Guys! these are really valuable info, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer

Thanks Kavey for the weather report :). I was kinda hesitant to go in Autumn thinking it might be cold but seems like it's a good time, I checked all year around weather and there wasn't great difference between autumn and spring!



I think I am now approaching my final draft:

Day 1: Arrive at Tokyo
Day 2: Tokyo
Day 3: Tokyo
Day 4: Nikko (day trip)
Day 5: Takayama
Day 6: Takayama
Day 7: Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto
Day 9: Hiroshima & miyajima (day trip)
Day 10: Nara (day trip)
Day 11: Kyoto
Day 12: Kyoto

Wish me luck :)

Ok, your new Day 9 means that you need a 7-day JR Pass starting Day 4. Good luck!

Yes thats exactly what i will do, get the jr pass and activate it on the Nikko day, thanks a lot mrwunrfl

Your new itinerary looks much better to me!

Thanks Kavey, this country seems amazing and I have been coming across a lot of amazing spots. I came across the Kumano Kodo area, it really seems so interesting to me as I will get the chance to do some hiking and experience a different part of Japan.

So I was thinking to skip Takayama and move Nara with Fushimi Inari shrine to be done in one day then put the 3 days to visit Kumano Kodo.

What do you guys think? has anyone went to both? I understand that both are really different but I was thinking that since I will be visiting Kyoto, Nikko and Nara then Kumano Kodo will be really different and more unique than Takayama.

Your input is much appreciated :)

Honestly, I'd try and focus on a few places and enjoy them properly, than try and tear all over Japan to glimpse many places. You only have 12 days, which isn't very long.

That's just my thoughts though, and fits my preferences of travelling. I know some people like racing about a lot more.

I suggest that you consider Fushimi Inari as an option, not a requirement, for your Nara day. You can visit FI as part of a Kyoto day.

Looks like there are a few options for a Kumano Kodo visit. KK does fit your interest so the time taken from Kyoto makes sense.

Your KK visit sounds good in theory but, unlike Takayama, I think you need to make a daily plan for it now. You are going to be leaving Tokyo and it will take you 4 or 5 hours to get where in Wakayama-ken? Do you spend the night there or start walking that day? At the end of the third day where will you be?

Am thinking that the answer to the last question could be: spending the night in Nara.

Tokyo to Kii-Tanabe (aka Tanabe or KIITANABE on hyperdia) would be 5.5 hours, shinkansen to Shin-Osaka and then a limited express. Then walk to Hongu with an overnight enroute, bus to Gojo and JR to Nara. Luggage gets shipped from Tokyo to Nara or Kyoto so that you can walk with a small backpack.

Or maybe Tokyo to Nara in less than 4 hours. Overnight in Nara. Then rail to Tanabe and walk, spend the night, walk more to Hongu. Then the bus to Gojo and Nara line on to Kyoto maybe with a stop on the way at Fushimi Inari.

It's busy; gotta like motion.

Wow! Thank you guys for the replies you are seriously awesome ��

So as for Kumano Kodo, I was thinking since the temples close anyway around 4:30, then I will travel after my day in Nara at night to Kk, the trip on hyperdia takes 4 hours and last trip i think leaves around 6:00 pm so i'll spend the night there and have an early start the next day. And i plan to leave my luggage for 3 days in the kyoto train station.

The hiking plan is not finalized yet but here is the initial draft:

Day 1:
Take bus from hotel in KK to Hosshinmon-oji and hike to first shrine "Kumano Hongu Taisha" (7km around 2 hours).

From Kumano Hongu Taisha, take the boat on the Kumano-gawa River. Its 90 minutes, then head up to the second shrine "kumano Hayatama Taisha".
sleep there

Day 2:
Take the bus to Daimonzaka then hike to the last shrine "Kumano Nachi Taisha"
Start the hike back from Natchi to Koguchi (14.5 km around 5.25 hours) sleep the night

Day 3: Hike Koguchi to the Hongu area (13 km around 4.5 hours), bus to station back to kyoto.

I've not done the Kumano Kodo (I'm old and lame) but I have been to the three great shrines (I rented a car from Kii Katsura). They are excellent (and all very different) and the view of the pagoda and waterfall at Nachi Taisha is one of the best in Japan. There may not be much backup if you miss a bus or train, so plan the timing of your hikes carefully. There are many other good places reachable from Nara on the Kii peninsular (Uji, Iga Ueno, Yoshino, Koya-san, Ise shrines) so you could spend all your time around there and still see many great sights.

Am looking at the map here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4952.html

So, you are traveling from Tokyo to Nara, stashing luggage in a Kyoto station koin rokaa on the way. You get to Nara when? with some time to see some of the sights, and next day spend most of the day there before leaving early evening for where? KK - do you mean Kii Katsuura? then bus to Hongu and transfer to bus to H-oji?

Or Nara to Kii Tanabe and then bus to H-oji, etc. ending in Kii Katsuura. Train back to Kyoto.

Your overnights would be:
Day 5 - Nara
Day 6 - ?
Day 7 - Kumano Hayatama
Day 8 - Koguchi
Day 9 - Kyoto

That? Or what?

