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Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/18 21:11
Hello everyone,

Ifll try to keep it short (because I want to avoid a wall of text).
For a trip (spring 2020) my wife and me will be traveling from Fukuoka towards Tokyo (3 weeks).

My original plan was to arrive in Fukuoka and spend the remainder of my first day there for a basic impression (just to stretch the legs after a long travel day, eat in the food stalls in the evening) and spend 2 days in Kyushu before traveling through to visit Hiroshima/ Miyajima on days 4 and 5, after that wefll continue further north towards Osaka.

Ifve noticed I couldnft really find something to my liking in Kyushu (Nagasaki seems a bit much for 2 full days, Kagoshima a bit far just to travel back to Hiroshima 2 days later (the volcano seems very nice though) nor in southern Chugoku (Yamaguchi seems nice, but wefll visit so many temples during our trip, I donft want to overdo it either, I know my wifec).

Now Ifm considering leaving from Fukuoka and going directly to Hiroshima on days 2/3 and spend days 4/5 around Okayama.
Ifm thinking a trip to Inujima or Naohsima (they would be similar I guess?), Kurashiki (mostly for the canals) or, if feasible for a day-trip to Tottori (I think the sand dunes would provide a nice contrast compared to the rest of the trip, but I guess itfs a bit to much (both in time and price) for a day-trip?
Another alternative would be to go Fukuoka – Hiroshima – Osaka, and go down to the Mount Koya region for 2 daysc? But in that case I assume Ifll just be flying to Osaka and re-arrange my trip a bit. Decisions decisionsc

As you see, Ifve done some investigating, but Ifm a bit on the fence on where to go with those 2 days of my itineraryc Any advice or experiences?

*My wife can appreciate cultural activities, but especially with temples I donft want to overdo it because I know from experience we will come across A LOT of those. I think most interesting for us would be something active, we enjoy walking and hiking during day trips. cycling, c

For reference the cities that I plan to visit on each day on our current itinerary

1 - Fukuoka
2 - ???
3 - ???
4 - Hiroshima
5 - Miyajima
6 - Osaka
7 - Osaka/Himeji
8 - Nara
9 - Kyoto
10 - Kyoto (Arashijama)
11 - Kyoto
12 - Magome/Tsumago
13 - Takayama
14 - Kanazawa
15 – Kanazawa/Tokyo
16 - Fuji 5 Lakes Area
17 - Nikko
18 - Tokyo
19 - Tokyo
20 - Tokyo

Tnx for any input!
by MG (guest)  

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/19 13:15
I've never been to Onomichi, but it sounds to be ideal given the cycling interest. It is also on your way.

Personally in Kyushu my favorite place (aside from the Nagasaki Bio Park, if you like animals) was Yufuin. That said I didnt get to Beppu (looks a bit city-ish for my liking), Kumamoto (was just after earthquake), or Kagoshima.
by Lazy Pious (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/19 13:39
It is a very rushed itinerary. Use those spare days to slow down the travel pace.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/19 15:07
I'm with @Hakata14 about this all seeming very rushed. I would book 1 hotel in Osaka for days 6 through 11 and decide what to do from your list each day. To answer your question, I would stay the extra two days in Fukuoka and day trip to Nagasaki on one of them. Nagasaki is a great place for a day trip.
by Stan Norrell rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/19 15:23
Agree with PPs that the itinerary is already very rushed. You donft need additional destinations.

However if you are looking for cycling opportunities and can get rid of some of your other destinations (!!!) check out my blog:

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/

Depending on how much you like cycling you could do:
- Shimanami Kaido
- Kibi plain
- Cycling between Osaka-Kyoto-Uji-Nara-Yamatoyagi
- Lake Biwa
(You can find tours I did there with the routes and descriptions in the link above)

Inujima and Naoshima arenft really similar as the art is very different. Yes, itfs modern art but still quite different.

HOWEVER, if you stick to flying into Fukuoka I would spend a day in Dazaifu. You get a great shrine and temple. Plus a superb national museum.

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2017/11/day-55-dazaifu-to-fukuo...

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2017/11/day-54-saga-to-dazaifu....

Regarding Tottori I agree that it is too much of a detour in your itinerary to make sense.


