Hi everyone!
This might be a relatively long post, but please bear with me, any help from this knowledgeable sub would be much appreciated!
My wife (26) and I (32) are planning our first trip to Japan in September 2023. This is kind of our dream travel destination, which we should have visited in 2020, but obviously it never materialized. Also, this is practically our ‘honeymoon’, as we just married in September 2022. We live in Paris.
The trip is currently planned to be 1-month long. We are a bit flexible in terms or dates, so for now I’m projecting September 2nd to 30th, but it could really be any 30ish days between early/mid-September to end-September/early-October. I know that we are still in typhoon season, but I figured that September would spear us some of the crowd and heat that Japanese summer brings.
Interests: history, traditional culture, local particularities (festivals/local traditions/crafts/products…), connecting with people, unique food and drinks, nature scenery, moderate hiking. Anything unique to Japan really, that’s what travel is for 🙂 Shopping is not particularly our thing though. We’re not afraid of very crowded attractions, but we’d like to balance it with more peaceful areas (thus my proposed itinerary below).
I’m also in the process of learning basic Japanese (I can read hirganas/katakanas), so I’ll probably know most of the polite words and handy phrases, as well as being able to ask for directions and order food. Obviously, I won’t be conversational at all and 99% of kanjis will remain enigmatic drawings to my eyes.
Budget : plane tickets are very expensive right now, but I’ll try to book very early in advance to try to get the most out of my euros.
As for accommodations, I’d like to maintain a 70€(9800¥) average per night across the whole trip. We don’t mind spending some nights on a budget if this means we’ll be able to also experience fancier ryokan/onsen hotels later.
I do not have a budget for activities when in Japan, let’s assume we’ll spend as much as the average European traveler.
Here is my first rough itinerary draft, the idea is to see if this makes any sense to you. My specific questions will be listed at the end of the post:
**Day 0 (Saturday) : Flight from Paris to Tokyo**
Flight basically takes the whole day due to time zones difference
**Day 1-4 (Sunday-Wednesday) : Tokyo**
• A day around Asakusa / Ueno
• A day around Ginza and the Imperial Palace
• A day around Shibuya/Meiji-Jingu/Shinjuku
• Wildcard day
**Day 5 (Thursday): Tokyo to Kawaguchiko**
• Tokyo to Kawaguchiko by bus in the morning
• Get rental car
• Explore around Kawaguchiko
**Day 6-7 (Friday – Saturday): 5 lakes / Fuji area**
• Drive and visit around the five lakes
• Options : Fuji-Q Highland / Hakone / South of Mt Fuji (tea plantations)
**Day 8 (Sunday): Kawaguchiko to Matsumoto**
• Probably take our time on the road, avoiding the highway if possible
• Venus Line road is an idea, but anything interesting on the way would be a good stop
**Day 9 (Monday): Matsumoto area**
• Matsumoto castle, some hiking in the mountains
**Day 10 (Tuesday) : Matsumoto to Takayama**
• Mont Norikura, relaxing in one of the onsens of the area, exploring Takayama at the end of the day
**Day 11 (Wednesday) : Takayama area**
• Exploring Takayama
**Day 12 (Thursday) : Takayama to Kanazawa**
• Visiting Shirakawa-go
• Give back the car and explore Kanazawa in the evening
**Day 13 (Friday) : Kanazawa**
• Explore Kanazawa
**Day 14 (Saturday) : Kanazawa to Kyoto**
• Train from Kanazawa to Kyoto
• Explore one Kyoto neighborhood in the afternoon/evening
**Day 15-18 (Sunday-Wednesday) : Kyoto**
• One day around Arayashiyama
• One day in Eastern Kyoto (Gion/Kiyomizu-dera/Fushimi Inari)
• One day for leftovers (Nanzen-ji/Nijo-jo/Kinkaku-ji)
• Sunday might be used to discover Osaka if Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is underway, otherwise we probably won’t go to Osaka and take more time in Kyoto
**Day 19 (Thursday) : Nara**
• Transfer to Nara and spend the whole day there
• Night in Nara
**Day 20 (Friday) : Nara to Ise**
• Get rental car in Nara
• Visit Iga (castle/museum)
• Ise on the evening
**Day 21 (Saturday) : Ise area**
• Ise-jingu in the morning if not done the day before
• Explore the coastal surroundings (Ago bay)
**Day 22 (Sunday) : Ise to Tanabe**
• Follow the coast south then head to Tanabe
• Ideally stay at an onsen hotel
**Day 23 (Monday ) : Tanabe**
• Experience temples (Kumano Hongu-taisha) and nature
**Day 24 (Tuesday) : Tanabe to Shirahama**
• Drive to Shirahama. Visit anything interesting on the way, or just relax in Shirahama on the afternoon.
**Day 25 (Wedneday) : Shirahama**
• Laid back day, activity will probably depend on the weather (Beach, coastal scenery/hiking/museum/theme park ?)
**Day 26 (Thursday) : Shirahama to Koya-san**
• Drive to Koya through the montains, Kizetsu-Kyo Gorge for example seems beautiful
• Evening in Koya-san
• Probably hand over our car
**Day 27 (Friday) : Koya-san**
• Explore Koya-san
**Day 28 (Saturday) : Koya-san to Kansai airport to Paris**
• Transfer from Koya to KIX
• Flight back
**My initial questions :**
1. Is car rental from point A to B (no loop) realistically feasible? (Kawaguchiko to Kanazawa, then Kii peninsula loop)
2. Is the Kii peninsula loop worth it? I figured that the region was jam packed with amazing stuff, but I could be wrong. Plus it doesn’t seem to be very touristy, and we don’t mind focusing on central Honshu for our first trip. Another option we would be to push from Kyoto to Okayama by train then do a Shikoku loop by car, but that’s more time and probably more money consuming.
3. Does the concept of Honeymoon exist in Japan? If yes, is it ok to ask for possible upgrades or advantages in the places we’ll be staying in ?
4. Do you have any must-see sites/attractions people usually miss in the more rural areas we’ll be traversing (Japanese alps around Matsumoto/Takayama + Kii peninsula)?
Thanks very much for reading this! Of course, any advice or warning is welcome!