Advice on Itinerary

just looking for some comments regarding my itin. any places i should skip/reduce time/places are a must see.

december 19 - jan 12

group of 3 males. aged 24.

nights
3 Fukuoka
4 Takaharu
3 Kyoto
5 Tokyo
4 Hakuba
2 Takayama
3 Osaka

-Can matsumoto castle be done on the way from tokyo to hakuba?

-Nara easy enough for a day trip from kyoto?

-monkeys in shiga koen be done as a day trip from hakuba?

have been to tokyo, kyoto, hakuba before. planning on using train/bus for all internal travel.

appreciate all advice.

Just out of curiosity, what's in Takaharu? It sounds kind of obscure.

I might skip Takayama. And shave a day off Osaka....

just looking for some comments regarding my itin. any places i should skip/reduce time/places are a must see.

In general it looks pretty good.

What are you doing in Takaharu? Is that Takaharu in Miyazaki in Kyushu?

group of 3 males. aged 24.

If you are interested in cars/factory I'd consider a stop at Hiroshima on the way from Fukuoka to Kyoto and see the Mazda Museum and factory tour
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3405.html

Even if you aren't interested in cars then Hiroshima makes an interesting stop with the A-dome, Peace Park and Museum.

-Can matsumoto castle be done on the way from tokyo to hakuba?

Yes, use Azusa limited express trains:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6090.html#jump_access

-Nara easy enough for a day trip from kyoto?

Very easy and very standard to do this.

-monkeys in shiga koen be done as a day trip from hakuba?

Yes.

have been to tokyo, kyoto, hakuba before. planning on using train/bus for all internal travel.

Which airport do you arrive and depart from?

Enjoy your trip!

- If you take a shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano and a bus to Hakuba, Matsumoto is not on the route.

Only when you take a rapid? train on Chuo Line, Matsumoto is on the way and I guess you can drop there and go to the castle. But the transportaion time is +2 hours compared to the shinkansen route.


- It depends on what you want in Nara, but I personally recomend you should spend at least one and a half day there to include a visit to Horyuji temple, but foods and nightlife are not so nice for young boys compared to other large cities. There is very little to do in the night. But it is more than just dear poo watching.

- Yes, you can make it a day trip to the monkey park. It takes about 2 hours from Nagano city by train, bus and walk. The last minute access path thru the forest to the park is very icy (otherwise muddy) and slippy. It takes 20 to 30 minutes, depends on the traffic condition. You may need trecking shoes.

Thanks for the input so far, much appreciated.

sorry should have mentioned that im going to takaharu to visit a friend and stay over xmas.

really wana see matsumoto castle so will take the rapid line/train.

I might think of booking overnight in Nara then to maximise sight seeing there. very much in to temples and seeing the deer park they have there.

mazda musuem looks interesting. will look into this.

thanks again.