I’m planning a 24-day trip in December-January with my sister. The first part of our trip, from Day 1 to 15, is rather fixed. We have booked our hotels and it would be too expensive to make any changes right now. I know the middle segment (Kusatsu, Togura Kamiyamada, Kanazawa, Takayama, Nagoya) will be quite intense. The last segment, 7 nights in Osaka, is designed to be flexible. We will use Osaka as a base for short trips to other areas. This is where I need some advice.
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**Day 1 to 9 – Tokyo**
I will be solo travelling in Tokyo from Day 1 (actually Day 2 as my flight arrives in the evening of the 17th) to Day 5. On Day 6, my sister will join me and we will be staying in Tokyo until the 26th. We will be staying in Asakusa near Tawaramachi.
I’m keeping the Tokyo segment of this trip rather flexible and I don’t have a day-by-day plan but I’ve listed a few spots I’d really like to visit, including:
* Edo Open Air Architecture Museum;
* Yuzu bath in a sentō + Tōji matsuri festival on the Winter Solstice (should be 22nd Dec. this year) around Hōjōji temple;
* Komakata Dojo restaurant in Asakusa;
* Manten Sushi or another affordable omakase sushi place
I’m also open to suggestions re: places where we can learn more about Japanese history, culture and disaster preparedness/resilience.
*Question:* *Can anyone recommend a sentō that’s likely to offer a yuzu bath on the solstice?*
*Any affordable (around USD 50 per person) omakase sushi options apart from Manten?*
**Day 10 – Kusatsu-Onsen, Gunma Prefecture**
After forwarding our suitcases with Yamato to Osaka (where we will arrive on the 31st, i.e. Day 15) we will take the Kusatsu Limited Express train then a bus to the onsen town. We will be staying at a rather modern ryokan.
**Day 11 – Togura Kamiyamada, Nagano Prefecture**
We will be staying at the more traditional Kamesei Ryokan. Main objective here is to relax but also try the local specialties in Kamiyamada.
**Day 12 – Kanazawa**
We expect a relatively short (2h+) train ride from Togura to Kanazawa where we will visit Kenroku-en and try to sample some snow crab.
*Question: Any recommended spots for trying snow crab? Are there good options in Omicho market or should we look for a restaurant?*
**Day 13 – Takayama, Gifu Prefecture**
In Takayama we will also be staying at a rather modern ryokan I tried during my last visit. We’d like to try the Hoba Miso local specialty and visit the old town and the Showa-era museum.
Now in this segment of the trip I’m wondering if we should make a detour to Shirakawa-go. We have little time in Takayama and we’d also like to enjoy the town. I’ve visited Shirakawa in the past and it wouldn’t be terrible to miss it this time but it would be nice to show it to my sister. An alternative could be visiting the Hida no Sato section of Takayama which seems to have a rather similar atmosphere.
*Question: Should we visit Shirakawa-go given the time constraints? If the answer is yes, should we do it on our way from Kanazawa or on Day 14 before leaving Takayama? I wouldn’t mind leaving late for Nagoya on Day 14.*
**Day 14 – Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture**
I don’t have any specific spots to visit in Nagoya. I went there during a previous trip and liked it. Nagoya is definitely underrated. Last time I visited the Toyota Museum which is great but I don’t think I’ll do it again. In Nagoya the main goals are culinary: try an Ebikatsu Sando and Hitsumabushi.
On Day 15 if we figure out what to do in Nagoya and want spend more time there we might take a late train to Osaka
*Question: What should we do besides eating delicious local specialties?*
**Day 15 to 21 – Osaka home base + day trips, including Beppu???**
This is the longest segment of our trip with stable accommodation. The initial idea was to spend half of our time exploring Osaka and the other half making day trips to other parts of the country, involving up to 2.5 hour train rides. But I found a good deal for a night in Beppu which would involve a 4.5 hour train ride on Day 19 and a similarly long return ride on Day 20.
If we include Beppu, we wouldn’t be able to do all the day trips we were initially considering: Kinosaki-Onsen, Kobe (+ Arima-Onsen), Kurashiki… That would be too much. And I’m having second thoughts on Beppu. It sounds great but is it worth it in these conditions? Should we keep it for a future trip when we will have more time to relax and explore Kyushu?
*Question: Should we do Beppu or spend more time doing day trips from Osaka? If we cancel Beppu, what day trips would you recommend?*
*And given the new year situation (closures and possibly less regular trains) would you do the day trips closer to the 1st of January or closer to the 6th – our last day in Osaka?*
**Day 22 to 24 – Tokyo**
No specific plans here. I guess we will use this segment to visit all the places on our list which we couldn’t do the first time.
2 comments
Beppu seems like a hassle. If you want a ryokan/onsen experience I feel like Hakone would make more sense geographically. If you’re confident you can make a trip to Kyushu later then absolutely put it off until then.
Staying at 3 ryokan in a row is kinda intense. If they are all half board you might get Kaiseki’d out.
> Now in this segment of the trip I’m wondering if we should make a detour to Shirakawa-go.
I think it’s worth a detour. Shirakawa-go is very pretty in the winter with all the snow on the roofs. You can get through a good number of the major sites in Takayama in a couple hours.
> Question: What should we do besides eating delicious local specialties?
You could try getting tickets to Ghibli park otherwise there is another open air architecture museum in the area called Meiji-Mura. As far as food I’d try misokatsu instead of ebikatsu since it’s probably one of the most famous Nagoya specialties.
> Should we do Beppu or spend more time doing day trips from Osaka? If we cancel Beppu, what day trips would you recommend?
Beppu is kinda out of the way you’re better off trying to goto Kinosaki instead. Arima is a little underwhelming and I’d probably skip that.