This is an overview of our trip through Japan in May/June 2016. In 16 days, we hiked part of the Nakasendo trail from Magome to Narai, visited Matsumoto, crossed the Japanese Alps, visited Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Takayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima and ending with a short stay in Kyoto.
The following table summarises my itinerary and where I stayed.
Day 1 (24 May 2016)
Travel from home to Nagoya Airport. Forward our main luggage to the next hotel after Nakasendo and Alpen Route, i.e. our hotel in Kanazawa.
Travel by train to Nagoya. At Nagoya, take a train to Nakatsugawa and then travel by public bus to Magome.
Where I Stayed: Tajimaya at Magome.
Trip report – getting to Magome
Day 2 (25 May 2016)
Walk from Magome to Tsumago along the Nakasendo trail in the morning.
After check in and short rest, walk the Tsumago to Nagiso trail.
Tip: Use the luggage forwarding service between Magome and Tsumago. Drop off backpacks in the morning at Magome and collect them when we arrived at Tsumago, on the same day.
Where I Stayed: Fujioto Ryokan at Tsumago.
Trip report – Morning in Magome
Trip report – Nakasendo Walk from Magome to Tsumago
Trip report – Nakasendo Walk between Tsumago and Nagiso
Trip report – Review of Fujioto Ryokan
Day 3 (26 May 2016)
Take train from Nagiso to Narai to drop off our backpacks at Iseya Ryokan. Walk across Torii Pass from Narai to Yabuhara before taking the train back to Narai.
Note: There is No same day luggage forwarding service available between Tsumago and Narai. So we dropped off our backpacks at Narai before doing the reverse hike across the Torii Pass from Narai to Yabuhara.
Where I Stayed: Iseya at Narai.
Trip report – Morning in Tsumago
Trip Report – Nakasendo walk between Yabuhara and Narai
Trip Report – Review of Iseya Ryokan
Day 4 (27 May 2016)
Short walk from Narai to Kiso-Hirasawa, famous for its lacquer ware, before leaving the Kiso Valley (and the Nakasendo trail) by train to Matsumoto.
See Matsumoto Castle. Sign up for the free tour of the castle conducted by volunteers at the castle site.
Check out Nawate Street and Nakamachi Street for eateries and souvenirs.
Where I Stayed: Richmond Hotel Matsumoto at Matsumoto. The hotel is conveniently located within walking distance to the train station and castle.
Trip Report – Morning in Narai
Trip Report – Nawate Street in Matsumoto
Trip Report – Matsumoto Castle
Day 5 (28 May 2016)
Leave early from Matsumoto and travel by train to Ogizawa.
Travel through the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route from Ogizawa to Toyama.
The main attraction is the magnificent scenery of the Tateyama Mountain Range and the snow corridor in spring. In 2016, the snow corridor is open to pedestrians from April 16 to June 22.
Travel by Shinkansen from Toyama to Kanazawa after completing the Alpine Route.
Tip: Leave early as it takes about 6 hours to enjoy the Alpine Route, excluding travel time to and from the start and end points.
Where I Stayed: Hotel Nikko Kanazawa at Kanazawa. This high-rise hotel is conveniently located and connected to the Kanazawa train and bus station via an underpass.
Trip report - Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
Day 6 (29 May 2016)
A full day to explore Kanazawa and try the fresh seafood!
Must see sights include the Kenroku-en Garden, one of the Three Most Beautiful Gardens in Japan.
After seeing the garden, stopped by at the nearby 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art to view the free exhibits.
In the afternoon, visit Omicho Market, the Samurai district and the Higashi Chaya districts. Visit a few gold leaf craft shops at the Higashi Chaya districts.
Tip: Buy the 500 Yen Bus Day Pass if doing a lot of sightseeing within Kanazawa. It would be more convenient than using coins to pay for each bus ride.
Where I Stayed: Hotel Nikko Kanazawa at Kanazawa.
Trip report – Exploring Kanazawa
Day 7 (30 May 2016)
Travel from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go (a UNESCO World Heritage village) by public bus.
After exploring Shirakawa-go, take the public bus to Takayama.
