Three weeks in Kawagoe

I have the opportunity to borrow a friend's house for three weeks in the area around Kawagoe (Saitama) in June and, as I have visited Japan plenty of times before and been cross-cross Japan on JR railpasses, this time I intend to stay in the area and explore it like a local.

I'm now busy finding nearby sights and found Takao-san, Mitake-san and the Chichibu area that are to my liking. Apart from Kawagoe itself, is there anything you could recommend? My main interests are a bit of hiking, shrines, temples, amazing views, etc.

With that much time, you should do the 34 Temple Pilgrimage in Chichibu. While most pilgrimage routes cover an area that is way too much for the average person to walk, Chichibu's temples are clustered in a comparatively confined area, Chichibu town. I would like to do this someday because I think it would feel great to complete a full, legitimate pilgrimage route.

Chichibu also has other sites, like shrines, so it could keep you busy for some days I think.

Some of Saitama City's sites: Railway Museum, Bonsai Village and Bonsai Museum, Hikawa Shrine, Tsuki Shrine, etc.

If you are interested in Anime, Saitama Prefecture is touted as a place for anime tourism. It has:
-Totoro Forest (the forest used in the famous movie My Neighbor Totoro)
-Crayon Shinchan Museum
-Washinomiya Shrine (from Lucky Star)

Saitama has many nice places in spite of its reputation, so it's worth it to travel around. Of course, with that much time, you can also spend some time in other prefectures, like Ibaraki, Tochigi, Kanagawa, Gunma, Chiba, etc.

Thank you for your reply, I had already started looking at the 34 Temple Pilgrimage in Chichibu and started adding the GPS locations of the temples to my GPS maps. I'll investigate the other suggestions too!

If you go to Mt. Takao, you might want to visit the Imperial Mausoleum. It is like a quiet, peaceful park where the two most recent Emperor's and their wives tombs are located.
I suggest stopping in the morning on your way to Takao-san. The light should be good if you want to take photos.
Here are maps of the layout and location near Takao station.

http://dickh.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v45/p997439515-4.jpg

http://dickh.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v25/p851775860-4.jpg

@Dick: Thanks!

You could invest in the Lonely Planet "Hiking in Japan"; that will give you some places to explore

Great suggestion, I already have the book but haven't checked it recently. Will do when I get back home.

Hello :) I am living around there.
How about Omiya park?
You may have already been there, but if not yet, it is worth to go :) You can take Saikyo line from kawagoe, and get off at Omiya stn. 20 min walk from Omiya stn. I often blew off high school and spent hours at Omiya park. Love the vibe there. Have a wonderful time in japan :)

oh, I forgot to mention, it is next to Hikawa shrine.
Hope you like it :)
http://maps.google.ca/maps/place?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&redir_e...

I would like to mention two special places:
- Mashiko: a small town dedicated to potery with many kilns, a great place to stroll along, it can be reached by train or bus
- Tochigi: somewhat simile to kawagoe it features a lot of old estates and warehouses

Thanks for all the suggestions, minnasan, I will go through them all and try to come up with a schedule for myself.