Itinerary help - 10 days Japan
 

Hello.

My husband and I traveling to Japan in April (first time) and would welcome suggestions/improvements on this tentative itinerary. Flying into Tokyo Narita and flying out of Itami. I'm thinking we'd get 7-day railpasses (haven't done the math yet, though).

Day 1 - arrive Narita
2,3 - explore Tokyo
4 - train to Kanazawa
5 - stay Kanazawa - possible day trip to Yamanaka onsen or Shirakawa-go
6 - ?
7 - travel to Hiroshima/Miyajima
8 - to Kyoto
9, 10 - Kyoto
11 - Nara/Koya-san
12 - train to Osaka/Itami for afternoon flight

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Too fast paced. I trust that the ? is for Kanazawa, because otherwise hardly worth the trouble of getting there. Also, have you looked into the logistics of getting to Nara and Koya-san on the same day? And getting to KIX for your flight?

With only ten days, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Koya-san would make a possible trip, although still a bit fast.

To work out whether a pass will be worthwhile, and how to get from A to B, use hyperdia.com

I think you are trying to cover too much. I fear you will come home exhausted with memories of train rides and that's about it.

You did well to fly into Narita and out of Osaka.

If you are going to go to Kanazawa, you'll wants some time there, not day trips to elsewhere. So days 5 and 6 should be in Kanazawa.

On Day 7 you go to Hiroshima/Myajima, but you have no time there, moving on to Kyoto on Day 8. I'd cut this for sure.

You only have two full days in Kyoto. We had 5 days and would have liked more!

Trying to cover both Nara and Koya-san on the same day sounds like too much to me - you won't see either one.

As you have already figured out you can't see it all in 10 days. Choose what is most important to you for your first trip and leave the rest for your next trip.

While we all travel at different paces, and while I travel at a much harder / faster pace than many on this board, I would also find this trip FAR too fast-paced. Just as examples, I regret that I gave Kanazawa only 2 days and can’t imagine combining Nara with a night on Koya-san (and I, personally, would only visit Koyasan if planning an overnight there).

You might want to consult some of the planning threads for trips to Japan on this board – you are not the only person to have difficulty judging times!

And, of course, consult good sources of information about traveling in Japan (e.g., japan-guide.com), pay attention to the time it will take to get from place to place, and use a calendar to help you think about how much time you will need to see the things that YOU want to see and esperience.

Good luck!

More Kyoto.

Kanazawa may be very nice, but most of its attractions are available in some form in Kyoto - the gardens, temples, even old town district (go to Gion).

Of course, you don't state your interests so giving you additional help catering to those preferences is impossible.

I pretty much agree that as is you're loading it up too much. Trying to do Nara & Koyasan in a day is basically impossible. You can in fact do Hiroshima/Miyajima in a day with an early morning start unless you like a slower pace and window shopping. Won't see it all of course but you can catch the best.
The main sights of Miyajima are the shrine (20-30"), Daishoin Temple (1-1½ hrs) & climbing Mt. Misen (2 hrs~). You can skip the mountain if you have to.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...KGUB-HPKNxP10Q

What you could do is go to Kanazawa on the evening of Day 3, see Kanazawa & Shirakawago (the latter only takes a few hours, and the real treat is an overnight at a farmhouse there) on Days 4-5, go to Kyoto on Day 6, spend a half day in Nara on Day 6 or sometime in Days 8-10, and Day 11 give it all to Koyasan (preferably with an overnight, or change the order to do so).
If you keep Hiroshima/Miyajima, a 7 day JR Pass would pay off.
For Narita/Tokyo, you can use the 1000 yen bus & 2 day subway pass.
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/v...dex.html#anc03
or use the Keisei+Metro package
http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetud...ial/index.html

If you skip Hiroshima, you are still close to making a Hokuriku Arch Pass pay off.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_arch.html
Up to you if the convenience is worth the differential.

Yup, also think this is trying to squeeze in too much. You'll end up travelling more than anything else!

For Kanazawa, I did 4 nights, I think 3 would have been enough, though found stuff to see and do for 4. But on this trip, I'd drop it and stick to:

Tokyo
Kyoto
Nara

+ EITHER Koyasan OR the Hiroshima / Miyajima trip.

One night for Hiroshima / Miyajima is fine provided you can arrive to Hiroshima reasonably early morning on your arrival date, dedicate a good half day to it, cross to Miyajima by early-to-mid afternoon and spend the afternoon and evening there, PLUS a good part of the next morning there before continuing on to the next stop.

It would be similar for Koyasan, you'd ideally want to arrive there by lunchtime or early afternoon so you have time to visit the famous Okunoin during the day time. A dusk / evening walk there (after the early evening meal in your temple) is worthwhile too. In the morning you'll want to observe the monks in meditation / prayer before breakfast and departure. Some temples also offer additional activities.