Takayama, Kanazawa or Ise?

Hello. During my trip in January/February I will be basing myself in Nagoya for three days. On two of those days I would like to do a day trip to either Takayama, Kanazawa or Ise, but can only choose two.

Please help and give your opinions on each of these places and which would be a better choice. I -have- read the pages on this website on each and still cannot decide.

Moreover / alternatively - would it be conceivable to be able to do a day trip from Kyoto to Nara AND Ise in the same day and comfortably see everything of worth?

Thank you.

If you stay in Nagoya, it is best to visit Ise (shirine)and Takayama. But keep in mind that Takayama has a lot of snow in winter, so does Kanazawa.

you ask: Moreover/ alternatively - would it be conceivable to be able to do a day trip from Kyoto to Nara AND Ise in the same day and comfortably see everything of worth?
absolutely not! even if you were familiar with these 3 areas you could only see one temple /shrine quickly and would spend most of the day in trains. Kyoto alone has 1600 temples and shrines and I have never managed to see more than 3 places in Kyoto per day at most as there is so much to see in each one.

Oh, you misunderstand me. I will also be in Kyoto for seven days. One of those days I will be doing a day trip to Nara.

In that same day trip to Nara, is it conceivable to be able to also go to Ise and see both Nara and Ise?

Will Kanazawa and Takayama's blanket of snow lessen the trip for me or make it not worth the visit during this time? Is Takayama more highly reccomended than Kanazawa?

OOPS! my mistake... still my advice stand. Nara alone is worth 1/2 day at a bare minimum, and this is rushing. the first time we went there we spent the whole day and didn't see everything by any means. Ise is farther away so it would be very rushed. Are you also aware that it is not really possible to see the Ise shrine? one can enter the precinct area and see various interesting buildings but one cannot actually enter the major shrine. It is the same thing at another very important shrine near Nagoya, whose name I can't remember right now, and also at Izumo taisha near Matsue. all the same the area is wort ha visit.
I would recommend that you visit the Fushimi Inari shrine (near Kyoto) in the morning (you must walk up the paths in the forest under thousands of torii) then go to Nara after. They are both on the same JR line from Kyoto station to Nara. I saw the Fushimi Inari shrine last October and it took me 3 hrs and I WALK FAST.
As for Takayama or Kanazawa, if you have never been there either one is interesting.

Just a note. The important shrine in Nagoya is 1900 year-old Atsuta-jingu(shrine).
A divine sword, one of the three sacred treasures, is housed there as well as the great god of Atsuta.
Ise jingu(shrine) has three main shrine buildings and many other branch shrines within the huge compound. So if you want to walk and visit at least two of the shrine buildings(Geguu and Naiguu), it will take you a whole day.

It is a very difficult decision, indeed. All three cities are very interesting, but considering that you spend a whole week in Kyoto, I think that Ise and Takayama will offer a more interesting contrast to Kyoto than Kanazawa.

Sam

despite the name the Ise shrine isn't in the town of Ise itself but in nearby Uji (Not the Uji near Kyoto)

if you have at all a chance have a look at Google earth (I have it on my computer and I found the house I lived in Europe) anyway, zoom on Nagoya then lower down Mie, Ise, Uji. as you zoom coese to Uji you' l get all sorts of dots signalling the shrine.click on them for photos.
check also Nara, Kyoto etc.
of all the countries I have visited Japan is the place where it takes much more time than one think to visit a shrine, temple etc. as there is so much to see in any given sightseeing spot.

despite the name the Ise shrine isn't in the town of Ise itself but in nearby

This is simply not true! The outer shrine is in the very center of Ise City. And the inner shrine is also located within the city limits of Ise. There does not even exist a municipality by the name of Uji in Mie Prefecture.

Ise City was known as "Uji Yamada City" until the year 1955. Maybe your guidebook was written before 1955?