21 days in May - tolls, trains, highlights?

Hi all!

Wefre traveling to Japan from Europe this coming May. Our itinerary is mostly planned out, and true to our usual way of travel itfs quite fast-paced. Wefre nature lovers with an interest in experiences, history and culture, appreciate good food (but not foodies) and are not very interested in things like anime. All accommodation has been booked already, but is free to cancel or change.

This website and forum has been a great help in planning. As our trip is (too slowly!) approaching, Ifm just looking for some last fine-tuning tips. Highlights that we shouldnft miss and some pointers on transportation. My questions are:
- What kind of toll fees should we expect when renting a car for the Nagoya - Tsumago - Kamikochi - Takayama - Shirakawa-go - Nagoya loop on day 4-8, and the Matsuyama - Iya Valley - Takamatsu stretch on day 18-19? I found the toll websites very hard to navigate.
- Are there any regional train passes we could take advantage of?
- Any big oversights or things we should be aware of in our current itinerary? Highlights we shouldnft miss?

Our itinerary so far, for May 2024:
Day 1-3 Tokyo (Not super planned out, but would like to visit Shinjuku (where wefre staying), Asakusa, Shibuya, Koen-ji, TeamLab Borderless)
Day 4 Shinkansen to Nagoya, rent a car, drive to Tsumago, take bus back to Magome, walk to Tsumago, spend night in Ryokan. This sounds a bit weird, but itfs the only way to make the walk work with the bus times and wanting to leave for Kamikochi early on day 5.
Day 5 Early drive to Kamikochi, hike there. Wefll try to make reservations to spend a night in a mountain hut (Yokoo-Sanso). If itfs not possible, wefll go straight to Takayama at the end of the day.
Day 6 Drive to Takayama, visit Hida Folk Village
Day 7 Walking/hiking around Takayama
Day 8 Leave Takayama, drive by Shirakawa-go, back to Nagoya to drop off rental car, train to Kyoto
Day 9-11 Kyoto, possible side trips to Nara and Himeji.
Day 12 Early morning: Fushimi Inari, then: travel via Tanabe to Takijiri-Oji, to walk the Nakahechi Kumano Kodo route on day 13 and 14.
Day 13-14 Walking, overnights in Tsugizakura-oji and Kawayu Onsen
Day 15 Leave Kawayu Onsen for Koyasan, temple stay
Day 16 Leave Koyasan for Hiroshima, hopefully get there in time to visit the Museum and Peace Park (hotel nearby)
Day 17 Hiroshima, visit Miyajima and hike up the mountain there
Day 18 Leave Hiroshima, take a train to Matsuyama, rent a car, drive towards Iya Valley with perhaps a stop for hiking along the way. Wefve booked a stay at a Ryokan there.
Day 19 Drive around Iya Valley region, visit the scarecrow village, do some hiking, drop off car in Takamatsu, spend the night
Day 20 Early morning to Naoshima island, spend the day visiting museums.
Day 21 Leave Naoshima for Tokyo, spend last night near Ueno station
Day 22 Flight back

Thanks so much in advance!

You may consider Central Expressway pass for your day4-8 loop.

https://hayatabi.c-nexco.co.jp/page/?id=91

You will find the rough idea of the tolls you will pay. See the bottom of the PDF.

https://hayatabi.c-nexco.co.jp/img/cms/1670481695507.pdf

Nagoya to Matsumoto: 4930 yen plus 750 yen (Nagoya Expressway).
Matsumoto to Takayama:790 yen.
Takayama to Shirakawago: 840 yen.
Shirakawago to Nagoya: 4210 yen plus 750 yen (Nagoya Expressway).

The downside of the pass is that you need to use specific rental car companies listed on the PDF.

Thanks a lot, going to look into that :)

It's a very busy itinerary. In the last 10 days, most days have 5-6 hours of transport per day. Not really enough time to do half the stuff you typed.

Hi H,

Thanks for your feedback. We are aware there are some travel-heavy days in the last leg of the trip. Mainly day 15, 16, 18 and 21. The most logical solution to this would be skipping Hiroshima and Miyajima, or skipping Shikoku/Iya Valley.

We added Shikoku in an attempt to go a bit beyond the regular 'first time to Japan'-loop, and add more nature into our trip. But then everyone seems to be so enamored with Hiroshima and Miyajima, that we also didn't want to miss out on that.

What would you recommend to make our last leg more enjoyable?

Hi H,

I wrote a reply but it seems like it didn't go through. Let's try again.

We're aware that there are some travel-heavy days on the last leg of our trip. Mainly day 15, 16, 18 and 21. We're probably trying to do too much, adding both Hiroshima/Miyajima and Shikoku. Which would you (or others) recommend to drop?

