts us on the precipice of the dreaded Golden Week.
My plan was to arrive on April 25th, settle into Tokyo, for a few days, and then treat my brother and best friend to an excursion outside of the city from April 29th-May 3rd. We’d love to see the countryside and/or do something outdoorsy. We like hiking/history/sake/food.
My original thought was Takayama. I found a place to stay that looks great in my price range (It’s called Hida House).
My brother and friend are not eligible for JR pass due to their student visas, so I was thinking about booking a direct highway bus to Takayama from Shinjuku station early in the morning April 29th and returning May 3rd. Or they could take the bus, and we’d use a JR Pass (We’ll be in the country a total of 3+ weeks).
Once we get to Takayama, we’d be interested in taking day trips to Hida No Sato and Shinhotaka Ropeway. The Hida House is self-catered, so we could cook there or go out for meals, whichever we feel like doing each day.
# Is this all a terrible idea?
Any other suggestions?
3 comments
I think that sounds good for what you like, the only issue is there’s not a ton going on there. I’d look at some day trips, Hida no Sato is the main sight in Takayama they’re not really day trips. I think Kanazawa could be a good option, nice for history and culture.
I wouldn’t say it’s a terrible idea, but you might want to avoid popular places like Takayama during golden week if you can. I’m not sure how bad it is, but I found a [blog post](https://sanpo.asanoya.jp/zakki/2021gw/) from last year that said it was really busy during Golden Week. Many people hadn’t even had a single dose of the vaccine at that time, so if anything, I’d expect it to be worse next year.
My suggestion would be to go to Takayama immediately on Apr 25 or 26, and return to Tokyo on 29-30. Tokyo itself will be relatively quiet on actual Golden Week date.