I will be in Japan early November for my second time. I will be with my partner who has never been, so I think it’s only fair to spend the first 5 nights in Tokyo again, so she can experience it as well. However, my current plan is to then skip Osaka, Hakone and Kyoto completely, with the exception that we fly out of Osaka (although I’m now seeing that the Limo bus from Kobe to KIX isn’t much longer than the train from downtown Osaka, so thinking of ending our trip there.)
Therefore, my current rough itinerary after leaving Tokyo so far is turning into:
– Toyama (2 nights)
– Takayama (2 nights)
– Kanazawa (2 nights)
– Fukui (1 night)
– Kobe (1 night)
I have a bunch of questions regarding my itinerary taking this into account:
– I’m planning on going straight from Tokyo to Toyama. Most of my research into Nagano seems like people go to the Monkey Park, which seems like too much of an ordeal just to see some monkeys that might not even be there. But if Nagano is worth a night, I’m ready to be convinced.
– I’m leaning against the Alpine Route because it seems like early November will have the foliage all brown, it might be cold enough that a jacket won’t cut it (and I don’t want to pack a parka for 1 day of our trip), it’s too late for the snow wall, etc. Just doesn’t seem like the ideal time to go. Let me know if you disagree.
– Currently considering a day trip to the Kurobe Gorge from Toyama. Would you recommend staying there a night at an Onsen hotel instead? We aren’t really nightlife people anymore, so “nothing to do in the evening” isn’t really a concern.
– I’m starting to think about renting a car in Toyama so that we can visit Takayama and Shirakawago on our own schedule (maybe doing Shinhotaka Ropeway as well instead of the Alpine route), and even keeping it afterwards as it looks like a lot of interesting stuff in Fukui is on the outskirts of the city. Is this a reasonable plan?
by kevlarcardhouse