cindyjo

To my trusted Foderites: we find ourselves with an extra night to spend after leaving Kanazawa on our way to Kyoto. Our 29 day trip is divided in two by the addition of my sister-in-law. That itinerary is as follows: November 4-20. Kanazawa (3 nights), Kyoto (5 nights), Takayama (3 nights), Tokyo (4 nights). We plan for a few day trips depending on weather, energy, etc. Hotels are booked. We would like to add 1 night in an onsen town, preferably rural and preferably on the way from Kanazawa to Kyoto. I have been looking at the Fukui area but am open to any stop that makes sense on public transport.
My husband and I will be staying one night at Koyasan before her arrival so that is ruled out.
we are all 3 slow travellers, good walkers and in our 70s. First timers in Japan.
Thanks for any suggestions.

progol

Look at the several onsen towns around Kaga. I’ll be staying in Yamanaka, a short distance from Kanazawa, for 2 nights before going on to Kyoto.

cindyjo

Thank you, Progol. Have you decided on a particular onsen?

progol

Hi, cindyjo,

This is the place we will be staying in:
https://travel.rakuten.com/USA/en-US...10123456844014

Kaga consists of several onsen towns connected by a bus system. Yamanaka seems like the prettiest, though not necessarily the most convenient. The hotel does pick us up and drop us off with their shuttle, however.

It should be very interesting. There’s another current thread on this board in which Peter_T describes Yamanaka and the Kaga attractions pretty thoroughly. Look at the second post in the following thread:

Planning our first trip to Japan Fall 2024

mrwunrfl

You are going from Koyasan to Kanazawa to meet your sister there?

I can recommend Unazuki Onsen which is less than 2 hours from Kanazawa but in the opposite direction from Kyoto. It is a short train ride from Shin-Kurobe on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line. There is a scenic train and you can stop for a walk/hike if you want. Kurobe Gorge Travel Guide - What to do in the Kurobe Kyokoku (japan-guide.com)

cindyjo

Thanks for the suggestion mrwunfl. That might work. Did you have a suggestion for a particular onsen there?

cindyjo

We made reservations for https://www.hakujukan-eiheiji.jp/en/index/. This would be a 1 nighter on the way to Kanazawa. Then we booked Kurobe Unazuki Onsen Togen Ryokan for one night after Kanazawa. We will probably cancel our Koyasan booking replacing with Hakujukan for this trip. Hoping there will be good fall color at Kurobe Gorge 1st week in November. This actually frees up the first half of the trip for more of western Japan.
thank you so much for your input.

mrwunrfl

Togen Ryokan looks nice. You do want a room with a river view. Website says 5 min walk from the station but I expect that they will pick you up.

You need to be clear about which station where they will pick you up. There are two stations and they are a 2-minute walk apart. One for the scenic train and the other for the train that goes to the shinkansen station. The latter train is operated by Toyama prefecutre (I think), not JR. Those two stations are separated, so you would want to have umbrellas if it is a rainy day.

The Toyama train website is here: Railway | TOYAMA CHIHOU TETSUDOU INC. (chitetsu.co.jp)
On the right side of the Line Map you can find Unazuki Onsen and Shin Kurobe stations. Am pretty sure there is a non-JR option from Kanazawa (something like an Ishikawa prefecture train to Toyana and transfer to Toyama Chihou)

Togen ryokan looks nicer than where I stayed, Entaijiso. I enjoyed staying there and liked the river view more than I expected. Rough night on futons, tho, I took the scenic train and then had someone call for the hotel to pick me up. Big confusion and it was raining by that time.

I was there on November 19 and it was quite cold at the far end of the scenic train line. Really cold, That end is higher elevation and in the valley/gorge shadow.