Enjoy planning your trip to Japan!

by LikeBike (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/19 22:00
Hello, OP here

First of all I want to thank you guys for the feedback. It doesn't get said enough sometimes that taking the time to reply to strangers questions is very nice ;)

I'm rather surprised you are saying my trip is rushed, but I'm taking it into account.
Can you guys go into detail on where I'm rushing and might be missing on things?

When I look at it with your feedback on timing in mind I would deduct:
1. Fukuoka is extremely short (but I'm not that interested in the city, it's just the city I would be arriving in and start my trip
2. 2 days to do Hiroshima (1 day) and Miyajima (1 day) seemed fine.
3. Osaka in 2 days is indeed quite short perhaps, especially if I want to go a half day to Himeji?
4. Nara 1 day I believed would be fine
5. Most people will most likely argue that I need more time in Kyoto (?), but I wasn't a huge fan of the city during my last trip (when I stayed 4 days) and had the feeling I saw everything there was to see, with time to spare. I'll review Kyoto in detail and verify if I'm missing something obvious.
6. Japanese Alps: I planned to take 1 day doing the walk from Magome and Tsumago and take the bus back and spend the evening in Magome, travel to Takayama in the morning and spend full day there, go to Kanazawa the next morning and spend 2 days (travel back to Tokyo either in the afternoon, or if I want to spend some more time take a train in the evening).
7. 5 days Tokyo (including 2 day trips (Nikko & 5 lakes area) seemed enough, but I assume in Tokyo you can never spend to much time?

So with the feedback in mind (and thus not adding more destinations) I would say adding 1 day Osaka and 1 day Tokyo? Or is this not what you would advise? @Stan Norrell commented staying 6 days in Osaka as "base-camp", is visiting Kyoto when staying in Osaka feasible, or we would really be wasting time? @LikeBike: Thanks a lot for the input on the Cycling. I'll check it out!

For the other remarks and where to spend time I'll need to look a bit deeper into it over the weekend
by OP (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/19 22:43
Hi!

OP, I think one problem is it's unclear where you are spending each night. So it looks like you are staying overnight in Kawaguchiko, rather than doing it as a day trip from Tokyo. It's a small thing, but unless you travel light, I find every time you change accommodations it eats into your day, even if you are just dropping bags and checking in later.

I think you also might be underestimating some travel times. Unfortunately some connections are only once an hour and aren't always timed well. So if for example you have a JR Rail Pass and can't use Nozomi and leave Kyoto at 8:59 am you won't be in Nakatsugawa until 10:48 and then you still need to take the bus 30 minutes to actually reach the Kiso Valley which isn't until 11:15 because you just miss the 10:45. So you're not even reaching Magome until 11:40.

You're actually going to have very limited time in Takayama as well. If you want to take JR, it will be faster to backtrack to Nagoya and catch the Hida there. If you don't mind paying out of pocket for bus you can do the bus from Matsumoto to Takayama, but either way it's going to take you around 4+ hours. Getting from Takayama to Kanazawa can be a project. If you are perfectly timed with the Hida to Toyama it's not so bad but you must time the Hidas of which there are only 4 a day, otherwise you should take the bus via Shirakawa Go though again you need to watch the schedule. If you do plan to use buses between Matsumoto to Takayama to Kanazawa, the 3 star bus route pass for 5500 yen might make sense. I would figure out if you actually need a rail pass, you might not, which would make the trip from Kyoto or Osaka to Nagoya easier just because there are more Nozomi than Hikari. I paid out of pocket for a Nozomi from Nagoya to Tokyo, and I didn't save that much in travel time, I saved in train frequency.

If you hit Fukuoka right, it's beautiful during sakura time. I've not been during ume season but I've heard Daizaifu is gorgeous then. So depending on what you think of as Spring, you might enjoy both of those just for the flower viewing.

I biked the Kibi plain with my husband years ago and it's lots of fun and not super hard.

Personally, if you didn't enjoy Kyoto, I would subtract a day from there and: add a day to Hiroshima to either bike in Kibi or bike the Shimanami Kaido, add a day in Matsumoto or a day in Takayama, and I would add a day in Tokyo.

