(Non-native English speaker here)
Hi everyone,
My dad, my brother and myself are planning a two weeks trip to Japan (Tokyo->Kyoto->Takayama->Sapporo). We’ve already been to Tokyo and Kyoto during summer 2016.
We plan to stay about 3 days in each city.
We are in the early phase of the planning and thinking of activities to do in each cities.
Here is what we gathered for each city :
-Tokyo :
We would first enjoy the city (akihabara, shinjuku, Sakura…) and then hike at Mt. Mikabe and/or Mt. Tsukuba.
-Kyoto :
We’ve been thinking of biking in and around Kyoto at first, then doing some mountain bike if possible. If yes, is there a trail that ends on an Onsen ? It would be incredible to relax after a hard biking day haha
-Takayama :
The Shirakawa-go village seems like a nice place, so we planned to spend a day or half a day there. Then we’d hike around Takayama (Okura falls ?) and enjoy the city and its famous old town.
-Sapporo :
I’ve seen numerous pics of Hokkaido featuring endless flower field, so we were thinking renting some bikes to see them.
As you may have understood we are a bit into hiking and biking, but I was thinking that it may be interesting to mix it with something else. We like sports and love nature. We’d also like to see a less ‘tourist crowded’ /relax side of Japan. We are open to pretty much everything so any suggestion is welcomed. And if you have some recommandations about hiking and biking, feel free to communicate them !
Thank you in advance 🙂
15 comments
The flowers in Sapporo are probably the brewery. Dunno if they rent/allow bikes there.
The flower fields I think you’re referring to are up around Furano which is about 2hrs NE of Sapporo. Looks like an awesome cycling destination but the flowers bloom in like June – August.
I went to Takayama in November of last year. The train ride there was full of mountains and emerald-green rivers. It was a beautiful trip.
The Hida Folk Village in Takayama is nice as is walking around the brewery area downtown to sample sake. The apple juice is wonderful to drink.
We found that most places close kinda early in Takayama so we didn’t find much to do at night. But, maybe because that was November. Not sure.
We only spent one day in Takayama and then went to Shirakawa-go on our way to Kanazawa. The village is pretty and interesting but I personally think half a day is plenty for it. My personal (probably controversial) opinion is that 2 days would be plenty of time for Takayama.
Not sure of the order you were planning, but it make more sense to do Tokyo, Takayama, Kyoto and fly to Sapporo.
Mount Mikabe ? you mean Mount Mitake ? You have to keep in mind it’s about 2 hours train one way to those mountain (Kitake or Tsukuba).
If you want to see fields of flowers in Hokkaido, you will have to get out in the countryside and actually even the second half of April can be too early.
I would personally consider not going to Hokkaido and spending a couple of days around Ibaraki prefecture instead, for your Mount Tsukuba hike as well as Hitachi seaside park for field of flowers, and maybe allocate one day to Kanazawa while in Takayama area.
You can see the blooming calendar of the park here : [https://hitachikaihin.jp/en/flowers/](https://hitachikaihin.jp/en/flowers/) If you are into flowers, you can also be in time for azalea blooming around Tokyo and Kyoto, so you can check out for some shrines, temples and gardens where their is azalea.
If you want to have a hike (not bike) followed by onsen in Kyoto, you can check to walk between Kifune Shrine and Kurama onsen.
The train ride from Tokyo to Sapporo is LONG, even for their shinkansens. We took the train from Niseko, Hokkaido (snowboarding yay!) to Kyoto this past February and it took us roughly 12 hours. From Takayama it’s going to be even longer! If you could make your way back to Tokyo and catch a 2 hour flight to Sapporo you’ll save a ton of time. If you’re still adamant about taking the trains, the ride from Tokyo to Sapporo is around 8 hours compared to the 14 hour trip from Takayama.
I love Hida/Takayama, it’s really close to where I live!
I recommend: [Utsue Forty-Eight Waterfalls](https://goo.gl/maps/AZMtnhoGbzw4yJ7j6) for a nice hike. There’s a good lookout point, and if you go all the way to the top, there’s a meadow clearing.
And I’d definitely suggest stopping by [Hiramekido](https://goo.gl/maps/jFdy4MQ7wUq43p8f6) on the way out, it’s such a cool cafe and building, and the family that runs it is wonderful.
If any of you are into glass or ceramics, [Yawaiya](https://goo.gl/maps/r7guLsxaiyMCqfVx5) is also very close to that area, too, and he stocks artists from around Japan. The house itself is one that was transported to that location, it’s really something interesting to see! The shop is in the old stable area of the house.
Takayama is beautiful but I’d take a day from there and put it somewhere else – Takayama is pretty small and you’d find much more use for that extra day somewhere else imo.
fyi there is a sake brewery in Takayama that has a fridge with like 12 different bottles of sake. 200 yen gets you a sample glass and one drink from each bottle. Go there.
I find that Sapporo & Hokkaido is at it’s best in summer (flowers blooming) or winter (endless snow), but as you are travelling in spring you might want to double check what the scenery will be like before going.
Since you are going in April you might want to see cherry blossoms? For late April it might be possible in Tohoku.
Not sure when you are planning on going but just make sure that Japan is allowing visitors because of Covid, and make sure you don’t have to quarantine for 2 weeks prior to the 2 weeks you plan on staying. A lot of countries are now requiring it…except ya know America “land of the free”
I thought Sapporo was a bit boring after being in Tokyo and Kyoto but we did a roadtrip around the Shakotan peninsula and stayed at this amazing ryokan Miharashiso. It was right on the water and the food was spectacular, the rooms were quite literally the cleanest place I’ve ever stayed. We spent a few days in Niseko hiking and eating all the amazing Hokkaido foods. I would do that roadtrip again in a heartbeat.
I love Hokkaido, but April is not the best time to visit, especially for flowers. The endless fields of flowers you’re talking about are likely in Furano, and they don’t really start to bloom until June. April is typically a gray and rainy month.
Laughing at all these people thinking they’ll be able to travel to Japan in spring.
About cycling around Kyoto and ending at a hot spring: there aren’t tons of natural hot springs in Kyoto, although there are several sentos (public baths).
Kurama Onsen is really nice and out in the mountains, but it’d be quite a ride back into the city and certainly not a ride you’d want to do at night (very dark, narrow, twisting roads.)
If you end your ride somewhere on the western side of the city, both Tenzan no Yu (a super sento near-ish to Eigamura) and Fu Fu no Yu (a smaller onsen in Arashiyama) have good facilities and have at least one bath with natural hot spring water at each. Note neither of these places allow tattoos.
For us the visit to Takayama and the surrounding area was the high-point of our journey through Japan. Highlights are the Hie shrine and the old town, which will take about a day.
To the west in the mountains is Hirayu onsen, a small onsen town with ryokan suited for various budgets. On the edge of town is a free communal hot spring that is well worth a go.
Shiragawa Go is nice, but can be swapped for the Hida Folk village if you are pressed for time. However, should you go to Shiragawa Go, I can recommend renting a car and take the mountain route through Hida, the view on your way is breath taking. Avoid the highway or bus, whichlargely goes through endless tunnels.