Japan itinerary

Hi guys.

My partner and I are travelling to japan at the end of the year for 4 weeks and I was hoping to get suggestions for a travel route. This is what I have so far:

Tokyo - 7 days
Yokohama- 2 days
Takayama - 2 days
Shirakwago - 1 day
Kyoto - 5 days
Hiroshima- 2 days
Fukuoka - 2 days
Kumamoto - 2 days
Osaka - 5 days

We really want to try cover as much as we can.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

Since you are going to Hiroshima, consider Miyajima. Short boat ride and a nice change of pace. An overnight on the island is very relaxing.

I would suggest the following, trying to stay reasonably close to your stated itinerary

Tokyo 8 days with day trips to Nikko & Yokohama/Kamakura
Takayama - 2 days
Shirakwago - 1 day
Kyoto - 4 days
Hiroshima- 3 days Including a day trip to Miyajima
Kumamoto - 2 days
Fukuoka - 3 days, Possible day trip to Nagasaki
Osaka - 5 days with a day trip to Nara

This has the advantage of changing hotels a little less frequently remembering that 2 nights gives you one day without moving. If you have the three week JR Pass for the last part of the trip I might consider including having an extra day in Kumamoto and doing a day trip to Kagoshima. I have moved the Kumamoto & Fukuoka stays around to reduce the distance a little back to Osaka.

Pretty cool itinerary, IMHO.

My only question would be around why you're staying for 5 nights in Osaka. You're already spending a long time in Tokyo - so you'll get plenty of big city life - and you're also staying for 4 nights in Kyoto (which is pretty near to Osaka, and very day-trippable).

You're going all the way down to Kyushu, and there's loads to see in Kyushu, but you're not spending an awful lot of time there (and it all seems to be city-based). I'd maybe think about taking some - or all - of the nights away from Osaka and spending them somewhere in Kyushu - maybe somewhere in the countryside, so you get some variety?

Hi!

And since you mentioned the end of the year, just be careful in terms of what is open on 12/31, 1/1, and 1/2. Depending on where you are at that time, many things could be closed. I've only been to Japan once for New Years and honestly, it's one of the few times of year I wouldn't go back and I've gone multiple times during the Summer.

Osaka can be cold and windy in January. I live somewhere which gets much colder, but I also don't spend my days trying to sightsee outside where I live.

Good luck!

If you are going to spend 5 days in Osaka, why not go on day trips to Uji and Himeji? And for a different experience, I recommend Mt.Koya (I will be sleeping on a temple, so excited).

Kyushu is a lovely region, Kumamoto and Fukuoka are good choices, but you could add more days there to enjoy nature like Mt. Aso and Takachiho Gorge, or going to Nagasaki or going to an Onsen Town like Kurokawa Onsen and Beppu.

One recomendation, if you're going to Takayama, you could go on a day trip to Kanazawa. I personally think that Kanazawa has more to do and see than Takayama.

There is a general agreement on this forum that there isn�ft a lot to see in Osaka unless you have very specific interests that draw you to Osaka. And I agree.
Depending on your interests you could add more days in Kyushu (eg 2 nights in Kurokawa Onsen of an other onsen destination) , days between Hiroshima and Osaka (eg Naoshima, Teshima, Okayama, bichu Takahashi...) or more days to Nara including trip to Koyasan. However consider that it might be cold on Koyasan. In general year end can be quite cold in Japan.
I also agree with PPs not to move from Tokyo to Yokohama. The two cities are close enough not to change hotels. You could however consider replacing them with time in Nikko/Izu/Hakone or any other slightly more farer destination from Tokyo.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

I think you should definitely visit Nara and Kyoto, the deer park and the bamboo park I'm sure are lovely. In Tokyo try to explore as much different areas ar you can. For me it worked out best to stay in two different locations in Tokyo just so that we would not have to travel too far every single day. We stayed in Shinjuku and Taito area.

If you want to know more about what to do in Tokyo and Osaka I recommend you check out these sites, it might help: https://bit.ly/2xLp5Wf and https://bit.ly/2Ia0H5v and https://bit.ly/2Q1RE9E

4 weeks seem like a lot, but Japan has lot more to see than you can in just 4 weeks. Here are my recommendations for a 27-night trip (counting number of nights below). One of the things I learned in my long trips is to stay in one place at least 2 nights, otherwise you can tire very easily. The 21-day JR Pass is recommended for below itinerary. Assumed landing and departing Tokyo, you can follow it sequentially as outlined.

7 - Tokyo, including day trips to Yokohama, Kamakura, Enoshima; and 2 days to Nikko
2 - Hakone, including a day trip to Fuji 5-lakes area (activate the 21-day JR Pass on this day)
2 - Nachi Falls area
2 - Osaka; including side trip to Kobe
2 - Kurashiki(Okayama), with day trip to Himeji
2 - Hiroshima, with day trip to Miyajima (or the other way around)
3 - Fukuoka(Hakata), including day trips to Nagasaki and Beppu
5 - Kyoto, including day trip to Nara
2 - Takayama, including day trip to Shirakawago; back to Tokyo the next day to depart

For reference, here are the trips I took: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1T_TRmNEWkYhHDy3J_gsp-VR3pAs&...

Thank you all so much for your replies this has been super helpful. Really appreciate it!!!