[Itinerary check] 21 days Across Japan

18 comments

1. Day 4 and 5 are too packed in my opinion. You would be traveling for like a total of 11-13 hours just in these 2 days. Otherwise, I think it’s pretty good.

2. Day 4-5 has such a long travel that it might be worth it to buy Tokyo Wide Pass.

   Day 14 is crazy if you start from Hiroshima. You are looking at 3 hours from Hiroshima to Tottori, 40 min one-way bus from Tottori station to Sand Dune/Sand Museum area, and further 2 hour on a local train to Kinosaki Onsen. It’s doable, sure, but I wouldn’t really recommend this. Tottori Sand Dune is, well, nice if you live in Japan. I don’t think it’s really worth visiting from overseas.

   Day 15 – not sure how you get 4.30 hour. It shouldn’t take more than 2.30-3.00 hour to travel from Kinosaki Onsen to Osaka/Kyoto

   Day 18: Note that Kurobe George railway **does not** operate during winter. The exact date vary year by year, but usually they don’t operate from early Dec to early April.

   Day 19: Note that Tateyama Alpine Route and its associate public transport **does not** operate during winter. The exact date vary year by year, but usually they don’t operate from early Dec to early April. You can only get as far as Tateyama station — further route will be closed.

3. Hey! Fingers crossed you’ll be able to go! Things are at least trending in the right direction these days.

   Overall you’ve got a nice itinerary, with some really fun destinations picked out. There are a few days that are pretty packed:

   I am not a fan of Fuji Day Trips from Tokyo. Its just a really long day, and the chances of the weather being shite and you not being able to see the mountain are fairly high. If thats a priority, I’d say do at least one overnight either in Kawaguchiko or Hakone, which is further away but has more to see and do. I’d also say that if you really want to dig into the five lakes area, a rental car isn’t a bad idea. There is bus service, but it isn’t as comprehensive as I’d like it to be.

   Day 6 is pretty full, even if you don’t end up going inside the castle. Though in the interest of making it MORE full ;-), if you do end up down in Shinsekai, check out Spa World. I love it!

   Day 10 is also quite full- Uji is the other direction so you’ll have to come back through Kyoto to go on to Kobe. I might try and fit that in on Day 9 so you can hit Byodoin and then Fushimi Inari on the way back into town.

   Day 11 is also really busy. Two castles, the garden AND going out to Hinase Port? I don’t think that day will be physically possible.

   I like that you note, if you have time on Day 13, as you probably won’t be able to fit both the Castle and Peace Park into that day, especially if you are arriving from Okayama that morning.

   Kanazawa is so cool! I’m afraid most of the restaurants I knew there are probably gone for good, but there will be lots of options. There’s tons of neat places to eat and cool bars on the west side of Katamachi.

   On Day 17 I would forward your main bags from Kinosaki to Toyama so you only have a small overnight bag for Kanazawa. This way you can take that with you on the bus to Shirakawago (they do have a place for luggage) and then just go from Shirakawago to Toyama and skip going all the way back to Kanazawa.

   Day 18- Kurobe Gorge is so cool. Nuff said.

   For Day 19 I feel like A) This is a packed ass day. Wow. and B) Why not just finish the alpine route and come down into Tokyo from the other side? Doing half the route seems like a bummer!

   And there you have it! Like I said above, you’ve got some really neat places in here. I love Kurashiki and Kanazawa to pieces. Just some pretty long and busy days. I hope you guys have a great time!

4. Off topic but I’m really curious, how do you extend a vacation exactly? Like from the perspective of PTO I feel like I’d be gambling a bit with whether or not I could get it approved without irking my manager. And I feel like airlines would jack up the price of my tickets for a delayed flight. How do you pull something off like that without creating a hassle?

5. In general I’m shocked how much you’re trying to slam in considering you have 21 days and have both been before.

   This seems like a nightmare trip to me. I got my money’s worth on a JR pass and I was only there 13 days, and only left tokyo once. Getting your money’s worth isn’t hard.

   You are literally going to be traveling for about half your vacation time.

6. The big thing I do not really like is surrounding Kinosaki, I really do not understand why you would do it in that order. It will take close to 3h from Hiroshima to Tottori, then you do not want to leave too late in the afternoon as it take 2 h to reach Kinosaki and you want to be there not too late it you want to have plenty of time to enjoy the onsen, like be there at 3pm or when your ryokan start check-in so you can maximise your time there. This mean not much time for Tottori. Then why spend most of the next day in the train going to Kanazawa ?

