Kavey April 2016 Japan Itinerary Planning
 

I've been working further on my itinerary, which as usual, has no resemblance to what my original paths of enquiry. I think I may have said on my previous thread that we decided to leave Tohoku for when we also do Hokkaido - and I came to realise that Hokkaido made most sense either in winter or in summer, rather than spring or autumn. I may be wrong on that, but that's how I felt about it. Tohoku of course, would work in the spring or autumn, but I want to pair it with Hokkaido.

Also, the more I looked at Chubu the more I realised we had plenty plenty plenty to see there.

And I think we will indeed go back to Kyoto for a week.

So far I have:

Day 1 Land early morning Haneda, either overnight in Tokyo or Yokohama
Day 2 Overnight in Tokyo or Yokohama
Day 3 Hakone, couldn't get Hakone Ginyu or Gora so holding 2 nights in a suite at Manatei Hakone (booking.com)
Day 4 Hakone
Day 5 Nagoya
Day 6 Rental car drive to Miho museum, overnight at Otsu, holding a night at Heihachi Tea House (this is very spendy so I need to review and see what I can find out about it, it's cancellable, booking.com)
Day 7 Drive to Kyoto or somewhere else we want to see in the area that needs a rental car
Day 8-13 Overnight Kyoto or environs
Day 14-17 4 nights in Kanazawa (not at all happy with hotel I'm holding, wanted Trusty but showing as booked, as are most options in the right location, but will try nearer the dates, have also emailed Kim in Japan)
Day 18-28 Still To Be Planned -- looking at Suganuma and Ainokura, the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, Matsumoto, Nagano/ Obuse, Karuizawa, Osenkaku Ryokan at Takarawaga Onsen and Nikko. Would also like to visit Chichibu for Ichira's Malt Distillery.
We fly home from Narita on the morning of Day 29.

Thoughts?
x x x
Kavey

I envy your leisurely visit to Kanazawa. :-) Consider finding time for a visit to, and tea ceremony at, Gyokusen-en or Nomura-ke (or both!) -- delightful!

Enjoy!

Kavey, you could contact Hotel Trusty directly at [email protected]. They helped me with the reservations I tried to make through their website. It's possible that you're trying to book way too early for their calendar.

Thank you both!!

4 nights in Kanazawa.. wonderful! and another week in Kyoto! This sounds like a great trip.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Manatei Hakone?

Is Nagoya worth that one night stop?

Anyone come across Heihachi Tea House? It looks lovely but it's pretty spendy so am keen for any feedback.

Kyoto, I'm considering a self-catering apartment but depends on whether I can find one in a good area. I loved being by Sanjo / Kawaramachi last time, so could look in that area again.

Or split and do a couple of nights nearer to Arashiyama?

But where I need the most help is Day 18-28!

:-D

Everything I've read about Matsue sounds really interesting. If you haven't been already, you could stop at Kurashiki on your way there.

Nagoya is an excellent base. There's not a lot of interest in the town itself, apart from the Atsuta Shrine (same building style as Ise--you are not allowed to see the buildings at Ise itself). However, it's very convenient for visits to Ise, Meiji Mura, Gifu (cormorant fishing), Hikone (one of the 12 original castles, plus noted garden and tea arbor) and other stuff around Lake Biwa, Ishiyamadera (where Murasaki wrote the opening chapters of Genji Monogatari), and Kiso valley. There's a nice train route between Nagoya and Kyoto via Lake Biwa. Most of the local trains are Meitetsu so a Japan Pass won't work.

Matsue and the san-in coast are really attractive and interesting. Far more so than the places usually mentioned here. Matsue itself is full of interesting sights, then there's the Izumo shrine and then Hagi which (along with Kagoshima on Kyushu) is where the Meiji restoration began and there's an excellent museum/shrine to Shoin Yoshida and the Choshu five as well as the splendid Toko-ji.

On the way from Okayama to Matsue you go through Bitchu Takahashi, which has the oldest and highest of the original 12 castles (it's perched on a hilltop) and some fine temples and gardens.

>>Is Nagoya worth that one night stop?

Not for Nagoya. I stayed there as a base to visit Inuyama, Ise Jingu, and Gifu. Nagoya castle is just ok. A day trip from Nagoya to walk the Nakasendo would be possible. I think there is a Toyota factory tour east of the city. The grand sumo tournament is in July. They have a big league baseball team, the Chunichi Dragons.

