Hi there,
We are a young-ish couple traveling 11/11 to 11/21 and are trying to plan out 2 full days (\~16th and 17th) in more of a nature-focused area. This will be between the Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo segments in our broader itinerary.
Hope is for a bit of a break and reset between the two. We are fairly active so our ideal would be casual hikes in fall foliage followed by an onsen and good food.
We are struggling to figure out the right place, so far have looked at Shirawaka, Nikko, Matsumoto, and Hakone. And Kamikochi will be closed. I would not say we are tied to anywhere specific as long as it’s reasonable to get from Kyoto and to go on to (or back to) Tokyo via trains or bus.
All suggestions welcome, thank you in advance!
11 comments
Hakone is known for its onsen, has great views of both Fuji-san and the ocean and is the only one of your proposed destinations that’s between Osaka and Tokyo, the others will require some detours or backtracking to get to. Nikko in particular requires going through Tokyo, if you want to do Nikko I’d stick it after Tokyo (or before if you’ll be in Tokyo first). You can easily get off the Shinkansen at Odawara and then head a short distance to Hakone.
Atami or nagano. fuji city and shizuoka overall is really cool
An onsen town or ryokan overnight stay would be great. For Osaka/Kyoto I would say something like Kinosaki Onsen for 2 full days and 1 overnight stay in a ryokan with halfboard would be great. Had a blast with my family in April and we took it super slow. Arima Onsen is slightly nearer and another option that comes to mind.
For Tokyo, would say Hakone or Kawaguchiko would be ideal.
Aren’t you guys a bit too early for fall foliage in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo? Fall foliage is a bit later than usual due to El Niño this year, you guys might actually miss it if we’re referring to the [official forecast here](https://n-kishou.com/corp/news-contents/autumn/?lang=en).
Your best chance of seeing autumn leaves in mid November would be in the Mt. Fuji area.
Inuyama!
Hakone is beautiful. We loved it
Hakone for sure
I’m currently on a shinkansen heading to hakone from Osaka, so I vote Hakone (even though I haven’t been yet, I’m just excited).
I may be impartial because I live here but anywhere in Shizuoka prefecture. It’s so beautiful here and you can get great views of Fuji San. Plus green tea fields!
Just did hakone it was beautiful. Onsen was a great reset. Great hiking trails. I took one from the bottom of the ropeway along lake ashi to hakone shrine. Est about 2 hours and then bus back to onsen.
I would do takayama and Gero onsen for suuuure. We stayed at Suihouen in Gero and I could not recommend it more!!