Seeking itinerary advice - 14 days in Japan in November
 

Hi all! Could you take a look at this itinerary and let me know if you have any suggestions or changes? We'll be in Japan the first half of November, flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka.

We love to hike, and my husband doesn't really enjoy crowds and large cities, hence why we only plan to spend a couple days in Tokyo.

Day 1: Tokyo

Day 2: Tokyo

Day 3: Tokyo

Day 4: Shosenkyo Gorge; spend the night in Tsumago

Day 5: Explore Tsumago and Magome; evening train to Kyoto

Day 6: Kyoto

Day 7: Kyoto

Day 8: Kyoto

Day 9: Explore Nara park; hike the Yamanobe Road; spend the night in Asuka

Day 10: Hike around Asuka, then train to Mount Koya

Day 11: Explore Mount Koya

Day 12: Explore Mitarai Gorge; evening train to Osaka

Day 13: Osaka

Day 14: Day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima

Day 15: Fly home

My husband and I are in our late 20s, and we travel frequently, so we are used to traveling from city to city fairly quickly, although I'm trying to minimize the extra-long train journeys so we don't have many days where we spent more than 3-4 hours traveling. Thoughts?

Looks like fun. You don't really have any long travel days, other than day 14.

Two night at Koyasan and two in Osaka.

What day is Day 1?

We haven't booked our flight yet, so Day 1 will probably be a Saturday or Sunday but that isn't set in stone yet. Would you suggest spending the night in Hiroshima or Miyajima to avoid that travel time?

Depending on your interests, you may want to limit your time on Koyasan to 1 night -- not that there isn't enough to see / do there, but rather to free some time for other places. Also, FWIW, my impression is that one's experience of Koyasan depends largely on which temple one selects. I was very pleased with Shojoshin-in, which still gets great reviews:
https://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/...n=Shojoshin-in

Personally, I think staying overnight in Miyajima would be better than trying to visit both Hiroshima and Miyajima on a single day trip. There are some nice walking trails on Mt. Misen:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3451.html

Your time in Kyoto and Nara seems limited to me, but that may reflect your interests. I didn't visit Osaka, but from what you say of your interests, I wonder if you might shift time from Osaka to Kyoto / Nara. Just an idea....

Should be a great trip!

>>Would you suggest spending the night in Hiroshima or Miyajima to avoid that travel time?

Not so much that, tho I think that would be a good idea. I wouldn't do the day trip but a couple of fodorites have and have reported that they enjoyed it.

My thoughts are more about the fact that you are traveling during peak fall colors time. I don't know when they arrive in Miyajima but would expect that it would be very popular with Japanese tourists when the leaves turn. A weekday visit might be better than a weekend.

I wholeheartedly urge you to consider an overnight in Miyajima. If you love hiking, you'll love Mijyajima! You could easily spend at least 1/2 to 3/4 of a day walking around the island. You'd limit your ability to experience the hiking trails up the mountain if you had to get there and leave on the same day.

Even with the hordes of tourists in November (when we went there) it is absolutely worth seeing. Most magical part is at night when you essentially have the whole island to yourself from sunset onwards.

We stayed at Iwaso and absolutely loved everything about the experience!

Labor Thanksgiving Day is Nov 23, which is a Monday this year, so expect some competition for lodging at tourist spots on that 3-day weekend.

Wow, I'm overwhelmed by all of your responses! Thanks so much for the advice! We will definitely try to work in an overnight in Miyajima.

Luckily we'll have left before Nov 23d, so hopefully we can avoid those crowds!