Itineray questions for 3 wks Nature/Old Japan

Hi everyone,

Two weeks ago I heard that I'll be spending a few weeks in Shanghai on a business trip at the start-mid of October. Seeing that I've always wanted to go to Japan and Shanghai is so close to Japan, I've decided to extend my stay after the project in Shanghai is done and do a 3 week vacation in Japan! I want to fly into Tokyo from Shanghai and my boyfriend will fly in the same day from the Netherlands

I've been researching since then and am amazed by how much information I can find. Enough that I do not want to "restrict" myself to a prearranged (group) tour, but create my own itinerary

One thing that slightly complicates matters, is that besides any luggage I want to take for my 3 weeks in Japan (walking shoes, fleece shirts for colder weather in the Alps, etc.) I will also have my business clothes for those first 3 weeks in Shanghai. Thus, a big luggage bag I'm afraid. Therefore, I wanted to try and base us in one hotel for a few days and do day trips from there

This is what I have in mind right now:

Tokyo Area:
Day 0 - Oct 17 - Fri: Fly to Tokyo
Day 1 - Oct 18 - Sat: Arrive in Tokyo - Go to hotel - Start sightseeing
Day 2 - Oct 19 - Sun: Tokyo - At least go to Harajuku to see the dressed up teens
Day 3 - Oct 20 - Mon: Day trip to Nikko
Day 4 - Oct 21 - Tue: Tokyo
Day 5 - Oct 22 - Wed: Day trip to Kamakura
Day 6 - Oct 23 - Thu: Tokyo

Mt. Fuji Area:
Day 7 - Oct 24 - Fri: Leave Tokyo in the morning and go to Hakone - Spend night in Ryokan with hot spring. I'm not really sure if we should stay in the Hakone area or the Five Lakes area. Looking at the places to visit at Five Lakes the Chureito Pagoda seems like such a beautiful place. I also want to spend the night to increase my changes to really see Mt. Fuji in the morning

Kyoto Area:
Day 8 - Oct 25 - Sat: Leave Mt. Fuji area and go to Kyoto
Day 9 - Oct 26 - Sun: Kyoto
Day 10 - Oct 27 - Mon: Day trip to Nara
Day 11 - Oct 28 - Tue: Day trip to Osaka
Day 12 - Oct 29 - Wed: Go to Mt. Koya to spend the night in a temple. I've read in another post that it might be possible to leave your big luggage with the hotel in Kyoto if we were to stay there for another night after our visit to Mt. Koya. Is Mt. Koya something to do for an entire day? Or should we leave Kyoto in the early afternoon?
Day 13 - Oct 30 - Thu: Leave Mt. Koya - Visit Himeji Castle - Go back to Kyoto in the afternoon. Is it easy to go to Himeji Castle from Mt. Koya, or should we do Himeji in an earlier day?
Day 14 - Oct 31 - Fri: Kyoto

Japanese Alps Area:
Ok, so here is where my itinerary is the most fuzzy, because I cannot really find the best/efficient route to visit all of the places I want to see. Especially with a big luggage trunk.
The things I want to do/see are: Do the Tateyama Alpine Route, visit and stay a night in a farmhouse in Shirakawa-go, visit/hike in Kamikochi, visit Matsumoto Castle, visit Kanazawa Kenrokuen, visit Takayama. Does anybody have any suggestions of what to do in which order and stay the night where?

Day 15 - Nov 1 - Sat: Leave Kyotot and go to Kanazawa
Day 16 - Nov 2 - Sun: Japanse Alps fuzziness
Day 17 - Nov 3 - Mon: Japanse Alps fuzziness - National Holiday I think?
Day 18 - Nov 4 - Tue: Japanse Alps fuzziness
Day 19 - Nov 5 - Wed: Japanse Alps fuzziness
Day 20 - Nov 6 - Thu: Leave Japanese Alps (from Matsumoto?) and go to Tokyo
Day 21 - Nov 7 - Fri: Fly out from Tokyo back to Amsterdam

Here are my reasons for/other questions about choosing this itinerary:

I've tried not to go to any autumn leave location during the weekends

After reading about the Ryokan, Minshuku and Temple Lodgings I wish I could spend every night in one of these, they seem like such an amazing experience! But that will get way to expensive I'm afraid. Our budget is maxed at about €2500 ($3300 / 340,000 Yen). But if anybody has some suggestions for nice traditional ryokan I'd love to hear

Not sure if we have too much time in Kyoto. But in the case we do get "temple fatigue" I think we will do a day trip to Hiroshjima/Miyajima instead

I think the 21 JR pass would be the best option for this trip?

