Hokkaido and Kyoto in April 2018

Hi there!

Im visiting Japan for 8 days from March 39 to April 7. The leave only got approved now so I�fm still planning my itinerary and accomodation.

I�fm travelling with my parents who are big history buffs and would love to visit Kyoto, primarily because of the history. I on the other hand, would love amazing outdoor onsen experience/s, which I feel is more possible in Hokkaido.

Should I restrict my trip to Tokyo and Kyoto and make day trips to the famous onsens in Gifu , Nagita and Nagano? Or should I train travel to these spots and spend a night in each of these while progressing in our journey towards Kyoto ( or on the way back from Kyoto because we arrive and leave Japan from the NRT airport).

Also is there snow in Hokkaido in April? If not, is it worth going there for the onsens? I believe onsens experience in hokkaido would be much better in snow/ winters. Is there much history in Hokkaido for my parents.

Any advice would be great :)

Many thanks.

Kyoto and Hokkaido are practically at opposite ends of the country. With only one week to work with, I would nix one of them. I think you could find satisfactory onsen experiences outside of Hokkaido, possibly even with snow if you head somewhere mountainous.

Also, as far as history goes, Kyoto vs Hokkaido is no contest. It's Kyoto all the way. Hokkaido is a newborn baby in comparison and there's a lot of European influence there in terms of architecture, etc, so it might not be the "Japan experience" your parents would be expecting.

With only 8 days and arriving Narita and wanting to go to Kyoto also. Then I would omit Hokkaido. So much travel time for maybe 2 full days at most.

When in April are you traveling? As early April is very busy and a lot of hotels are already booked out. Last two week of April would be better.

Dear Gregor and Hakata,

That�fs very useful advice. Thanks heaps.

I�fm travelling in early April really. So I�fve got to book accomodation within a day or two. After your post, I ditched the idea of Hokkaido. Here�fs what I�fm planning now:

Day 1: Fly in. Check into a Tokyo hotel .
Nikko and Edo. Perhaps a local Onsen experience if possible. Night Stay in Tokyo
Day 2: Day trip to Mt Fuji and local sight seeing. Return to Tokyo
Day 3: Gunma: Onsen and sightseeing. Overnight stay.
Day 4-7: Kyoto
Day 8- Day trip to Kobe and Nara. Then move to Nagoya in the evening.
Day 9- Nagoya. Return to Tokyo
Day 10- Tokyo tourist places. Off to Narita
Day 11- Narita local sightseeing . Fly out.

Does that sound do-able? I�fm assuming that there would be no place to store our luggage temporarily in Nagoya or Gunma, such that we must check into a hotel and stay there overnight.

Did you need wifi outside your hotels? Which one could I buy if so?

Many thanks for your help.

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

Your Day 1 is likely to have issues depending on where you are flying into Japan from. You do realize it is going to take you around 1 hour to get into Tokyo. Depending on where you are staying in Tokyo, this can take even longer. It the is another 2 hours+ to get to Nikko. So you're looking at arriving in Japan and then spending over 3 hours in transit before turning around and spending another 2 hours + going back to Tokyo.

I am not sure which onsen you are thinking of in Gunma, but you're looking at making your trip to Kyoto on day 4 rather long.

On day 8, I guess if you just want to eat in Kobe you might be able to do both Kobe and Nara, but they're a good 90 minutes apart and that doesn't include travel times from Kobe to Nagoya. I can't imagine sightseeing in Nara and Kobe in a single day and I tend to be a fast tourer compared to many people posting here.

I cant speak for Gunma, since I have no idea which particular location you plan to visit. Large train stations and many shinkansen stations have lockers of varying sizes and some of the larger stations have a left luggage counter.

Many hotels and ryokans will hold your bags post check out.

In JR Tokyo Station you can store luggage here:
http://www.tokyostationcity.com/en/information/locker.html

And I am pretty sure JR Kyoto and JR Shin-Osaka have similar services.

In Nagoya:
https://www.nagoyastation.com/nagoya-station-information-facilities/

I'm from the US and my cell phone works in Japan. What I pay for data is less than what pocket WiFi would cost me. I have no idea about your particular plan. I find Pocket WiFi is kind of expensive to rent.

Good luck!

I think most of it is too busy. Remember you are traveling in one of the busiest period of the year. And changing hotels every 1-3 nights will cause extra burden for now reason.

I find this too busy especially if travelling with your parents, I hope their mobility is reasonable and they are fit to cope with this exhausting itinerary. You will spend more time commuting than sightseeing and enjoying history.

For one week, I would just stick with Tokyo(3 days) and Kyoto (3-4 days) with minimal day trips to nearby areas. if you're going to Kobe for its beef you can get it in Kyoto. Check google maps and hypermedia to see how much time you plan to spend on travelling with your above itinerary.

I would suggest that if you want to experience an onsen, you can either try the onsen complex in Odaiba in Tokyo or try some in the Hakone area which is close to Tokyo, you don't have to spend the night in a ryokan there if you don't want.

You also need to book your hotels fast, especially in Kyoto. First week of April is very busy and accommodation availability is quite scarce.

You can always come back to Japan in the future an explore other areas that you didn't see this time around.

Ohk!! That sounds very reasonable. I certainly don�ft want to spend too much time travelling rather than enjoying and sightseeing.

I miscalculated earlier. I have a total of 10 days. Excluding the fly-out day.

I should definitely keep it comfortable for my parents though they are quite fit and active.

How does the filling sound. If the following sounds like a stretch, then i�fd stick to Kyoto and Tokyo only.

I was keen on Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma and perhaps maguse Onsen in Nagano. But if there�fs nothing else to do in the area, I could totally skip these.

Day 1: NRT to Tokyo
Local sight seeing in Tokyo

Day 2-4: train to Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture
Stay for 3 nights
Day trips to Maguse Onsen / local places
I think everything is 1-2 hrs by train.

Day 5-8- Kyoto
Day 9- Tokyo
Day 10 - Mt Fuji. Then off to Narita in the evening
Day11: fly out of Narita

Does that sounds more accomplishable?

Thanks heaps