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.