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Third visit in winter - December / January 2014/9/20 09:52
Hi everyone,

My fiancé and I are visiting Japan and South Korea for our honeymoon from 28 Dec 2014 to 9 Jan 2015. This will be our third trip to Japan so wefve covered a fair few places including:

Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kamakura, Kamikochi, Kanagawa, Mount Koya, Miyajima, Hakone, Yokohama, Takayama, Nagano, Nikko (but we didnft cover it fully).

Just to give you an idea of what we like, our favourite places so far are Tokyo, Kyoto and Kamikochi. We thought Yokohama, Miyajima and Takayama were a bit overrated (though they did have the best hida beef); Nagano was really desolate/boring (we didnft go there for skiing though!). We love sightseeing, eating/drinking (it takes up a lot of holiday time!), festivals/special events or places that are particularly atmospheric, and generally outdoor activities (e.g. hiking, biking etc). Wefre mid-twenties, so are pretty active and are fine with a hectic schedule (if we need it to be hectic).

We really want suggestions of where else would be good to visit (daytrips) and want to know whether Tokyo is the best place to spend new yearfs eve.

Our very vague and flexible schedule is:

28 Dec – Arrive in Tokyo – Tokyo day
29 Dec – Tsujiki Fish market and Tokyo day
30 Dec – Tokyo day
31 Dec – Tokyo day and midnight trip to Meiji shrine (is this the best shrine for NYE?)
1 Jan – Temple visit and Tokyo day
2 Jan – Emperorfs speech at Imperial Palace/Shopping for fukubukuro (lucky bags)/ Tokyo day
3 Jan – Day trip from Tokyo to Nikko
4 Jan – Day trip from Tokyo to Matsushima or Kusatsu (for onsen)
5 Jan – Tokyo - Yamanouchi to see the snow monkeys - Kyoto
6 Jan – Day trip from Kyoto to Amanohashidate
7 Jan – Kiyomizudera/Fushimi Inari shrine
8 Jan – Kyoto day and travel back to Tokyo
9 Jan – Leave Tokyo

If there are any events around this period, Ifd love to hear about them – Ifm really gutted wefre missing the sumo (again!).

We will be getting a 7 day JR pass, which is likely to be from the 3rd Jan.

Ifve purposefully left out skiing as my partner has never skied or boarded before, so we thought itfd be cheaper and easier for him to learn closer to home on a ski holiday. Wefve also left Mt. Fuji and Fuji five lakes out because we want to hike Fuji-san at some point during another trip in July/Aug.

Any information or advice would be fantastic!

Thanks,

Tanya
by Pangd  

Re: Third visit in winter - December / January 2014/9/20 14:56
South Korea over Christmas - strewth that will be cold! Make sure you try to get to Nami Island (Naiseom) and try to stay the night because the hotel there is amazing and full of art, and it is also amazingly cheap, probably less than a third of what you would pay for something similar in Japan. The island is sooo much better when the day trippers have gone. http://www.namihotel.com/
But anyway, if you like Kamikouchi (which we really liked), I'd try Enoshima (we stayed at Iwamotoro Honkan and really liked it), and Karuizawa (stayed at Tsuruya Ryokan and loved it) or Hikone (stayed at Futabaso which is on Lake Biwa and loved it). All of those places have hiking opportunities, or at least great walks. But probably our favorite place to stay in winter is Nara, at Nara Hotel, which is like stepping back in time.
by Lazy Pious (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Third visit in winter - December / January 2014/9/20 16:30
Day 5 Jan – Tokyo - Yamanouchi to see the snow monkeys - Kyoto doesn't seem practical.

I would go to see the snow monkeys on Day 4 and stay in Shibu Onsen for your onsen experience.
by mk (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Third visit in winter - December / January 2014/9/20 18:09
Being a Gunma Cabbage myself, I always like to try to steer people to Kusatsu... but in this case, I agree with mk. Doing a day trip to Kusatsu in winter is going to be lots of traveling time and not much onsen time, and really the beauty of it is staying at an onsen ryokan or hotel for a night.

Especially if you're heading to Nagano the next day, you're basically covering the same ground twice. Combine the two; head toward Nagano on Day 4, stay the night at an onsen on the way (there are a number that you could reach, Kusatsu included although it is a bit hard to get to), and continue to Nagano on Day 5 before heading to Kyoto.
by scarreddragon rate this post as useful

Re: Third visit in winter - December / January 2014/9/21 00:32
Thanks for all your input!

Lazy Pious – Haha it really will be cold, I canft wait – Ifm a bit sick of heatwaves at the moment! I will definitely add Nami Island to my Seoul itinerary. I couldnft fit all the places you recommended – I thought Enoshima would be better in summer and wefll save Nara for another winter trip ☺

All – Ifve taken your very helpful comments and board and have amended my schedule. Mk and scarreddragon – wefve actually never tried the onsen before in Japanc we were a bit put off by the whole nakedness thing, however, it seems like a bit of a waste not to do it third time on! Ifm really struggling to choose between Kusatsu or Shibu onsenc which do you think is better and why?

28 Dec – Arrive in Tokyo – Tokyo day
29 Dec – Tsujiki Fish market and Tokyo day
30 Dec – Tokyo day
31 Dec – Tokyo day and midnight trip to Meiji shrine
1 Jan – Temple visit and Tokyo day
2 Jan – Emperorfs speech at Imperial Palace/ Shopping for the fukubukuro (lucky bags)/Tokyo day
3 Jan – Day trip from Tokyo to Nikko
4 Jan – Tokyo to Yamanouchi to see the snow monkeys (stay at shibu onsen or kusatsu)
5 Jan – Shibu Onsen/Kusatsu to Karuizawa (9.02 train from Yudanaka, arr. 11.01 OR bus from Kusatsu to Karuizawa)
6 Jan – Karuizawa to Kyoto - Half day trip from Kyoto to Hikone
7 Jan – Day trip from Kyoto to Amanohashidate
8 Jan – Kiyomizudera and Fushimi Inari shrine - Kyoto to Tokyo
9 Jan – leave from Tokyo

Let me know if you think the new schedule is more feasible – Ifm getting excited just planning it!

Thanks,

Tanya
by Pangd rate this post as useful

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