Help on itinerary needed
 

Am travelling with my brother for about a month around Japan and was wondering if someone could have a look at this itinerary. Is it feasible?!

8th Land Toyko go straight to Kyoto
9th Kyoto
10th Kyoto (poss see Himeji)
11th Mt Koya
12th to Shikoku do via Tokushima to Kotohira
13th Temple pilgrimage on foot
18th from where we make it to! to Nara
19th Kanazawa or Takayama
20th Shirakawa-go
21st Gokayama
22nd Yamadera via Yamagata
23rd Matsushima
24th Hiraizumi
25th Sapporo
have no plan as yet for Hokkaido-any ideas!
29th night train to Tokyo
30th Tokyo
31st Tokyo

I know it's a lot but any help/ideas would be greately appreciated.

Thanks

Way too much moving around and rushed. Why do you want to go to Hiraizumi? I didn't think it was very exciting at all. Koya-san and Yamadera will give you a similar experience - why go to both? Only one full day in Kyoto! Your itinerary looks pretty much all over the place to me.

Thanks for your feedback. I thought my plan was over ambitious but was wondering what to cut out, and where we might want to stay longer (Kyoto noted and added). Is Nara worth hanging around in for longer? Where is a good base in Hokkaido?

How about this:


8th land straight to Kyoto
9th Kyoto
10th Kyoto
11th Mt Koya
12th Skikoku stay Kotohira
13th start Temple walk
18th Nara
19th travelling to Shirakawa-go
20th Skirakawa-go
21st day trip Gokayama
22nd Yamagata
23rd Yamagata poss day trip Yamadera
24th Matsushima
25th Sapporo
26th ??
27th ??
28th ??
29th night train Tokyo
30th Kyoto
31st Kyoto
1-4th Tokyo

Sorry to keep asking but would really appreciate any help/ideas. Nothing is booked yet so it is changeable!

Thanks again

If nothing is booked, you might want to try to fly into Kansai airport since it's closer than the Narita airport...
The 19th will be a big travel day as well as the 25th...

Much too much moving around. You really need to spend more time in Kyoto. You can easily do Nara as a day trip from there but to even see the surface things properly you need at least 3-4 days in Kyoto. Skip Takayama. Kanazawa is much more interesting.

Thanks everyone for your help. I have decided to drop Hokkaido and use the extra days for more time on Shikoku and in Kyoto/travelling. Thanks again for your help.

Bonjour Rag,

Don't let yourself be influenced by the affluent/of retirement age crowd here who get tired at merely thinking of such an itinerary ;-) ;-) ;-)

Have you considered starting by going North like this:

- land Tokyo go straight to Matsushima
- Matsushima -> Yamagata
- Yamagata -> Matsumoto -> Kanazawa -> Shirakawa-go -> Kyoto
-> stay Kyoto and daytrips to Nara
-> Shikoku -> last few days Tokyo

Also, depending on the month you'll be travelling, you have to book accomodation long in advance for some destinations. Look at peak travel times at www.jnto.go.jp

If you travel outside those times, you can consider "playing it by ear" and rely on the various tourist offices to find accomodations.

Of course, you'll need railpasses. Best value for you might be JR general railpass for 21 days.