Rough Itinerary - 21 days
 

Hello:
I am working on developing an itinerary for our visit to Japan (9/14 - 10/5 = 20 days). The only commitment is that we are booked to arrive in Tokyo and depart from Hiroshima by plane. We are active retired seniors from Canada, who prefer a slower pace of travel, so we can smell the roses, and love biking and walking. We really enjoy just wandering around and enjoying the ambiance and local feel of the area, taking buses/trains/subways as needed.
Our plan so far is ....
7 days Tokyo
6 days Kyoto
3 days Kanazawa
4 days Hiroshima
Ideally we have found in the past, the perfect length of time to visit a city/area is 5 nights, but this being the first time to Japan, we would vary a bit to allow for lots of day trips. Perhaps, shorten some of the days, and add a city?
I am reading everything exhaustively, but was hoping to get more focus by roughing out an itinerary, before planning the details.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be REALLY appreciated!!

Good start, but move Kanazawa befoe Kyoto.

When you go to Hiroshima airport take the bus from the station or the bus center (not the train/bus option).

Consider an overnight trip from Hiroshima to Miyajima.

I agree with mrwenfl, think about adding at least 1 night in Miyajima. To me the Hiroshima/Miyajima combo was perfect. The train ride from Hiroshima to Kyoto is easy breezy.

Great start. There is such a wealth of info about Japan on this board.

Good luck!

I agree with the suggested re-ordering, but admit that I would shift at least one day (and maybe 2) from Hiroshima, and for that stop, you might consider staying in Miyajima rather than Hiroshima.

Have you considered an overnight on Koya-san? It remains one of my most memorable stops of a memory-filled trip.

If you haven't already found it, I strongly recommend that you spend as much time as you can with japan-guide.com, a remarkable online resource on traveling in Japan. The only caveat I offer is that it seems to rather seriously underestimate how long it takes to visit things.

Should be a great trip!

This webpage has info on Hiroshima and side trips.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2160.html

One side trip is Onomichi which, among other attractions, has this: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3478.html which might be a more than you can chew, as you mentioned "biking" not "cycling".

Tomonoura is another Hiroshima side trip that might interest you: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3432.html That page mentions rental bikes. It says 30 min by bus from Fukuyama station. Hiroshima to Fukuyama is only 23 minutes on the shinkansen.

>>Perhaps, shorten some of the days, and add a city?

Given your interests, Takayama would be a candidate: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5900.html

I will soon be staying in Hiroshima for 5 days, including a day trip to Miyajima and half a day to Iwakuni. I think the city has a lot to offer that most people don’t know about, you might want to check out http://gethiroshima.com/ for ideas on what to do there.
If you want to get out on another day trip from Hiroshima, consider Kure, Takehara or Onomichi already mentioned. If you’re going to Tomonoura, you might want to do a quick stop at Fukuyama itself since you’ll have to take the bus from there too.
I’m also a slow paced traveller and like to stay a few days in each place. With some good research you’ll find plenty to do!

When you say three days in Kanazawa, does that mean 3 full days (four nights) or really just two days (three nights)? I'd recommend at least 3 full days there (4 nights).

Thanks everyone for their help!
This will give me some direction to continue my reading and research. I did use days to describe stay length but really should have said nights.
I have used japan-guide and it is indeed awesome.
I know that we are missing some key places, but like to think this is just our first trip to Japan, not the only one, providing good reason to return again and cover those places missed.