Hi guys, we would love to visit Japan for 20 days this autumn. Can you help us giving feedback and advice on this itinerary? Some questions: is both visiting Takayama and Kanazawa worth? We would travel by public transport, will there be any impossibilities in this itinerary? Would you skip something or add something? Thanks in advance!
Day 1: Tokyo: arrival in Japan in the morning, afternoon and evening: asakusa, ueno park and ameyoko street, akihabara
Day 2: Tokyo: toyosu fish market, teamlab planets, shibuya crossing, harajuku, gotokuji shrine, shinjuku
Day 3: daytrip mount Takao
Day 4: (Culture Day) Tokyo: Yoyogi park and shrine Meiji Jingu for yabasame horseback archery (starts 10am or 1 pm?), Jidai-matsuri Parade Asakusa (from 1.30pm till 3:30pm), maybe a museum?
-> is there a possibility for luggage service from Tokyo to Takayama, by global yamato or something?
Day 5: Hakone sightseeings and staying for a night
Day 6: travel day to Magome-juku
(Is this recommend: train station hakone-yumoto -> odawara -> nagoya -> nakatsugawa -> bus to magome? We will probably don’t have a jr pass)
Day 7: hike the Magome Tsumago trail
Day 8: morning: maybe onsen or kakizore gorge? Afternoon: bus to Takayama
Day 9: sightseeing Takayama: market Miyagawa, Yoshijima hertitage house, sanmachi-suji district, higashiyama walking course, sake breweries (is Hida no Sato a must see as we also will visit Shirakawago?)
Day 10: daytrip Kamikochi for hike
Day 11: Takayama bus to visit Ogimachi (shirakawago) and bus to Kanazawa
Day 12: Kanazawa: kenroku-en Garden, higashi chaya district
Day 13: Kanazawa: samurai district naga machi, ninja temple, 21st century contemporary art museum (is it worth visiting or too crowded?), Castle Garden
Day 14: morning train to Kyoto. Afternoon: imperial palace, walk at philosopher path to Eikan-do-zenrin-hi temple
Day 15: Kyoto: fushimi inari taisha, castle nijo, nishiki market, kiyomizu dera, gion
Day 16: Kyoto: bamboo arashiyama, senkoji temple, Sagano romantic train, maybe cooking class/workshop somewhere
Day 17: daytrip Nara
Day 18: Kuruma Kibune hike
Day 19: daytrip Osaka
Day 20: Kyoto: travel back to Tokyo
Day 21: morning flight home