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Originally Posted by acregal
Originally Posted by
pogonation
If possible I would like to climb a small mountain, see some waterfalls, fishing villages etc and maybe end the day at a small, interesting town/city.
What exactly do you want to do?
If you can come up with something more specific people can give you some advice. I (and several others here) live near Kyoto and we can tell you about mountain climbing, waterfalls, and some coastal places.
Also, don't bother renting a car. The rate for renting it is expensive, tolls are expensive, parking it is expensive, and gas is expensive. Unless you have money to blow and are willing to sit in traffic a lot, just don't bother with it.
I just finished off renting a car in Hokkaido, which is indeed expensive in summer time for the rental. Cost me 30K yen with a 1500cc for 48 hours, 700KM with ETC fee.
But for me as a HK-er, their total cost of rental is not really expensive. If you plan ahead, the rental for a small car is around 65 USD for 24 hours, + 10USD NOC per calendar day. The ETC cost you something but it is not going to empty your bank. If you go that far on highway it surely worth it.
The problem for the OP should more focus on the sight point, to rent a car or not should be next to consider.
Gas cost you something like 140 yen per liter, which is totally reasonable for me as in Hong Kong it's the same price anyway