14-day itinerary review

Hello,

I plan to visit Japan with my girlfriend next April (and hopefully see some cherry blossoms). We will be there for 14 days. We want to see Tokyo and Kyoto, of course, but my girlfriend also want to see some nature. She loves the mountains, so here is the itinerary I came up with. Any advice/comments would be appreciated.

Day 1: Arrive in Kyoto
Day 2 to 5: Kyoto (+ day-trip to Nara)
Day 6: Go to Takayama
Day 7: Day-trip to Shirakawago (sleep in Takayama)
Day 8: Go to Matsumoto
Day 9: Day-trip in Kiso Valley (Magome/Tsumago) - sleep in Matsumoto
Day 10 to 14: Tokyo (+ day-trip to Nikko?)

Alos, my girlfriend loves gardens. What beautiful gardens would you recommend we see while we're there? I know there's one in Kanazawa, but it seems a bit too far from Kyoto...

Thanks for your help!

It looks very nice. I would consider traveling from Takayama via the Kiso Valley to Matsumoto and spend one night in the Kiso Valley. If luggage is an issue, you could send it directly from your hotel in Takayama to your hotel in Matsumoto or even Tokyo and travel just with a light bag in the Kiso Valley.

About delivery services:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

Kyoto has a lot of beautiful temple gardens, especially Zen temples, such as Ginkakuji, Tofukuji and Nanzenji. Tokyo has several nice scrolling landscape gardens, such as Rikugien and Koishikawa Korakuen. All these places have pages in the japan-guide.com sightseeing guide.

You could also incorporate a visit to Kenrokuen to travel as follows: Kyoto - (train) - Kanazawa - (bus) - Shirakawago - (bus) - Takayama

This is actually a more efficient route than traveling to Takayama via Nagoya and visiting Shirakawago in a side trip. Again, I realize that luggage could be an issue, in which case you could again consider a delivery service.

Hi Uji,

Thank you very much for your reply. It will be very useful.

I hadn't thought of going directly to the Kiso Valley from Takayama, but it is something I will definitely consider!

Luggage will be an issue, but delivery services seem interesting. However, I'm not sure how easy it will be to use them since I can't speak a word of Japanese and will not be even able to fill out a form. :(

Thanks for your suggestion to include Kanazawa in our trip. It seems like a nice town (with a beautiful garden). However, don't you think this itinerary will be a bit rushed:
- Day in Kanazawa
- Travel from Kanazawa to Takayama by bus (with a stop at Shirakawa-go -- how long should we stay there to visit?)
- Day in Takayama
- On to Kiso Valley

I'll have to think about it.
Thanks for your advice! :)

Don't worry about not being able to speak Japanese to use the luggage delivery service. Your hotel should be able to do it for you.

We used it in all different locations in Japan during our last trip and it's an absolutely invaluable service.

Takayama was one of the places we sent luggage to and from and there was no problem whatsoever.