Tip: Bus from Kanazawa to Shirakawago needs advance reservation. There are lockers at Shirakawago bus station but we chose to forward our main luggage to Takayama a day prior to our trip.
Where I Stayed: Best Western Hotel Takayama at Takayama. This hotel has western-style rooms and is conveniently located within walking distance to the Takayama train and bus station. It is also within walking distance to the key sights and eateries in Takayama.
Trip report – Visiting Shirakawa-go
Trip report – Enjoying Hida Beef at Ajikura Beef Yakiniku Restaurant
Day 8 (31 May 2016)
A full day to explore Takayama.
Tip: Must try the Hida beef! Yakiniku style is best.
Where I Stayed: Best Western Hotel Takayama at Takayama.
Trip Report – Exploring Takayama
Day 9 (1 June 2016)
Do a day trip to Kamikochi National Park from Takayama by public bus.
Stay at Hirayu Onsen to enjoy hot spring baths after a day of hiking in the national park.
Where I Stayed: Hirayu No Mori at Hirayu Onsen.
Trip Report – Day trip to Kamikochi National Park
Day 10 (2 June 2016)
Travel by public bus from Hirayu Onsen back to Takayama and make a half day excursion to Hida-Furukawa. Take the Satoyama cycling tour (weather permitting). Hida-Furukawa is also known for its canals with koi.
Where I Stayed: Oyado Koto No Yume in Takayama.
Trip report – Enjoying Hida Beef at Maruaki and trip to Hida Furukawa
Trip report – Review of Oyado Koto No Yume Ryokan
Day 11 (3 June 2016)
Travel to Kyoto by train from Takayama.
In the afternoon, visit Nishiki Market and Teramachi area for some shopping and dinner at Ichiran, one of the most popular ramen restaurant in Kyoto.
Explore Kyoto’s Gion district at night.
Where I Stayed: Ibis Style Kyoto Station at Kyoto. This hotel is conveniently located next to Kyoto Station.
Trip report – Takayama to Kyoto by train.
Trip report – Nishiki Market and Ichiran Ramen
Day 12 (4 June 2016)
Explore Arashiyama with its famous bamboo groves and Tenryu-ji Temple. Thereafter, travel by train/taxi to visit Kinkakuji Temple, the Golden Pavilion.
Travel by Rapid Service train and Shinkansen to Hiroshima in the evening.
Tip: Buy the Kansai Hiroshima Pass.
Leave main luggage at Ibis hotel before the trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima.
Where I Stayed: Toyoko Inn Hiroshima-eki Minamiguchi-migi in Hiroshima.
Trip report - Kinkakuji Temple, the Golden Pavilion
Day 13 (5 June 2016)
Visit the following in the morning:
•Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
•Memorial Cenotaph
•Hiroshima Peace Park
•Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims
•Statue of A-Bomb Children
•A-Bomb Dome
Try the Hiroshima version of the Okonomiyaki for lunch.
Travel to Miyajima in the afternoon.
Tip: Miyajima is best enjoyed in the evening, night and early morning without the day-trippers. So an overnight stay on the island, in a ryokan or hotel with half board is recommended.
Where I Stayed: Mizuha-so Ryokan in Miyajima.
Trip report - Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Trip report - From Hiroshima to Miyajima
Trip report - Review of Mizuhaso Ryokan
Day 14 (6 June 2016)
Enjoy the morning in Miyajima before the crowd come in.
Tip: Try the fresh and grilled oysters in Miyajima.
Travel back to Kyoto by Shinkansen. Enroute, stop by Shin-Kobe for Kobe beef at Wakkoqu, a teppanyaki beef restaurant located just across the street from the Shin-Kobe Shinkansen Train Station. MUST make advance reservation!
Where I Stayed: Ibis Style Kyoto Station at Kyoto. There are many eateries around the Kyoto Station. Try the Katsukura, one of the most popular Tonkatsu (breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet) restaurant.
Trip Report – Wonderful Morning in Miyajima
Trip Report – Kobe Beef Lunch at the Wakkoqu
Trip Report – Tonkatsu dinner at the Katsukura
Day 15 (7 June 2016)
Visit Kyoto Imperial Palace in the morning.
