Itinerary help/feedback

10 comments

1. With your timeline, I would skip on Kanto entirely. Typically, we do recommend 6 days in Kansai excluding amusement parks, any further day trips or more thorough itineraries – these typically would be as follows:

   * 3 days in Kyoto (Arashiyama, Higashiyama, Northern Kyoto, Nishiki Market, Fushimi Inari)
   * 1 day in Nara (a trip to Uji, if its just for Byodo-in and tea shops can be incorporated)
   * 1 day in Osaka (Sumiyoshi Taisha, Shitenno-ji, Shinsekai, Dotonbori, Umeda)
   * 1 day consisting of morning in Himeji (Himeji-jo + Koko-en) and afternoon/evening in Kobe (Shin-Kobe Ropeway or Mt. Rokko area + Chinatown + Harborland), which could be easily extended into full day itineraries in both cities (by adding Mt. Shosha in Himeji or museums in Kobe)

   I would not consider Koya-san off the beaten track – that would be reserved for areas such as Miyama, and to a lesser extent Bitchu-Takahashi or Bizen. There are (almost) endless possibilities for day trips in Kansai: Hikone, Iga-Ueno, Okayama, Kurashiki.

   If you are looking for multiple days than Takamatsu with Art Islands is also worth considering, or spending some time in Hiroshima, where Kure (Marine Museum aka Yamato Museum), Onomichi, Iwakuni, or even Matsuyama (via super jet) can be day trip destinations.

2. Off the beaten track varies from person to person, but an option could be Kamikochi. It’s beautiful, and has a number of hiking options.

   I’ve also done Magome to Tsumago and I enjoyed it but I would recommend Kamikochi over that walk, especially if your priority is nature.

   Hiroshima is definitely doable as a daytrip, it’s how I’ve done it both times I visited. I would probably skip the island though given the shrine is covered.

   I also agree that Osaka feels less hectic than Tokyo, and I would say people tend to be a bit more chill.

3. I agree with the other person, you might want to consider cutting out Tokyo all together and just fly in and out of Osaka. Especially since you mentioned that you rather do stuff than be riding a train.

   Also you mentioned doing a Hiroshima day trip but be aware that it’s a 4 hour round trip by train.

4. I think Hiroshima was nice to visit. I didn’t feel like the history was blatantly in your face anywhere. There’s memorials, statues, and parks, of course, but it was all pretty chill. Miyajima is pretty nice, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it as a day trip with the shrine covered in scaffolding. There’s also rabbit island, Okunoshima, near Hiroshima, but not sure if that’s doable fitting everything else in on a day trip.

5. They may open to independent travellers in the fall.

6. For someone who prefer to stay in one place, it make no sense to change accommodation to Kyoto. Just do everything from Osaka. About the only downside is that you would have to be in the train a bit longer to include Uji.

   With 10 days only, I would also consider just focusing on Kansai.

   One single day for Kyoto itself you will have to make choices and visit only one area, Kyoto is easily 3 days just to see the most common things. But of course, a lot of the main attractions are temples and shrines, so if you already know you don’t want to see that many, then you might want to spend less time in Kyoto. That being said, there is also a lot of other things tou can see if you want to spend more time and not see temples.

   Hiroshima is doable as a day trip if you do not mind spending some time in the train on that day. If you want to include Miyajima too, then it is still possible, but it’s a packed day. I personally think it is still worth going despite the construction on the shrine.

   I think that if you have the choice between a western room with short bed or a Japanese room with short futon, the second is likely the one I would choose. The reason is that a futon is not that thick, so you your feet would go on the tatami and not hang in the air at the end of the bed. Bu that I mean that I would not exclude a night in a ryokan.

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8. I’m a newbie also planning my second trip to Japan from down under so take my suggestion with a pinch of salt, but I think Magome/Tsumago seems to fit in well with your current plan of going from Kansai to Tokyo.

   If you decide to stay in the Kansai area then maybe have a look at the Kumano Kodo trail. Check out this link for info [https://en.visitwakayama.jp/national-park/deep-mountains/drive-wakayama-course/](https://en.visitwakayama.jp/national-park/deep-mountains/drive-wakayama-course/)

   I’m planning to do both for my trip.

