Minna-san konnichiwa
I posted a preliminary itinerary here a couple of days ago and got some great advice. I realized I was in over my head and needed to make some cuts. Here’s hoping this new version is way more feasible and sane.
Note that I am traveling alone and intend to eat out. (I’m a vegetarian who is used to cooking all his meals so… wish me luck.)
Feb 9: land at New Chitose at 16:30. Sleep in Sapporo.
* Feb 10: first order of business is buying the warmest winter clothes I can find in preparation for Shiretoko (it’s hot where I live so no good local options). If anyone has any recommendations, that’d be cool. Then snow festival for the rest of the day.
* Feb 11: Snow festival, maybe Otaru light path in the afternoon. Then night bus to Shiretoko.
* Feb 12: I’ve booked a drift ice walk + Furepe waterfall tour. Sleep at hotel in Utoro.
* Feb 13-14: undecided. Not sure if I should book something in advance – I’ll be exhausted from the Shiretoko stint. Probably Akan Mashu. I’ll look for tours on the latter day cuz I assume it’ll be hard for me to get around on my own.
* Feb 15-16: stay at a snowy cabin near Asahikawa. Maybe try skiing nearby.
* Feb 17: gonna leave this open. Chill / ski, then travel to a place near Noboribetsu to spend the night.
* Feb 18: Noboribetsu Jigokudani in late morning / noon. Sleep in Hakodate.
* Feb 19: Check out Goryokaku fort in the morning before I leave for Tohoku. Or maybe Sannai Maruyama in Aomori. The reason I am moving south is to arrive at Lamp no Yado, a ryokan near Hirosaki.
* Feb 21: leave Lamp no Yado, check out Hirosaki castle on the way. Travel to Sendai to spend the night. (Probably won’t sightsee anything, unless there’s something you can’t miss out if you’re in Sendai that I’m not aware of)
* Feb 22: I am 99% sure there’s a Taiheiyo ferry departing at 12:50 to Nagoya. Their website doesn’t show it yet. Sleeping on a ferry is something I’ve always wanted to do. Plus, it’ll be a nice change of pace from trains.
* Feb 23: arrive at Nagoya at 10:30. The city itself doesn’t really interest me, unless someone has something to recommend. I’d rather check out Ghibli Park (if I’m lucky) or Inuyama / Kiso Valley (if I’m not). I assume Kakegawa’s tea fields are too wintery for a visit. Maybe I’ll be tired from the ferry and end up just chilling.
* Feb 24: day trip to Shirakawa-go. I saw the last bus leaves at 16:30. Isn’t it too early though? Does the village light up before that? If not, maybe I should sleep in the area instead of returning to Nagoya. Ainokura farm stay looks cool, I might go over budget for that.
* Feb 25: gonna leave this open. If I do nothing on the 23rd, maybe I’ll do something here.
* Feb 26: Ise Grand Shrine.
* Feb 27: Iga Ueno ninja museum.
* Feb 28 – March 1: Nara. I know it’s usually a day trip, but I include travel time and errands or whatever here.
* March 2-7: Kyoto. Finally something I can leave open and be more flexible with. Nishiki market, imperial palace, Fushimi Inari, Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, Kokedera; Pontocho, Gion; national museum + modern art. If I have time, a side trip to Uji. Am I missing anything that’s a must? It feels enough for 6 days. Note that I will return to Kyoto for 3 days in early April for the sakura spots. Might split up the multitude of temples and shrines.
* March 8-13: Osaka. This one will be pretty flexible as well. Minami, national museum, Universal studios, sumo tournament on the 12th/13th, Bunraku / Kabuki. I think I’ve got the main things covered for these 6 days?
The rest of March can be rearranged if the route I came up with isn’t ideal.
* March 14-17: Hiroshima. This includes a day trip to Akiyoshido (exact day depends on the weather). And I think Miyajima is half a day.
* March 18: Onomichi.
* March 19: the Onomichi bike route. Praying for a clear day.
