Itinerary Check - 16 Days of Culture/Nature

Hi all,

I am currently in the process of finalizing a culture/nature-based itinerary to Japan and would greatly appreciate some feedback.

5/18 (Mo) - Arrive at Haneda airport at 1:35 PM; travel to Fuji Five Lakes (~3.5 hr)
5/19 (Tu) - Fuji Five Lakes (slow day); see Fuji Shibazakura Festival, Chureito, Lake Kawaguchi
5/20 (We) - Travel back to Tokyo (~2 hr); visit Harajuku, Shibuya with view from Shibuya Scramble Square, Shinjuku
5/21 (Th) - Tokyo day trip to Nikko (~2 hr); evening can be spent doing something in Tokyo
5/22 (Fr) - Travel to Kanazawa (~3 hr); Omicho Market, Kanazawa Castle
5/23 (Sa) - Kanazawa; Kenroku Gardens, Higashi Chaya District
5/24 (Su) - Travel to Shirakawago (~1.5 hr); explore Shirakawago, then travel to Takayama (~1 hr) and overnight in a ryokan
5/25 (Mo) - Takayama (slow day); explore Old Town, overnight in ryokan
5/26 (Tu) - Travel to Kamikochi (~2 hr); overnight at Hirayu Onsen
5/27 (We) - Travel to Kyoto (~5 hr); Fushimi Inari
5/28 (Th) - Kyoto; Eastern Kyoto Itinerary
5/29 (Fr) - Kyoto; Arashiyama Itinerary
5/30 (Sa) - Travel to Koyasan (~3.5 hr), overnight in Buddhist temple
5/31 (Su) - Travel to Osaka (~3 hr) (slow day); Osaka Castle, Dotonbori
6/01 (Mo) - Travel to Miyajima (~3 hr), stopping by Himeji or Kurashiki; Itsukushima Shrine, overnight in Miyajima ryokan
6/02 (Tu) - depart from Hiroshima Airport at 1:00 PM

Questions:
- Are there any ways to shorten transportation time? I tried to minimize backtracking as much as possible.
- Is Osaka worth staying over at?
- Any final suggestions on what to add/remove?

Thanks!

- Are there any ways to shorten transportation time? I tried to minimize backtracking as much as possible.
I think overall this itinerary makes sense. It is busy, but not crazy busy and you have some places where you stay for multiple nights. For me personally it would be too fast paced, but then I am a very slow traveller and know that I can come back to Japan again and again, so it's a different type of travelling I am doing.

- Is Osaka worth staying over at? Normally I would say NO, BUT in your case, you are also practically not staying in Tokyo (only a bit less than a full day). So if you want to see some city life, Osaka for a half day (you are arriving in the morning from Koya-san, makes sense to me. I personally prefer Tokyo, but also because I know Tokyo much better than Osaka and have all my friends there. Osaka I still need to find what is so interesting about it, although I do spend about 2 months a year in Osaka... (for work though).
If you aren't that intereseted in Osaka, you could obviously just skip it and e.g. stay directly in Himeiji and have a early start next day with the castle. But staying at Osaka would also have the benefit that if you like Koyasan a lot, you can stay there until quite late and just get a later train down to Osaka and still have dinner in Dotonbori area.
BTW, I would NOT visit Osaka castle. It looks nice from outside, but it is rebuilt in concrete. So much better to see the original one in Himeji.

- Any final suggestions on what to add/remove? As said above, I think the itinerary makes sense.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Looks pretty good to me. I'd suggest you stay overnight at Shirakawago then spend 1 night at Takayama, because the gassho-zukuri stays are the highlight of the area. It is also much nicer when the busloads of tourists have left for the day.

Shibazakura may be way past its prime when you get there.

Shibazakura Festival is normally in early/mid April, so I think it might be all over by mid May. But a day around Kawaguchiko will take up a whole day normally.

Hi lundapesya,

Firstly, it is a bit unclear what types of transport you're using to travel from place to place as you've only provided travel times. The Hokuriku Arch Pass might be good for you for your particular trip direction, but whether it's cost efficient depends on you calculating the fares yourself. Some recommendations I have:

1. You can cut your travel time/costs down by taking a direct bus from Haneda Airport to Kawaguchiko
http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/4/

2. Hirayu Onsen is a difficult addition in your trip, I'd suggest doing Kamikochi on the 25th, then doing a slow day on the 26th instead before heading straigh for Kyoto after that. Fushimi Inari is a at the most 2 hours thing, you can easily slot that into either of your other Kyoto days.

3. You can go to Osaka on the 30th, explore dotonbori, then go to Koyasan straightafterward. Osaka Castle can be skipped if you're gonna do Himeji later on

4. Instead of Osaka I recommend staying/spending the extra day at Hiroshima, as far as Nature/Culture goes Osaka City does not have much to offer and I find Hiroshima to be much more relaxing and suited for a slow day.