We're both not really the night life kind of people. We like to get up early but still get our 7-8 hours a night. More of the Nature, old Japan mystique kind of people I guess :) (however, Kabuki is something that seems great to visit and if there is something else at night that we absolutely have to see, we don't mind the occasional short night ;) We just don't really go out in bars, etc.)

I've read my fare share of manga during my teens (especially from CLAMP), so I'd also love to hear any suggestions of places to visit that connect to this

Since it's only about 8 weeks away, I really have to start finding and booking hotels fast before they sell out :S (especially the ryokan and temple I hear)

Sorry, after typing it all out I see that there are a lot of questions, but I hope some of you are willing to answer a few :)

Thank you for any help!

Offhand, the 21 day pass would not be worth it, as it would be useless in the Tokyo area. The 14 day would be more worth it if you can squeeze in a few more long distance trips, such as Hiroshima.

If flying in and out of Tokyo, maybe try spending a night either end at a posh hotel and see if they will keep your business clothes luggage until you return before flying home?
Keio Plaza, as an example, has an exec club that you can join before arriving, which gives you some benefits (discounts, free breakfasts, rooms on the high floors so you get amazing views, etc), and is the sort of hotel that I can imagine would keep luggage for you, although I haven't tested that....

I'd do the alps between Tokyo and Kyoto, eg after leaving Tokyo :

1.shinkansen to Karuizawa, do some hiking etc, stay at Tsuruya Ryokan;
2. shinkansen up to Nagoya then Wideview back to Matsumoto (unless you can get to the Alpine route from Nagoya first). Launch from Nagoya to Alpine route;
3. Matsumoto to Kamikouchi (train/bus). Overnight is great. We stayed at the Onsen Hotel, highly recommended;
4. Kamikouchi to Takayama (bus);
5. Takayama to Shirakawa (bus);
6. Shirakawa to Kanazawa (bus);
7.Kanazawa to Kyoto (Thunderbird).

Thank you all for your replies!

@... Yes, I'll have to check what the costs would be for the Nikko and Kamakura trips without the JR Pass and a 14 day pass vs. a 21 days pass

@Winter Visitor: Good idea! I'm not sure if I can afford a posh hotel for 2 nights, looking at the prices of the cheaper hotels already, but I can make some inquires :)

@Lazy Pious: That is an amazing suggestion. I've turned around my itinerary. Already booked the Midagahara hotel for Oct 27-28 seeing it was the only Alpine Route hotel still available on that period...
Using parts of your suggestion I now have:

Oct 23 - Thu: Leave Tokyo, go to Matsumoto to visit castle, take train&bus to Kamikochi, do some hiking and stay the night (hopefully the Onsen Hotel)
Oct 24 - Fri: Leave Kamikochi, visit Takayama, spend night in Shirakawago
Oct 25 - Sat: Leave Shirakawago, go to Kanazawa
Oct 26 - Sun: Leave Kanazawa, go to Alpine route via Toyoma, end at Midagahara hotel
Oct 27 - Mon: Leave Midagahara, finish Alpine route, go to Matsumoto (perhaps on to Kyoto already?)

Two new questions arise now:

I do see now that this itinerary actually shortens my stay in the Alps with one day though. Perhaps we could do a day trip to the Snow Monkeys in Yamanouchi from Matsumoto?

Will there still be autumn leaves this late in Oct, or will it most likely be snowed over at Midagahara?

Thanks! If you want another day, Takayama is nice and I think it might be a big trip from Kamikouchi all the way through to Shirakawa in a day (Shirakawa is about an hour from Takayama by bus, and Takayama is nice for an overnight stay, especially if you like beef). The alps is up there with my favourite part of Japan, so try to spend that extra day in there. Matsumoto is nice for a visit but it is a little dreary on week nights. We've stayed at the Buena Vista there (very nice) and also the Richmond which was actually a lot handier to the castle and the middle part of town, and a very nice hotel.

Temple shukubo stay experience.
Shunkoin tenple gesthouse stay (kyoto)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g298564-d1013470-Reviews-Shunk...

http://shunkoinzentemple.blogspot.jp/?m=0

http://www.koya.org/english/staying.html

See detail and temple shukubo stay rules.

Google search "shukubo rules"

You can do a temple stay in Koya
If however you would want to do it in Kyoto, Koya does have budget accommodations.
9 hours is a Japan capsule chain hotel you could try... It was it 8 hours...?

You won't get temple fatigue from Kyoto. And it is probably better to do an extra day in Kyoto then to go to Nara. Only go to Nara if/when you have exhausted all the sights in Kyoto. Unless you really love deers; they do bite and ram you though.

Osaka is a night life city. But it isn't limited to bars and the red light district. The domtombori area has many good eats. Google will help you get the best and English friendly places.