I admit, lately I've been regretting how few days I actually spend in Tokyo proper and not just doing day trips from there. My 8 year old is done with Kyoto for now. There are still places to see, but it is possible to just need a break, no shame in knowing yourself and your interests.

I would not change hotels though between Kyoto and Osaka. Pick the one you prefer as your base and just use it. I find Osaka has better prices for luxury hotels and super cheap places and Kyoto tends to have the better selection of places in the $80-$200 range. (prices are those in June, I've no idea about prices other times of year.) Osaka has gotten some new hotels but it has not experienced anything close to the hotel boom Kyoto and Tokyo are experiencing. It's easy and convenient to get between Kyoto and Osaka even without a rail pass. You can always use Hankyuu and Keihan depending on where you are staying or trying to reach. We visited a friend in Osaka about a month ago and left Osaka around 22:00 on a Special Rapid and had no problem going to our hotel in Kyoto.

Good luck!
by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/20 01:27
Confirming that the Kibi plain is easy to ride - I even did it in the middle of winter.

Just note that it might be better to stay the night in Tsumago as I found Magome was a bit more limited for accommodation when I visited. Both do not have lots of restaurants if your not staying in a ryokan.

Another option is to move your days forward and give yourself some more time in Kanazawa/Takayama
by mfedley rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/20 02:55
If you like canals (kurushike), check out yanagawa. It's close to Fukuoka and the canal ride is very enjoyable.
by nealson rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/20 03:10
if you're going to arashiyama, check out the hozugawa boat ride. you start out at kameoka (about a half hour train ride) and ride on the river right into arashiyama.
If you stay overnight in kawaguchiko, the morning views of Fujisan can be magical if the weather is clear. Also there may be sakura and shiba-sakura festivals going on. If you do go to kawaguchiko on either a day trip or on an overnighter, don't miss the kubota itchiku kimono museum.
by nealson rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary 2019/7/20 04:06
When in spring will you travel?
Are you aware of "Golden Week" busy tourist days?

[Narrowing down your destinations]

Your itinerary for Days 12 through 15 sounds too packed.

Leaving Kyoto on Day 12,
you may well spend 11 and a half hours
just to change places by railway and bus
until reaching Tokyo on Day 15.

It sounds better to select destinations for those four days,
maybe dropping Takayama.
Do you plan to skip Shirakawa-go?

[Shortening your traveling time]

Kawaguchiko (among the Fuji Five Lakes) and Nikko
are not directly connected by railway.
I suggest that you make round trips from Tokyo separately.

Your now-planned route is roundabout with some needlessly zigzag parts.
A reliable, detailed map of Japan tells you
that compared to Miyajima Island, Hiroshima City is closer to Osaka City,
and that Himeji City is on your way from Hiroshima City to Osaka City.
The order Miyajima, Hiroshima, Himeji (#), Osaka, Nara then Kyoto sounds time-saving.

(#) On a busy tourist day,
heading to Himeji in the early morning from Osaka
might give you a benefit of avoiding crowdedness in Himeji Castle Park.
Otherwise it seems OK to stop by Himeji on your way from Hiroshima to Osaka.

[Forwarding your luggage]

With prior consent of a hotel where you stay for consecutive nights,
you can send some luggage by delivery service to be delivered on your check-in date
then have it stored by the hotel until you appear at the reception.
by omotenashi rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/20 05:36
It didnt look that rushed to me as long as you are packing light and you have kept your travel to under 3 hours any day. I would probably have a bit of a break in the middle though, maybe substitute more time at Nara (yay!) and take from Osaka (meh).

Our last trip was 2 days in each place (1 day in one) with generally 2 hours or under travel (one or two longer, up to 4 hours), I didnt think it was rushed at all.

I say that with the greatest of respect to differing opinions by the way.
by Lazy Pious (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/20 06:32
by Vf1Valkyrie rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/20 08:13
Day 12 to 17. Most days have 4+ hours travel. Hence why a said rushed. It would be nice to have a slower pace or overnight stay for some locations.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan 3 week itinerary; 2 unassigned days 2019/7/20 08:56
Agreed, really any day you have 4 hours in travel you want to stay at the destination 2 nights.
by Lazy Pious (guest) rate this post as useful

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