reconsidering takamatsu in march

second trip to Japan for me and daughter but first for husband. 2 weeks mid to late march.

as of now
1 night Tokyo

week in Kyoto with day trips

2 nights Takamatsu. Ritsurin gardens, Shikoku Murin and Naoshima were our intended plans. Naoshima must now all be booked in advance and it's $$. It sounds like a good day but if weather is bad, it doesn't sound very pleasant. Wondering if I keep Takamatsu and maybe do Kurashiki as a day trip. Or do we do something else for 2 nights before our

2 nights Miyajima with day in Hiroshima

final night Fukuoka before we fly home

We will most likely buy the Setouchi pass for our final 7 days. Appreciate any suggestions.

Apart from possibly bad weather what is holding you back from sticking to plan? Where do these doubts come from?
Naoshima as a day trip from Takamatsu is totally fine and you probably have a lot more options in the evening for dinner than on Naoshima anyway.
Yes, it may rain… but Naoshima is an island filled with museums. So not too bad for a rainy day.

What will give you the most regrets:
- having decent weather, but being able to see the museums only from outside
- or visiting the island and its museums with bad weather
?

Think for a moment, and make your reservations (or don't). (Woops, this feels more like psychological counseling than travel advice)

Sorry, I just reread your post. You have already given up on Naoshima, and are now wondering if Takamatsu without Naoshima is worth it?

1) Yes, it is. I went to Takamatsu without visiting Naoshima, and enjoyed my time there (with my limited time & interests, Kotohira appealed to me a lot more than Naoshima).
2) I don't see any place between Kyoto and Hiroshima that would be significantly better than Takamatsu in bad weather (I assume you mean rain + wind and not just cloudy).

we'd ebike on both island locations so not sure how windy/cold/miserable it would be. shuttle buses are minimal. we need to reserved naoshima tomorrow if we go. teshima seems a bit more flexible. not sure that mid/late march means for weather. we were so fortunate in may.

ritsurin gardens will take 3 hours if we stop for tea, and shikoku mura 3-4 from what i understand.

just wondering about the experience of others with inclement weather and booking so far in advance. do the ferries always run?

Sorry I am failing to understand your question.

So you need to reserve tickets for a museum on Naoshima early. Right?

I just looked up one of them, and there is very good availability. Plus the conditions say you can cancel your ticket even 30 min before admission.

https://benesse-artsite.eventos.tokyo/web/portal/797/event/8483/module...

So I am not really understanding what you are so worried about. Obviously if you are no longer excited about going to Naoshima, no problem. You can do something else. But if you are worried about bad weather if it’s really bad it will impact that day regardless what you do, unless you are in a major city sich as Tokyo/Osaka with a lot of really interesting museums all within meters of subway stations.

If you do have a railpass and the weather is quite bad (but not disastrously bad) where you are, you could always try your luck with a really long daytrip somewhere with better weather. (If weather is disastrously bad, stay put. Trains might be stopped. )

Shuttles on Naoshima are fine. They are they are designed to meet ferries and to do a circuit that takes in the museums and art sites, because they are the main (?only?) reason why people visit the island. BUT you have to let yourself go with the flow and not try to break the plan which is being provided for you.

Rain alone would not cancel the ferries, but if the weather is bad or the waters are too rough, they may cancel the ferries for safety.

If it is rainy, Naoshima probably won't be so fun, but on the other hand, most other places will also not be very fun. Kurashiki, which you mentioned, is a very nice place to visit and there are lots of shops and museums that you can enter if it rains, but the scenic canal area will not be as nice either.

Aside from Naoshima and Teshima, there are other islands with art (Ogijima, Megijima, etc) if the reservations part is making Naoshima feel like more of a hassle than it's worth.