Background:
– Trip length: 3 weeks (21 nights)
– When: Oct / Nov
– Travel partners: My husband for weeks 1 & 2, my mom for weeks 2 & 3
– What we like: I love a trip with a well rounded variety of activities. I get bored of too much of the same thing. City & food & photography for me and my husband; history & hiking for me and my mom.
Things to consider:
– My mom flies into Osaka airport on Day 8
– My husband flies home from Tokyo Haneda airport on Day 15 at 8pm
– My mom and I both fly home through Tokyo at the end
– I need one day trip to Okayama for a family thing
Week 1 (6 nights Tokyo, 1 night Hakone)
– Day 1: Arrive early morning, adjust to time difference etc
– Day 2-4: Tokyo city proper (food, shopping, etc. Open to what we do here)
– Day 5: Day trip to Fuji Five Lakes
– Day 6: Day trip to Kamakura or a day in Asakusa (unsure what would be better since we’re spending a lot of time in Kyoto too)
– Day 7: Transit to Hakone, stay 1 night in a Ryokan in Hakone on our way to Kyoto
Week 2 (4 nights Kyoto, 4 nights Osaka)
– Day 8: Transit from Hakone to Kyoto. My mom arrives this day in Osaka airport.
– Day 9-10: Kyoto city things (temples, artist workshops, cooking classes)
– Day 11: Day trip to Nara if we’re up for it
– Day 12: Transit from Kyoto to Osaka, day in Osaka
– Day 13: Open day in Osaka (or do one of the other day trips this day)
– Day 14: Day trip to Kobe & Himeji
– Day 15: My husband’s flight leaves 8pm from HND day. I was thinking he could take a morning train from Osaka to Tokyo Haneda – not sure if this is too rushed. My mom and I will day trip to Okayama for the family thing this day or one of the previous days.
Week 3 (5 nights somewhere for hiking, 1 night Tokyo)
– Note: I’ve laid out a tentative plan for Kumano Kodo area, but I’m open to other suggestions! I’m also considering Takoyama / Kamikochi area but seemed a bit harder to get there and back to Tokyo.
– Day 16: Transfer from Osaka to Tanabe for 1 night sleep. Alternatively, go into the Kumano Kodo area to stay in a Ryokan.
– Day 17: Bus to Hongu Taisha to hike around. Either go back to Tanabe to sleep or stay in Ryokan in this area.
– Day 18: More hiking in the area?
– Day 19: Day trip to Nachi Falls from Tanabe (or other better place to stay to get there?)
– Day 20: Long journey back to Tokyo for one night
– Day 21: Fly home from Tokyo
Open questions:
– Is this too long in Tokyo and in the Osaka / Kyoto region? Should we instead go to a diff part of Japan such as Hiroshima, Kyushu, the north even?
– Best area for hiking / nature on my last week (that I can also get to Tokyo to at the end)?