Hi,
I have booked return tickets to KIX from 31st Oct to 12th Nov. My plan is to stay in Kansai area this time. It will be my first time in Japan and I’m a female solo traveler.
My itinerary is as follows:
Day 0: Flight, arrive KIX mid-day, train to Kyoto directly, unwind.
Day 1: Easter Kyoto (Higashimaya, Gion) in the morning, Downtown in the afternoon and evening
Day 2: Northern and Western Kyoto (starting from Nijo to Kinkaku to Arashiyama and surrounding areas)
Day 3: Fushimi Inari and surrounding areas + Nishiki market
Day 4 + 5: no schedule yet, maybe a day trip to Uji or Himeji
Day 6: day trip to Nara
Day 7: check out hotel in Kyoto and move to Osaka, explore Uemeda, Museum, Aquarium, TeamLab
Day 8: explore the shopping districts and popular attractions in Osaka, Dotonbori
Day 9: day trip to Kobe or Miayami
Day 10: shopping and spa, just relax
Day 11: no schedule for the day, fly back from KIX airport at 6pm.
So I have several questions and appreciate your advice:
1. I heard that this year’s fall foliage is quite late in Kansai, so I won’t be able to see it until late Nov. Is it worth changing the flight tickets? I really do want to see the yellow and red leaves but I also don’t do very well with cold weather. So really torn here.
2. I currently have quite a few days with an empty schedule in both Kyoto and Osaka. Should I fill it up with day trips? If yes, which ones would you recommend?
3. Or should I go to Tokyo instead to check it off my list? I’m not too interested in Tokyo so I may not return just for Tokyo alone, which means I might as well just check it off this time. That said, JR pass price has been outrageous …
4. Is my itinerary reasonable otherwise?
5. Based on my itinerary, which rail passes should I purchase? Or should I just buy tickets as I go?
Thank you very much!
2 comments
1. Even in a normal year you wouldn’t have foliage anywhere on your trip as Kansai has always peaked in late November in recent years unless you go into high altitudes (eg Koyasan peaks in early November).
2. Yes. Depending on your tolerance for travel during a day trip: Himeji, Hiroshima/Miyajima, stuff in Shiga prefecture (Hikone, Ishiyamadera, Hieizan/Sakamoto temples etc.), even Fukui or Kanazawa are possibilities. Also Koyasan which I think would be the best bet for foliage earlier in your trip.
3. If you are not interested in Tokyo then don’t go
4. Days 1 and 2 seem too packed (although it depends on what specifically you are seeing in each location) and day 3 seems very light, presumably you’ll be able to rearrange and be flexible on the fly
5. Maybe one day of Kansai Area Pass for the Himeji day so you can use the special rapid train to Himeji. If you do more longer distance day trips look into JR West’s pass offerings.
hey. our days overlap. funny.
so, first, I am not worried about the fall foliage. I think we will see colorful leaves, even if its not peak. if you need more colors, you can head a bit up the mountains (for example hiezian)
what would be more an argument could be the night time viewings, for example, kiyomizudera starts I believe nov. 18th – but I am not sure how much stress moiving everying back 3 weeks before leaving would induce… too much for me at least
so about your itinerary…
0: unwind. wise
1: higashiyama can be a multi day exploration. kiyomizudera and area is a day, gion makes sense when it gets dark imho (and its a nice walk there, so thats good). not sure you can easily do higashiyama in the morning and then hope to explore downtown (what does that even mean) in the afternoon
2: that should work. arashiyama is a big area, what exactly are you interested to see?
3: fushimi inari is very well combineable with uji and potentially nara. if you start early you get less people and you can utilize many hours of the remaining day.
4/5: himeji can be a nice daytrip, but can also be done from osaka where you will go later. uji is usually not a full day trip, it can potentially be combined with nara light. I would use these days for a buffer… more on that later
6: as hinted before, nara does not need to be a full day. it can, and it depends on what you want/need to see. in combination with the buffer… more later
7-8-10-11: sounds all good but I am not an authority on these things. kobe (day 9) is a bit.. if you MUST see kobe, then you must. but its just “another city” and I feel in 12 days I am not sure Kobe would make my list. Himeji would be a better choice. heck. Hiroshima too (if budget would allow for it)
Questions answered:
– again, I would tend to use these days. its booked. it will not be too cold. and I am sure that you will see colors. in fact, last year mid november (still pre-peak) I found many trees already empty of colors. fall is not something that happens from one day to the next. its a slow but constant change. chaning the area, or elevation can have a substantial effect. nara is not colorful enough for you yet? heading to mt. hiei (hieizan) or to kurama/kibune will with a high likelyhood be more colorful.
– I dont think in 12 days you should consider heading to tokyo for a day or two.
– your plan is all in all okay
– look at the jr west passes. you could get the 5day kansai wide pass for the kyoto-osaka-kobe-himeji days if you put them together. you could get the 5day hiroshimapass and have a daytrip there…
– okay, to the “complicated stuff”… day 4-5-6 and nara, uji, fushimi…. if you pull nara forward to day 4, or maybe even day 3… you can potentially do fushimi inari before nara – or you could head to nara early and on your way back if you have time stop at uji – and if you do this first, you will see what you missed or not and can organize the following days…
actuaally. how about this
– 0: relax, maybe explore downtown a bit
– 1: higashiyama (kiyomizudera, kodaiji, nanzenji/eikando) [gion in the evening]
– 2: (ryoanji), kinkakuji, arashiyama (tenryuji, Okochi Sanso Garden), if time, ginkakuji
– 3: nijo, nishiki, more downtown and or [gion/pontocho in the evening]
– 4: nara from 8am to 1pm, uji from 2pm to 5pm OR fushimi inari and then nara
– 5/6: buffer in case you spend all day in nara and or you need more uji and or you will do a daytrip to himeji
– or you want to visit another place not yet mentioned like kurama/kibune hike or hieizan
– 9: himeji or hiroshima
notes: gion is best in the evening. yasaka pagoda near gion can be visited after 5pm. downtown (kyoto station?) can be explored in pieces and after 5pm