Hi all - gearing up for my second trip into and out of Tokyo for 10 nights at the end of March / early April. First trip was with my gf and two other friends, it is just me and my wife returning after three years.
Last time, we did the following: - Tokyo for 3 nights staying in Shibuya --highlights were Tsukiji Market and sushi breakfast, ramen every day, walking around Shibuya, video game hunting in akihabara and second hand stores, arcades, hanami in ueno park with our gatcha prizes, Park Hyatt New York bar - Kyoto for 3 nights --highlights were half day trip to Nara to see todai-ji, walking with the deer. Dinner and drinks in Osaka. Bamboo forest, Nintendo HQ, Ginkaku-ji and the entire philosopher's path, Fushimi Inari, steak dinner - Hakone for 1 night --huge highlight was the onsen ryokan we stayed in with kaiseki, as well as seeing mt fuji from the shinkansen (wish we could see from ryokan but too foggy!) - Tokyo for 3 nights staying in Shinjuku --highlighted by day in Disney, night in Golden Gai, shopping in Harajuku
We were thinking of a similar trek this time - 3 nights in Tokyo, 1 night in onsen ryokan somewhere, 3 nights in Kyoto, 3 nights in Tokyo. I do feel a bit silly doing the same locations but feel there were still many places we missed or want to get back to!
We need some overall advice and suggestions, but specifically around the following: - Which area should we go to for the onsen ryokan? We'd like a place that has an option of an outdoor private onsen since it will be just the two of us this time. The ryokan was a huge highlight for us last time, so would like to be sure we pick properly. We were looking at Gero, Kinosaki, Kusatsu, or Lake Kawaguchi, but are open to others as well! - Thinking of potentially knocking a day off of Tokyo or Kyoto to stay in Kanazawa if our ryokan trip takes us in that direction - good idea or is there another place recommended? We love every aspect of Japan - nature, tech, temples, food, cities, architecture, etc etc, so are having a very tough time deciding on what to do here! - Also up for half day trips from either "home bases"
Apologies for the scattered thoughts in the post, and thanks in advance for any advice!!
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