My husband and I were fortunate to have a lot of international travel in 2019 (New Zealand, Munich, the Dolomites, Paris, Japan and Thailand), ending our last trip in January 2020. With the Covid shut-down I never found the heart to write trip reports, but I'm thinking that our itinerary for our first trip to Japan might be helpful to someone.

At the time of the trip we were in our late 60's. We have used a travel agent only once - many years ago for Argentina - and we travel independently. We enjoy outdoor activities as well as museums, and we like to end the day with a fine meal. "Night life" for us means a stroll back to our hotel. We did a lot of walking in Japan, and no matter where we were if we stopped to look at a map someone always stopped to ask if we needed help. The trains can be confusing at the beginning, but again, there are agents to help.

The most difficult part of planning this trip was deciding which shoulder season to travel in, and exactly where to go. Once we decided on autumn, we bookended a trip with Tokyo and Kyoto. Our itinerary was pretty close to perfect.The maples were just beginning to turn, we had gorgeous weather with the exception of one morning of heavy rain. Our travel dates were October 21 - November 14. ( As of this writing, the fall color projections for 2024 are for late November into December for Tokyo.)

Following is our itinerary. We originally planned two nights in Hakone, but train lines were disrupted by a typhoon so we added the extra nights to Tokyo. The only change I would make to this is to switch the order of Nara and Koyasan in order to make for a shorter travel day from Kanazawa. We enjoyed our stay at the ryokan in Takayama, but found that it was too much food over three nights. In the future we will look at booking fewer nights, or look for a ryokan where dinner is optional. Our night in Koyasan was an incredible experience. We ventured on our own through the cemetery, Okunoin, immediately after dinner, finding we had it almost to ourselves. As we returned to our hotel we could hear many noisy guided walks, and we were so grateful that we had been able to walk at a time when the serenity was not disturbed.

Tokyo - 8 nights - The Gate Hotel (Ginza)
Takayama - 3 nights - Hidatei Hanaougi (ryokan)
Kanazawa - 3 nights - didn't like our accommodation
Koyasan - 1 night - Eko-in Temple (definitely a highlight of the trip)
Nara - 1 night - Setre Naramachi
Kyoto - 7 nights - Cross Hotel

For those of you who may be interested in photos and some descriptions of the trip, here is the link to my husband's photo journal.
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...x3R2hucXI4RjRB

thanks for your trip report and link to the photo album! really helpful for our own Fall 2025 trip planning (thanks for your response to my questions). sounds like we have a lot of interests in common, including fine dining and we are also a bit concerned about the amount of food in kaiseki dining.
if it's not uncomfortable for you, would you mind sharing the name of the accommodation you didn't much care for in Kanazawa?

Great photos! Thanks for sharing!

My husband gets all the credit for the photos!

At the moment I can't find the name of the accommodation in Kanazawa, but as it wasn't in the main part of town and was a single room above a coffee shop I am pretty sure you won't come across it.
BTW, we stayed in a few ryokans this fall, and found that two nights were doable as far as how much food we were served. One - Auberge Watanabe on Miyajima - even seemed to have tailored the offering to smaller servings and fewer courses. We loved our stay there and wished we had been able to book more than one night.

Gorgeous photos! They really capture the beauty of Japan brilliantly! I’m awed by the photo at the DT Suzuki museum - a very special place that we visited last year.

Auberge Watanabe looks enchanting! we're also considering Iwaso.
We originally had Shizuoka on our list, as a possible place to catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji, and also because of an interesting inn, which emphasizes local crafts and has a French fusion restaurant on site that looks fantastic and also offers tailored menus for guests who have smaller appetites :~).

Iwaso looks beautiful! I didn't search for alternatives to Watanabe as a good friend had stayed there and highly recommended it. From the photos of Iwaso I think Watanabe may be more rustic, and it doesn't have a spa. We were very happy and comfortable there, and the hosts were absolutely delightful.