Inuyama is about a half-hour from Nagoya on a Meitetsu train.

Inuyama castle is a gem:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3351.html

It is an easy walk from the station to the castle.

Between Inuyama station and castle is Jo-an, a nice tea house in Urakuen garden.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3352.html

I didn't visit the Meiji Mura in Inuyama.

The Nagoya Hilton is nice and has a shuttle to the shinkansen side of JR Nagoya station. There is a Marriott Associa hotel on top of the station.

@ someotherguy -- Thanks for the great info. :-) I'll keep it in my for my next trip to the area!

I did visit Meiji Mura -- I'm a sucker for places like that. The thing I liked best about it was seeing the entryway and lobby of the Frank Lloyd Wright hotel that had been in Tokyo. I'm also a sucker for FLW. ;-)

Oh, and seeing ukai in Gifu was very cool, IMO.

I missed tea at Urakuen, but thoroughly enjoyed the garden itself. Unfortunately, I was just a tad too late to actually see Inuyama's castle :-( but I enjoyed the walk there from the train station -- riverside, and then rather gently uphill.

Thanks everyone,

I have emailed Trusty Kanazawa directly. Hope to hear back soon.

The info on Nagoya and nearby sights is very helpful, I'll investigate those further and work out what we will do with our time there.

We would drive rather than train from Nagoya to Kyoto so that we can visit Miho Museum more easily and stop in Otsu overnight on the way.

I'm keen to know about any other attractions between Nagoya and Kyoto that we can also visit while we have that rental car.

I'm not sure where Matsue comes in, it seems very very far from anything else we're visiting?

Questions I'd love help with:
==============================

* Any thoughts on visiting / staying in Yokohama? We could either land and go straight there for two nights, land and stay one night in Tokyo and then one in Yokohama or just do both in Tokyo?

* Has anyone got any info / feedback on either Manatei Hakone or Heihachi Tea House in Otsu?

* Other potential attractions and / or overnights between Nagoya, Miho, Otsu and Kyoto.

* How to pull an itinerary together for Days 18-28. On my list are Suganuma and Ainokura, the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, Matsumoto, Nagano/ Obuse, Karuizawa, Osenkaku Ryokan at Takarawaga Onsen and Nikko. + visit to Chichibu for Ichira's Malt Distillery. We are happy to train or drive, I just can't seem to pull a sensible plan together.

* We fly home from Narita on the morning of Day 29. Happy to stay in Narita overnight on Day 28.

Choose Yokohama or Tokyo, not both. Yokohama has a few sights to see and/or Kamakura for a day. I stayed at the Sheraton which is a short walk from Yokohama station. I think a Haneda airport bus stops there. Or the Narita Express. It is a bit more travel time to get to places in Tokyo.

Staying near Shinjuku station has an advantage because you can shuttle/walk to the station and take the Odakyu train to Hakone-Yumoto.

I did take the bus from Narita to Yokohama, in traffic, in the dark, and thought it was never going to end.

Yay, Trusty came back and confirmed a booking for a non-smoking superior double room, so I'm really pleased. Thanks folks, especially internetwiz for the email address and tip!

Still not a clue on the Kyoto piece (where to stay, whether to do a week self-catering or split the stay into blocks) and of course, the Eastern Chubu bit is still completely up in the air...

Reeeeeeeeaaaaaaally odd. When I booked Heihachi Tea House via booking.com last week or whenever it was, I am certain it was showing on their map as close to Otsu. That is why I chose it, I spent some considerable time working through the booking.com map and ratings and then cross-referencing to other sites before selecting and booking Heihachi.

When I look again today, I see the location is now showing as north of Kyoto, nowhere near Otsu!

So I'll need to look again for the overnight accommodation after our Miho visit. Of course, we could continue straight into Kyoto, rather than stop by the lake at all...

Thank goodness you noticed the discrepancy well in advance!

I've also been tripped up by new and corrected info, and / or multiple places with similar names, before -- so I always check and double check and check again....

Yes, Kja, what's weird is that it's obviously been quietly corrected and I didn't get any notification. I am pretty sure I'm not going mad here as I carefully looked at the booking.com maps, then opened my Google Map into which I'd saved the various places such as Miho Museum and cross-checked there.

