First Reddit post! Woohoo!
We’re planning a 2nd family trip to Japan and would appreciate feedbacks on the rough plan below. Specifically, I’m looking for guidance on how to best optimise the route between the places we’d like to go. Also, let me know if there’s any red flags with this plan e.g. don’t go to x place in winter, or driving around Wakayama may not be best idea etc.
Starting from mid December:
– Tokyo 3 nights
– Nikko 1 night
– Tokyo 2 nights (day trips somewhere)
– Koyasan 1 night (train to Osaka then hire car)
– Katsuura 1 night (rest stop after sightseeing shrines, waterfall and Daimon-zaka slope)
– Nagoya 2 nights (train to Nagoya after returning car in Osaka, day trip Kiso Valley)
– Takayama 2 nights (Shirkawa-go day trip)
– Okuhida 1 night (Ryokan experience)
– Tokyo 8 nights (day trip to Fuji Q)
Some questions:
1. Do you think my proposed route make sense? i.e. Tokyo > Koyasan (via train to Osaka and car hire) > Katsuura (return car and train from Osaka)> Nagoya > Takayama > Tokyo.
2. Is there a better town than Katsuura to spend the night for quicker drive back to Osaka?
3. Is it better to day trip Kiso Valley from Nagoya or Takayama?
4. Should I spend a night near Fuji Q so we can get to the park early? Also, what’s the crowd and queue like early Jan?
Thanks in advance.
4 comments
1. Frankly, I would rather rent the car in Hashimoto and drop it off in Kii-Katsuura and pay the drop in the different region fee and go on my merry way to Nagoya via train.
2. In December, you’d probably want to take the train to Nagoya or Osaka. Shingu has probably more accommodation options (or you could just stay in Yunomine Onsen, if you decide to keep the car).
3. Nagoya. A day trip to Kiso Valley is undoable from Takayama.
4. Fuji-Q: depends on whether it’s during the school break or not.
You are going to be dead tired driving Osaka > Koyasan > Katsuura > Osaka in 2-3 days.
I’d recommend you pay more to just drive to Nagoya and return your car there instead. You can visit Ise on your way there. But even then it’s going to be very tiring.
1. Can I give a bit of a wild idea ? Do the Takayama/Nagoya part first, Koyasan, Katsuura and fly from Nanki-Shirahama airport to Haneda.
2. About anywhere is closer to Osaka… as for better, it depend on what you want to experience.
3. As a daytrip Nagoya, BUT, there is also a bus from Magome/Tsumago that go to Takayama via Gero Onsen, so it’s an option to do it in-between.
4. No idea.
Just as a side note, there is ryokan in Takayama much closer to the station, you don’t have to go in the mountain for a ryokan experience, if you go in Oku-Hida, it should at least be for the mountain experience.
Some additional questions:
– What is the drive like from Koyasan to Kii-Katsuura and surrounds in Winter? Is it ok for someone with no previous experience driving in the snow?
– What about hiking the Nakasendo trail in winter? Do I need snow boots and will bears be a problem?