We added Shikoku as we'd like to get a bit off the super-touristy trail, and add more nature into our trip. But then everyone seems so enamored with Hiroshima/Miyajima that we also didn't want to skip out on that.

Day 18 Leave Hiroshima, take a train to Matsuyama, rent a car, drive towards Iya Valley with perhaps a stop for hiking along the way. Wefve booked a stay at a Ryokan there.

It doesn't make sense to go to Matsuyama by train to rent a car to go to Iya Valley, that's a lot of backtracking.
Either take the ferry/jetfoil, or go by train to Takamatsu and rent the car there. It is closer to Iya and Takamatsu is your next destination anyway.

Hi all,

I wrote a reply but it seems like it didn't go through. Let's try again.

We're aware that there are some travel-heavy days on the last leg of our trip. Mainly day 15, 16, 18 and 21. We're probably trying to do too much, adding both Hiroshima/Miyajima and Shikoku.

We added a Shikoku 'mini roadtrip' as we'd like to get a bit off the super-touristy trail, and add more nature into our trip. Crossing the island by car would give us the opportunity to make some stops and see more of the island. But then everyone seems so enamored with Hiroshima/Miyajima that we also didn't want to skip out on that.

Would it be a great loss to cut out Hiroshima/Miyajima? What would you recommend for us in this case?

It doesn't make sense to go to Matsuyama by train to rent a car to go to Iya Valley, that's a lot of backtracking.
Either take the ferry/jetfoil, or go by train to Takamatsu and rent the car there. It is closer to Iya and Takamatsu is your next destination anyway.

To clarify, I did mean the ferry instead of the train from Hiroshima to Matsuyama.

If you want to go to Hiroshima to visit the atomic bomb sites and you seriously want to include profound reflection of the issues involved as part of your holiday in Japan, I find that commendable and would say that Hiroshima is unmissable. There are a few other things to do there, but nothing particularly remarkable.

As for Miyajima, it is just another pretty place and tends to be very crowded. The view from the mountain is lovely (on a clear day), and the hiking trails are nice, but personally I would rather spend the time elsewhere in Japan.

Note that you donft have to go out of the way to get off the gsuper touristyh trail and experience nature. You donft even have to go out of Kyoto. You just need to let go of fear of missing out and be willing to do some extra research to find all kinds of wonderful places that foreign tourists donft know about.

Hi,

I would use a ferry from Hiroshima to Matsuyama, it is much faster and convenient than the train or the bus.

On the subject of gsuper touristyh again, there is nothing wrong with any of the places you have chosen, but Ifm sure you realize that a lot of them are very popular. (That doesnft mean they will be tacky or trashy, but donft expect much solitude in these places.) I do think you are on the right track as far as spending some time on Shikoku. When you are in Takamatsu, I recommend Ritsurin Koen (it is fairly popular, but at least at this point not at all what I would call gsuper touristyh). It would be kind of a pity to get to Takamatsu too late in the day and then leave early the next morning, and miss one of the best landscape gardens in Japan. Especially if you love nature.

You have clearly done a lot of research already, and with hotels booked and other details figured out, Ifd say you donft want to make too many big changes, but if you want another recommendation (maybe for another trip?), I think the coastal areas of the Kii Peninsula (not just the Nakahechi portion of Kumano Kodo) are largely gundertouristedh and a lovely place to explore on an unhurried basis, while being easy to get to from Osaka, Kyoto, or Nagoya. Itfs possible to have a great time there even without a car, but itfs all the better to have one. Donft limit yourself to the gusualh places, there, either. For example, you might read the following Japan Guide article from a few years ago, just to get a sense of what I mean. Ifm not proposing that you adopt the same itinerary, but the places the writer went to (essentially coastal Mie) would be lovely in May (although it does tend to rain a lot there, unfortunately). The Iseji portion of Kumano Kodo has some fabulous hikes of varying lengths, and you will not encounter many people on those trails. Wakayama prefecture also has some nice places that tend to be overlooked by foreign tourists.

https://www.japan-guide.com/ad/central-japan/190318.html

There are people who insist that gthe famous places are famous for a reason,h but for me personally, the enjoyment I get from a nice place tends to go down exponentially with the number of tourists. Thatfs basically why I think it is not a big deal to skip Miyajima. (And as far as Ifm concerned, the gmust seeh places in Kyoto are on my gmust avoidh list. They are all nice places, but having all those tourists milling around makes it like having a swarm of bees buzzing around my head. Of course, if you donft mind having a lot of people around, then these places are still very much worth going to, and itfs easy to identify them. Finding great places that are uncrowded is not nearly as simple.)

