This is the second part of my trip report on a 36 day road trip I did with my fiancee around Honshu. You can read the first part [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/17gds92/36_day_trip_report_part_1_part_2_tomorrow_road/).
**October 6th – Yamaguchi to Yunotsu:** It was finally time for the northern coast of Honshu. Not too many foreign tourists seem to come there, so I was looking to get to a calm part of the trip. Yonutsu is a small village by the sea. We came to a time where it was nearly empty and slept in a sweet little hotel right next to the port. We enjoyed the nature and because it was my finacee’s birthday the next day, we were looking for a good restaurant nearby. We found it in Watowa, a pop up restaurant that is open until November ’23. Great restaurant. Afterwards we headed to Soho Inn & Bar for some cocktails. The man behind the bar was superfriendly, spoke great english and his drinks were top notch.
**October 7th – Yonutsu to Shin’onsen:** While on the road to Shin’onsen, a little onsen town in the mountains of Hyogo prefecture, we stopped at the Izumo shrine, one of the most important shrines in Japan. It was stunning, the large shrine was located right next to a big forest on a mountain. It was great to see. Afterwards we visited the Dunes of Tottori. Both stops made the long drive bearable. In Shin’onsen we slept at a beautiful hotel with an own hot spring. They were pretty friendly regarding our tattoos and reservered us a private bath for no extra costs, that we used to calm our bones after the long day.
**October 8th – Shin’onsen:** We enjoyed the nature on a long hike through the beautful mountains of Hyogo prefecture. Afterwards we enjoyed a footbath and some eggs cooked right in the onsen. In the afternoon we went to the nearby beach town of Hamasaka enjoy the ocean.
**October 9th – Shin’onsen to Kyoto:** Three hour drive to Kyoto on the expressway. Nothing too bad. In Kyoto we visited Nijo Castle and some smaller shrines, as well as some areas at Ginza. Everything was very crowded, even though fall foliage wasn’t in place.
**October 10th – Kyoto:** We woke up at 4 AM and went to the famous bamboo forest at sunrise. After that we went to the also famous Inari shrine and walked through countless tori gates all the way to the top of the mountain, which rewarded us with a wonderful vista of the old capital of Japan. In the afternoon we went on a hunt for some gifts for relatives and friends. All in all, Kyoto is really beautiful and interesting – but a bit too small for the number of tourist that go there. But it’s a must visit nevertheless.
**October 11th – Kyoto to Gujo**: While on the road to Gujo, we stopped at Gifu to visit the beautiful castle on a mountain above town. We also visited a squirrel sanctuary before driving to Gujo. We slept at Guesthouse Hanamidori, which is super small and in the middle of a dense forest. Chilled there for the afternoon.
**October 12th – Gujo to Takayama**: Two-hour-drive to Takayama. We visited the old museum village there, a interesting place. Also we visited the headquarters of a sect I keep forgetting the name of that has a museum there – just for the memes, of course. In the evening we strolled to the town of Takayama and found a place to do some japanese archery, which you can do for as little as 700 Yen.
**October 13th – Takayama**: We visited the village of Shirakawa-go. It has been undergoing little changes for two hundred years and gets flooded with tourists nowadays. I’d recommend to check out the village of Suganuma Gasshozokori instead as we found no tourists at all and cheaper restaurants there.
**October 14th – Takayama to Itoigawa:** Long drive to Itoigawa, a small town by the sea. We were completely done by the time we arrived, so we just visited the Onsen in our hotel and decided to watch some japanese game shows on TV.
**October 15th – Itoigawa to Aizuwakamatsu:** Off to the last fortress of the samurai. The town itself is not so interesting except for the castle there – but it has some interesting features. We went to see the castle and liked it a lot. For 700 Yen you get a whole museum. It’s great. But the town as it is is a bit underwhelming.
**October 16th – Aizuwakamatsu:** Because the town itself is nothing special, we checked out the nearby Lake Inawashiro and the stunning volcano that is Mount Bandai. We hiked to it’s peak – because there was no snow yet to enjoy the nearby ski resort. The hike to Mount Bandai was nearly six hours but suited for intermediates. No climb sections or so, just greak hiking. And the view from it’s peak was breathtaking. After that we were happy to enjoy the public bath in our hotel, as we were the only guests and could disturb nlobody with our tattoos.
**October 17th – Aizuwakamatsu to Zao Onsen:** Japans nature is stunning. Another example of this is Zao Onsen. At the beginning of our journey we were a bit disappointed because we would miss most of the fall foliage – but in Zao Onsen the whole woods were yellow. Absolutely beautiful thing to look at. Be aware: Due to the sulfidic water in the town, everything smells like eggs, but you eventually get used to it. The Onsen and public baths in town are great and super cheap, so I’d definetly recommend it!
**October 18th – Zao Onsen:** Another day, another hike. We started from Zao Onsen and took the ropeway to the middlestation. From there we hiked up the mountain range to Sancho station and then on towards Zaozan shrine and Lake Okama, a crater lake in an old volcano. We got lucky with the weather and were able to see all the way to Sendai and the ocean. The whole hike took five hours, after that we decided to take the ropeway down and enjoy a hot bath in a private Onsen we rented.
**October 19th – Zao Onsen to Kitaibaraki:** We just drove to Kitaibaraki to stop by the sea a last time on this trip. Kitaibaraki is not that great and the choice of restaurant is fairly limited. We still were able to find a nice chinese place with friendly owners, so that was nice. But I would recommend to look for another place on this route as there is not much to do.
**October 20th – Kitaibaraki to Nikko:** Nikko was really high up on our must-see list so we were excited. While on the road we stopped at the Fukuroda falls, wich were super beautiful. Also there was a restaurant called 川ふじ near the waterfalls, which is exceptionally good and cheap. Check it out if you’re there. In Nikko we didn’t do too much but enjoying the private bath in our hotel, because the next day would be long enough.
**October 21st – Nikko:** We did a tour of the whole temple and shrine district. We booked it via our hotel, it took five hours and was in english – thank god. I liked it, the temples and shrines are stunning and the sorroundings are stunning. In the afternoon we took a cruise on the Kinogawa river, which was also absolutely worth it.
**October 22nd to 24th – Nikko to Tokyo and Tokyo:** For the last days we did some additional shopping in Tokyo and more touristy stuff like Ueno Park and the Museum of Western Art. I love the city, but I was happy to have done most of the main attractions on the first days there, so we were able to just go with the flow. Also I’m a big fan of vintage and designer clothes, so to be able to do some shopping in the biggest town on earth that also has such a distinct street style was great and very inspiring. I’m gonna cop some looks I’ve seen on guys in Harajuku and Shibuya when I get home.
**Budget:** A few words on budgeting this trip. My fiancee and me were in the comfortable position to both spend around 8.000 Euro each for five weeks of traveling. Due to the weak Yen we never had the need to restrain ourselves when in came to do some shooping or picking out restaurants. Also fuel is supercheap and we used a hybrid car, which also brought down the costs. All in all i thing that every Euro was well spent money – and I’m glad that custom control didn’t pick us for a check when we arrived home.
