Japan honeymoon opions

Hello! I�fm looking for some advice on my honeymoon in Japan next April. For me, it will be my fifth trip to Japan, but my partners first (and first ever travel experience at that!) Were looking for a combination or sightseeing and relaxation. I have a good idea of where to go for sight seeing and would like to take him to a few of the �enormal�f tourist spots, but the relaxation side is where I�fm unsure.

We�fd like to spend two or three days around a onsen town or nature area. I have previously visited the mt fuji area and considered this, but am also thinking of Nikko or kanazawa, as I haven�ft been to these areas. What would be your suggestions? We�fre hoping to move to wherever we choose shortly after flying into Japan.

Many thanks! Will also happily take another other suggestions!

I think it would be easier if you let us know your current planned itinerary to give you an idea what could be fitted in.

For relaxation are you looking primarily at onsen town, or would a small island in Okinawa also do the trick?
And how much relaxation are you after? Just 3 days of pure relaxation or some touristic activities?
I am asking because you propose Kanazawa. It�fs a nice place, but I would say it�fs a �gnormal �g touristic destination. Not specially relaxing. Now you can make any normal touristic destination into a relaxing one, including Tokyo if you do relaxing activities but not sure if that�fs what you are after.

Depending on when and where and the weather, April is also Hanami time. You can find some more remote places and enjoy a romantic stroll below Hanami trees or jump into the craziness of Japanese Hanami in spots such as Ueno Park.

Enjoy your honeymoon in Japan!

Onsen and nature, two of my favorite things! It is just that a lot of onsen towns are in very hilly areas where long walks in nature are not so accessible. A few that come to mind are :

Kamikochi - if you are after the Kamikochi opening in mid April, the Kamikochi Onsen Hotel there is awesome. Great onsen with rotenburo, nice rooms, great food, monkeys and hikes. Probably a 2 night maximum.
Shuzenji - very nice, on the Izu peninsula. Again, 2 nights tops as there isnt much to do in town.
Chichibu - here is a cheap option for you. The Chichibu area is very nice, a series of smallish towns linked by the Chichibu railway about 2 hours from Tokyo. Lots of outdoor activities and the locals are lovely. We stayed at Hotel Miyama in a room with a private hot tub. It was tres romantique! The outside of the hotel needs TLC but it is great inside. Probably a 2 night maximum unless you do the trip to the mountaintop shrine which is meant to be awesome.
Hakone - well it has its critics but I think it depends where you are based. We stayed at Lalaca at Gora several years ago and it was excellent. We recently stayed at Fukumuziro at Tonosawa and it was probably the most memorable experience I have had in a ryokan (especially the sakura 2 room which is the only one there with an internal toilet and hot spring bath). Fukumuziro is maybe 300m from Hakone Yumoto but set in a foresty aea so it may as well be 300km away.
Bessho Onsen - good and pretty cheap. 2 nights is really pulling it up, though.
Takayama - Hotel Associa there is a great onsen resort and Takayama has heaps to do, with great walks in Takayama park. We keep going back.

...and Karuizawa. We have been there a few times now, it has a nice shopping street and some parks and a nice hike from the edge of town to a lookout and temple. We had stayed a few times at Tsuruya Ryokan which is really good, but last time we stayed at Le Grand Kyu Karuizawa which was pretty cheap for what you get, we had amazing rooms and was very classy. It has a nice onsen and rotenburo. In my wife's mind, that would be a good place for a honeymoon. Karuizawa is very trendy for a japanese town, we really like it.

Like @Lazy Pious, I've stayed at the Associa. It has amazing onsen, but I'm not sure I would consider it "romantic" because it gets an awful lot of tour buses. However, even with a tour bus staying there with us, the onsen was not busy at all. (At least the women's side I can't speak for the men's) None of the European people on the tour used the onsen when we were, so it was just us and some Japanese tourists. I would think one of the ryokan off in the mountains of the Okuhida might be more romantic, but you're also further out from everything.

We're giving a try to Hanamaki onsen this upcoming trip. One of the places where staying is probably going to be busy like the Associa and the other place looks a bit quieter. I'm not sure how much there is to do in Hanamaki. However if you were in Tohoku towards the end of April, the sakura is amazing. I'd love to go to Kitakami at some point. I've been to Hirosaki and Kakunodate for sakura and even with the crowds they were gorgeous.

I liked Zao. The outside rotemboro there was amazing, though the town isn't exactly cute.

I agree that a lot of what works depends on your itinerary and your budget.

Good luck, that sounds like a great honeymoon.

For a special romantic couple of days, I'd definitely be looking at a luxurious quiet ryokan with the option of private rotemburo(s) that you can hire, or maybe even somewhere really swish where you get a private bath in your room.

Oku Hida would be a prime area (and if you're going to splurge, you'll get more bang for your buck there than in Hakone).

Alternatively, you could go modern and have a couple of days of peaceful luxury in somewhere like Benesse House.

If you can make it to Hokkaido, you may want to look into Shikotsu Daiichi. It is overlooking Shikotsuko and they have rooms with private onsen. I'd spend 2 days there max. It's a quiet little town with nothing else to do but soak and relax. There aren't a lot of foreign tourists too.

Thank you, everyone, for the brilliant suggestions! I would love to do Hokkaido but we may need to save that for another time. Karuizawa is looking like a strong contender at the moment! Thanks for your time in giving us your suggestions!

If you come to Japan in April, note that tempereture varies a great deal by location.
In Tokyo, average temperature in April is about 14 degrees celsius. It's spring, best flower season.

On the other hand, in the mountain and northern region, it's still cold.
Karuizawa 6c
Nikko, Lake Chuzenji 5c
Sapporo 3c

If you come to Japan in April, note that tempereture varies a great deal by location.

I would say additionally that the cherry blossom changes quickly during April: Normally the best days for cherry blossom in Tokyo is first 5 days in April and slightly later (by a few days) in Kansai area including Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. After 10th April your chance of viewing Somei Yoshino (most famous type of cherry blossom) in these area would be very low. Of course you may be able to see it at cooler places like Kawaguchiko.

The most popular cherry blossom viewing place is Kyoto, so first 5-10 days in Kyoto is very expensive as for the accommodation. If you are foreign tourists you may want to get the Japan Rail Pass to commute from Nagoya (to Kyoto) where the hotel tend to be less expensive even in the cherry blossom season.