   First thing I would consider is split Kyoto and Osaka in two. Yes it will be one more hotel change, but it will allow you to break the big train day in two, so if you keep the current itinerary, then do Osaka, all the things up to Kinosaki, then Kyoto.

   I would consider changing the order of that part. First, stay in Osaka and Kyoto. Spend the morning in one of these place and after lunch take the train to Kinosaki to spend most of afternoon trying the different onsen. Next morning, go to Tottori. You should not have problem to be there for lunch and you would have enough time to go to the sand dune in the afternoon. Then at the end of the day, take the train to Okayama. Just check time schedule to take the right train, it is possible to do it in 2 h. Next do Kurashiki and depending on how the day go, either just Kurashiki or do the Castle and garden in the afternoon. Next day either Castle and garden if not done the previous day and afternoon in Hiroshima for peace museum and castle if you have time. Next day focus on Miyajima, and end the day in Hiroshima for things you did not have time. Next morning do missing things in Hiroshima or go straight to Himeji. You could even consider stopping by Kobe at the end of the day, or at least keep it as an option (so it would make more sense to start by Kyoto) then finish in Kyoto or Osaka.

   It think the Uji + Kobe combination is a bit odd. I would do Osaka + Kobe (or as I said, Kobe on the way back from Himeji) and Kyoto + Uji.

   Also note that Kobe beef is the label given to beef from the south of Hyogo prefecture, so you can get it in Himeji too, it will be as local as if you get it in Kobe. If you want to have other nice beef, the north of Hyogo prefecture (Kinosaki) market their beef under the name of Tajima beef (both Tajima beef and Kobe beef use Tajima cattle) and Tottori beef is also a thing.

   Forget Hinase port for oyster and get oyster in Miyajima.

   Note that if you want to do everything in Miyajima and Hiroshima in a single day, you have to leave Miyajima just after lunch, so Mount Misen might require you to do ropeway both up and down.

   The Shirawaka-go part, you could consider going straight to Toyama from there.

7. I became exhausted just reading this.

   You would have a more pleasant holiday just going to a few places and having some “days off” for relaxation/casual exploring.

   It’s a holiday not a military expedition.

8. For Kanazawa check out Fuwari (booking essential) – [https://fu-wa-ri.jp/fuwari/](https://fu-wa-ri.jp/fuwari/). We had a great meal there a couple of years ago and would definitely go back if had the chance.

9. Do you have German roots? So well planned! Haven’t seen anything like this before! 😅😅👏🏽

10. You need more time in Tokyo. This trip is SO jam packed

11. As a fellow packed-itinerary traveler, I find the judgment by the “relax for 14-days in Tokyo” crowd in this sub ridiculous. I get that you guys want to just chill in a single place for a long time; but it is absolutely not what I would want out of a trip to Japan.

    I don’t comment on threads for that type of vacation because it’s not for me, so I wouldn’t have any particular insight beyond “that’s not my preference, but you do you.” Perhaps you can extend the same courtesy to OP and people who like to travel?

12. Shigeharu is nice, but what kind of knife or knives (or experience) are you looking for?

13. I don’t think you need to get off at all the stations in Kurobe Gorge – Kuronagi Station is tiny. Most of the cool stuff is by Keyakidaira. If I were you, I’d go to Keyakidaira first, and then if you have time, stop at places on the way back. The riverside onsen at Kanetsuri is cool, but it’s basically the only thing there.

    I’ve hiked Tateyama a few times, but never in November, and there might be snow around that time. So definitely do your research, and make sure you’ve got appropriate gear.

    If you want any other recommendations for Toyama, feel free to ask.

14. You are clearly a planner. When I travel I book time for randomness. I like to get lost and find places I’d never find otherwise. Consider blocking some time to slow down and wander.

15. Different strokes, but this isn’t nearly enough time in Tokyo.

16. I don’t think you can pull it off, purely because you’ll end up at places like Kinosaki Onsen or the Korakuen Gardens planning to spend an hour or so max and next thing you know half the day’s gone

    That’s what I ended up doing myself, especially Korakuen, that place is dangerous. I stuck my head in to spend an hour max, spent that taking photos of the scenery alone. Then there was the plum blossoms, the tea house, a seat in a warm, sunny spot that lead to an unexpected nap, then the castle, holy crap, is it really 3pm?!?! Damn

    I’d take the full 4 weeks and space it out, save some days to get your relax on and enjoy each other’s company. It’s your honeymoon, not the Amazing Race

17. Sounds very ambitious and tiring. I visited most of the places u mentioned even for tottori, kawaguchi, shirakawago etc. But was done over three visits. U will tire yourselves out. Prob take out some cities

18. I might steal some of these ideas for my trip 😀