I'd appreciate thoughts on following 10 day Japan itinerary:

1.Tokyo (arrive early evening)
2.Tokyo
3.Fuji/Hakone - Lake Ashi
4.Takayama
5.Takayama - Kyoto
6.Kyoto
7.Kyoto/Nara (Kyoto hotel)
8.Kyoto/Himeji castle (Kyoto hotel)
9.Kyoto (should this be switched to Tokyo?) (Tokyo hotel)
10.Tokyo
11.Tokyo/to airport (5:50p.m. flight)

Is this too intense? Can we do day trips to Kamakura and Nikko from Tokyo?
Someone suggested a Prince ryokan (not the hotel) near Lake Ashi - but I can't find it.

Wow! Others will probably disagree with me, but that looks really full and hectic. I am of the "relax and enjoy" school of travel rather than the "8 countries in 7 days" school. This seems VERY dense.

For the same 10 days, I would schedule my arrival in Japan at either NRT or KIX and then exit the country at the end of the time via the other airport. That would eliminate backtracking and free up one travel day for other things. If that is not possible, then I would probably plan at least 3 days in Tokyo, a day or two in Hakone, 4 or 5 days in Kyoto (2 or 3 days in town and 2 days for daytrips to Nara, Himeji or wherever,) then train all the way to Narita the afternoon before departure day. The day of departure, before the late flight home, I'd spend the morning in Narita City, then go to the airport. An alternative would be to eliminate Hakone or make it a daytrip and add another day to Tokyo, allowing daytrips to Kamakura and/or Nikko (both easy out-and back trips.)

Don't mean to sound discouraging, but as it is, your itin seems a bit ambitious. I would be afraid that you haven't left time to actually experience the places you are planning to visit.

JR

It doesn't sound too intense to me. If Rick Steves did Japan guidebooks, he could easily shave 3 days off your trip.

Not to mention Phr-d !

Hi!
I did a similar itinerary last summer. Definitely spend Day #9 in Kyoto--there is lots to see there and Kyoto is much more 'authentic' Japan than Tokyo is.

Just an FYI--Himeji Castle is amazing, but there isn't much else to see around there. You're right to just do a day trip there.

I'm flying AA from NY, so NRT is it on both ends. I figure a 3 hour train ride back from Kyoto shouldn't be too bad.

I don't want to do too much, and now I've got two opposing views. Thanks, I'll hope I get some more recommendations.

(additional fact - leaving March 30 or 31, so I'll be looking forward to seeing cherry blossoms).

Bing bing bing.......I can "almost" assure that you will be able to see some ! BTW, if you think that your itinerary suits you then do it ^ .

All depends what you want to see and do. If shopping is in the itin, I could do 10 days in Tokyo/Hakone alone and save Kyoto and Osaka on a separate trip.

Agree with i2fantsiz4 about seeing Himeji. It's one of the nicer castles. You only have 2 days (6&9) to do Kyoto. That's a lot of temples and gardens to cover in that timeframe.

Having just spent some time in Takayama over the weekend - I can tell you that it's a nice little town, but it's way off the beaten track:

Journey from Tokyo to Takayama = at least 4hrs 49mins
(Minimum 5hrs 10 mins if you're using a JR pass)

Journey from Takayama to Kyoto = at least 3hrs 41mins
(Minimum 3hrs 50 mins if you're using a JR pass)

That is a lot of travel in order to spend one day in Takayama. The train journey from Nagoya to Takayama is quite pretty... but it might not be the best investment of time.

Don't get me wrong - I think Takayama is a nice town. I'd say it's good for a full day of sightseeing (but not more). It gets plenty of Japanese tourists and it deserves more foreign visitors. I would really love to spend some time touring Takayama, Shirakawa-go, some hot springs around Oku Hida or Gero, then Kanazawa, and the Noto peninsular.... but a day trip just doesn't cut it for me.

If this is your first visit to Japan, then my guess is that you'd get a better "return" on your time if you were to skip Takayama and make a day trip from Tokyo to Kamakura or Nikko instead.

If you took Takayama out of your plan, what would you miss?
- You would not get a chance to see the Takayama "old town" - a series of low, wooden shop fronts along two or three streets in the style that would have been common in the 19th century.
- You would miss the morning markets, which are nice markets. (assuming that you arrive early enough to see them)
- You would miss the impressive Takayama Jinya, which was the outpost of the Tokugawa administration during the Tokugawa bakufu.
- You would miss some temples.
- You would miss a nice park with preserved old buildings.
- You would miss a nice train journey.

It's not insignificant - I know - but even so, I think the old shop fronts exist in parts of Kyoto, the markets (and that kind of atmosphere) can be found in Kyoto and Tokyo, the temples are less impressive than what you can see in Kamakura, Nikko, Kyoto and Nara....well you get my drift.

Sure, Kyoto has a greater number of authentic, historical buildings and cultural assets... but that's not the only 'authentic' Japan.

Tokyo is an authentic Japanese city, with authentic Japanese people ... doing authentic Japanese things ... in authentically Japanese ways.

[And BTW - Kyoto also offers a lot of totally unauthentic experiences. (People dressing up as geisha, who aren't really geisha / Movie-set recreations of old Japanese streets / stores selling plastic samurai swords / etc. etc.). ]

I agree that Himeji can be visited in one day.
In addition to Himeji castle, I would also recommend visiting Engyoji temple, which is 30 minutes from the city center by bus:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3503.html

It can be a very peaceful place - quite a contrast from the more crowded temples that you will see in the cities.

while in kyoto, I found the one day bus pass worthwhile. I think they were about 500 Yen each. IIRC Bus and subway pass was 1200 Yen.


edit to add
link

I�m with jib71 on this one. Takayama is pretty time consuming to get to, and it�s even harder to get to from the Hakone area than from Tokyo itself.

I did an itinerary similar to yours last October with my parents and felt compelled to make a choice between travelling to Inuyama (near Nagoya) via the Fuji area or getting there via the central mountains (Matsumoto-Magome-Tsumago-Inuyama � but we could easily have chosen to go to Takayama instead). Personally I felt it was impossible to see both Hakone and the Kiso region in that time, purely because of the limitations of the available rail routes. However, I admit that it was relatively easy for me to forgo the trip to Hakone as I�d already been there.

You haven�t actually left yourself much time to really see Kyoto � and if you are able to make it for cherry blossom season you�ll want to be able to enjoy the experience; which involves a lot of sitting around and a lot of drinking.

Apart from the Takayama trip, your itinerary seems quite fluid to me � I�m sure you�ll all have plenty of the energy you'll need! How about a trip to Mount Koya instead of Takayama? (perhaps spend the night in a temple lodging)

And if you do have to miss out Takayama, you could always go to the Nihon Minka En near Tokyo to see traditional houses in a beautiful parkland setting (I�m sure this would be a lovely place to see the cherries blossom)

Takayama is definitely (modestly) harder to get to, but I remember it being the highlight of my first trip to Japan. Obviously, it depends on personal preference, but I think the itinerary presented is more than doable. It will not be particularly leisurely, but probably leisurely enough for the typical go-go American tourist (which would include me!).

What was it about Takayama that made it the highlight of your trip?

Just curious ? For the first time, do you do that by yourself or tour ? I will in Japan for five days. Do not know what I plan to do yet.