Japan for the first time
 

Hi

My wife and I are going on a tour which will visit Tokyo, Nikko, Koya San, Kyoto and ending in Osaka in March 2014. We then have 5 days to get back to Tokyo for the flight home (Australia). We have a rail pass for this period (19/3/14 to 24/3/14) . The flight back home is late on 24/3/14. Could someone suggest an itinerary. Our interests are food, scenery and architecture amongst other things. Thanks.

Regards,

Michael .

Hard to say with the information you have provided. How many days is your tour in Tokyo and Kyoto? I think a minimum of 4 days is necessary for Kyoto and I would have at least one more. Tell us more about the details you are already locked into.

we loved hakone and the hyatt there is wonderful---also many guest houses.. the tram, chair lift boat rides in the area were a wonderful day too.

citadines is a good reasonable place to stay in tokyo

I agree that we need to know more to offer reasonable suggestions.

I trust you have spent some time perusing japan-guide.com

BTW, should we assume that you are locked into the tour?

It seems that you will be in Japan near the peak of cherry viewing season, so you will probably want to make your decisions and reservations soon.

Can you give us a link to your tour description? From the list of locations I would guess that it has several shrine/temple stops - a good variety of important religious/cultural sites. You can see some wonderful architecture in those places.

As MinnBeef mentioned, what we might recommend depends on how long you will be in those locations - and what you will see. Tours are often hit and run and I predict that after we see your itin details that at least one of us will recommend more time in Kyoto. For food, you might spend some more time in Osaka. Osaka castle is impressive and the park is known as a good cherry blossom viewing spot (in season).

I would plan those days based on the cherry blossom forecast. Am guessing that would mean Kyoto and south.

At that time of year I think I would exclude anything north and west of the Tokaido shinkansen line due to temperatures and rain.

Okayama has a nice castle next to a very famous Japanese garden, Korakuen. Am not sure if it is a good spot for cherry blossoms, but it is wonderful. However, you might be there a bit too early. Nearby to Okayama is Kurahiki which has some old-style Japan architectural interest.

Farther south are Hiroshima and Miyajima.

And then there is Kyushu.

That was an educated guess I made about temps and rain. More guessing is that weather conditions on the west coast as far south as Hagi would not be kind.

My point is that with a wide open itinerary for those five days that you can narrow down your options based on climate. weatherbase.com has good info.