Originally Posted by
abacaxi
Cherry blossom viewing season is at the end of March. Rooms were scarce in Kyoto when we started booking several months ago. Check for availability of hotel rooms.
Yeah I'm quite aware. Last year I booked about 2 months out and it was difficult to find a room then. Seems every western chain hotel is booked completely solid.
Originally Posted by
abmj-jr
Let me suggest another alternative. Shikoku. Fly into Kansai International (KIX) and train from there via Shin-Osaka and Okayama.
Takamatsu has one of the 3 most highly regarded Japanese gardens in Ritsurin Koen and the nearby ropeway takes you to a wonderful viewpoint out over the Inland Sea. Matsuyama has the famous Dogo Onsen hot spring which was the inspiration for the onsen setting in the Academy Award winning "Spirited Away" animated feature by Hayao Miyazaki, although it has gotten a bit dumpy and I wouldn't recommend actually using it. And Kochi, located in a near sub-tropical setting on the Pacific Coast (the climate reminds me a bit of San Diego) has an historic castle and monuments and museums dedicated to major historical figures instrumental in the early shogunate and the later fight for restoration of the emperor and overthrow of the shogunate 265 years later. Several of the famous temples on the also-famous 88-temple Shikoku pilgrimage are easily reachable from the major cities without actually hiking any of the pilgrimage. The train ride down to Kochi from Okayama, Takamatsu or Matsuyama is a spectacular trip through a rugged mountain gorge that is worth the trip by itself.
If you have a day or two left at the end, stop over in Okayama on the way back to visit the second of the three "best" gardens in Japan, Kora-kuen, and the nearby "Black Crow" feudal era castle. Depending on what time your flight home leaves, you can easily leave from Okayama on the day of return home. I did it the last time I was there as my flight was in late afternoon.
Shikoku in late March will be glorious as will Kora-kuen.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'm looking into it. Unfortunately my flight out of Narita is in the morning at 8:30 so I would have to be back in Tokyo at least the night before, better even to actually be near the airport. The end result is more or less 7 nights and 6 actual days to do things. Arrive in Tokyo late and then about a week and leave early in the morning.
I've heard that Naoshima is quirky and unique, perhaps worth a day trip.
Was thinking something like this
Day 0: ORD-NRT Arrive late, NEX into Tokyo and spend the night.
Day 1: Recover and do some mandatory walking around in my favorite Metropolitan city and eat the amazing cakes that I crave. Visit the Robot Restaurant which some how I've never managed to get to.
Day 2: Haneda to Takamatsu in the morning. Visit the Ritsurin Kouen and eat tons of Udon.
Day 3: Naoshima
Day 4: Head to Matsuyama, see Dogo onsen and take the afternoon ferry to Hiroshima.
Day 5: Head to Okayama and Kora-Kouen, then head to Osaka and eat at Dotonbori street and overnight.
Day 6: Do some shopping before flying into Narita airport and spend the night.
Day 7: Depart in the morning.
Perhaps its a little too adventurous? I am traveling solo so I can go at my own pace. I would try and fly from Kochi airport, but I don't trust myself actually finding a my way to the airport with the limited Japanese skills I have.