   Edit: typo

9. What are your “off-the-beaten-track” preferences? Is it less touristy places for foreigners or more rugged trails?

   From what I can recollect:
   1. Have coffee/meals in a kissaten, a traditional Japanese cafe
   2. Walk around in shotengais, Japanese shopping streets
   3. Cycle along Kibi Plain in Okayama (using Osaka as your base)
   4. Ine fishing village (using Osaka as your base)
   5. Hike from Kibune to Kurama (using Osaka as your base)
   6. Mount Takao (using Tokyo as your base)
   7. Karuizawa from Tokyo, cycle around the town
   8. Visit old districts in Tokyo e.g. Shibamata, Kinshicho, Kameido, etc

10. >Kyoto (wanted to go last time but the group just didn’t get around to it…)

    Just to prepare you, Kyoto will very likely be hectic – especially once the country opens back up to proper tourism. Not discouraging you from going as I loved Kyoto, but if you don’t do well with big crowds, this is something you’ll need to be prepared for. I always recommend people stay in Osaka or Kyoto and travel to the other (and I personally liked staying in Kyoto), so you may want to consider just staying in Osaka and then you can stay for as long as you feel comfortable in Kyoto and – if it becomes overwhelming – you can leave.

    ​

    >Hubby wants to go to Hiroshima. I’m not too keen – 6 years in Germany and I’ve kinda had my fill of how awful WWII was but I’ll go as I’ve not been before. Would it be doable as a day trip? And ‘worth it’ if the Itsukushima Shrine is covered in scaffolding to go to the island?

    Personally I loved Hiroshima (and not just visiting WWII sites – which I felt were important to see). Not only do I think it’s nice to give BOTH of you stops you really want to see (so would be nice – especially if it’s his first time – to factor in stops you both want to see), but I genuinely think there is a lot to do and see there. Would suggest travelling in (not too early if you’re not wanting to spend too much time there), going to have okonomiyaki Hiroshima style and have a wander about then stay over (night 1), then get up early and go to miyajima for at least half a day and spend the other half a day doing the WWII stuff for your husband (or reverse order). Stay the second night and leave for somewhere else early in the morning. Miyajima was amazing and I wish I had spend more time than I did there (only gave it maybe half a day and I personally felt I could’ve stayed even longer – especially if you were a nature person). There were deer wandering about like in Nara, but I actually preferred it there as they were far less aggressive (even prior to covid where I’ve heard the deer have gotten worse in Nara). I think it’s at least worth considering compromising over as it doesn’t need to be all about the war stuff (though I think it’s important to check out).

    ​

    >My thoughts so far have been:

    Osaka – 3 nights / day trip to Hiroshima, USJ

    Kyoto – via Nara & Uji – 2 nights

    We looked at day tripping to Hiroshima from Osaka/Kyoto area and I really don’t think it’s worth doing that as you’ll be doing yourselves a disservice. Instead, stay in either Osaka or Kyoto (and day trip from whichever you set up base camp – you do **not** need to stay in both unless you have a particular reason for doing so – already mentioned above) and do at least 1 overnight in Hiroshima at a minimum.

    ​

    >Do you have any itinerary thoughts/recommendations/advice for me? I know we can’t do everything but I’m hoping we can still do a bunch of things 🙂

    Personal opinion, this is going to be pretty aggressive for your husband who you’ve said isn’t experienced at travelling abroad and has never been to Japan before. THis might be okay for you as you’ve already gone, but I personally think it’ll be a bit unfair on your husband as he will very likely feel rushed – although I guess it’ll depend really on what he actually wants to see outside of Hiroshima and what he is okay not seeing. You could easily spend a week as a first timer in Tokyo alone so 3 nights for him there alone might not be enough – especially if you’re going a bit out of the way to places like Ghibli museum.

    Also – what I can’t speak for – is what Jetlag might be like coming from Australia. Might be worth thinking about for your husband as you may not know how his body will react. Looks like it’s only 1 hour difference in time so likely not to have any issues, but the flight I believe is still fairly long so may take a lot out of him.

    ​

    >Any off-the-beaten-track recommendations? Happy for it to be as not-off the beaten track as Koya-san. We don’t speak Japanese.

    I know this might be basic to some, but Hakone is my suggestion – especially if you don’t speak Japanese. Treat yourselves to a nicer place with a private onsen (if you can stretch the budget) and do the hakone loop for a bit of lovely nature. There’s also the Open Air museum (which even my husband enjoyed despite not being a massive art person). It’s pretty easy to get to from Tokyo but not “off the beaten path”. I think if neither of you speak Japanese and your husband has never even been to Japan before, getting too far off the beaten path may end up being overwhelming for you both. Just my 2p you can take or leave.