dellio

Thanks to every one of you who takes the time to respond to those of us who are traveling to Japan for the first time-especially KimJapan and emd.
My husband and I are going to Japan May 12, will be in Tokyo till the 19th, Takayama till the 21st and Kyoto until the 25th.
A couple of questions:
From Tokyo would a day trip to Hakone (with the cable car ride etc.) or to Nikko be a better choice?
In Takayama, we want to stay in a ryokan the two nights we are there. We can stay in the Sumiyoshi, but Kim, you said it isn't that great. Our first choice is the RYOKAN-KAMINAKA. However, I have emailed them twice and have no response. Also, I can't find any Japanese travel agent or travel site who books them. Any suggestions for a better way to contact them or another ryokan that is a very traditional one? This is to be our great splurge.
Other than these two question marks, thanks to all of the posts here, we are in pretty good shape and excited to leave.
Just a note for anyone going to Kyoto. I read great reviews for the Granvia Hotel and found an super rate on cheaptickets.com for 17,000 yen average per night. I'll let you know how we like it.
Thanks again to all of you. I will write a trip report when we return, so I might help other lucky travelers.

KimJapan

Try faxing or phoning the Kaminaka. Their Japanese website does not list an e-mail address at all...it says for reservations to call or fax between 8 AM and 11 PM (Japan time). I would guess the English version is out of date a bit, and perhaps the e-mail is no longer used...maybe. The Japanese pages also list more room types than the 3 listed in English. So, call or fax. Calling would be best, as I wouldn't expect a reply internationally by fax or call. What you might do is fax your dates and number of people and what sort of room you want. Then follow up with a call about a half hour later.

I don't think Sumiyoshi is great...but it's OK for what it is. If you are expecting a "ryokan experience," Sumiyoshi wouldn't be it. But for a friendly place to stay that's clean and well located, it's fine. It all depends on what you are looking for.

You might look at Nagase Ryokan if you are looking to splurge. Or http://www.takayama-koto.co.jp/
or http://www.i-hida.net/tanabe/

For your dates in Kyoto, the Granvia offers the same rate through its online reservations (as 15,000 per night, plus tax, comes out to be within 1000 yen).

dellio

Thanks for the advice, Kim. I will try your suggestion tonight. Have you heard anything about the Kaminaka? I only know what I read on their site, so I will also try the other two ryokans you suggested. Any preference for the optional day trip from Tokyo?

mrwunrfl

Sumiyoshi is a traditional ryokan in the 8000 to 13,000 range with shared bathroom. Nagase is a traditional ryokan 15,000 to 17,000 yen with toilet or 18,000 to 30,000 with a bathroom. Your experience at either place will of course be different. Better meal, furnishings, bedding at Nagase, I expect. Those rates are per person and are according to frommers.

I did not sleep well at Sumiyoshi, as the futon were not that good, and the shared bathroom down the hall was very inconvenient. There was a shared soaking bath, but it was small. The meal was good and the folks were nice.

Kaminaka is in a good location. Looks like it is next door to, or one block away from, the Best Western where I stayed recently. The street is not a main street, so any room that is not on the street should be quiet enough.

A day trip to Hakone would be a day for some natural scenery and fresh air as a break from Tokyo, and an opportunity to visit an onsen. It is the place to go if you want to see Mt Fuji. I would go there on a weekday. A day trip to Nikko (haven't been there myself) would be more of a cultural experiencs as one of the greatest shrines in Japan is there. The architectural style there is different from elsewhere in Japan. If it is like other major shrine areas (like Ise Jingu, Meiji Jingu, or Izumo Taisha) then it would be green and pretty.

emd

We did an overnight to Hakone after Tokyo on our recent trip. There is A LOT to do in Hakone, many things appealing to many varied interests. We actually did not go there to see Mt. Fuji or even to go to Lake Ashi. We only rode the cable car to get to two of the places we wanted to go to (the Open air Museum of sculpture and Yunessen bathing place- what a hoot that was, bathing w/the Japanese in sake, red wine, green tea, coffee baths, etc. in a bathing suit). There are about 50 special interest museums in Hakone (including two I want to go back to, the Glass Art museum which I heard is incredible for glass art lovers, and the Lalique museum). We had no interest in the tourist route/cable car/black eggs, pirate boat things, but the area was lovely (reminded me in a way of some of those small villages rammed into sides of cliffs and mountains in Switzerland, w/lovely greenery and flowers everywhere) and we had a great time just going around to other places that interested us and relaxing in the ryokan.
We planned to go to Nikko (not for the temples but to see Tobu World Square, an outdoor park which has scale replicas of famous buildings all over the world like the Eifel Tower, Taj Mahal, etc., and the Edo Mura park which recreates the Edo period) but the weather just completely sucked (pouring rain) on the 2 days we had available so we chucked it.

