2 days between Koyosan/Tokyo

Hello,
I will be traveling with my 65 year old mother around Japan from May 14th to May 28th.
So far our itinerary looks like this:
- 5 nights in Tokyo, we love to shop ;)
- 4 nights in Kyoto, we're into tradition
-2 nights in Koyosan, we're into Buddhism and meditation
- 2 nights unaccounted for
-1 last night in Tokyo because we have an early morning flight out.

My question is - what do you advice to visit/do on the 2 nights we have no plans for? A friend had recomended Kanazawa but I think it might be too much travelling time from Koyosan. My mom loves the mountains so a mountain location could be a good idea - any tips? Thank you!

No one seems to be giving any answers, so I'll try.

Kanazawa isn't very out-of-the-way. The challenging part of getting from Koyasan to Kanazawa is the part from Koyasan to Osaka; several train transfers. You have no choice but to do this though! Once in Osaka, it is a straight 2.5 hour trip to Kanazawa on the Thunderbird, with nice scenery. And the trip from Kanazawa to Tokyo is also very easy on the new Shinkansen.

Takayama would be my choice though. You would take the Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Nagoya and then an easy transfer to the Wide View Hida to Takayama. The scenery on the tran is superb, with mountains to please your mom. You could take a day trip from Takayama to Shirakawa-go, or to Okuhida/Kamikochi, though this would be a full day. To return to Tokyo, you could then take a bus from Takayama to Matsumoto, and then to Nagano, then to Tokyo. This would be a little bit more hectic than Kanazawa, but still doable. Or, just return to Nagoya on the Hida Ltd Express, and then the Shinkansen to Tokyo (this would be easier and quicker, but the trip on the bus between Takayama and Matsumoto is beautiful).

Atami is a Shinkansen station town between Osaka and Tokyo, and is a popular coastal Onsen town with travelers. This would be the easiest stop between Koyasan and Tokyo, and it is quite relaxing. Might be a little bit too boring, though there are buses to the southern part of the Izu Peninsula to sightsee.

If you are fast-paced travelers, and don't mind leaving early from Koyasan, you could potentially go to Kanazawa by early afternoon. See the castle and Kenrokuen. Early the next AM, take a Nohi bus to Shirakawa-go, spend a few hours there, then bus to Takayama for the night. Catch the Morning market and sightsee the town, then leave on the Wide view hida to Nagoya in the mid afternoon, then Shinkansen to Tokyo, arriving in the early evening.

Dale

I agree with Takayama. It is a lovely town and the train trip is awesome.

Otherwise I'd go to Nara and stay at Nara Hotel. We took my mother there on a trip a few years back, she far preferred Nara to Kyoto (as we do) and could have stayed at Nara Hotel forever. It has some hills (no mountains) and plenty of parkland, and plenty of buddhist sites.

Or maybe a night or two at Miyajima?

If your mom likes mountains I would go to Takayama or even Kanazawa. Takayama is a bit smaller to go sightseeing and you can take a bus to Hida Folk Village which is very nice outdoor museum. And as said before, the train between the mountains to Takayama is very nice :) I don't usually like to travel long distances but in Japan I quite liked the train rides from Osaka to Kanazawa and and then to Takayama and from there to Nagoya. It was interesting to see the landscape.

Kanazawa is great and the train there is very fast from Osaka but of course from Koyasan. We did Osaka, Kanazawa, Takayama, Nagoya on our trip. You will spend some time getting out of Koyasan of course but once you are in Osaka for example, there are many destinations with in reasonable train ride away.