12 days tentatively itinerary

Need help on our itinerary, we will landed (07 May) and fly back (18 May) from Kansai Airport.

Below are the places we wish to visit during our 12 days in Japan.

Osaka - Himeji
Kyoto - Kobe, Nara, Nijo Castle, Philosopher's Walk (Path), Kiyomizudera Temple, Sanjusangendo, Gion, Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), Shugakuin Imperial Villa,Fushimi Inari Shrine.
Takayama - Shirakawa-go, Old Town
Takayama - Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
Nagoya - Nagoya Castle

Is there any places which I have miss out and we should or not visit?

Any comment on the below sequence of the travel, can anyone help?

Kansai Airport - Kyoto (first 3 nites) - Nagoya (2 nites) - Takayama (2 nites) - Kyoto (3 nites) - Osaka (1 nite)

Any comment are welcome to improve my itinerary.

how come no one reply ..

we need to book accommdation by this week as understand even the golden week end at 06 May, but lot of Japanese are talking extra leave on Thru and Fri during the golden week .. so we may hv problem getting accommdation

Comments as requested:
You need not to change accomodation from Osaka to Nagoya just to visit the castle in Nagoya. It is about one hour train ride by shinkansen.
Osaka - Kyoto is 15 min trainride by shinkansen, so no overnight Osaka necessary.

The start point for Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Road is not Takayama but Toyama.
Osaka - Kyoto - Toyama by Limited Express Thunderbird in 3.5 hours, back from Shinano Omachi via Matsumoto and visit Matsumoto Castle.
Or better after Takayama ( Shirakakawago ) visit and overnight stay by Limited Express Wide View Hida to Toyama in 1.5 hours. ( 4 trains per day only )
Nagoya 2 nites = 3 days to visit just the castle?

So all overnight stays in Osaka/Kyoto with day visits to Nara and Himeji ( and Hiroshima? ) plus
Kyoto - Takayama overnight ( one or two )
Takayama - Toyama - Alpine Route - (with or without overnight stay ) Shinano Omachi - Matsumoto overnight - Nagoya some hours for the castle - shinkansen to Kyoto.

u may opt to put up in Osaka instead of Kyoto since Osaka is much cheaper place to stay. Unless you are on luxury tour.
In Kyoto there is another place to cover called Arashiyama, which is located near with other World Heritage temple as well.
And never forget to try on Japanese onsen (hotspring), which is truly relaxing.
And on your way home, can drop by Rinku Premium Outlet for a discounted designer stuff, if you a shopperholic

Hi Peter, below is our tentatively itinerary.. was thinking possible to take out Nagoya and maybe take out one day from Kyoto and go Hakone?

Changes to my itinerary are welcome.

07/05 - Landed at Kansai Airport (8am), train to kyoto - Gion
08/05 - Kyoto - Kobe, Nara
09/05 - Kyoto - Nijo Castle, Philosopher's Walk (Path)
10/05 - Nagoya - Nagoya Castle
11/05 - Nagoya - any places we shd go?
12/05 - Takayama - Shirakawa-go, Old Town
13/05 - Takayama - Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
14/05 - Kyoto - Kiyomizudera Temple, Sanjusangendo
15/05 - Kyoto - Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), Shugakuin Imperial Villa,
16/05 - Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Shrine, Gion
17/05 - Osaka - Osaka Aquarium, Umeda Sky Building , Minami (Namba)
18/05 - Osaka Airport - Home sweet home

Hi Ph,

thanks for the abv, maybe we will consider to stay extra day at Osaka instead of Kyoto ..

any recommendation on the onsen ryokan?

our plan was to stay a few days on those onsen ryokan ..

