23 days Japan tour

Hi,

I'm thinking of a 23 days trip to Hokkaido self drive and mainland Japan next year during the cherry blossom season. How many days each do u recommend? If I spend about 14 days self drive in Hokkaido, do I still have enough time for places like Tokyo, kansai...

Any recommendations will be most appreciated.

Thanks!

btw, i have done 11 days self drive in tasmania before and i covered pretty much the whole island and the major attractions. Wonder if 14 days in Hokkaido is sufficient?

I've driven from Aomori to Tokyo in a day using the toll-road highways. Another day from Tokyo to Nagoya with a few stops. A third day from Nagoya to Hiroshima and a 4th from Hiroshima to Kumamoto. If you have a budget that allows you to use the toll highways, you can make good time on a road tour. If you don't, you'll be spending a lot of time on the road without getting very far, especially around cities and along built up coastal strips (speed limit=50 kph).

The toll from Aomori to Tokyo is about Y22,000 (plus gas) to give you some idea.

Once in Hokkaido, you can use normal roads at a higher rate of speed because there are fewer towns and stop lights. You can also use toll roads that fan out from Sapporo to pick up some time if you want.

A car is a nice way to go, except for covering the ground between destinations. I would check into a "See Japan" set of airline tickets, where you can get 5 flights for Y12,000 per leg added on to your international flight, and then just rent different cars at those destinations using Tocoo.com or some such.

If you get 4 people in a car, the toll roads aren't so bad per person, and cheaper than buying separate shinkansen tickets.

The toll from Aomori to Tokyo is about Y22,000 (plus gas) to give you some idea.

That is if you are driving a truck! The one way toll fee from Aomori to Tokyo by a normal sized car is Y13,000 (plus gas)!

Will i need to pay toll charge on roads in Hokkaido often? Can u give an estimate on how much will it be for 14 days?

To your central question: 14 days is not enough to see all of Hokkaido, but you can see several regions of Hokkaido:
http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1101.html