Okay Fodorites, my host in Kyoto has informed me that he made an error and overbooked my arrival date of May 18-21 and have asked if I wouldn't mind check-in on the 22nd instead. So now I'm left with the 18-21 to decide where to go after leaving Kanazawa. Since my Japanese friend has made arrangements for us to visit the Izu Peninsula and could only do that on the 13-14, I canceled the Matsumoto/Kamikochi portion of my trip. Now I'm trying to decide between going to Matsumoto or Takayama. FWIW, I'm leaning more towards Matsumoto because of the Matsumoto Castle, but I'm wondering if 4ngts/3days is too much time in Matsumoto. Travel-wise from Kanazawa either of them would not require too long of a day getting from Kanazawa and then onto Kyoto.

Thank you.

With four nights you could do both. Or you could spend a night in Shirakawa-go on the way. There is a good Art Nouveau museum in Takayama as well as the float museum, but the castle is lovely. Probably depends on how many other castles you will see.

@thursdaysd, thank you. Yes, I could do both, but would prefer to do only one of them with side-trips. So now researching what side-trips can be done from both that would fill the time there. I do love castles which is why Matsumoto stands out. I'm also planning on seeing Himeji Castle, Hikone Castle, Okayama Castle and maybe Osaka and Nijo Castles. I also thought about visiting Matsue to see the castle there, but it's a long journey to/from.

You do know that Japanese castles are VERY different from European ones, right? The first one I saw, Nijo, I had a hard tme recognizing AS a castle. That said, they are definitely worth visiting, but I think you might get castled out if you do too many. Also, be prepared for a lot of VERY steep steps - I recommend some leg stretches beforehand, lol.

I enjoyed Matsue, but I wouldn't go just for the castle. The high point for me was probably the Adachi Art Museum.

thursdaysd, Yes, I know European castles are much different from Japanese. The must see for me is mainly Himeji, but Matsumoto looks so amazing also. And thanks for the heads up about the steep steps. I continue to work out with lots of leg exercises to manage them, plus I intend to do some hiking. Don't think I'll get castled out as well as temple/shrine out.

I thought Matsumoto castle was breathtaking, but 2 nights in Matsumoto should be plenty of time to visit the castle, the old samurai district and the primary school. A third day could be spent in Kamikochi or even 2 nights there if weather should be good and you are a hiker,

I know there are lots of people who really like Matsumoto but it was the least favorite part of my trips to Japan. Except for the castle, which took us only about a hour or so to walk through, there wasn't much for us. The old part of town wasn't as interesting as the equivalent parts of Kanazawa. I can't imagine 4 nights without at least 2 day trips elsewhere.

We did 2 nights Matsumoto, then 2 nights Noto Peninsula (LOVED it there) before we went to Kanazawa. What about Noto and Takayama (we haven't been to Takayama because I decided on Matsumoto instead), it would also make the traveling easier because Matsumoto is further away.

I haven't been to Matsumoto yet.

I thought the combination of Kanazawa and Takayama easily worth 5 nights.

Will you have the time you want in Kyoto? Is there no where else in Kyoto that you would consider staying?

@MinnBeef, thank you. Looking at the pictures, I too think it's beautiful so I can only tell what it will look like up close. As much as I hate one-nighters, I've decided to spend one night in Matsumoto just to see the castle and if time permit, a few hours in Kamikochi. I find that the lodging there are over what a budget traveler like myself want to pay.

@FromDC,I've thought about going to the Noto Peninsula, but to get the most out of that, it would require a rental car and since I'm traveling alone, the thought of driving in Japan by myself is very daunting as I'm very direction-ally challenged, plus I won't get to enjoy the scenery much.

@kja, I hope 9 days in Kyoto for a first timer is sufficient to see and do what I have planned.

As mentioned above, after leaving Kanazawa on the 18th, I will head to Matsumoto for the day/night. I will skip Takayama for this trip and now thinking about going to Hakone or Nara instead.

I highly recommend that you stop in Nagano on your way from Kanazawa to Matsumoto to visit Zenkoji. It is amazing and is a short bus ride or walk from Nagano station.
www.japan-guide.com/e/e6001.html

Yudanaka Onsen is not far from Nagano. Some visitors are interested in seeing the snow monkeys there.

You could visit Zenkoji and Matsumotojo in a day and Kamikochi the next day.

The Kiso Valley could be a day trip from Matsumoto. It is 76 minutes from Matsumoto to Nakatsugawa on a ltd exp.

Day trips from Takayama could be Shirakawago, Hirayu Onsen, Gero Onsen, or maybe Hida Furukawa.

>> thinking about going to Hakone or Nara instead.
In that case, Hakone would be much more convenient for getting to Izu.

Aah! Obviously, I failed to follow your revised plan. I envy your 9 days in Kyoto! You can visit Nara from there, or switch a night or two to Nara if that works for you.

Nine days in Kyoto is too much for me unless I was staying with a friend who lived there.

I'd love to do 9 days in Kyoto!
We did 5 on the first trip, 6 on the second and 7 on the third! Maybe 8 or 9 next time!

8 days in Kyoto is way too much for me as well and I adored takayama. Shame you will miss it, but one can't do everything.

Yeah I get that 8 days is a lot, especially if one doesn't know whether one will fall hard for it or not...

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

mrwunrfl, good suggestions. I'm tentatively booked for 1 night in Matsumoto even if I'm still undecided on where to spend 4 days. You've given me much to research.

dgunbug, I'm doing some more research on Takayama, but with 4 days in Kanazawa I figure I can do a side-trip to Shirakawa-go which is the only thing that have any interest in me visiting Takayama, but I'll research mrwunrfl's suggestions.

My plan is to do side trips while in Kyoto so that should make my 9 days fly by quickly.