Not sure Osaka hv Onsen Ryokan?

blackjazzboy,
07/05
arrive Kyoto around 10.00 h but expect not to be able to check in hotelroom earlier but 13.00 h / 14.00 h

08/05
Kyoto - ShinKobe -Sannomiya ( for Kobe City ) 45 min shinkansen/subway to the west
Kyoto - Nara 45 min local JR train to the south
or better Kyoto - Kobe - Osaka - Nara, but leave Kobe midday to have time for Nara

11/05
lv Nagoya 07.27 h kodama shinkansen arr Odawara 09.35 h
day for Hakone
lv Odawara 18.09 h hikari shinkansen arr Nagoya 19.21 h
12/05

you are overnight from 11/05 to 12/05 in Nagoya? So it is for example
dep. Nagoya 08.43 h Wide View Hida 10.52 arr Takayama overnight Takayama

13/05
earliest Hida lv Takayama 10.57 h arr Toyama 12.21 h, or earlier local trains but 3 hours minimum.
last train to lv Shinano Omachi 17.09 h to arrive Kyoto by local/express/hikari shinkansen trains at 22.56 h , so you only have 4 hours 30 min for the Alpine Route, transport alone without any sightseeing is 4 hours. I think not doable

Your itinerary needs to be revised.

I would just spend one night at most in Nagoya; or rather, I might even simply travel through to Takayama/Shirakawa-go, because I would rather stay overnight in Shirakawa-go :) Also for Kurobe Alpine Route, you might want to plan exactly which city you stay over in, maybe Toyama, so that you can start early.

I think you had another thread on Kurobe Alpine Route, correct?

I am wondering what you want to see in Kobe (especially as it will only be your 2nd day) and why you are going the complete opposite direction on the same day to Nara? What happened to going to Himeji? It is always difficult to give advice to strangers as I have no idea what their interests are but you are welcome to ask me more detailed questions.

thanks for the reply, have most ofless finalize our itinerary, but need some fine tune on the sequence of the places which we should go first and next..

any comment or thing to add on my below itinerary?

07/05 - Landed at Kansai Airport (8am), train to kyoto - Fushimi Inari Shrine (3hrs), Gion at night
08/05 - Kyoto - Nishiki Market, Kiyomizudera Temple, Sanjusangendo, Gion (if too many places, may reduce)
09/05 - Kyoto - Nijo Castle, Philosopher's Walk (Path), sanjusangen-do, kiyomizudera, (if too many places, may reduce)
10/05 - Kanazawa - Kenroku-en Garden, Nagamachi Samurai District, and Ninja Temple (Myôryu-ji).
11/05 - Kanazawa - Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
12/05 - Shirakawa-go
13/05 - Takayama - Old Town, Higashiyama Walking Course
14/05 - Gero Onsen - Hida Folk Village, Takayama Jinya
15/05 - Kyoto - Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), Shugakuin Imperial Villa, imperial palace (remember to book online for the palace tour)
(if too many places, may reduce)
16/05 - Kyoto - Himeji Castle (4hrs), Kobe for dinner
17/05 - Kyoto - Nara ( Nara park, Todaji Temple), Osaka - Osaka Aquarium, Umeda Sky Building , Shinsaibashi street(shops) and opp is dontonburi (food and restaurants) , Minami (Namba), outlet in Osaka, Rinku Town (if too many places, may reduce)
18/05 - Osaka Airport - Home sweet home

Great that you are spending the morning in Himeji. About a 5-minute walk from Himeji castle is Koko-en a wonderful garden, occupying land where samurai mansions once stood at the base of Himeji Castle. Composed of 9 different small gardens, each one typical of those in the Edo Period and enclosed by traditional walls, with lots of rest areas. Relax at the Souju-an teahouse (500 for tea & a sweet) or dine at a restaurant overlooking a koi carp pond. You can stroll through all the gardens in about 45 minutes but you will need longer to take rests to soak in the wonderful views. A combination ticket, allowing discounted admission to both the castle and Koko-en is available at either entrance.

In the afternoon if you really want to experience Kobe's tragic 1995 earthquake go to the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution museum which covers the topic with graphic films, thought-provoking dioramas, and displays outlining the city's recovery and subsequent earthquake-prevention measures. www.dri.ne.jp/english/index.html

In the evening you are in luck as that weekend is the Kobe Matsuri (festival) so you can enjoy fireworks in the harbour and other outdoor events.

thanks for the reply.

i try to search for the May festival, cant find the Kobe Matsuri, can know where u got the information?

it will be great if we can catch the fireworks ..

Also sorry to say but due to the terrible economic situation in Kobe there will not be any fireworks in the harbour this year. On the 16th there will only be small local events, with the main festival on May 17th.
I complained to the tourist information that there is no information about this popular festival in English. I have volunteered to help them next year.

Have a great (& healthy) trip