mtimmer

We have a tentative itinerary for a trip in late October with three nights in Kanazawa/Takayama area and four nights in Kyoto. (We'll also have an overnight in Tokyo when we arrive.) Two questions for the Japan experts here:

1) Our initial thinking is one night in Kanazawa (mainly interested in Kenroku-en) and two nights in Takayama (interested in the town itself, Shirakawago day trip, and also hoping to get somewhat into the mountains for some early fall color). Is a combined three nights enough for this? (I'm thinking it's may not be, but any time we add here gets taken away from Kyoto.)

2) We arrive at HND at 21:15, so travel to Kanazawa would be the next morning. My initial thought was to stay near the Tokyo station and train to Kanazawa (~2.5 hrs on the fastest train), but I'm also wondering if we should just stay near the airport and fly to Kanazawa the next morning instead. FWIW, we are light travelers. I suppose if there's any reason to do Takayama first, that would be good to know, but logistically Kanazawa seems easier to get to from Tokyo and at our ages we'll still be a bit zonked from the travel on our first full day. From Takayama we'd head to Kyoto, which seems pretty doable.

Of course, any extraneous trip comments are most welcome!

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I wolud consider Shinagawa for your first night also as you can get a direct train from HND ( 20mins) and there are 2 marriotts ( The Tokyo Marriott and the Prince Sakura Tower ( Marriott autograph collection) . From Shinagawa it a a few stops on the train to Tokyo station the next morning ( 2 courtyards close to tokyo station) or another 20mins or so back to HND.

Regards

TBS

abmj-jr

Kanazawa can really use two days to see the best of it. Takayama is also worth at least two. Is there any way to arrange your international flights to include an open jaw - in through HND and out from KIX? That would maximize the other 3 days in Kyoto. You have chosen 3 of my favorite places to visit and it is hard to recommend shorting any of the three. And, as always, I will recommend the shinkansen over local flights. It is kind of my thing around here.

mtimmer

As a matter of fact, our return is ITM-HND-LAX and the Osaka flight isn't until 5:00 pm, so we do have that going for us. (We have FF tickets on NH, so limited flexibility.) Kanazawa is a place we need to dig into more--we're familiar with the garden, but that's all we really know now. Regardless of what we actually see and do, I think we'd prefer the pace of two nights in Kanazawa and two nights in Takayama. Of course, the compromise is that means only three nights in Kyoto. We have been to Kyoto previously, but it was back in 1994.

FWIW, our original plan was to go in late November to to see fall color in Kyoto, but when we ended up in late October instead, we began hoping we might see some near the Japan Alps--hence the Takayama part of the trip. That's not all we want of course, but it would be a nice bonus.

TBS and abmj-jr: I appreciate your thoughts on the train vs the plane. I suppose our main goal would be to simply minimize hassle, so if the train would do that we can plan accordingly.

jib71

Given your preference for an "easy" first day of travel, have you considered reversing the order of the cities? i.e. Stay first night at Shinagawa. Then take the Shinkansen to Kyoto (just over 2 hours), then Takayama and finally Kanazawa? Depending on the timing of your flight home, it might be possible to fly from an airport near Kyoto (e.g. ITM-HND-USA or UKB-HND-USA) or Kanazawa (e.g. KMQ-NRT-USA).

If you want to visit the mountains near Takayama, I think that two nights there is advisable - Unless you rent a car, drive up to Shirakawa-go, stay overnight there, and then drop off the car in Kanazawa.

mtimmer

That's actually something I had not considered. But I think I lean against that since I'm flying out of ITM so ending up in Kyoto puts me fairly close to the airport instead of backtracking from Kanazawa. We're flying on an award with NH with allows us to change the dates of travel, but not any of the routing so it's ITM on the return unless I cancel the entire award and try to re-book.

jib71

I think your plan is looks good, then. No doubt you'll check a guide book - If memory serves me, in Kanazawa, in addition to the Kenroku-en, you have old samurai houses, a couple of geisha districts, a "ninja" temple, and other historic sites. Great seafood from the Japan sea. It's possible to tour the mountain villages wth thatched houses from Kanazawa too, No shortage of things to see and do -I don't think you'll regret spending two nights each in Kanazawa and Takayama.

abmj-jr

You might Google or otherwise research Toshie Maeda and the samurai fiefdom he created in Kanazawa. There are shrines and other places to visit dedicated to him and his descendants.

mtimmer

I appreciate the Kanazawa tips. Other than Kenroku-en, we haven't really been familiar with it. It will be fun to have a new place to read about over the coming months.

RohanDXB

In Kanazawa, I absolutely loved the DT Suzuki Museum. It's pretty small but easy to access on the tourist bus loop and incredibly serene. Also gives a nice insight into the life of DT Suzuki - the man who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the west. The town itself has nice vibes and isn't as overwhelmed by the tourist hordes as Kyoto is.

Ro