filmwill

Thanks emd. Appreciate the suggestion!

We do have a place held (Iwaso) but I can't seem to find any Fodorites who have actually stayed there.

I was hoping that Kavey's suggestion of Watanabe would work out -- but it's the one day they are closed (as our luck would have it!)

Iwaso looks lovely, but it feels a bit overkill considering they have an onsen and we will have already experienced that in Hakone. Far be it from me to complain about that luxury, but I was hoping for something a bit more down to earth (and cheaper, of course.)

emd3

p.s. Yes, I thought so mrw, but I wanted to hear from you...you are the JR man in my book.

Kavey

Japanese Guest House had a number of suggestions for us for Miyajima, though in the end we booked independently / directly with Watanabe, which was a much lower price than the splurge options I'd asked them to investigate for us.

One we looked into was Kurayado Iroha. But that's quite expensive I seem to recall. Best of luck. x

Kavey

Japanese Guest House had a number of suggestions for us for Miyajima, though in the end we booked independently / directly with Watanabe, which was a much lower price than the splurge options I'd asked them to investigate for us.

One we looked into was Kurayado Iroha. But that's quite expensive I seem to recall. Best of luck. x

mrwunrfl

Iwaso looks nice. What kind of room did you get?

You very well might find that you enjoy onsen. I mentioned that I am not inclined to stay in a traditional ryokan on consecutive nights, but I could go for an onsen soak every day in Japan, twice a day or more.

My bath (separate from toilet/sink area IIRC) at Momijiso had a shower and a Japanese bathtub. Below the shower was a faucet (IIRC) and there was a stool and bucket so that you can clean up that way (lots of soapy soap and buckets of hot water to rinse) and then soak in the tub. Private, but not a roomy onsen bath.

Iwaso is larger than Momijiso but it is also closer to the shrine and town (going down to the that area and back up to Momijiso at night was not exactly easy). Seems like Iwaso, the honkan, garden, are worth a visit even if not staying there.

JGH shows that its rates are A/A+ and I would assume the A+ is in the honkan (the original, main building) and the A is in the shinkan (newer and attached to the honkan i think, an annex according to JGH).

According to a tripadvisor post the hanare rooms/lodging are "tucked back in the forest". Separate from the honkan. Sounds like they are separate little cottages, but could be a multiple-lodging building AFAIK. Could be A or A+ depending on how rustic or modern.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...e_Chugoku.html

hawaiiantraveler

We stayed at Iwaso in 2008. Had a room in the newer wing(shinkan) connected to the honkan. Trip report is here, look for the April 14th entry:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ossom-tour.cfm

Iwaso is a step or two below your experience you will have at Hakone Ginyu so expect as much and you won't be disappointed. I think it was crellston or another fodorite has also stayed at Iwaso and in the private bungalows IIRC and told of experiences which drove me to pick Iwaso at that time.....seems so long ago. We also were debating on staying at Kinsuikan but chose Iwaso in the end. Kinsuikan we saw on the waterfront as we walked through the little town. They have a little restaurant that is also open to the public there. I remember thinking at the time that I liked the Iwaso location in the forest better although everything on Miyajima is so close by.

Aloha!

dingsquidge

Hope it's not rude to jump in on a thread with one's own query on same subject? Am finding the threads so helpful and am hoping I can run our itinerary - for 16 nights in September (1st-16th) by you all.
We have spent a week in Tokyo before (2005) and so are not planning on spending more than a day there on this trip (on top of starting/ending there). We really want to do some hiking and so I'm trying to build in 5/6 days in the mountains.

My thoughts so far (which have changed every day this week: I need to come to a decision!):
1. Arrive Tokyo
2. Sightseeing Tokyo
3. Bus to Kawaguchiko
4. Day of walking, admiring Mt Fuji (too late to consider climbing it!)
5. Travel to Kamikochi (bus, train, train, bus... - not an easy transfer)
6. Hiking
7. Hiking
8. Alpine route to Kanazawa (use luggage forwarding service)
9. Sightseeing Kanazawa
10.Train to Kyoto, sight seeing Kyoto
11. Sightseeing Kyoto
12. Overnight trip to Koya-san
13. Back to Kyoto, sightseeing
14. Train to Hiroshima, sightseeing Hiroshima
15. Day trip to Miyajima
16. Hiroshima to Tokyo by bullet train (want to travel the fastest one. Partner has a work interest in transport)
17. Fly home

The variations I've toyed with are leaving out Kawaguchiko and head straight for Kamikochi but overnighting in Matsumoto to break the journey and see the castle there, and also whether to do the Alpine route or not. I really fancy doing it but the logistics - with luggage - may be challenging, and then the question has been whether to overnight in Toyama or Tateyama and then head straight to Kyoto, or go on to Kanazawa (as per above).

We are people who enjoy travelling and usually plan full-on trips that take in as much as possible. But I realise that this isn't, say, Switzerland: it's a very foreign land where the trains may also run on time but I won't understand a word that comes out of the PA system, or where to get off a bus!

Many thanks for any thoughts on the itinerary and if anyone has ideas for good hiking locations that fit in with the broad direction of travel I would very much appreciate them.

Angie

dingsquidge

Following earlier post above I've opened up a new topic for my query, rather than piggy-backing onto this one! Having read more posts and responses (eg http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...in-between.cfm )

I'm now toying with the idea of a car in the first half of the trip (ie for the mountains) and then trains for the second part (Kyoto etc).

New post is: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ons-please.cfm

Thanks!