2 elderly looking for a place to relax

Me(65y) and my husband(69y) are going to Japan for the 4th time. We would like to rest somewhere in Japan...I have 10 days to fill in my travel planning. These days can be completed from Osaka. It can be 2 destinations, preferably in a beautiful resort that is centrally located, from which we can also do day trips...The last destination should offer the possibility that we can fly to Hong Kong because we will also stay there for 1 week before our return flight to Belgium. Preferably not Okinawa as we don't want to rent a car. Anyone have any suggestions? Both in terms of places and accomadations. Travelling in May - June 2024. We arrive in Tokyo then Kyoto then Osaka...from these destinations we do all kinds of excursions. We have been already been in Nara, Kanazawa, Fukuoka, Kobe, Hiroschima, Matsumoto, Kamakura, Enoshima, Takayama...

Hi,

I'm at the age of a little sister to you who try not to drive, and if I were you, I'd sightsee on the slow trains in Shikoku, Kyushu or the Chugoku Region which may include Izumo.

Or since you've been traveling extensively for three times, how about staying in an island in Setonaikai? You can simply rest, befriend your hosts at the hostel, and take walks.

Thank you very much for the quick response...
Do you have any suggestion for hotels...perhaps with a garden or a beautiful view, sea or lake...? Some places with nice restaurants in the neighbourhood...

It has been suggested that I over-recommend Karuizawa - about an hour by Shinkansen from Tokyo, and short of Nagano by about 40 mins. So I wont recommend it, but it strikes me that it is a candidate for you.

First, it is typically cool - bonus for June;
Second, it is packed with resorts and restaurants. We stay at Le Grand Kyu - fantastic quality for very reasonable rates. Tsuruya ryokan is also great;
Third, it has some nice hikes, and a great shopping street;
Fourth, it is within an hour or so from Bessho Onsen (shinkansen to Ueda, charming local train to Bessho Onsen);
Fifth, it is about 1.5 hours by bus to Kusatsu Onsen, one of the more famous onsen towns;
Sixth, it is close to Nagano if you want to see Australians in their native habitat;
Seventh, it is kind of midway between Tokyo and Kanazawa by shinkansen, so pretty handy for a loopy journey.

Lucky that I'm not recommending it.

Just to throw in 2 more alternatives
Shuzenji
Dorogawa onsen

Both are nice small onsen towns not much else to do there but enough to have something to do and relax (and eat) a lot

@Lazy Pious

You make me laugh.

Just to be clear, I never suggested that you should never ever recommend Karuizawa, just pointed out ages ago that it was at the comical stage just how often you'd recommend it, no matter what the OP was looking for.

Examples of your shoehorning of Karuizawa into any thread include
- Someone looking for early coffee places in Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Osaka
- Someone looking for areas IN Tokyo
- Someone looking to choose between Kanazawa and Takayama
- Someone looking for route help in Nara/ Osaka/ Kinosaki and Koya San.
- Someone asking about Kaiseki meals IN Tokyo

Nothing at all wrong with recommending Karuizawa (or Takayama and Nara, your other faves) when it's suitable, it's great that you share so much on the forum.
And if you are actually sponsored by Tsuruya Ryokan then good for you for making some cash :D

@DenisC well, we all have our quirks. And yes Karuizawa, Nara (and the old wing of a hotel there) feature prominently. But many of us on this forum bring our own preferences and experiences to it. Like me recommending cycling if any OP even vaguely mentions an interest in outdoor activities, or eg @Kim going for long but nice train rides. Ultimately I think the colourfulness of these advice does help the OPs if they take the time and study by themselves more about the recommendations. Not everyone will have the deep pockets for the old wing or Karuizawa , not every outdoor lover will also like cycling in the remote countryside. But if the OP looks up more about this mix of advice she/ he gets on this forum hopefully ultimately they can come to a conclusion that fits their preferences.

For me personally the annoying advice are those posters that recommend to �geverything and anything �g(or so it feels), some more or less obscure rail/bus pass. I always wonder what�fs the deal with those posters.

Some of those odd posts involving transit passes sure feel like bots to me, but I honestly can�ft figure out what the angle is. They are truly weird.

What I get tired of myself is people who want to go to the most crowded places in Kyoto (and seemingly nowhere other than those places) and then ask how to avoid crowds (or whatever). I�fm sure that along with being tired of hearing about my love of scenic train rides, people are sick and tired of my posts suggesting that people at least consider some �galternate�h destinations. And then I often don�ft share specific recommendations (for a number of reasons).

But yes, we all do have our own personal likes (including bikes! I love ALL of those posts), and I guess we just want other people to maybe have some of the peak experiences we have had, most of which have involved going places and doing things other than the same old same old.

And since some of us (well, yours truly at least) are um, �gelderly�h (I guess in the United States that means old enough to be on Medicare), maybe our tendency to repeat ourselves like a broken record can be attributed to our aging brains and pattern of increasing forgetfulness. Now, what was I just saying?

I think this is all going a bit in the wrong direction...I would like to thank you all for the "suggestions" and the time you took to read and answer my question.

I do apologize. Some of have a tendency to take threads off on a tangent, and I am afraid I am one of the worst offenders. I should really retire.

Shikoku, maybe? Or Wakayama?

From what I have seen on my short afternoon there, Karuizawa looks like a good "place to relax", but I don't think there's enough to do for 10 days. Probably not even 5, even for an elderly couple :)

Matsue, Kurashiki/Okayama? Takamatsu looks nice too, and I think there's a highway bus to KIX, for your departure flight.

I'm going to look up the destinations and take a look. It's not that easy as I have to find a flight to Hong Kong from a certain destination. But Mellye I had also thought about Takamatsu. in any case, thanks for your response.

Last night, NHK television was reporting about new hotels rapidly increasing all over Japan for inbound tourists. I'm not sure if it's viewable in your area, but perhaps you'd be interested.

The teaser starts with an extreme example, but the show introduced more affordable yet unique hotels (such as the Fairfield Marriott hotels located beside Michi-no-eki farmer's markets).

https://www.nhk.jp/p/gendai/ts/R7Y6NGLJ6G/episode/te/J6QQJLP7JM/

Dear Uco, The webpage is not available in my area. Belgium.
I will look up Fairfield Mariott hotels beside Michi-no-eki farmers markets.
Thank you very much for your reply...I really appreciate it.

Below is the location finder for Fairfield hotels
https://fairfield.marriott.com/locations/

And below is an example of a hotel near a Michi-no-eki
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/osafk-fairfield-wakayama-kushimo...

I hope it helps you get started.