onsen on kyoto-takayama-tokyo route

my wife & i are flying into osaka and flying out of tokyo. well be spending 12 days in japan (leisure) . i plan to do the touristy kyoto-takayama-tokyo route. but i would also love to add 1-2 nights at a traditional japanese onsen ryokan.....ideally somewere close to the mountains. ..but im highly confused where to go. which is a good onsen destination enroute ?

ive read about oku-hida / gero and yudanaka. oku-hida seems interesting. i would like to keep the budget 10000-15000/night/ person. i wont be driving in japan. also im vegetarian...so not sure if the ryokan will tailor make a meal for me....

Ryokan don't make tailor made food, but some of them are able to remove certain ingredients from their dishes if you request so in advance. To remove all meat and fish from a ryokan meal, however, would probably remove a third of the entire meal. Most ryokan will not be able/willing to do that because they cannot provide a vegetarian replacement and would not want to serve their guests such a reduced meal. If the problem is just the meat, then it would probably pose less of a problem.

You will have to inquire with the ryokan in advance. Some might be able to cater to vegetarians.

For the ryokan meal problem, Japanese Guest Houses might be able to help you. In the listings on their web site, for each property there is an indication whether the ryokan is willing to prepare vegetarian meals with fish, or vegetarian meals without fish, and Japanese Guest Houses could presumably handle the arrangements when they take your booking (the ryokan should definitely have advance notice). I have never used this company but from what I've read many people have had a satisfactory stay arranged by them. It requires a bit of back-and-forth communication, so you need to allow time and have a little patience.
http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/index.htm

But Uji is right that it is not going to be easy to find a ryokan that will serve you a nice dinner without meat OR fish in it. (Easier to find a ryokan that will allow you to book a room without meals.) Have you considered instead staying in a shokubo (temple lodging) and getting shojinryori? That is supposed to be vegetarian (in theory).

Whoops! The temple lodging is called shukubo, not shokubo.

Totally understand they cannot tailor make a meal for me¡K.and if I remove the meat there wont be much left ƒº im planning to stay in a shokubo in koyasan , but what do you mean when you say that they have vegetarian meals in theory ? does it mean they claim its vegetarian¡Kits actually not ??

Also if someone can suggest a good onsen destination on the kyoto-takayama-tokyo route ideally somewhere near the mountains. I have read good things about arima / gero /okuhida.

if I remove the meat there wont be much left

Hopefully you have a meat eater in your party, because the meat dishes are often a highlight of the meal and it would be awkward to leave it untouched. If you have a meat eater in your country, he/she could help you work on it at least partially.

im planning to stay in a shokubo in koyasan , but what do you mean when you say that they have vegetarian meals in theory ?

According to my understanding, shojin ryori on koyasan is 100% vegetarian.

Also if someone can suggest a good onsen destination on the kyoto-takayama-tokyo route ideally somewhere near the mountains.

As you mentioned before, Okuhida is great with large outdoor pools and many rustic ryokan. Gero Onsen generally does not receive very high ratings due to its concrete centered city planning, but it can be a nice place for a ryokan stay, as well. It is more conveniently integrated in the schedule than Okuhida.

Arima is also quite nice with a small, pleasantly touristy town. The baths tend to be small and indoors, but the water is very special.

I once had a set meal in a restaurant (in Tokyo) that was billed as "shojin ryori" but had animal products in a number of dishes. I can't remember if it was only seafood or if they snuck in some land animals as well. It wasn't a problem for me, because I'm not a vegetarian, but it made me aware that the term "shojin ryori" can be thrown around freely in some places. The description on the menu made no mention in either English or Japanese of there being animal products in the meal I ordered. And it wasn't particularly cheap, so I was expecting more than I got.

I would expect greater authenticity from a shukubo on Koyasan, so likely you have nothing to worry about.