Anyway, not to worry, I'll find somewhere I'm sure. Thought I'd found a gorgeous place to book instead but then realised I had entered search dates a month later by accident, and it's sold out for my dates. There's availability by their own website but I think that requires payment in advance and I can't find any cancellation terms.

Yay! Hakone ginyu have come back with availability! I'd asked to be put in a waiting list and been told by ryokan collection that such a thing didn't exist so I'd figured to just give up at this point. And then I got the email this morning, and entered credit card info to guarantee it. We have a sora room for the two nights we wanted!

Wonderful news, so glad the wait list worked. You'll really enjoy it.

Me too. :-D

Fabulous, you will not regret it!

OK so I stalled a bit on itinerary as work and life have been so busy.

Here is how it stands now:

Day 1 Land early morning Haneda, overnight in Tokyo or Yokohama (holding booking in Yokohama)
Day 2 Overnight in Tokyo or Yokohama (holding booking in Yokohama)

Day 3 Hakone Ginyu (booked)
Day 4 Hakone Ginyu (booked)

Day 5 Nagoya (nothing booked)

Day 6 Rental car drive from Nagoya to Miho museum. Current plan is to overnight by Lake overnight (holding booking Ogoto BUT could just as easily skip that night and continue in to Kyoto for the overnight)

Day 7 Probably overnight in Kyoto (nothing booked)

Day 8-13 Overnight Kyoto (nothing booked, but have a confirmed dinner invitation/ reservation for evening of Day 8)

Day 14-17 4 nights in Kanazawa (booked Hotel Trusty directly via email)

Day 18
Day 19
Day 20

Day 21 Overnight in Karuizawa (booked into Hoshinoyo resort, can't be moved)
Day 22 Overnight in Karuizawa (booked into Hoshinoyo resort, can't be moved)

Day 23

Day 24 Overnight in Nikko (booked into Kai Nikko, can't be moved)
Day 25 Overnight in Nikko (booked into Kai Nikko, can't be moved)
Day 26
Day 27
Day 28
Day 29 morning flight out of Narita

QUESTIONS
==========

1) Day 1 / 2 I'm still dithering about whether to skip Tokyo for Yokohama or not. It's not like I've seen everything Tokyo has to offer, so I'm happy to stick to Tokyo. I'm wondering if Yokohama is really interesting enough to bother doing as a double overnighter? I could split the nights but that makes it a lot more faffy.

2) Day 6 Is it worth having an overnight by Lake Biwa? I don't think it'd be an arduous drive to continue straight into Kyoto after Miho Museum (which we'll have driven to from Nagoya) but I thought it could be nice to see/ overnight by the lake. I'm not huge fan of too many 1 nighters but don't mind some and with a car so it's not faffy, transport wise. Currently booked into Yumotokan in Ogoto near Otsu, but looking for something in Otsu itself, at southern tip of the lake.

3) Day 7 - Are there other areas / villages/ towns/ attractions to the north or east of Kyoto, or even further afield, that we might appreciate having a rental car to reach/ explore? If not, we would head straight in to Kyoto after the overnight.

4) Kyoto - we have either 6, 7 or 8 nights here depending on what we decide for day 6 and day 7 overnights. Apartment / machiya rental could work well here. I need to urgently work out day 6/7 so I can get on with booking this, as April is peak season, I know.

5) Days 18, 19, 20 (following Kanazawa and before Karuizawa). We've been to Takayama previously, so would probably skip it this time, even though I know there is more I could enjoy there. We could visit Suganuma and Ainokura and/ or the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route and/ or Matsumoto and/ or perhaps Obuse near Nagano for the Hokusai museum? I'm really struggling here, and would be grateful for any input/ thoughts. We can travel by train, bus or rental car, whatever is easier.

6) Day 23 (between Karuizawa and Nikko). We could do one night at Osenkaku Ryokan at Takarawaga Onsen but is that worthwhile? We do have onsen facilities at the two places on either side, but none with mixed gender bathing, which is one of the appeals of Osenkaku. Is 1 night worth it? If so, I assume rental car would be easier than public transport? Any other ideas on what we could/ should do with that night?