Wherever you end up going, the most important thing is to keep your eyes and your mind open, and Japan will present you with all sorts of amazing surprises and delightful moments. My best memories from Japan are not the iconic sights, but the little things that would never get into the tour guides.

To clarify, I did mean the ferry instead of the train from Hiroshima to Matsuyama.

Ok, the ferry is more reasonable than taking the train just to come back by car. It would probably be a bit faster and less expensive to rent your car closer to Iya Valley and drop it off at the same office. I haven't been to all the places you listed yet, but have planned to visit Iya valley (also in May), although I have allocated 3 nights there for hiking.

- Day 6: "Hida Folk Village" is a museum, with lots of information in English. They are pretty much identical to the ones displayed in Shirakawa-go, so I recommend reading them in the museum, and just enjoy the scenery in Shirakawa-go.
- Day 17: I liked the hike to mount Misen and the views from there. But after visiting Kamikochi, you might be disappointed if you only care about the natural landscape. (I was only in Kamikochi for a day hike, and would love to visit again.)
- Day 18: the check-in time for ryokans is usually before 6pm. You might not have much time for hiking or sightseeing.
- Day 19: it is going to be a very long day, the hikes I have seen are between 3 and 6 hours.

Overall, the schedule looks tight, but I think it is also flexible enough. You can cut out some activities if you run late or are too tired.

About train passes, maybe
- https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_hiroshima/ might be worth considering. I am not sure it will pay off with only a one-way trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima and a round trip to Himeji.
- https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai/ for Kyoto-Himeji.

Oh no, I see my comment triple-posted in the end. Sorry about that!

And thanks so much for all the great pointers, Kim and Mellye. The post about coastal Mie / Iseji Route has definitely added to my FOMO, if anything ;)

We'll think things through a bit more. Either we'll end up cutting Hiroshima, or we'll keep it the same for now but see how we feel once we're actually in Japan. With flexible hotels we can always make last-minute changes.

Do try to be aware of how a last-minute cancellation might impact a hotel or ryokan, especially if it is a small, family-run property. I worry about this in Japan more than in the U.S., where virtually every hotel I stay in is some large corporate chain.

These days I am seeing an increasing number of hotels in Japan starting to change their free cancellation windows from one day to two or three days and in some cases even seven days. As a foreign tourist myself, I try not to be xenophobic and judgmental about foreign tourists, but I have to wonder if this trend may be in response to a pattern of last-minute cancellations by foreign tourists. My sense of the Japanese culture is that the people there are less likely to take reservations lightly and cancel on short notice just for convenience.

Japan still operates a lot more on the ghonor systemh than many other countries. I see little instances of this in many places, and always find it uplifting. Of course, changing a hotel reservation isnft what I would call dishonorable, but sometimes we donft always think about the human impacts. I typically book my hotels months in advance and typically make a lot of changes later (in many cases just to save money), but I try never to do so on short notice unless there are really compelling circumstances. And if it were a property like a ryokan, if I absolutely had to do it for some reason, I would personally apologize to the place.

Hi Kim,

Good points to keep in mind. I'm not thinking about canceling the ryokan, just the big business hotel we have booked for Hiroshima.

With corporate chains, I donft worry all that much about impacts on the property, but I am afraid that in the long run, short-notice cancellations will lead to more and more companies lengthening their cancellation windows. There were two properties (both large hotels) I seriously considered on my last trip that I discovered now have seven-day windows, when they never did before. I will not book such a place, because just too many things can happen. But if the number of hotels that allow one- or two-day cancellations starts to seriously diminish, it will ruin things for all of us.

For a while I was noticing a trend in hotels starting to not allow bookings without a credit card guarantee, but that doesnft seem to be increasing. I believe what is happening more is that they require a credit card for rooms booked through an English-language booking site, but are still allowing bookings in Japanese without a credit card. (Of course, they still have a cancellation policy and the guest is expected to pay the fee if they cancel too late, although I have never understood how that would be handled, if the hotel doesnft have the credit card number. I assume they expect the guest to be honorable and contact them regarding the payment.)

Regarding Hiroshima, you might be interested in the following article:
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15117788

I find it sort of ironic that some people who go to the Peace Memorial Museum, which has become a major tourist attraction, complain when they have to wait in line in goppressiveh summer heat.

Herefs another Japan Guide article that might tickle your fancy, although the trip involved wouldnft readily fit into your existing itinerary. I believe this is a brand-new article. Japan Guide has a lot of pieces like this, well-written and nicely illustrated, and they often cover the types of places that I like to go to instead of the usual spots where most of the tourists go. Many of them are gadvertorialsh or sponsored stories, but Japan Guide never seems to cross the line as far as promoting places that really donft warrant it. I have gotten lots of ideas from this site.
https://www.japan-guide.com/ad/ena/