Hello Everyone

Myself and my wife are planning the trip to Japan. We will have 9 days to spend there and are looking for advice on places to visit and stay. We are willing to skip Tokyo as we already been there. We would like to visit countryside as well as cities. Any input are very much appreciated.
Thanks a lot.

VitalyL,

Welcome to Fodors.

Please tell us a little about you so we can better answer your questions.

What is your budget for hotel accommodations?

What are your interests temples, shopping,culture, pachinko?

Would you like to see new or old world sights?

Did you enjoy Tokyo on your first trip?

Aloha!

Hawaiiantraveler
Our budget for accommodations are within up to $300. Our interests are mainly towards culture and to get to know "real Japan". We are interested to see unique little villages and towns, interesting nature places. We would rather see old world sights.
We liked Tokyo, but since we are from NYC and Tokyo remotely resembles NYC, we would like to see something different.
Thanks for your input.

For medium size towns, our favorites were Matsumoto & Matsuyama. If you want very small towns, we enjoyed hiking in the Kiso Valley. I wouldn't suggest trying to see all of these in 9 days because they're so spread out, but you could do the mountains (Matsumoto & Kiso Valley) or the island of Shikoku (Matsuyama & some other smaller towns).

We also loved Kyoto for combining the excitement of a big city with plenty of historic & cultural sites with plenty of "real" Japan feel. Enjoy your trip!

It also depends on what time of the year you're planning to travel. Hiking along Kiso is not really practical in winter/early spring. Also can you fly in/out of Osaka or Nagoya? $300 should give you enough wriggle room (no puns intended) for accomodations, you can probably get better deals if travelling shoulder/off season.

If you want traditional sights, I also like Takayama, Kanazawa, Kurashiki and needless to say Kyoto. Though these are second-tier cities, not rural.

Fly into and out of KIX http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2033.html since you don't want to see Tokyo again.

A loose itinerary might be the first 3 or 4 nights in Kyoto http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html
with a day trip to Nara http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2165.html

followed by a night each in Hiroshima http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2160.html and on Miyajima(preferably in a ryokan). http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3401.html

Then cross over to Shikoku with at least one night in Matsuyama or Takamatsu. http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1107.html

Finish off with one night on Koyasan http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4900.html
and the last one or two in Osaka http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2157.html and you'll be set,lol

Aloha!

Places to stay in your budget range:

Hiroshima

http://www.hgh.co.jp/english/

Miyajima:

http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/miyajima/momijiso.htm

Matsuyama/Takematsu

http://www.patio-dogo.co.jp/framepage2.htm

http://www.hotespa.net/business/en/inquiry/index.html

Osaka

http://www.crosshotel.com/eng_osaka/index.html

Kyoto

Do a search on this site. So many places recommended here.

Koyasan

Stay at one of these http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/mount_koya/index.htm

Aloha!

Thanks, saving for future trip.