Driving from Nachikatsuura to Kyoto

Hi,

I�fm arriving in Kansai on morning of 7th Feb and planning to rent a car to drive two days in Wakayama. My plan goes like this:

Day 1
- arrive Kansai International, rent car and drive to Mt Koya, stay one night in temple.

Day 2
- drive to Kumano Hongu Taisha, see sights around there, visit Yunomine Onsen, stay one night in Kawayu Onsen.

Day 3
- drive to Nachi falls, return car nearby Kii-Katsuura station, and take train to Kyoto.

My question is, do you think it�fs a good idea for me to just drive to Kyoto from Nachikatsuura and return my car in Kyoto? I�fm finishing the last few days of my trip in Kyoto and Osaka, where I have no intention to drive in these cities.

I think I can save some money on train tickets if I just drive straight to Kyoto. But It�fs still going to take about 4 hours according to google maps, and I�fm unsure if it�fs a wise decision.

Or I can take the easy way and drop my car off at Kii-Katsuura station and take the train to Kyoto. Which is going to take nearly 5 hours.

Anyone has any advise? Thanks in advance!

A rental car is unnecessary. The public transport links are good for all those areas.

Not from what I can see from google maps for kumano kodo areas. I feel more comfortable to have my own car to travel these areas rather than using a bus

I do agree with the choice of car. There is public transport BUT it�fs not frequent.
As someone else said in a recent thread, in cities use public transport, between cities use public transport but in the countryside car (or in my case bicycle) is a better way of transport.

Not from what I can see from google maps for kumano kodo areas. I feel more comfortable to have my own car to travel these areas rather than using a bus

https://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/transport/

I've visited all these places (in reverse direction to you). Public transport would have been possible, but timings would have meant a lot of waiting around. Your two overnight stays are lovely places, but the bus service is infrequent.

Re one-way car hire or not: you can fairly easily use the car booking website (tocoo certainly does it) to see what the one-way drop off charges are, and can compare that to the train fare and the likely jounrey times, and make your decision based on that.

Thank you both for your replies.

Yes I've made up my mind that renting a car for self-driving in the Kumano Kodo region is the way to go for me. I don't want to waste my time waiting for buses and making stops. I can afford a rental car and I'm very comfortable with left-lane driving.

Thank you for your suggestion Winter Visitor. First, I'm glad to know that my choices for overnight stays are nice, and second, I checked the cost of driving to Kyoto vs taking the train from Kii-Katsuura - and I'd be saving about 15,000 yen (for two of us) on train ticket if I drive to Kyoto and drop the car there.

I think this largely helped me lean alot more on deciding to take the 4 hour drive!

I was planning to do the same this December but driving from NachiKatsuura to Nagoya instead. However, after reading about how bad traffic can get, I've decided to drop the car off at kii-katsuura and train to Nagoya. Driving would have given me more flexibility because the express train only runs 3 times a day. Anyway, I decided wasn't worth the hassle of driving and potentially being stuck in traffic to save a couple of hours.

Have you looked into how traffic would be driving to Kyoto? Also, don't forget to factor in tolls - I'm told they can get quite expensive.

Return the rental car to the location you got it from. Since it is on the way to Osaka/Kyoto.

Hi!

I definitely think driving can be faster than infrequent public transit, but one thing you didn't mention is your experience driving in snow and have you made sure all roads you want to use are open? I know there are a few roads in the Kumano Kudo region (and I want to say they are between Koya-san and elsewhere) that close to cars in the Winter. And since you are looking in February, yes, the Kumano Kodo is in the mountains and it can get snow. My one trip to Koya-san in late November it didn't snow while I was there, but there were some large piles of snow at a few of the temples from an older snow fall.

Tanabe and Shirahama on the cost don't often get snow, though I have seen personally what I would consider flurries but someone not accustomed to snow might thinks is a lot even in that area.

Please just be aware of ant drop off fees for your rental car as well because they can be substantial and a lot worse than the train fare.

Good luck!

Two more suggestions:
- to the OP: consider swinging by the Shirahama seaside onsen on your way back. It's awesome
- the the poster driving to Nagoya: have you considered stopping off at Iga Ueno en route? Ninja-tastic!

