willcclee

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Japan for two weeks from May 12 – May 26 with a 7-day JR pass. We want to a get a rough idea of which cities we want to visit during our stay so here is our itinerary thus far:

1 - Tokyo
2 - Tokyo
3 - Tokyo
4 - Nikko
5 - Kyoto
6 - Kyoto
7 - Kyoto
8 - Osaka (side trip to Nara)
9 - Osaka
10 - Takayama
11 - Tokyo
12 - Tokyo
13 - Tokyo
14 - Tokyo

Here are some questions we have:

1) Is this an efficient route? Any interesting cities to visit that we may have missed?
2) Is it better to stay a night over in Nikko and/or Takayama? Or are they better as day trips?
3) We want to stay at a ryokan for one night but we're not sure which city would be the best option (out of the five).

Thanks, it would be great to get some expert opinions and suggestions!

kja

It really depends on your interests, but FWIW, I gave 3 days to Tokyo and 6 days to Kyoto/Nara. I saw everything I wanted to see in Tokyo (and I spent 1 of those 3 days on a day trip to Kamakura). I did NOT have time to see everything I wanted to see in Kyoto.

Many people visit Nikko as a day trip from Tokyo, but I was glad I spent a night there, because I really wanted to see Kegon-no-taki, and fitting that in would be difficult if one visits Nikko as a day trip.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3812.html

IMO, Takayama is NOT best seen as a day trip. I thought it deserved closer to 2 full days. YMMV.

"Any interesting cities to visit that we may have missed?"

Many of us have found an overnight on Koya-san a very, very special experience.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4900.html

Many of us find a visit to Hiroshima, with an overnight in Miyajima, well worth while.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2160.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3401.html

And if going to Takayama, you might want to add 2 days for Kanazawa (although I must admit that with only 2 weeks, I'd probably skip Takayama and Kanazawa).
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2167.html

And OF COURSE there are lots of other places that are worth visiting -- you'll need to decide what best suits your needs.

If you haven't already consulted it, japan-guide.com provides excellent advice. And a good guidebook or two will prove invaluable.

Hope that helps!

mrwunrfl

That is a pretty rough itinerary (rough as in not finished, not rought as in difficult).


1) Is this an efficient route?
It is ok. But Takayama is not a day trip from anywhere. You need at least a night there and really 2 night would be a minimum to do it justice (considering the possible interest there and the travel time to visit(.

Any interesting cities to visit that we may have missed?
Well, yes, there are many. But I am just wondering how you got to what you have.

2) Is it better to stay a night over in Nikko and/or Takayama? Or are they better as day trips?
Again, Takayama is not a day trip. Better? is up to you and how you value your time.

3) We want to stay at a ryokan for one night but we're not sure which city would be the best option (out of the five).
Takayama would be a good option for a ryokan stay (Sumiyoshi ryokan, for example). Probably Nikko. Kyoto has some very fine (expensive) ryokan experiences available.

Kavey

I think Kja and MrWunrfl have said everything I would say but I'm going to comment anyway!

Takayama as an overnight, not worthwhile, given the travel time. You could do one night but two would be better, or skip it on this trip and go back another day. We loved it but pushed to squeeze it into our first trip itinerary because the Takayama autumn festival dates fell within our window, and that gave us an added reason to visit on that trip. Can't even conceive doing it as a day trip.

Agree with Kja that I'd do 3-4 nights in Tokyo and 5-6 in Kyoto.

Nara can easily be visited as a day trip from Kyoto, but in that case add an extra day to the time in Kyoto.

Likewise, Osaka could be a day trip from Kyoto too, I didn't love it as much as some people do, worth visiting, especially for the food, but I found far more to see in Kyoto, Koya-san, Nara, etc. than in Osaka.

Koya-san is a wonderful place to visit for an overnight but it'll take the better part of the two days, so again, set time extra aside for it if you want to do it, don't give up too much of your Kyoto time!

Hiroshima and the overnight on Miyajima was a highlight for us, as for many others. It was that overnight that made it so, btw, so I wouldn't personally recommend it as a day trip.

Other day trips out of Kyoto include Uji for green tea (still not been myself yet) and Yamazaki (for Japanese whisky lovers) which we thought was a super half day excursion. Here:
http://www.petedrinks.com/2012/11/wh...stillery-tour/
http://www.petedrinks.com/2012/11/wh...hisky-library/

I'm not commenting on Nikko because I've not been (yet)!

For a ryokan stay, there is the lovely Shiraume in Kyoto and also Kankaso in Nara, both of which I absolutely loved. These three posts I wrote may be of interest:
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/11/sta...se-ryokan.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/01/kai...o-in-nara.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/03/her...n-me-into.html

kja

"Other day trips out of Kyoto include Uji"

Uji is between Nara and Kyoto and is worth seeing -- if one has time -- not just for its green tea (I wouldn't have gone there just for the tea -- JMO), but also for the magnificent Byodo-in (which did justify going there IMO) and the lovely bridge over the river.

kja

@ akhtarali -- I'm sure you know that advertising is NOT allowed on Fodor's.

@ willcclee -- I could have been clearer about Uji: If you are willing to pay for the experience, you can sample some of Japan's finest green teas in Uji. I paid what seemed to me a LOT for a single mid-range cup of tea with a sweet (when I was there, I think all teas came with a sweet), and I thought it overpriced. That probably only means that my palette was not up to the task. Options for tasting different grades of tea -- even just 3 tastes -- cost WAY more than I would have considered. YMMV.