Hiroshima is interesting if you do have an extra day to spare. Or if you think you had enough of city in Tokyo and enough of food everywhere else (Kyoto/Tokyo/Kanazawa) then you might skip Osaka and do Hiroshima.
Kyoto is good for Japan haute cuisine and tofu. Especially in the arashiyama area.
Kanazawa for wagyu and everything else. Cheaper than Tokyo too.
Takayama and shirakawago for soba and alcohol.

If you don't mind staying in a hostel (you can probably rent a private room) try jhoppers and k house.
They are in Tokyo Kyoto Fuji area.
The one at ito k house has an onsen too.

Ps
If you doing Japan alps then Kansai it might be cheaper to fly back to Tokyo. Or take an overnight bus. Then you won't have to spend on the jr pass
But if you are heading to Hiroshima then the pas is cheaper

Thank you again for all your replies!

@Lazy Pious: So you're suggesting I should stay the night in Takayama as well? Well, I could take one day of Tokyo which I can add at the end and travel straight to Kyoto after the Alpine route:

Oct 22 - Wed: Leave Tokyo, go to Matsumoto to visit castle, take train&bus to Kamikochi, do some hiking and stay the night (hopefully the Onsen Hotel)
Oct 23 - Thu: Hike some more and then leave Kamikochi, visit and spend night in Takayama
Oct 24 - Fri: Spend morning in Takayama, go to Shirakawago to spend the night
Oct 25 - Sat: Leave Shirakawago, go to Kanazawa
Oct 26 - Sun: Leave Kanazawa, go to Alpine route via Toyoma, end at Midagahara hotel
Oct 27 - Mon: Leave Midagahara, finish Alpine route, go to Matsumoto and on to Kyoto

@onsen man: The Shunkoin temple guesthouse stay looks amazing for our stay in Kyoto. I've already send them an e-mail requesting their availability, but received an "Out of Temple" until Sep 1st

@Joshua Hugh: Thank you for the tips (I like all the food tips). I'll put the possible Nara/Osaka day trips at the end of our stay in Kyoto, so we can still decide to go to Hiroshima instead

Yep, that looks good. Takayama is known for its beef and milk, so make sure you dont miss them. We usually stay near the red bridge which is a very nice part of town. The town itself is great for walking etc.

Day0 -17 Fri: Fly to Tokyo
Day1 -18 Sat: Arrive in Tokyo
Day2 -19 Sun: Tokyo -Harajuku
Day3 -20 Mon: D trip to Nikko(Toshougu area)
(RT9-13hr)
Day4 -21 Tue: Tokyo
Day5 -22 Wed: D trip to Kamakura (RT5-10hr)
Day6 -23 Thu: to Hakone (stay) (OW4hr)
Day8 -25 Sat: hakone (stay)
Day9 -26 Sun: to Kyoto(stay) (OW5-6hr)
Day10-27 Mon: D trip to Nara (RT8-12hr)
Day11-28 Tue: to Osaka(Shinsekai,Imamiya area stay) easy access to Koya(Imamiya stn.)
(OW2hr)
Day12-29 Wed:to Koya(D trip or stay)
(OW3hr,RT8-12hr)
Day13-30 Thu:Koya or Osaka to Hiroshima
(Hiroshima Stay) (OW5-6hr)
Day14-31 Fri:to Miyajima island (RT7-12hr)
(Hiroshima Stay)
Day15- 1 Sat:to Kyoto or Kanazawa (stay)
Kyoto(OW3hr) Kanazawa(OW6hr)
short trip Kanazawa Kenrokuen (3hr)

*send Luggage to the (NRT?) airport
(Kuroneko yamato transport airport service)

http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/personal/airport/

Day16- 2 Sun:Midagahara stay
Day17- 3 Mon:Tateyama/Kurobe route
to Matsumoto or Hirayu onsen(stay)
http://www.okuhida.or.jp/world/english/enjoy.html
http://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/index.html

Alps Shinsyu/Hida Open Ticket(bus)

http://www.alpico.co.jp/access/map/kamikochi.html
http://www.kamikochi.or.jp/english/areamap/

Day18- 4 Tue:to Kamikouchi,Hirayu,Takayama
(Hirayu or Takayama stay)
Day19 -5 Wed:D trip to shirakawagou
(Hirayu, Matsumoto or Nagano stay)

Day20 -6 Thu:to Jigokudani monkey
go back to Tokyo via Nagano shinkansen
Tokyo stay (a little busy)

Day21 - 7 Fri: Fly back to AMS.
* pick up your Luggage before check in at the airport(NRT?)
check in. boarding.... To AMS .......

***Nov 3(mon) national holiday japan
(Bunka no hi=culture day)
Nov 01-03 holiday