No, I don't even know about IGA Ueno. Definitely looks like it's worth a stop. Pity I've already abandoned my plan to drive to Nagoya. Oh well, there's always next time when it come to Japan.

Speaking a Nagoya, without wanting to start a new thread, I've booked a hotel which is about 10 min walk from Nagoya station. I'll be getting arriving at around 9pm and don't really want to walk with all the bags. Would I have problem getting a taxi for such a short distance?

Hi,

Thank you for the suggestion of Shirahama, but unfortunately its the opposite direction I am heading, and I don't have enough time to squeeze that in I am afraid.

In regards to experience driving in snow, I don't have much to be honest. I've driven in snowy conditions maybe.... two or three times in my life? And the last time was maybe 20 years ago from Napa Valley to Lake Tahoe. I remember it being a lovely drive (once I got the hang of right-lane driving) and there was tons of snow at the side of the road as I got nearer to Lake Tahoe. But I don't remember the snow conditions feeling particularly challenging or different to normal driving.

Should I be concerned about driving in snow in Japan? And also does it snow alot in Koyasan in February? I was under the impression that it does snow occasionally but not alot.

This is just from personal experience but...

My only trip to Koya-san was November 2002. When we got there it was bitterly cold. It didn't snow during our trip, but there were piles of snow in various locations meaning at some point it had recently snowed. How often or how much snow Koya-san gets I don't know, but it can snow there and not like the light dusting I saw in Kyoto in late December.

But I was not thinking about Koya-san itself so much as the drive between Koya-san and Hongu Taisha.

As you can see on this approximate map on Japan Guide:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4951.html

At least one of the roads going south from Koya-san has no service in Winter. There could be other roads that are closed in Winter Generally speaking, if Japan closes a road in Winter it likely gets a lot of snow.

If the road is completely plowed and you are driving past snow, it's much easier and the only thing to be concerned about is not being able to see things coming towards you with your peripheral vision as well. I'm talking about driving in the snow when it is actually snowing and the snow can drastically reduce visibility. Lots of snow, slush, and/or ice on the roadways can make it hard to steer the car and you can spin out. Your car can also get stuck in the snow.

Some places plow super fast, some do not. Generally, places that get a lot of snow tend to plow better than places that do not. But even if a place plows well, if you're driving during the snow, it will only help so much.

The big issue is you just won't know if snow is expected until closer to your trip because no one can predict whether it will be a snowy Winter this early on.

Thanks everyone for your replies and opinions.

I've decided on Gifu instead of Wakayama. I'll save Wakayama for next time when I plan to trek Kumano Kodo (one day!). I've decided to experience a Japan winter wonderland since I'm going in February.

My new itinerary is this:

7th Feb
- Arrive in Kansai International at 8.30am. Take train to Kanazawa - I estimate to reach around 2.30pm in Kanazawa.
- Explore Kenroku-en Garden before the sun sets. Unfortunately that's all I have time for I think.

8th Feb
- Rented a car (a Toyota RAV4 with winter tires) and will drive to Shirakawa-go around 8.30am. Spend 2-3 hours there.
- After lunch, drive two hours to Okuhida Onsen, and stay at a Onsen Ryokan/hotel nearby the Shinhotaka Ropeway. Spend rest of the day relaxing in onsens.

9th Feb
- After breakfast, take Shinhotaka Ropeway and spend about 2-3 hours there. After that drive 1 hour to Takayama. Return rental car near Takayama Station.
- Have lunch in Takayama and explore the old town. I think that's all I have time for.
- At 4.45pm take train to Kyoto. I estimate to arrive in Kyoto around 8.00pm in the evening.

10th to 12th Feb
- Stay and explore Kyoto.
- On 12th morning take train to Osaka.

12th to 14th Feb
- Stay and explore Osaka. We decided we are going to just hang around Namba, Dotonbori and Shinsaibahi areas for shopping and eating. We're not going to see anymore cultural sites or venues.
- 14th morning go back to Kansai International and catch flight home.

I know I'll be missing out on some great sites in Kanazawa and Takayama, but I figure I can sort of make up for them in Kyoto. Its a rather tight schedule in Gifu so I've decided to generally just go and see only the top sites.

If I'll be seeing or experiencing something similar or better in Kyoto, than I give it a pass in Gifu.