Itinerary input (Summer 2019)

Opinions are welcome! Put in a bit of time and research into this...booking soon. Last chance for any changes so thought it would be helpful to open it up.

Summer 2019

Tokyo 5 nights
Kamikochi 2 nights (bus to Kamikochi in AM, arrive around noon)
Hakuba 2 nights (rent car in Matsumoto)
-Planning to hike Mt. Shirouma and stay in Hakuba Sanso hut overnight, weather pending.
Takayama 1 night
Hakone 2 nights ***Not in love with this Takayama/Hokone part, back and forth****
Kyoto 5 nights (drop off car rental when arriving in Kyoto)
Ishigaki 3 nights (train to Osaka, fly out of Osaka)
Taketomi 2 nights

Appreciate any time and effort for feedback :)

Personally, I would probably skip Hakone. You seem like a more hardcore hiker and I think you might find Hakone disappointing. Have you thought about Hakusan instead?

But if you want to fit Hakone in, I might do:

Tokyo to Hakone first, then go from Hakone To Kawaguchiko where you can take a train to Otsuki and then continue onwards to Matsumoto. That way there is a lot less back tracking from Takayama. I guess depending on when you are planning you could then be in Hakone during hydrangea season, and the hydrangeas along the Tozan line really are lovely if you're into flowers at all. I honestly think that was my favorite experience I've ever had there.

Just be careful with weather depending on when in the Summer you go, we were in Kamikochi in late June this year and it just poured the entire time. About the only real positive I can say about it was Kamikochi was super empty and I saw more people huddled at the bus station than anywhere else. We stayed in a cabin vs. one of the hotels/ryokans. It was an interesting experience. (We spent the other night in a ryokan just outside the park which included a free trip from Matsumoto to the ryokan and then from the ryokan to Kamikochi. It started raining that evening.)

One thing Japan Guide doesn't mention is that at least when I was there all toilets cost a couple hundred yen so make sure you have change with you if you need to use any facilities.

Good luck!

Basically I like your plan, but you should be careful about the weather of your dates.

we were in Kamikochi in late June this year and it just poured the entire time.

I am sorry rkold, and I hope you will come back when the weather is fine. Kamikochi is potentially very beautiful in summer.

To the OP: your plan includes mountains and islands which are the most beautiful places in Japan, but it depends on the weather (and perhaps crowds). In Tokyo or Kyoto you might have something to do in hard rain, but there are not much to do in the nature if it rains hard (in Japan, it sometimes pours in the rainy season).

Kamikochi's rainy season is usually from mid June to mid July while Ishigaki's (Taketomi is very close) rainy season is 10th May to 20th June.

Ehhh for me the trip to Kamikochi was what it was. I will say it was a nice break from the heat. When we got back to Matsumoto we were still cold which was nice because I thought I was going to melt in Tokyo. I personally, would probably not go back in the rainy season again, but I am trying to research how hard it would be to climb Hakusan.

OP I would also check on rental car fees. Sometimes they can be quite high from one prefecture to the next. I once looked into driving from Takayama to Matsumoto, but the drop-off fee was over 10,000 yen.

If you move Hakone (or skip Hakone) to the start of your trip, you could probably rent the car from Matsumoto to Hakuba, return the car and bus it to Kamikochi, then bus it from Kamikochi to Takayama and if you then have time for Kanazawa and Hakusan, bus it to Kanazasa, rent a car for the day for Hakusan before taking a Thunderbird train down to Kyoto. I think driving a rental car from Hakone to Kyoto is going to cost a lot more than you think unless you take non-expressways in which case you're looking at a very long trip. Japan sometimes has subsidized toll passes for some expressways for tourists, but they tend to be areas less touristed (like KEP in Kyushu or I've seen some in the past for Tohoku.) Tokyo to Osaka is pretty much the most crowded area of Japan and you will get hit by tolls and/or traffic.

I love Taketomi, but two nights might be a bit much; one would do and you can spend the other one on another island like Iriomote.

Thank you for the effort everyone, the feedback really is appreciated. I have researched big trips before, but for whatever reason, I am struggling a bit with how this one should flow.

The trip starts on July 9th in Tokyo and continues on from there. There is some risk being in the mountains towards the end of the rainy season, but I am willing to roll the dice. A rental car will allow for back up plans as needed.

I booked two nights at the Gosenjaku last night and the total came out to 170,000 yen LOL. I need to call them to figure this out�ccannot pay that amount for two nights on a teacher�fs salary! Might have to visit Kamikochi on a day trip and make Matsumoto, Takayama or Kanazawa a base to bring down the cost.

Hakone would be the first spot to not make the cut. Just felt like it was important to see Mt. Fuji! I have not looked into Hakusan but will give it a look.

Great points on the car rental. I did add the cost of dropping off in another prefecture but I did not think about tolls. Perhaps a better idea is to you the rental in and around Matsumoto and take the train to Kyoto.

And the idea with Taketomi at the end�cis to do nothing. Just relax so we are ok with that.

