Originally Posted by
mtimmer
I appreciate all the suggestions/recommendations. And following Angeisse's comment about the direct train between Takayama and Kyoto, I was about to look that up and then came AlwaysAisle's posts with the precise times!
Regarding a few of the comments made here, yes we are hoping to include Shirikawa-go as part of the trip and need to figure out what the logistics to that are. What are folks thoughts if we end up making self connection in HND from either ITM/KIX or from Komatsu? Clearly routing on one ticket is preferred, but I'm juggling some award options and those domestic legs don't always cooperate.
You wrote ITM/KIX but I hope you are using OSA (Osaka all airports) in your search. That might include the airport in Kobe, Better: enter OSA and checkbox for include nearby airports.
Nagoya (NGO) would also be a good option. That would be Chubu International airport, but include nearby airports (FAIK the older Nagoya airport might still be in use). You would have direct rail access to all three of your destired stops.
Toyama (TOY) is another option for destination or departure airport. You could get there on Asiana via ICN if your miles are UA. Toyama puts you at the north end of the Takayama Line or the Hokuriku Shankensen. Meaning you could start in Takayama or Kanazawa.
Am tempted to suggest cutting one of the three destinations, but won't if you can scratch stopping in Tokyo from the equation. Yes, you can cut from Kyoto (am not a Kyoto fan and even less so now than in 2001).
Instead of cutting from the three stops I will suggest adding one. Unazuki Onsen and the scenic train in the Kurobe Gorge. This is not far from Toyama and would involve taking a private railway from the Hokuriku shinkansen station. Chilling in a nice onsen ryokan would be a good way to start or end the trip. That private railway means that Unazuki is not as simple to access as is, say, Kanazawa, and that is a good thing. Two other places that are a bit out of the way (though I have not yet visited) are Okuhida/Hirayu Onsen a bus ride east of Takayama and an onsen town in Fukui prefecture just south of Kanazawa.
Kyoto and Kanazawa are both firmly on the very-well-beaten foreign tourist path. Kanazawa was at that point pre-pandemic, Kyoto before that of course, and I suspect that Takayama is well on its way.
You do have a good first-time visitor itinerary as is. Skipping Tokyo would be a good improvement.