The other option for this day/ night is to head down to Chichibu for a visit to Ichira's Malt Distillery, though I don't know where one could/ should overnight in the area or whether it's worth heading all the way AND overnighting, just for the distillery. It's certainly one we'd like to visit if it makes sense but not if it's an idiot detour.

7) Days 26, 27, 28 I'm thinking probably Tokyo (depending a little on what we decide for day 1/2) but possibly with the last night in Narita instead? Thoughts?

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE INSPIRATION, HELP AND SUGGESTIONS! x

Kavey

On what date are you scheduled to arrive in Haneda ?

30th March, Kanazawan.

Kavey, with that much open time, I would definitely give a full day and overnight to Matsumoto. The castle is absolutely stunning and the town itself quite charming. In addition to the castle, I visited the Kaichi Primary School and enjoyed exploring the main shopping street who's name escapes me. But the castle is the main reason to go and I think you'd be as awestruck as I was.

then, with regard to Days 19, 20, i would recommend Matsumoto area. i am not necessarily enthusiastic about the town of Matsumoto itself, but love its pastoral suburbs, especially the Azumino city area in the north (where Daio Wasabi farm, Hotaka Shrine, etc. are located). Azumino's spring blossoms in mid/late April, against the backdrop of stunning northern Alps/streams with crystal clear water, would be lovely. When you move to Karuizawa (or while you stay there), you can also visit Komoro castle ruins http://blog.life.under.jp/?eid=890561 (mid-april in komoro ---- someone's pic blog) i would probably write more when i have time

Thank you, much appreciated!

Hi Kavey,

I've never been to Miyama, but it's only 1:14 north of Kyoto by car. This might be a good pre or post-Kyoto destination. If you are interested, here is the Japan-guide link

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3985.html

and here is the map link for location

https://goo.gl/maps/8ZvNY9o2bF82

If you decide to go please let us know how it was! :-)

Ooh, thanks Russ, I'll check that out. I'd love to overnight but not sure I would cope well with shared bathroom in that kind of property but the destination does appeal!!

with regard to kanazawa, http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niw...sakurafree.htm is the period when kenrokuen/castle were opened/illuminated at night during past 20 years or so. About 7-10 days every year at around the time of the peak blossoms of most numerous Somei-yoshino cherry trees. Typically(but not always), Sunday tends to be the last day of the illumination. So,if sakura blooms earlier than usual, you would miss it by a few days. On the other hand, if it turns out to be a slightly late year, mid-april would be perfect. Illuminated castle/kenrokuen area would look like http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/yamajyou11/...=13124383&no=0 ..... or,.. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater .. But the illuminated blossoms/castle/garden might be most beautiful just before sunset http://photozou.jp/photo/photo_only/...e=1024#content .. In some areas like this https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater ., you would be able to see illuminated castle/blossoms against the backdrop of snow-covered mountains all at the same time if you are there just before sunset during the illumination period. http://blog.goo.ne.jp/nikidasu/e/1dd...c02e4a18a212e2 is someone's pictures on spring festivities in Asanogawa area. The last several pictures of http://asake.sakura.ne.jp/kiko-28/1.html are also nighttime festivities there. Next year this would be either April 9th or 16th, probably

anyway, among the several towns I have lived (including Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa and Washington DC) , I love the spring scenery/ambience of kanazawa most. Spring blossoms in the hilly, stone-walled castle/kenrokuen area, against the backdrop of snow-covered mountain vista, is simply unbeatable. My second favorite would be Tokyo (simply because Chidorigafuchi blossoms are so spectacular https://www.google.co.jp/search?safe...IoK_0gTj5JDAAQ ). Although my house in kyoto is very close to some of the most popular Hanami sposts such as Keage Incline and philosopher's walk, i tend to feel there are too many tourists for rather underwhelming spring blossoms. Jampacked Chidorigafuchi area in the sakura season is still a real stunner, while overcrowded philosopher's walk in early april often looks really absurd. but, also bear in mind, if smoggy air, drifting from continental Northeast Asia, happen to be in the area you visit, spring vista/ambience would not be so breathtaking even in best parts of these places. In the case of Kanazawa, snow-covered mountains should be viewed at least as clearly as http://www.asahicom.jp/articles/imag...00815_comm.jpg in typical, non-smoggy spring days.

you can see the movement of smoggy air through these sites http://www.tenki.jp/particulate_matter/ ....... http://www.jma.go.jp/en/kosafcst/
there are many bad days, especially in spring/summer. in bad days, everything would look ugly.