Hi Mark,

To be fair your chances of seeing Mt. Fuji from Hakone in July are not very high. If that's the only reason you are going there, just don't. It's anecdotal, but I've been to Hakone 4 times and have never seen Mt. Fuji from there. I have seen Mt. Fuji from Tokyo, including on June 30 2018 from the Tokyo Disney Monorail. Technically, Kawaguchiko would be more likely than Hakone for Fuji viewing and it is easier to transfer there for trains to Matsumoto via Otsuki. :D

If you want to stay in Kamikochi proper, seriously look at the cabins in Konnashidaira Camping Retreat. It's not that far from Kappabashi Bridge and Gosenjaku. (I went there to get coffee and cake, it was pricey and delicious, but I am not sure worth the price. The coffee was great, better than the cake.) I was booked for one for 12,000 yen for 1 night. If you stay 2 nights it is discounted a further 1000 yen so you could have two nights for 23,000 yen. If you don't care about a private toilet, you can do it for even less. I wanted a private toilet. It does not include meals, but even so I doubt you are going to eat 147,000 worth of food.

If you want to stay near Kamikochi and do the ryokan thing, I stayed in Nakanoyu, right outside the park entrance. They have a free shuttle from Matsumoto to their ryokan and a free shuttle to Kamikochi. I am not sure about return from Kamikochi, you would need to contact the ryokan. We paid around 23,000 yen for 1 adult and 1 grade schooler. It included dinner, breakfast the transfers and we paid for the fancier room with private toilet.

So please don't count out staying in Kamikochi just based on the prices at the Gosenjaku.

I hope this helps!

Please note that most of the accommodations in Japan do not accept reservation for more than 6 months ahead. At least Konashidaira camping retreat Nakanoyu or Nishi-Itoya mountain lodge (another affordable place in Kamikochi) do not at present. I think you might better book your flight ticket to Japan now, but better wait for the flight ticket within Japan and the accommodations.

And to add to what @Frog1954 said. I was looking the last week of June, but I booked the campground in March 2018 for my trip. I started looking into it in February after I did a re-plan on my itinerary. The price for the cabin is the same for 1 person or 2 people or 2 people with kids. (In my case I am 1 adult and 1 grader schooler)

I booked Nakanoyu about 1 1/2 months before my trip. I thought about Nishi-Otya as well (sp?) because it looked really nice, but I admit, I liked the free transfer from Matsumoto. As long as it's not a week end, you can book places 3-4 months out. In general, most Japanese hotels have the best availability 4-6 months out, unless you are looking at some luxury hotels or there is a specific event taking place. In the Summer, places like Kyoto are easier to book because it's so hot and humid and I had so many choices for about ~100-125 a night.

I found about 5 months out was ideal at most places. I averaged about US ~120 a night for the first 14 nights including: Nakanoyu, Kyoto 4 nights, Tokyo 3 nights, and Kamikochi. (and then blew my average with 2 nights at a luxury hotel in Tokyo. ) I did most of my bookings around February or later because I changed my original itinerary from 1 week in Kyushu to 1 week in Chubu. Some of my bookings I did as late as April though because Tokyo and Kyoto seem to constantly be getting new hotels. The hotel I used for 3 nights in Tokyo had opened less than a month before I stayed there and I loved it. If the price stays so low, I am using it this next trip.

I hope this helps!!

Rkold and frog1954 your input has been valuable...finally feeling like this is starting to come together!!Booked an Airbnb in Tokyo, Hakuba and Takayama. Going to skip Hakone, which always felt a little out of the way, and still look to make Kamikochi happen- which makes me happy.

I have adjusted the itinerary to:

Tokyo 5

Kamikochi 2
*I have emailed both Nakanoyu and Konashidaira to learn more about when I can book. Both options provide are much cheaper alternative to Gosenjaku. Will hold the Gosenjaku reservation until one of these new options can be booked.

Hakuba 3 (w/ 1 night at the Sanso Lodge near Mt. Shirouma)
*rent a car in matsumoto, prior to going to Hakuba, and drop off after Takayama -> train to Kyoto

Takayama 2

Kyoto 5

Ishigaki 4

Taketomi 1
*still working on this last part with Ishigaki/Taketomi

Always like to book early to get the best of the best. Going to hold off on booking the flight though until more flights and carriers post.

I wouldn't worry about it in Takayama or in Hakuba, but just be aware that AirBnB had a lot of problems in June 2018 in Japan. While people are starting to get their license and registration numbers, a lot of parts of Tokyo (and Kyoto) have their own regulations on top of the National ones. Most of these effectively make AirBnBs in Tokyo and Kyoto illegal. Now it's possible nothing bad will happen to you. But when I was in Japan June 2018 I met LOTS of people who had their reservations canceled on short notice.

Now to be fair, it's super possible nothing will go wrong. But I am personally not sure why you might want to risk it, especially since you are presumably not a large family with kids which won't fit in a traditional business hotel. There are lots of cheap, safe and clean business hotels and if you really want like cheap and don't mind shared bathrooms, just do a room at the Kimi in Ikebukuro. It's 4500 yen for a single.

Nakanoyu was super nice when I emailed them and they were also willing to work with dietary restrictions. They even knew to ask about soup stock! The people at the campground were also lovely. Super friendly and quite fluent in English.

Good luck!