farbster

We are going to Japan in March and I would appreciate someone looking at our itinerary and providing some input.

We are a group of six. It will be my wife and I, her parents and our two girls (age 13 and 15).

Flights are already booked using ANA points as follows:

Thursday March 9 --- IAD-NRT non-stop on United arriving at 16:40 on March 10.

We depart from Osaka on March 22, connecting back in Beijing and returning back to IAD the same day.

I was thinking of this spending my hotel nights as follows:

Thur Mar 9 - depart USA
Fri Mar 10 - arrive Tokyo 16:40 - go to hotel
Sat Mar 11 - Tokyo
Sun Mar 12 - Tokyo
Mon Mar 13 - Tokyo
Tue Mar 14 - Tokyo
Wed Mar 15 - Hakone
Thur Mar 16 - Kyoto
Fri Mar 17 - Kyoto
Sat Mar 18 - Kyoto
Sun Mar 19 - Kyoto
Mon Mar 20 - Hiroshima
Tue Mar 21 - Osaka
Wed Mar 22 - wake up an fly home to USA

When I say Tokyo or Kyoto, it could obviously be a suburb or day trip.

We will stay at one of the traditional type of places in Hakone, but something that has a western option for those not quite as willing to try sleeping on the floor etc

Trains from point to point.

Have I broken it up properly? We've been told Hiroshima could be done as a long day trip from Kyoto, but that if we slept there we'd have more time to see the famous gate and not be so rushed.

Thanks so much for your help!!

ambyr

If the primary thing you're trying to see near Hiroshima is the "famous gate" (by which I assume you mean the floating torii at Itsukushima on Miyajima), why not sleep on Miyajima itself, rather than in Hiroshima?

farbster

Of course you have a point, but we also want to see the Peace Park etc. I couldn't remember the name Itsukushima and was too lazy to google it! We were also trying to use points for hotels where possible. I'm not sure of the exact mix of things between Itsukushima/Miyajima and Hiroshima, but we would consider staying in Miyajima if we were convinced that we'd be doing so much more there...

angra

IMO it is quite feasible to see the Peace Park, the museum, and make a comfortable visit to Itsukushima in a long day trip. If it was me with a group of 6 across three generations, I think I would probably prefer that to 2 extra hotel moves.

farbster

Yes, that was a consideration as well. We could probably go either way I suppose.

jamescho

Miyajima probably isn't worth staying in if you're only there to see the torii. There isn't too much to do on the island, and is probably better as a day trip.

Depending on what time your flight is from Osaka, I might suggest staying in Hiroshima the last night, and just taking the train from there straight to the airport. Osaka can be accessed quickly from Kyoto, and is probably not worth switching hotels again.

farbster

Our flight is at 13:40 and I think it's a little early to travel all the way from Hiroshima at that time...

Thanks for the suggestion.

evergrn

I agree with angra. Just stay the first 5 nights at the same hotel in Tokyo, the last 6 nights at the same hotel in the Kansai region. Day trip from Osaka to Hiroshima is very much feasible, factoring in 2.5-3hr in Hiroshima and 5-6hr in Miyajima (try to include both low tide and high tide times during your time in Miyajima). It will be a long day, but personally I think having to change hotels is a lot of wasted time and energy.

Don't worry about sleeping in futon. As long as you stay at a nice place, the futon will be very thick and comfy. Actually, many onsen places I've been staying at recently feature bed mattress instead of futon (but without the box springs), with futon-style comforter on top.

abmj-jr

Disagree completely. For us older folks, the problem is not sleeping on a futon, which can be pretty comfortable, it is getting down on the floor and back up again. With bad backs, knees and other age-related ailments, that makes such arrangements a non-starter. With at least one older couple, that might be a consideration for the OP's group.

If the beds and chairs do not have legs, I stay away from them.

Tartegnin

hi fabster - your itin and situation seems similar to our June trip, including teenage girls and ANA flight from IAD - I got a lot of helpful advice on this forum and will certainly post a detailed trip report when I get back which could be of interest to you. Hope you have as much fun in planning the trip as we have had!

evergrn

Alright that hadn't occurred to me, but it makes sense.

ksandness

I regretfully agree. In 2014, I stayed in a minshuku (a traditional-style family home that takes guests) and slept on a futon for the first time in years.

It's perfectly comfortable as long as you're lying down, but if the room is sparsely furnished, as most traditional rooms are, there is nothing to grab onto as you get up off the floor, so the arthritis that had developed in my knees in the intervening years made my stay a struggle.

Alas, it's Western-style accommodations for me from now on.