Sadly, both the suites at Sakura are booked so I'm back on the hunt again...

On the plus side, having read up on Miyama (thanks Russ), I've gone ahead and put in a booking request to overnight in one of the traditional thatched cottages there -- better still, it's a full house rental so no shared bathrooms, and they also offer activities, am hoping to do a bamboo craft experience or a cooking class. It's self-catering but they will provide ingredients for a meal on request at a very reasonable price, so we'd probably do that. Am keeping my fingers crossed it's available. Exploring the web they obviously used to run bookings via booking.com etc but it looks as though they've switched to AirBnB - it's the only booking site their own website links to. Our dates showed availability, so I'm hopeful. Will be my first AirBnB booking, if they come back and confirm. Only annoyance is that it charges me in £ not Yen and at a very poor exchange rate (181 yen to the pound). But I can live with that if the booking comes through!

Kanazawan,

We did look at blossom times, with help from HT who did some personal research for me on weather patterns, with a loose prediction on whether blossom season will be early, late or on the dot, next year.

However, I also wanted to create a sensible itinerary in terms of routing, as we are essentially doing a giant loop, with a detour at the Western edge to go to Kyoto.

So we know we will likely have missed peak blossom in Kanazawa for our visit.

Thus far I've not planned any of our daily plans within Kanazawa nor in Kyoto (but do let me know if you'd be up for meeting up for coffee or cake or such?) in Kyoto.

OK here's where I'm at now:

Day 1 Land early morning Haneda, overnight in Tokyo or Yokohama (holding booking in Yokohama but now leaning towards Tokyo!)
Day 2 Overnight in Tokyo or Yokohama (holding in Yokohama)

Day 3 Hakone Ginyu (booked)
Day 4 Hakone Ginyu (booked)

Day 5 Nagoya (nothing booked)

Day 6 Rental car drive from Nagoya to Miho museum. Current hope is to overnight in a traditional grass huts village north of Kyoto but the property I'm interested in aren't taking bookings yet, so we'll have to see. Am holding an overnight booking in Ogoto for the time being.

Day 7-13 Overnight Kyoto (had appt rental, lost rental, so nothing booked, but have a confirmed dinner invitation/ reservation for evening of Day 8)

Day 14-17 4 nights in Kanazawa (booked Hotel Trusty directly via email)

Day 18 Wajima (booked into Hotel Route-Inn Wajima)
Day 19 Hyakurakuso (holding option on either 1 or 2 nights booking, ocean view room, at Hyakurakuso)

Day 20 POSSIBLE Overnight near Namerakawa to see the Firefly Squid at night, finding it very hard to find anyone who's done this

Day 21 Overnight in Karuizawa (booked into Hoshinoyo resort, can't be moved)
Day 22 Overnight in Karuizawa (booked into Hoshinoyo resort, can't be moved)

Day 23 TBC NO IDEAS, HELP"

Day 24 Overnight in Nikko (booked into Kai Nikko, can't be moved)
Day 25 Overnight in Nikko (booked into Kai Nikko, can't be moved)

Day 26 Prob Tokyo (nothing booked)
Day 27 Prob Tokyo (nothing booked)
Day 28 Either Narita or Tokyo
Day 29 morning flight out of Narita

Any thoughts on the missing bits?
x x x

Looks like a good trip.
If you're cruising around the Miho Museum area Shigaraki is close by and could be interesting if you have an interest in ceramics.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/r...shigaraki.html

Lacey, I'm thinking about a night or two on th Noto Peninsula also. When I looked at Hyakurakuso on the Japanese guesthouse website, it looks like no private toilets. Is that correct? Also, what are you thinking about as an itinerary for the area?

Sorry, Kavey, autocorrect was too quick for me.

No worries, the earliest generation of cell phone autocorrect software always corrected Kavey to Latex, so one of my friends had "Latex Good" instead of "Kavey Home" for my entry in his Contacts list!

I just double checked and no, our room definitely has toilet. We booked a Japanese-Style Superior Twin Room with Ocean View - best place to check out the full facilities is booking.com which has lot of detail there.

Thanks for checking though - you are right that I would prefer not to book a room without private toilet.