Since you are going to Kyoto you will get lots of temples there. And Nikko is a two hr. train ride, whereas Hakone is 45 min. (although then you need to navigate the Hakone-Tozan electric switchback train, cable car, boat, etc if you do the tourist circuit route). It's a toss up based on your interests and timing.

emd

Correction: We didn't ride the cable car to get to those places; we rode only the Hakone Tozan elec. railway to get to them.

harsha

i was in takayama last year and happened to stay in the rickshaw inn.a pretty nice place though small.quite cosy and affordable.prob around 5000 Y per day.you have a kitchenette.do try the place out.courteous people.you could try jo's the pub around the block.the reggae bar.call at +81-(0)577-32-2890 FAX +81-(0)577-32-2469 or go to www.rickshawinn.com

moxie

I just stayed at the Rickshaw and they were very nice and their restaurant map is great. They do have a curfew though but this was not a problem for us. 3 days is a bit long in Takayama if there is no festival I think. You could split the 3 nights with Kanazawa, and see Shirakawa-go too.

Kanazawa is just a bit north and is really lovely. In Takayama make sure you try the tempura restaurant with the excellent rice.

dellio

Thanks to all of you who are helping with this. KimJapan, you saved me $80 on my Kyoto stay by booking directly with the hotel-so much for "CheapTickets." I think we will go to Hakone, for the shorter ride, for all of the museums emd mentioned, and for the scenery.
Is it possible to leave Takayama the 21st am train from Nagoya and arrive in Kyoto for the market? Suggestions?
emd-sorry about the weather; last time I checked, it is still raining, but we have a few weeks to be optimistic and imagine sun. If not, we'll just find something else that will undoubtedly be an adventure. I hope you had a great trip anyway. Your reports are a way to share the fun you had.
Thanks mrwnrful for you comments as well.

KimJapan

I don't know the Kaminaka, but it looks to be a little bit nicer in quality than Sumiyoshi. The thing about ryokan/minshuku - futon sleeping - is that the cheaper places use cheaper futon...they are thin and hard and seldom very nice to sleep on unless you are accustomed to sleeping on the floor. A truly nice place (generally with prices to match) will have lovely futon, layered ones, just the right amount of softness and luxuriously silky covering...think "Heavenly Bed" but lower to the ground.

I'm glad to have saved you money on the Granvia. I almost always book directly...actually only twice have I used a booking service in 20 years of travel. I always check their prices, but have always found the same or better by booking directly.

I'm in Kanazawa, so of course recommend it for a stop.

mrwunrfl

A two night stay in Takayama, and sounds about right. Leave Tokyo on May 19 at noon or later and you'd get to Takayama around 5PM or later. All day for sightseeing on the 20th, then a second night in Takayama and on to Kyoto the next morning. It would be possible to go to Kyoto on the evening of the 20th, of course, to be there on the morning of the 21st.

You might consider staying in two places in Takayama. The Best Western for the first night for 10,000 to 12,000 and then Nagase as a splurge on the second night. Or the other way around, just getting to Nagase by 3 or 4PM.

dellio

Hi again,
Well Fate intervened and we received a belated response from the Ryokin-kaminaka in Takayama. I had checked mrwnfl's suggestion but no room at the Best Western or Nagase. I'll let you know how the Kaminaka is.
We leave on the 13th and I am getting more excited, even with all there is to do. Planning started very late because of business meeting time negotiations in Tokyo. I will have 3 days on my own, any suggestions?
Fodor's has some great ambassadors!

dellio

One additional question: emd, you mentioned reserving train seats from the US. How do you do that?
Thanks

KimJapan

You used to be able to make seat reservations online for JR East, but now that feature has been discontinued. If you have a JR pass, reservations are free and can be made at the time you exchange your voucher in Japan. If you are buying individual tickets, reservations can be made at the same time as purchase, up to 30 days in advance.

Even if you can't get a reserved seat, that doesn't mean you can't ride the train. It means you need to ride in the non-reserved cars and hope for a seat. If there aren't seats you stand.

emd

Kim is right, the eki-net online JR train reservation service is no longer available. On my recent trip I took two non-reserved trains. We just lined up early (like 20 min. early) at the lane for a non-reserved car (the non-reserved cars will be listed on the lit up train sign board at the platform or you can ask the station personnel- and be sure to line up for a non-smoking car if that is what you want). Both times we got a seat, no problem. But it depends what train you are getting on and wehre your stop is in the path of the train. For instance we got on in Kyoto bound for Narita, no problem, but by the time we got through picking up many passengers at Nagoya all of the non-reserved cars were full.
However, it makes me feel a lot better to have a train reservation if possible. I also discovered on this trip that a hotel concierge can make train reservations. My daughter was too tired to stand in line at Narita to make all of our reservations, so I had the concierge at the Westin use their travel agent to make them for us.