Comments Wanted on Our Itinerary in Japan!
 

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Japan. We're going for five weeks in the September/October timeframe. Our interests are primarily in regard to cuisine and culture. We have the first ten days down (Tokyo and Nikko) and have twelve nights free before a three day booking in Takayama. We tentatively plan to have the following itinerary in central Honshu before going to Takayama:


Nagano (2 nights)
Kanazawa (3 nights)
Noto Peninsula (5 nights)
Toyama (1 night)
Matsumoto (1 night)

We will be taking trains from Nikko to Nagano and from Nagano to Kanazawa. We plan on picking up a car in Kanazawa and returning it in Toyama after visiting the Noto Peninsula. From Toyama, we plan to do the Tateyama Kurobe Alopen Route, then take a train from Omachi to Matsumoto. We plan to then proceed by train to Takayama.

Any thoughts on this itinerary? Is it doable? Are we neglecting anyplace or, conversely, spending too much time anywhere?

Any comments/suggestions are heartily welcomed.

Thanks in advance!

GotT

I'm gottravel's spouse. Here is the earlier thread that he posted in December. https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...erary-1661596/ This new itin is based on your feedback and others. Thanks for your input.

I haven’t been to most of those locations, but would consider 3 nights a bare minimum for Kanazawa. Of course, it depends on what you want to see and experience.

Enjoy!

I haven't been to the Noto Peninsula myself but I have seen videos and read about it....I really don't know if five days are necessary...your previous itinerary had 3.....what are your plans there....particularly if you have a car. When I go, I will have to take buses....lol....

Noto has some good places, but I'd say your time frame is excessive. It's also ideally explored by car. If you haven't considered it, I suggest you consider seeing some of Fukui. It has some very impressive places and I managed to get through part of my bucket list for the places last year. The dinosaur museum is one of the best you'll ever see in your life. Plus Tojinbo has some excellent rugged coastline, Eiheiji is a good temple to explore, and the Echizen Daibutsu is the hidden gem still unknown to most. It's like seeing Nara without the crowds. I also got to visit the Nekodera (Cat Temple) more famous to locals than internationally. There are normally around 80 cats tended to by the monks there but they managed to find homes for most of them, so there were just a couple dozen when I went...a kind of pleasant disappointment.

I agree about Fukui - I also went to Tojinbo, Eiheiji and Maruoka Castle, one of the twelve originals...

gottravel & I need some help figuring out where to go for 4 days after we leave Takayama and end in Kyoto for a week. We'd prefer one place to stay and be able to do a couple of day trips from there. This is our first trip to Japan and it will be in SEpt/Oct this year. Based on all the comments we've received here and elsewhere we've decided on the current itin is as follows. We appreciate any suggestions you can give us. Thank you

Tokyo (7 nights)
Nikko (2 nights)
Nagano 2 nights
Nagano (2 nights)
Kanazawa (3 nights)
Noto Peninsula (4 nights)
Toyama (2 night)
Matsumoto (1 night)
Takayama for a festival (3 nights)
4 nights OPEN
Kyoto (7 nights)

Kurashiki? It's a bit different than the other places you plan to visit and has an excellent small museum of art, the Ohara (with a stunning Modigliani). From Kurashiki, you could visit Okayama, Himeji, and Hiroshima / Miyajima (a bit further than I like to go for a day trip, but doable).

Thanks, tp & kja. We fly home from Osaka which is why we did Kyoto at the end. I have a feeling after 4 weeks we just might have our fill of temples and gardens. I will check out your other suggestions. We've thought about Naoshima. Either of you been there?

I have not been to Naoshima.

I think we might go to Naoshima just for a change of pace. We'll combine it with Kurashiki. So we won't get 4 nights in one place, but they both sound like we will like them. Thanks, kja & tp for your thoughts.
tp, if its ok, I might be contacting you via PM for some help translating a website for tickets.

Enjoy!

Of course, nothing has been simple with planning this trip. It appears that the Setouchi Triennale is this year and will be going on during our visit. Of course this makes accommodations more difficult nad perhaps more expensive. Oh well! we will enjoy, thank you.

Nagano 2 nights
Nagano (2 nights)
Is one of these a typo or just an unintended repeat?

How are you getting from Matsumoto to Takayama? Are the Takayama dates 'locked in"? I assume you're doing the Alpine Route from Toyama to Matsumoto? Takayama is south of Toyama, so logically you would go Toyama to Takayama (and back) before doing the Alpine Route east to Matsumoto (and then south via Nagoya to get to Kyoto, (perhaps walking the trail from Megome to Tsumago on the way to Nagoya).

As for the spare four days, I would add them to Kyoto - plenty to see and do. You can always do some day trips from Kyoto - Himeji, Hiroshima etc. (although for the latter you really need to overnight if you want to go to Miyajima).

Yes, sorry that Nagano 2 nights is an unintended repeat.
Matsumoto to Takayama is by direct bus. Yes, Takayama dates are locked in as that is when the festival is. Yes, I realize the order is somewhat illogical but we were working around the festival dates. Thanks for your comments.

I suggest moving the Toyama and Matsumoto stops after Takayama. You could then add a night to Matsumoto so that you could sightsee there or go to Kamikochi for the day. That fills the 4 nights that you have open and opens some nights earlier. Drive up to Takayama from Noto/Kanazawa via Shirakawago/Gokayama.

If you do take the bus from Matsumoto to Takayama then you will need to get your reserved bus seats in advance. (I would not really want to do that bus trip without stops at Hirayu Onsen or Kamikochi or other spots along the way.) Same thing for getting reserved train seats to Takayama. Get them sooner. Leaving the day after the festival is over shouldn't be an issue for reserved seats or traffic (I think most people bug out when the festival ends - at least that was what I saw at a spring festival).