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18 days itinerary in September 2018/8/13 06:30
Hi!
I will be visiting Japan for the first time next month, from September 13 to October 1st, 2018. I am trying to make an itinerary that would allow me to experience the most of the country while trying not to overcharge it! Hoping and trying to balance my time between cities and countryside, a bit of nature and some of the more gtraditional Japanh (temples, shrines, etc), as well as modern architecture and artc

Would greatly appreciate any feedback on my itinerary :

13/09_TOKYO (arrival early in the morning). Night in Tokyo
14/09_TOKYO. Night in Tokyo
15/09_NIKKO. Night in Tokyo
16/09_TOKYO to TAKAYAMA. Visit Takayama. Night in Takayama
17/09_TAKAYAMA - SHIRAKAWA-GO - KANAZAWA. Night in Takayama
18/09_ TAKAYAMA to KYOTO. Night in Kyoto
19/09_ KYOTO. Night in Kyoto
20/09_KYOTO. Night in Kyoto
21/09_KOYA-SAN. Night in Koya-San
22/09_KYOTO. Night in Kyoto
23/09_Day trip to NARA. Night in Kyoto.
24/09_KYOTO to HIROSHIMA. Night in Hiroshima or Miyajima
25/09_HIROSHIMA - MIYAJIMA. Night in Naoshima or Teshima.
26/09_NAOSHIMA and/or TESHIMA. Travel back to Tokyo. Night in Tokyo
27/09_TOKYO. Night in Tokyo
28/09_TOKYO to HAKONE. Visit HAKONE - Lake ASHI. Night in Hakone
29/09_HAKONE to TOKYO. Night in Tokyo
30/09_TOKYO. Night in Tokyo
01/10_OUTBOUND FLIGHT (morning)

1. Is this itinerary too dense and busy? Am i trying to see too much? Ifm thinking of skipping the trip to Takayama / Shirakawa-Go if its too much. Or is feasible spending only one night in the area instead of two? Would i be really missing out?

2. I really want to go to Hakone, Lake Ashi, try to catch a view and feel of Mount Fuji. I put it towards the end of the trip hoping the weather conditions might be a bit better in late September than mid-September. Does that make any difference? Should i just do it at the beginning instead of Takayama? Worth trying to hike it up?

3. Where would be the best to stay overnight while visiting Naoshima and Teshima? Are the two Island feasible in 1,5 days? (2 days, minus the time to get there and back to Hiroshima). I am an architect and am very interested in art so would love to be able not to skip those on my itinerary!

4. Is it enough time in Kyoto and Tokyo ?
Should I maybe skip Nara ? Very interested in seeing temples and shrines, but donft want to do too much to avoid an goverloadh of temples into a short amount of time...

5. JR Rail PASS: I know that not all of these destinations are covered by the JR Pass, but couldnft really figure out which ones are and which arenft. Would appreciate any insight on what pass should i use and for which part of the trip, and where canft I use it / what other passes I should buy ?

I am looking to see what is the best order in which visiting all these places, if it is not too much and too packedc this still need to be a vacation :) Any advice, recommendations and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! (Sorry for this long post!)

Thanks in advance!
Yael
by yaeligli  

Re: Help with 18 days itinerary in September! 2018/8/13 10:16
1. The overall pace is not bad, but I think you can improve on efficiency a bit. E.g., you have 3 segments in Tokyo, you can cut it to 2 so that you are not backtracking too much.

2. Weather is unpredictable, especially for viewing Mt Fuji. Sometimes you cannot see it even from Fuji 5-lakes area.

4. No, you can never have enough time in Kyoto. And don't skip Nara. One time I took a 2 wk trip just to Kyoto (and that wasn't even the first visit) and that was not enough time. My suggestion would be to add extra night in Miyajima (Hirosima) and one in Hakone (and sacrafice 2 nights of Tokyo).

5. You may want to consider a 14-day JR Pass, and activate on your trip to Takayama (9/16), and return to Tokyo 14 days after that (9/29).

by isla ole (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Help with 18 days itinerary in September! 2018/8/13 10:56
Hi!

I just want to throw this out there, even though it is anecdotal. I've yet to see Mt. Fuji once from Hakone despite going there a good 3-4x. Of those trips, 1 trip was in October on a clear crisp day and 1 was in March on a clear crisp day. I did see Mt. Fuji from the Tokyo Disney Monorail on 7/1/2018 around 2 in the afternoon on a hot and humid day. Viewing Mt. Fuji is unpredictable. I would not plan destinations and dates in the hopes of seeing it, I would plan destinations and dates based on what you want to do regardless of possible Mt. Fuji views. Who knows, maybe you will get lucky and see it from Tokyo or from the shinkansen near Shin-Fuji Station between Tokyo and Nagoya before transferring to Takayama.

Good luck!

by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Help with 18 days itinerary in September! 2018/8/13 15:09
On your way back from Kansai region, spend a night at Hakone and a night at Kawaguchiko. Fuji five Lakes is better for viewing Fujisan than Hakone is. If you go with my suggestion, you get 3 days to attempt to see Fujisan.

Agree with above response, do not go to Tokyo, then double back on yourself to Hakone.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Help with 18 days itinerary in September! 2018/8/14 01:33
Thank you all so much for your feedback and suggestions! Very much appreciated!
I will keep working on my itinerary to improve it a bit and try to keep it somewhat flexible so I can adjust it to the weather while I'm there :)

Thanks!

by yaeligli rate this post as useful

Re: Help with 18 days itinerary in September! 2018/8/15 00:48
Looks like a good ittenerary!
Just bear in mind that some daytrips will take several hours of travelling. Tokyo to Nikko is 2-2,5 hours one way. Kyoto to Koyasan same.
So back and forth is 4-5 hours, which leaves you less time in these places.

Maybe spend a night and travel back the other day to make most of your time and to be in a city before all daytrippers will arrive. At least, that's what I'm doing in Nikko, Ainokura and Nara.

Christian
by ChristianKlein rate this post as useful

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