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Going to japan in December for two weeks. Any suggestions besides Kyoto of cities that we should visit. We are flying in and out of Toyko. Thanks
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Must see Cities in Japan
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How do you plan to travel around, are you planning on using a JR 7 or 14 pass?
When you say besides Kyoto do you mean that you do not want to go there or are already planning it and to suggest other cities?
What is your rooming budget per day?
What are your interests in Japan?
Hiroshima is a good place to visit because of its historical significance. Hakone is a lovely resort town with hot springs baths and traditional inns. Nara is a great city with very old Japanese history. a walkable town. interesting temples. those are three important cities to start with.
Go to Shirakawago and stay in a gassho zukuri. Get there via Takayama or Kanazawa or both. For example, Tokyo- Takayama- Shirakawago- Kanazawa. (I am assuming the Takayama-Shirakawago bus will be running at that time, but not sure).
Then go to Kyoto and Hiroshima/Miyajima, with a stop to see the castle in Himeji. Then Nara and back to Tokyo.
Thanks so much. Yes, I think we will get the 14 day JR pass. It is expensive but it will allow us to see more without thinking about what each additional train trip will cost. At the moment we will spend 3 days in Tokyo with a visit to Nikko. Takayama will be very cold (have alread been there) and not sure that the gardens of Kanazawa in December justifies the time in going. Weather is an issue. So we will spend 4 nights in Kyoto visiting Himeji. Then spending two nights in Osaka, One night in Hiroshima/Miyajima, maybe one night in each place. Now for the tricky part, should we go to Matsummoto and Kurashiki? Should we visit Nagoya and spend the night or just do a day trip. Will spend 2 nights in Hakone before going back to Toyko for the night before we leave. Would have left out of Oska but could not get a ff mile flight. Thank you again for your help and suggestions.
You can skip Nagoya, unless you have a specific interest in something there. Just north of Nagoya is the Kiso Valley, which may be of interest, but maybe not given that you have visited Takayama.
I was just looking at the Takayama & Shirakawago travel guide at the JNTO website.
It says that the Takayama - Shirakawago bus runs all year now. Half of the runs are by reservation only. Only 50 minutes.
We spent just over 2 weeks in Japan in April and travelled around almost exclusively using the JR Railpass. We are on a year long trip and so stayed mostly in budget accomodation (which was still v.nice). Our outline itinerary was:
Tokyo 3n
Kyoto 5n (inc Himejei day trip from Kyoto)
Nara 1n
Takayama 2n
Koyasan 2n
Tokyo 2n
Not sure how this would wor weather wise in Dec but it was one of the major highlights of a year long trip around the world. The downside is we want to go back again and again as there was so much more we had to leave out!!
For more detail inc photos and places we stayed see our blog:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/candcthai/1/tpod.html
Japan starts at entry 25
Clive and Carolyn,
Many thanks for sharing your wonderful travel blog! I love the level of detail and accompanying photos. We plan to travel to Asia (China, S Korea and Japan) in late April/May 2010 - we have one week in Japan (arrive and depart from Tokyo).
Given your experiences, what recommendations would you have for us, to enjoy a full week in Japan? We love scenery, seeing how locals live, walking, etc.
Cheers,
Pamela