There are minshuku for Hayatama and Koguchi, I suppose.

consider that last sentence to be a question

I think your revised itinerary looks pretty good. A couple of thoughts:

1. Looks like you now have about 3 1/2 days of actual touring time in Kyoto, which is what I had on my first trip. You will see a lot but not everything. If you are not married to Nara on this first trip (and I have not yet been there--will go on my next trip in the spring), I'd consider giving that day to Kyoto as well. You could use that day, e.g. to visit Arashiyama. (which I also did not get to on trip 1 during 2013 koyo, but will visit next spring)

2. Day 9 feels like a very long day to me. I beieve it's 2 hours each way from Hiroshima to Kyoto. You also have travel time to get from the Peace Park and A-Bomb Dome down to the port and then the ferry itself back and forth from Miyajima. You therefore probably have 6+ hours of just transportation on that day. Have you thought about spending the night on Miyajima? Many of us have done that and found it to be a wonderul experience, as you get to see the torii and shrine at both high and low tide, as well as experience the island after the day trippers have left. You would probably need to implement my option #1 above to make an overnight on Miyajima feasible, but I don't think you'd regret it.

Hey, so I plan to do a day trip only for nara, not spend the night, so will leave kyoto early, drop my luggage, then head to nara, spend the day then take the last train to Kumano Kodo area (last train is around 7 or 8 and it takes 3 hours.

Will get out at the nearest station to Hosshinmon-oji (the starting point of my hike) then Will spend the night in a hotel near the station. Next day will take the bus to oji and start my 3 day hike. So i will have 3 full days and on the last day will take the last train back to kyoto.

So it will be:

Day 5: nara day trip, sleep at kumnao kodo
Day 6: kumnao kodo
Day 7: kumnao kodo
Day 8: kumnao kodo and sleep at kyoto

Sorry mrwunrfl forgot to answer your question about the minshuku, after googling the meaning of the word :) yes, I didnt check accomodation much but I found some decent options also the stops I plan to sleeo were outlined in the Kumano Kodo official website, so I guess there must be options there.

Hi Minnbeef, thanks for your message.

Regarding Nara and Kyoto, since my trip is still 3 months away so i havent gone into much detail in planning my days in Kyoto, but i came across arashiyama and i definitely plan to visit since i really like nature and i like to mix both in every tril, so i will know more when get into planning each day and yeah i may skip it if kyoto had more stuff.

As for the hiroshima day, i will leave at 7 get there by 9 spend 3 hours in hiroshima then head to miyajima, to check the temple and hike the misen moutain one way and take the cable car the other way, then head back for the sunset at 5 pm (which should have high tide) will then spend some time till probably 7 then head back to hiroshima check the downtown and have dinner in the city then take a late train back :) sounds crazy i know but i dont want to waste more of kyoto's time.

with your JR Pass, take Hikari 491, Kyoto 07:20 -> 9:05 Hiroshima

Day 4 must then be Tokyo-> Kyoto instead of Nikko. You could leave your luggage at a Kyoto hotel, the one you depart from or the one you plan to return to after KK, if different.

You will probably be late for fall colors in Kyoto, KK, and Miyajima.

Nov 23 is a national holiday. I don't know if that would be a factor to consider as it is on a Wednesday. It is your Day 7.

On Friday, 25th of November of 2016, the sun will rise in Itsukushima at 6:53 h and sunset will be at 17:02 h. In the high tide and low tide chart, we can see that the first low tide will be at 0:10 h and the next low tide at 12:25 h. The first high tide will be at 6:25 h and the next high tide at 18:35 h.

We will have 10 hours and 9 minutes of sun. The solar transit will be at 11:58 h.

japan-guide says it is 80 min from Shingu(Katsuura) to Hongu where you would transfer to a bus to H-Oji (or maybe taxi for the 10 min trip).

Would be 2 hours from Kii Tanabe to Hongu and same bus maybe goes to H-Oji.

The rail trip the evening before would be Nara - 3hrs -Kii Tanabe - 2hrs - Shingu

This might help:
http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/transport...ocaltimetables

Kii Tanabe 06:35 - 08:48 Hosshimon-Oji if you really want to start early (better you than me).

Wow mrwunrfl you are great! "(better you than me)" hahaha! I know my trip looks crazy! thanks a lot for all the info!!

So this is my itinerary below, Hiroshima will be on the 23rd so the high tide will be 4:40 pm, I wanted to time it with sunset so I picked the 23rd.

I have couple of questions:
1) when you say the 23rd is a national holiday does it mean that all the site seeing will be closed, the peace museum, the temple @ myiajima and the cable car up misen?? or it will be super crowded??
2) I was trying to time my visit to kyoto especially to see koyo, and the japan guide mentioned that the koyo @ Tokyo and Kyoto occurs from late november to early december! So I will be in Kyoto during the last week of November, do you think this will be late??
I think I can try to push my trip a week earlier if that will be better.

Nov 18: Day 1: Arrive at Tokyo
Nov 19: Day 2: Tokyo
Nov 20: Day 3: Tokyo
Nov 21: Day 4: Nikko Day trip then back to Tokyo
Nov 22: Day 5: Kyoto
Nov 23: Day 6: Hiroshima & miyajima
Nov 24: Day 7: Kyoto/Nara (not decided yet) then spend the night in Kumano Kodo
Nov 25: Day 8: Kumano Kodo
Nov 25: Day 9: Kumano Kodo
Nov 25: Day 10: Kumano Kodo back to kyoto
Nov 28: Day 11: Kyoto
Nov 29: Day 12: Kyoto

again thanks a lot for your help