Advice for best route for 19 day Japan visit

Hi, visiting Japan for the first time with my wife in April 2020. We've got an idea of our possible itinerary/places to see. We want to base ourselves in 4 main locations, to save living in and out of the suitcases! So, we would be delighted to have some advice about the best way around to organise it travel wise, so that it makes train journeys as straightforward as possible between the 4 main places. We'll be doing lots of days trips out from each.
We're staying for 19 nights, flying to Osaka, with first 6 nights in Kyoto. Nothing else booked yet. We would also like to visit the inland sea area (would a 3/4 nights in Okayama or Fukuyama be the best base the this?) + Kanazawa for 3/4 nights + a one-day walk in the Kiso valley from Magome to Tsumago (possibly stay one night in each village?) + finish in Osaka for a 3/4nights (Nara, Mount Koya, possible Ise).
What's the best order for us to travel between these four main locations, with the Kiso Valley walk also thrown in. All advice for us Japan novices (and not young either!) gratefully received.
Thank you, Nigel

Hi, I havent been to the inland sea area (aside from Kobe and Hiroshima/Miyajima) but with the other areas you kind of have a wagon wheel plan with spokes coming from Kyoto. I like to travel more in a loop so that there isnt so much backtracking, so for the other areas I would go Kyoto (thunderbird train) Kanazawa - (shinkansen) Nagano - train or bus Matsumoto (see castle) - train to Nagiso/Kiso valley - train Nagoya - shinkansen Kyoto - train Nara.

Tsumago/Magome and the walk arent really that great and the area isnt one of the more interesting areas IMO, but you would see some nice countryside.

The inland sea is fantastic & everyone here knows that I love Okayama so I would say stay there with visits to Onomichi, Kurashiki, Naoshima & across the great Seto bridge to Takamatsu (if you like gardens. Ritsurin is superb). I would stay in Kyoto, Okayama, Kanazawa & Osaka. I like the hike between Magome & Tsumago but it is oversold. I would stop at Hikone on the way between Kanazawa & Osaka instead. I have just got back from a trip to Osaka, Kyoto & Okayama & am considering writing a report \but things have been crazy since I got home.

I like Okayama a lot, but be aware that it's an hour on the train from there to Uno port (from where you get ferries to e.g. Naoshima).

If you specifically want to visit islands in the sea, and spend time on the water, then I'd say that Takamatsu (or Hiroshima) might be better. If you didn't mind NOT being based in one place for that section of the trip, you could for instance take a ferry from Hiroshima to Matsuyama (overnight there, check out Dogo Onsen), and then take the train (which goes along the coast in places) to Takamatsu, stay there for a couple of nights with day trips to one or two of the islands, and then head back to Honshu either by one of the bridges or by ferry over to Wakayama from Tokushima.

Thanks all, some really helpful advice.

As we'll be doing trips out from the four bases, is it best to stay somewhere near the railway station in each location or is transport so good that it's easy to get to railway stations, even if staying not right on the doorstep, so to speak?

Hi!

I would say it depends on what the specific bases are and how much time you want to add onto your day trip from the start?

Most people don't stay near Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka. It's a really boring area. Osaka has a lot of options and since you are leaving from KIX, I would take that into account as well as Nara, Mt. Koya and Ise.
Last trip, I actually spent a few nights in Kashihara on the Kintetsu line. It was more convenient to Osaka than I expected and puts you in great stead for an Ise trip, and if you don't mind a transfer, it's not that bad if you take Kintetsu to Nara. (The JR line out of Sakurai is not very frequent.) but it's over 2 hours to Koya and 90 minutes to the airport. However, the Asuka and Sakurai area are pretty interesting in their own right and are not yet overrun with tourists.

You can stay all over Kyoto, though I prefer near a train or subway station. It doesn't need to be JR, but I prefer not to have to rely on the local buses to get everywhere because they can be slow and very cramped.

Things can get dicier if you go too far out of towns like Okayama or Takamatsu. Just look for how often the public transport runs via something like Hyperdia from the nearest train or tram station to the station you are trying to reach. If it's 1 hour to JR Okayama and then another 1 hour to say the place you want to visit that day, why add in that extra hour? My time is worth something to me. I really like Okayama and Takamatsu though.

Good luck!

So in terms of the roundabout route I'm thinking this. We've got to start in Kyoto as already booked that up (6 nights). Seems sensible then to go to Okayama (3 or 4 nights possibly). From Okayama to Kanazawa (looks like that's 2 trains I think and the longest train journey??). 3 or 4 nights in Kanazawa. From Kanazawa to Osaka (possibly with a 1 (or is 2 better?) night stop off in Hikone on the way. Stay 3 or 4 nights in Osaka. Fly home. Does this sound the best way to do this route? We're starting in Kyoto and want to end in Osaka. Cheers, Nigel

That looks reasonable to me. Kyoto will be busy but there are some great places slightly off the main route where you can escape the crowds. I would say that one night in Hikone is all you would need as it's a small town. I really do need to go back there though.