First time in Japan in November

Hi everyone,
My husband and I are headed to Japan for the first time to spend our honeymoon this coming November. I've sketched out the following itinerary and am looking for guidance on whether we've given ourselves enough time experience each place in our itinerary - prioritizing food, nature, and unique experiences (e.g., staying at traditional ryokan/minshukus, onsen). Our major stops are Tokyo, Kyoto, the Kumano Kodo trail, short overnight in Osaka, Hakone, and back to Tokyo.

My questions:
-Have I allotted enough time/too much or too little time to any one place?
-Should we skip Osaka altogether and go straight from the end of the Kumano Kodo trail to Hakone?
-Should we make time in our trip to go to Naoshima (if we're already planning on going to the Hakone Open Air Museum)?
-Any other suggestions for unique experiences that aren't captured already here?

11/10/2017 Arrive at Haneda in time for dinner, stay in Tokyo
11/11/2017 Day exploring/getting over jetlag, stay in Tokyo
11/12/2017 3 hour train to Kyoto, half day exploring, stay in Kyoto
11/13/2017 Exploring, stay in Kyoto
11/14/2017 Exploring (option for day trip to Nara), stay in Kyoto
11/15/2017 Exploring, stay in Kyoto
11/16/2017 3-4 hours train to Kiitanabe/start Kumano Kodo pilgramage trail, stay in Takahara
11/17/2017 Kumano Kodo, stay in Tsugizakura-oji
11/18/2017 Kumano Kodo, stay in Yunomine Onsen
11/19/2017 Kumano Kodo, stay in Koguchi
11/20/2017 Kumano Kodo, stay in Nachi
11/21/2017 4 hours train to Osaka/low key half day Osaka (okonomiyaki), stay in Osaka
11/22/2017 2.5-3 hours train to Odawara/half day in Hakone/Hakone Open Air Museum, stay in Hakone
11/23/2017 Hakone loop, stay in Hakone
11/24/2017 1 hour train to Tokyo, exploring most of the day, stay in Tokyo
11/25/2017 Exploring, stay in Tokyo
11/26/2017 Exploring most of day, leave Tokyo at 6:50PM

Thanks in advance for your help!
Mimi

To me this looks like a pretty interesting itinerary.

Kyoto is beautiful with lots of temples and gardens but once you have seen a few it�Ls really not that interesting to see them all. Unless you love temples of course. During the spring blossom you could stay an extra day or two for the breathtaking views. So I would short down Kyoto.

Looks good to me. You can never have too much time in Kyoto.

Yokohama is close to Tokyo and worth a visit, it's easily one of my favorite cities with the Minato mirai area being full of shops and restaurants, lots of big malls and landmark tower.

Oh, and while Naoshima is a personal preference you could also just visit Hiroshima for its historical importance. The grand prince Hiroshima hotel is a really nice place to stay, it's on the lake and you can take a ferry downstairs to Miyajima which is really beautiful.

Thanks so much for your affirmations and feedback, everyone!

One additional question - Have any of you ever taken the train ride from Kyoto or Osaka to Kii-Tanabe or Kii-Katsuura? A poster on a different forum encouraged me to schedule our train travel in the evenings as much as possible, in order to take advantage of the shorter daylight hours in November. With that said, I'm wondering if on 11/15, our last day exploring Kyoto, we should take the 3-4 hour train in the evening to Kii-Tanabe and stay overnight there, in order to be able to start the Kumano Kodo trail bright and early the morning of 11/16. I'd only want to do so, however, if the train ride wasn't scenic and worth the daylight itself. I suppose we will also get to experience the train ride on our way back from Kii-Katsuura to Osaka after we've finished the trail. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

I would NOT cut down on Kyoto. If you also visit Nara from there you only effectively have two days.

You need at least four days if you want to cover every side of the city and visit the main temples. The temples are quite different from each other even though you could categorize them. If you are there visiting fushimi inari will also not be your average temple visit. If you are tired of temples go to Arashiyama where you find beautiful gardens and bamboo grove.

I haven't done the train trip to Kii Katsura but found this on Youtube which I thought might help you decide when to do the journey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrQNgxNhiKs

I use to regularly take the train between Kyoto/Shin-Osaka and Kainan ( an LE stop or 2 post Wakayama) and then would often take the Kuroshio all the way to Kii Tanabe. (I had two good friends who were JETs in Kainan and Tanabe and use to stay with my friend in Kainan and day trip to Kyoto/Osaka. )

Some of the trip is scenic, some is not. It's not as scenic as say the route between Nagoya and Takayama and Takayama to Toyama.

I thought more on this while jogging, maybe you want to do part of the trip at night (Kyoto/Osaka to Wakayama) and overnight in Wakayama and then leave early the next morning for Tanabe. From what I remember, the trip from Kyoto/Osaka to Wakayama was not all that interesting, it was after you passed Kainan going to Tanabe that had some pretty scenery.

