1 month itinerary

Hi,

My Fiancee and I are lucky enough to be visiting Japan for the 1st time for a month in April 2015. I have put together the following itinerary and was hoping some of the forum regulars could point out things I could do better / skip / add in. Your feedback is really appreciated - i have put where I plan to stay in brackets:

Day 1 (Tokyo)
Arrive in Tokyo

Day 2 (Tokyo)
Day trip to Kamakura

Day 3 (Tokyo)
Tokyo sightseeing

Day 4 (Tokyo)
Day trip to Nikko

Day 5 (Tokyo)
Tokyo sightseeing

Day 6 (Tokyo)
Day trip to Hakone

Day 7 (Nagoya)
Tokyo Sightseeing
Evening train to Nagoya (2hrs)

Day 8 (Magome)
Nagoya sightseeing
Evening bus to Magome (2hrs)

Day 9 (Nagoya)
Magome - Tsumago Trail
Evening bus to Nagoya (2hrs)

Day 10 (Shirakawa)
Morning bus to Shirakawa (3hrs)
Shirakawa-go sightseeing

Day 11 (Takayama)
Morning bus to Takayama (1hr)
Shin-Hotaka Ropeway

Day 12 (Takayama)
Takayama Festival

Day 13 (Kanazawa)
Morning train to Kanazawa (2.5hrs)
Kanazawa sightseeing

Day 14 (Hiroshima)
Kanazawa sightseeing
Afternoon Train to Hiroshima (4.5hrs)

Day 15 (Hiroshima)
Miyajima Island
Musuem + Park

Day 16 (Kobe)
Morning train to Himeji (1hr)
Sightseeing in Himeji
Evening train to Kobe (0.5hr)
Dinner in Kobe

Day 17 (Osaka)
Morning train to Osaka (0.5hr)
Sightseeing in Osaka

Day 18 (Nara)
Morning train to Nara (0.5hr)
Nara Sightseeing

Day 19 (Koyasan)
Morning train to Koyasan (3hrs)
Koyasan Sightseeing

Day 20 (Osaka)
Koyasan Sightseeing
Evening train to Osaka (3hrs)

Day 21 (Kyoto)
Morning Train to Kyoto (1hr)
Kyoto Sightseeing


Day 22 (Kyoto)
Kyoto Sightseeing

Day 23 (Matsumoto)
Kyoto Sightseeing
Evening train to Matsumoto (3hrs)

Day 24 (Matsumoto)
Yudanaka (monkeys) / Castle

Day 25 (Kamikochi)
Morning bus to Kamikochi (2hrs)
Hiking in Kamikochi

Day 26 (Matsumoto)
Hiking in Kamikochi
Evening bus to Matsumoto (2hrs)

Day 27 (Toyama)
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

Day 28 (Tokyo)
Morning train to Tokyo (4hrs)
Evening flight home

On top of my head:
In general, I think they are reasonable enough, however there are a few things I am not too sure about which you might want to consider:

1. Hakone best is you have 2 days here
2. Tokyo - Matsumoto area - (Tateyama here?) - Takayama area - Kanazawa - Hiroshima - Kobe - Osaka area -(Nara Koyasan etc)- Kyoto - Nagoya - Hakone - Tokyo

Of course the problem with this is whether your Takayama festival will fit into this itinerary, also if you plan to visit any town that has festival try to book the hotel in advance whenever they are available.

Maybe a 21 days pass will worth it (I did not check on hyperdia, which you should) for such extensive trip.

Day 15 seems a little ambitious. I think it is doable but I feel like you would end up rushing both the Peace Park and the museum as well as Miyajima.

I found Miyajima to require almost the entire day and it took me near 3 hours to get through the museum and park in Hiroshima.

Like I said it is doable but you might feel a little rushed.

Both,

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I have added an extra day in Hiroshima as would prefer to spend the right amount of time at both sights,

The itinerary does veer around a bit but as you say i couldn't think of a better way to do it whilst still seeing the Festival on at the time.

Is there anything 'Must See' that you think i have missed?