kelloo

Hello everyone, my fiance and I are traveling to Japan in eary April for our honeymoon. We plan to fly into Osaka and out of Narita and will have 10 nights. We have already decided on 4 nights Kyoto (with side trip to Nara) and 4 nights Tokyo. That leaves 2 nights. Some of the places we were interested in visiting include Miyajima/Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Hakone, and Nikko. What two places do you think would be best to visit, and how would we schedule them in our itinerary to keep travel times to a minimum? I realize Hakone is the easiest to fit in our itinerary, but I confess we are more excited about the other places. Thank for your help.

KimJapan

With two days, you could do one of your choices I think. More and you will be really moving fast. Which place to go depends entirely on your interests. I always recommend Kanazawa, since I live there, but in your case, Hiroshima and Miyajima might be nice. You could possibly also do Hakone one day and Nikko another. The Frommers guidebook on Japan is quite good I think so a browse through that might help you with your decision, as might a browse through the archives of this board. Japan has been talked about lots and lots here, and I'm sure you'll find good information.

oiloc

Hi if you fly into Osaka and spend 4 days in Kyoto with a side trip to Nara, that will give you 3 days for Kyoto. I think that is fine if you plan your time well.

To get to Hiroshima and Miyajima you will head further south for about 2hrs on the bullet train and that will use up your 2 days. From Hiroshima back to Tokyo it will take a little over 4 hrs on the bullet train. So with 4 days in Tokyo, Hakone and Nikko will need a day each. Which only leaves you 2 days in Tokyo itself. Quite tight.
I prefer Hakone to Nikko as I like the natural sights of lakes and mountains. But if you like temples and ancient architechture, go for Nikko.

If you go Kyoto, Kanazawa and Tokyo, time wise is the same, but I found getting around Hiroshima and Miyajima easier than Kanazawa. Although the 6 harmonies garden in Kanazawa was fabulous!

asykes1

i would strongly recommend visiting Miyajima for a day/night and splurging to stay a iwaso ryokan. it was a lovely experience - beautiful rooms, delicious kaiseki meals, peaceful setting with the sea and mountains and some interesting shrines to visit. all around a unique, traditional and fun experience...

kelloo

Thanks for the advice. We don't want to move around too much, but there are so many places we want to go! Have to save them for another trip. It looks like Miyajima is pretty definite. If we do decide to stop anywhere else it will be Hakone, which is the most convenient, and we do want to visit an onsen. So much planning to do!

Jeffrey

With two extra days you could do daytrips to Nara and Horyuji or Himeji Castle or spend more time in Kyoto itself. Kanazawa is a bit of extra travel time. I would suggest cutting a day from Tokyo, spending an extra day in Kyoto. Kyoto is a bit hart to navigate - you can do maybe two big sites or gardens in a day - and there are 3000 of them in Kyoto. We had a two week trip to Japan and we spent 9 days in Kyoto (with two daytrips to Nara and Horyuji), and 5 days in Tokyo. We didn't make it to Nikko, but friends said it was great. If I had to do it over, I would cut even more time from Tokyo and spend it in Kyoto - Shagakuin Imperial Villa, the Moss Garden, Ryoanji, Arashiyama all of these deserve at least half a day. Kyoto is the cultural heart of Japan.