Hi everyone,
After bumping up with some reservation issues with the Kumano Kodo leg of our trip, here is our latest itinerary. Does anyone see any major issues with the way I've broken up our time in Kyoto/Nara? This version gets us to Kyoto earlier, shaves off one day of the Kumano Kodo, and allows us a little more time near the end for Tokyo. It also takes into account advice to take the train in the evenings to Kii-Tanabe. I'm wondering if 2 nights in Hakone is too much, but I've booked a luxury ryokan as a special treat to ourselves for the end of our trip. Appreciate your feedback!

11/10/2017 Arrive at Haneda in time for dinner, stay in Tokyo
11/11/2017 Day exploring/getting over jetlag, stay in Tokyo
11/12/2017 Day exploring Tokyo (experience shichi-go-san at Meiji Jingu), take 3 hour train to Kyoto after lunch, stay in Kyoto
11/13/2017 Exploring (Arashiyami half day?), stay in Kyoto
11/14/2017 Exploring most of the day, train to Kii-Tanabe after dinner, stay Kii-Tanabe
11/15/2017 Kumano Kodo - Hike from Takijiri-oji to Tzugizakura (leave luggage at train station or Airbnb?)
11/16/2017 Kumano Kodo - Tzugizakura to Hongu, stay Yunomine Onsen
11/17/2017 Kumano Kodo - Hongu to Koguchi, stay Koguchi
11/18/2017 Kumano Kodo - Koguchi to Nachi, take 4pm or 6pm train along coast back to Kii-Tanabe (if able to get onto 4pm train, take train all the way to Kyoto if not completely exhausted)
11/19/2017 Morning train to Kyoto if didn't make it night before, explore and stay in Kyoto (or Osaka?)
11/20/2017 Day trip to Nara, stay in Kyoto (or Osaka?)
11/21/2017 2.5-3 hours train to Odawara/half day in Hakone/Hakone Open Air Museum, stay in Hakone
11/22/2017 Hakone loop, stay in Hakone
11/23/2017 1 hour train to Tokyo, exploring most of the day, stay in Tokyo
11/24/2017 Exploring, stay in Tokyo
11/25/2017 Exploring, stay in Tokyo
11/26/2017 Exploring most of day, leave Tokyo at 6:50PM

Do you have accommodation for 11/18? It may be better to assume that you will need to take the later train and book a hotel in advance, especially considering that it's the weekend. The hotels in that area tend to fill up quite quickly in my experience.

Overall, it looks like a great itinerary! I don't think two nights for Hakone is too much. You might also consider using one of your days in Tokyo for a day trip to Nikko - it will be really beautiful then. (But that depends on what you want to do in Tokyo, too.)

(Also, Nachi is the most spectacular part of Kumano IMO, so I would give yourselves a little more time to explore it by shooting for the later train!)

Thanks Gigi, thanks for your suggestion. Looking at HyperDia, I think we'd only have one later train option that would leave Kii-Katsuura around 6pm, and arrive in Kyoto at 9:42pm. If we ended the Kumano Kodo at Nachi Taisha around 3-4pm, do you think having 2-3 hours would give us enough time to go see Daimonzaka and grab a bite to eat (and gather our luggages somewhere) as well? As a backup plan, we could book a room to stay somewhere, either in Kii-Katsuura or Kii-Tanabe. If you have any suggestions for where to stay, that'd be great! Most of the AirBnb listings I've seen have strict cancellation policies that wouldn't allow us the ability to cancel without penalty on the same day.

We've also heard great things about Nikko and will try to do a day trip during our last days staying in Tokyo!

Nachi shrine was much larger than I expected. I would try to give yourselves at least three hours to explore it if you can, especially since it will be the "culmination" of your hike, so to speak. I think staying in Kii-Tanabe would probably be your best option to make use of your evenings for train transportation without feeling too rushed, but it depends on how you guys are feeling after several days of hiking and shrines. You may want to just glance at the waterfall, hike up to the pagoda, and call it good; in that case 2 hours might be enough.

I tried to stay in Tanabe proper when I went, but sadly everything was booked for the holiday so I can't recommend anywhere near public transportation - I had a car so I ended up staying in a guesthouse that was kind of in a remote place between Tanabe and Hongu. But if you're booking a couple months out I doubt it will be a problem to get something public transportation-accessible!

I've hiked the Kumano Kodo twice. As another has poster stated, the train trip between Kyoto and Kii-Tanabe is not overly scenic: lots of tunnels and not that many views of the ocean. If you return from Kii-Katsuura and are going back to Kyoto/Osaka via Kii-Tanabe, the best part of the train trip is the southern portion between Kii-Tanabe and Kii-Katsuura, where you see more of the coastline. But I don�ft think any of the scenery on this train route is sufficiently spectacular to warrant your making a special effort to see it. In general, the train trip along the peninsula is tedious, whether you are going or coming. The train doesn�ft move at shinkansen speeds, and it makes a lot of stops.

