Would love feedback on my travel plans

Greetings everyone!

I would like to ask for some feedback/suggestions on a rough travel outline I've put together for an upcoming trip to Japan. Hubby and I are visiting Japan for 10 days from April 10th-20th, hoping to experience the beautiful cherry blossoms during our trip. We hope this will be the beginning of many trips because both of us have always wanted to visit Japan for many years. I started studying Japanese 5 months ago in preparation for the trip.

We are not fans of busy cities, big crowds and heavily touristed areas and want to visit areas that can offer us a sense of traditional Japanese history and culture. There are so many places we want to see that it's fast becoming overwhelming to try and pick where to go. We plan to visit Northern Japan next year Hokkaido next year, but for this trip, here's my thoughts:

Stay 3 nights in 3 different areas, as we'd rather not be staying every night in a different ryokan. That way, we have have a "home base" from which to explore neighboring towns.

1) 3 nights in Kanazawa (exploring Nagamichi/Shirakawa/Kenroku-en garden/Kanazawa castle/Ogimachi village)
This seems to be where we would go first based on cherry blossoms at the time we will be visiting (10th-20th) although the dates for 2020 don't seem to have been released yet.

2) 3 nights in Nara (exploring Nara/Kyoto - perhaps a day trip to the fishing village of Ine?)

3) 3 nights somewhere else.
- Perhaps around Narai/Tsumago/Takayama
- Going up to Kakunodate and exploring some of the towns in that area
- Other suggestions would be very much welcomed!

For each area we stay, I'd like to be able to have easy access (train/bus) to neighboring towns for some exploring. We will have a rail pass.

Thank you very much in advance for your thoughts :-)

Hi,
Well, first, if you think by avoiding a lot of the big cities you'll get away from the tourist crowds, you may be in for a shock. Places like Nara Park and Shirakawago (Ogimachi) are overflowing with tourists these days; most are day trippers who don't spend the night though. Please be aware that there is no rail access to Shirakawago.
https://youtu.be/lvtACNNuLUs

Nara has a lot of excellent sights - but it is more of a side trip destination. Basing yourself there would make more sense if you want to see more sights there, compared to Kyoto. But if you want to go up to Ine or Amanohashiidate (or many other places like Himeji etc) then staying in Kyoto makes a lot more sense.
Getting from the Kansai area (as well as Tokyo) to Takayama is rather time consuming. If you really want to go there, it would likely be better to bundle Kanazawa, Shirakawago and Takayama together. It takes about 2½ hours by ltd express train from Nagoya to Takayama alone.
Kakunodate is really the odd man out. Presumably you are thinking of it because of the cherry blossoms. While they are very nice there, you'd really need some other places to see near there to make going all the way up there worthwhile. There is Nyuto hot springs (onsen) for example. Seeing Geibikei Gorge east of Hiraizumi is one of the highlights are of the region and very beautiful.
https://youtu.be/NNsGoa4wWOo

If you want to see Tsumago, Magome etc, then you may be thinking of walking some of the old Nakasendo Road. It is not backbreaking at all, but you do need to be reasonably fit.

I think your plan looks pretty good. I'm not wild on Kanazawa and prefer Takayama but plenty of people think the opposite. Personally I far prefer Nara to Kyoto and would base myself there over Kyoto, although Kyoto is handier if you want to have day trips.

For the third place, I wouldnt necessarily recommend Kiso Valley as it is more a one or two day thing although I was there several years ago now. I'd consider the Izu Peninsula which I really like because it is pretty, handy and uncomplicated train transport, lots of foresty bits, and a little rustic. I wasnt keen on Atami itself but you can get very good and cheap accommodation a 5 minute train ride away.

Depending on when cherry blossom season is, you may miss it, unless you go to higher elevations. Cherry blossom season usually starts in March, and lasts a few weeks. Higher elevations have a later season.

I am not sure where you are flying in or out of, but I will guess into Tokyo. If you get a seven day JR pass, you can get to Kanazawa, Kyoto, and then back to Tokyo before the pass is gone.

While near Kyoto/Nara, try to go to Yushino, which has an extended cherry blossom time, depending on how high you are on the mountain.

That might mean the final days are near Tokyo.

For a place with low traffic near Tokyo, you might consider Chichibu. It is at a higher elevation, so I have experienced cherry blossoms in mid-late April there. It also has a moss phlox festival in late April/early May. I did the 34 Kannon pilgrimage in April a few years back. There is a Seibu-Chichibu limited express train that departs from Ikebukuro Station, to get you there and back.

There are other places, the Fuji five lakes, Nikko, Kamakura/Endoshima, Atami, and Hakone, just to name a few. I checked the Ataminews website, and Atami will have their sea fireworks on April 18, 2020, which falls into your time in Japan. Atami is a hot spring beach resort town near Hakone.

I hope this helps.

As others have said, you are likely to catch the end of the cherry blossom season at best unless the spring is cold or you go to higher elevations. Don't let this worry you, there is so much to see & do any way. Generally your plans look good I would just suggest the following.

Tsumago/Magome is not a place to spend three nights, there really is not that much there. They are two small villages. I say that as someone who loves the place. I know you say that you are not a fan of cities but as a European I find Japanese cities have a completely different feeling that I really don't mind.
I would suggest that you spend the three days base in Hiroshima, visiting Miyajima, Iwakuni etc.
Or Okayama/Kurashiki from where you could explore the Bikan historical quarter, the Kibi plain by bicycle and visit Bitchu-Matsuyama castle.
Or stay in the Nara area and do more day trips to Onomichi, Hikone etc. Maybe even an overnight stay on Mt Koya.

All of the above sound good in my opinion.

Thank you so much everyone, these posts are wonderfully helpful. I'm making revisions to my itinerary right now. I'm looking to secure ryokan bookings within the next few days as they are already filling up! :-)