* March 20-22: I’ll probably be exhausted from the bike ride. Lay low and travel to Iya Valley to sleep there. (Is it too cold for camping in Nishi-Iya?) Explore the area on the next day. No Oku-Iya obviously. This is probably the biggest bummer from the new intinerary. I wanted to be somewhere remote and unspoiled, like Lamp no Yado. Someone please tell me Oku-Iya is not worth reshuffling everything so I’m in Shikoku during Golden Week. (If it is worth it, however…) The 22nd will be for traveling out of the area.
* March 23: Takamatsu.
* March 24: Naoshima.
* March 25: Okayama.
* March 26: Matsue. It takes 3.5h to reach from Okayama. This is a bit icky, so if someone has a better suggestion, I’m all ears.
* March 27: Matsue to Himeji. Again, a 4.5h trip is kinda stupid. I can’t figure out something better though. Maybe if I cut 1 day somewhere I can do Matsue to Tottori, enjoy the sand dunes, and the next day Tottori to Himeji. Now that I think about it, I might cut a day off Nagoya’s environs for this. If I visit Ghibli Museum later on, do I really need the park too? Or Inuyama’s Meiji Mura?
* March 28-29: Koya-san temple stay.
* March 30 – April 1: Kumano Kodo, Nakahechi trail. Day 1 will probably be just traveling to Kii-Tanabe. Day 2, walk from Takijiri-oji to Takahara to spend the night. Day 3, watch the sunrise mist and walk to Tsugizakura-oji. That’s the main route, right? Should I start at Takijiri and finish somewhere farther along?
* April 2: Mount Yoshino. Fingers crossed it’ll be a good day for blossoms.
* April 3-5: Kyoto round 2. Arashiyama, Higashiyama, Philosopher’s Path, botanical garden. Hanami to the max.
* April 6-8: Hakone. This is another messy compromise on my itinerary I don’t know how to get out of. The Nagoya stuff can’t be done here, I want to see Hakone and Fuji Five Lakes before Takayama festival to leave enough time for Tokyo. So the 1st day will probably be a final goodbye to Kyoto and then just travel time. Then 2 days in Hakone.
* April 9-12: Kawaguchiko and the stuff around it. Afternoon of the 12th- travel to Matsumoto. I figured it was a good way to connect Fuji and Takayama. IIRC there was a direct bus between them… before COVID.
* April 13: Matsumoto.
* April 14-15: Takayama.
* April 16: Kanazawa.
* April 17: Alpine Route.
* April 18: gonna leave this open. Day for chilling, errands, etc. Will probably just travel to Nagano as a midway point to Kanto, but won’t end up doing anything there. The monkeys don’t seem as magical without snow.
* April 19-30: Tokyo. Finally! Best for last eh? I’ll keep these 12 days open for now.
1. Places: Akihabara, Ginza, Asakusa, Yanaka, Ikebukoro, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku.
2. Gardens: Koishikawa Korakuen, Rikugien, Ueno park, Shinjuku Gyoen.
3. Buildings: imperial palace, probably a few temples and shrines.
4. Museums: national museum, western art, teamlab, Ghibli.
5. Observation decks: skytree, government building.
6. If I have time: bunkyo observation deck, Nikko day trip, Kabuki show, Saitama for bonsai, or a nearby mountain that can be climbed in a day trip.
* May 1-6: Tohoku. Fukushima + Azuma-Kofuji, Tamagawa onsen, Nyuto Onsen + Mount Akita. Mount Zao- some websites say it’s too cold in early May, some say it’s not. Okama Crater opens in late April, so should be fine I think. Kakunodate & Hiraizumi are backup options.
* May 7-8: return to Tokyo and cry. Flight is from Narita on the 9th.
Things I wanted to incorporate but alas for the cruel reality of the world:
* Tohoku: Kakunodate, Hiraizumi
* Shikoku: Takamatsu, Kotohira, Kankakei gorge, Oku-Iya
* Chugoku: Kurashiki, Izumo, Tottori, Mount Daisen (too cold)
* Chubu: Inuyama, Kakegawa- got a feeling I won’t do those two. Kamikochi- doesn’t bloom yet.
* Kansai: Asuka
* Kyushu: zero chance of this happening
If anyone thinks these are better than some of the stuff I put in, please let me know. Or maybe don’t. I’ll have to rethink everything.
Thanks in advance, I know this was a very long read so I appreciate any kind of help.