At the same time, I wouldn�ft recommend hiking to Nachi from Koguchi and then taking the late afternoon train back to Kii-Tanabe. Overall, hiking the Kumano Kodo is easy – except for the last segment between Koguchi and Nachi. Unlike other parts of the hike where you walk through a combination of countryside, light forest, and occasional farm towns, the Koguchi to Nachi segment is in a heavily forested area. The light is often dim. There may not be any other hikers – I saw only one other person. You will be constantly hiking up and down very steep stone stairways. It�fs quite a workout on your knees and calves. If there is any rain or moisture, the stone steps will be slippery, so you have to watch out. If you are lucky, as you get close to Nachi, you may have good vistas if the sky is clear, but otherwise this segment is definitely not a highlight of the Kumano Kodo.

Which is to say that you are probably going to be tired when you reach Nachi. Nachi is a lovely spot, so instead of racing through it in order to catch the bus and leave on the train, why not spend a restful afternoon there and then spend the night in Kii-Katsuura. After your four-day hike, either Hotel Nakanoshima or Hotel Urashima would be fun – if somewhat bizarre – places to stay in Kii-Katsuura.

Thanks for your insight Jane - I'm seriously considering your suggestion to stay in Kii-Katsuura after we reach Nachi. My only reservation is that it would mean cutting off a half day in Kyoto, per our latest (fairly set itinerary)...

11/10/2017 Arrive at Haneda in time for dinner, stay in Tokyo
11/11/2017 Day exploring/getting over jetlag, stay in Tokyo
11/12/2017 Day exploring Tokyo (experience shichi-go-san at Meiji Jingu), take 3 hour train to Nara
11/13/2017 Exploring Nara by bikes all day
11/14/2017 Exploring Nara until lunch, train to Kii-Tanabe in afternoon, stay Kii-Tanabe
11/15/2017 Kumano Kodo - Hike from Takijiri-oji to Tzugizakura
11/16/2017 Kumano Kodo - Tzugizakura to Hongu, stay Yunomine Onsen
11/17/2017 Kumano Kodo - Hongu to Koguchi, stay Koguchi
11/18/2017 Kumano Kodo - Koguchi to Nachi, take 6pm train to Kyoto via Kii-Tanabe, arrive Kyoto by at 11pm
11/19/2017 Exploring Kyoto
11/20/2017 Exploring Kyoto
11/21/2017 Exploring Kyoto
11/22/2017 2.5-3 hours train to Odawara/half day in Hakone/Hakone Open Air Museum, stay in Hakone
11/23/2017 Hakone loop, stay Hakone
11/24/2017 1 hour train to Tokyo, exploring most of the day, stay in Tokyo
11/25/2017 Exploring, stay in Tokyo
11/26/2017 Exploring most of day, leave Tokyo at 6:50PM

I second Hotel Urashima in Kii-Katsuura : http://www.hotelurashima.co.jp/en/
Believe you me it is not just a hotel, it is a destination and an experience worth cutting down a night stay in your Kyoto itinerary.

You may have a bit of a dilemma if your itinerary is now fairly set. Kyoto is my favorite place in Japan, and I�fm not sure I would recommend cutting it down to 2 ½ days. But if you take the evening train back to Kyoto on the 18th to give yourself 3 days in Kyoto, you might find you need to have some recovery time on the morning of the 19th before setting out to explore Kyoto because of the long and exhausting day on the 18th..

If it is still possible, another alternative at the front end would be to skip the ½ day exploration of Nara on the 14th, take an early train to Kii-Tanabe instead and hike to Takahara (instead of Taijiri-oji) and spend the night at the nice lodge there. I love Nara, but I think you could see everything in one day of biking on the 13th. Of course, that suggestion throws off all of your plans. Another alternative would be to spend the night in Kii-Katsura on the 18th, as I suggested, go to Kyoto on the morning of the 19th and not leave for Hakone until the afternoon of the 22nd. That way you could spend an afternoon, two full days, and a morning in Kyoto. I haven�ft been to Hakone and can�ft opine on whether spending just one full day there would be enough. If you think that isn�ft sufficient, you could allot some additional time to Hakone on the morning of the 24th and then head off for Tokyo. Since it is only an hour trip and you will have spent some time in Tokyo at the beginning of your trip, that might be an option since you could still have a half day and evening in Tokyo on the 24th.

If you decide your only alternative is to go to Kyoto on the evening train on the 18th, you should plan ahead for taking some food for the evening train. In larger Japanese train stations and on the shinkansens, it�fs easy to buy food. It�fs everywhere. But I don�ft recall there being much, if any food, on the train between Kii-Katsuura and Kyoto or around the small Kii-Katsuura train station, although perhaps my memory is incorrect.

I doubt there�fs a perfect solution. I�fve gone through similar anxiety when I planned trips to Japan; in fact, I�fm spending the last 3 weeks of October in Japan and have spend a lot of time working out my itinerary. What I�fve learned is that you can�ft possibly see everything and that at times you just need to slow down – maybe sit down for a cup of tea or coffee or relax on a bench-- and enjoy the experience of being in Japan.

Jane