Tip: Visit to Imperial Palace needs advance booking and passports for identification.
Make a half day trip by train to Uji for matcha and also to visit the Mimurotoji temple for its 10,000 hydrangea plants that blooms in June.
Visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine on the way back from Uji in the evening.
Where I Stayed: Ibis Style Kyoto Station at Kyoto. There are many eateries around the Kyoto Station. Try the Tenichi, one of the most popular Tempura restaurant.
Trip report – Kyoto Imperial Palace
Trip report – Uji and Mimurotoji temple
Trip report – Fushimi Inari Shrine
Trip report – Tempura dinner at Tenichi
Day 16 (8 June 2016)
Visit Yamazaki Distillery and taste their whiskeys!
Tip: Visit to Yamazaki Distillery needs advance booking and payment of 1000 Yen per person for the whiskey tasting. Worth every yen!
In the afternoon, free and easy before taking late flight home. We chose to spend some time in Higashiyama District with the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and the shopping streets nearby.
Trip report – Yamazaki Distillery
Trip report – Kiyomizudera Temple and Higashiyama district
Some other points and comments about the above itinerary
Why did I chose the month of May to do the above?
One of the considerations is the weather in Kyoto and Central Japan. April is the cherry blossom season and is one of the best times to visit Japan. However, we had experienced cherry blossom season in Japan last spring. So there is no desire to experience it again, together with the higher hotel rates (expect double to triple) and crowds. June is the start of the rainy season and July and August will be hot and humid! Hence May is the ideal time for the above itinerary. May is a good time to see greenery and spring flowers along the Nakasendo Trail. The daily temperatures averaged around 20 degrees C in the day and only slightly cooler at night. Snow corridor in Murodo is only open in April to June.
Why so few days in Kyoto? No Osaka?
Autumn is also one of the best times to see Kyoto, with the fall foliage. We are planning another trip to Kyoto in November later this year! Hence we chose to limit the number of days in Kyoto and leave the best fall foliage viewing destinations for our next trip.
Luggage Forwarding Service or Takuhaibin is a convenient service for sending parcels, luggage and various other types of goods from door to door nationwide. Delivery is usually on the next day, and costs are moderate. We made use of this service to make our travels much more pleasant and enjoyable. No need to lug our only suitcase up the trains, buses, elevators and through crowded stations and malls. Worth every yen spent! I will definitely use this service again in my next Japan trip. We have to decide what is needed for the next one to two days and put those in a daypack before sending the rest of our stuff in a suitcase off to the next hotel, in the next city. The staff at the hotels we stayed in helped to arrange the forms and luggage transfer to the next hotel. The hotels are also willing to store our luggage before check-in and also after check-out.
Local cuisine is one of the things to enjoy while visiting a country. Japanese cuisine is one of the yummiest and comes very well presented too. I will write more about the food we tried and restaurants we visited in the later posts. Many regions and cities have their local specialities. We try to experience them if we could.
Japan is trying to make the country tourist friendly and free wifi are available in some areas that tourist frequent. However, connection is spotty and may not be available when we need them most. We bought Prepaid Data SIMs for use in my smartphone and use tethering to share with my travelling companions. Many plans are available at this econnect website. Armed with portable internet access at all times, I can refer to Hyperdia on my smartphone to check up trains times, routes and platform information on the go.
For long travels across cities, e.g. Kyoto to Hiroshima, rail passes can potentially save money. It is also for convenience. There are many to choose from at the JR West website and can be confusing as to which is the most suitable. For the itinerary above, the rail pass that was most suitable was the Kansai Hiroshima Pass, valid for 5 days, cost 13,000 Yen when booked online before arrival in Japan.
Lastly, a word about hotels and ryokans/minshukus.
I booked my hotels about 6 months before my travel dates. Rooms in Japanese hotels are very small by comparison to other countries and there are more smoking rooms than non-smoking rooms. Also, more single and twins rooms than doubles. So, I booked early (with free cancellations at Booking.com) to get the non-smoking rooms and also the rooms with large double beds. Be careful about double beds. Some hotels market their super-single sized beds as small doubles! One of my main criteria for hotel is location. Preferably, within walking distance to train and bus stations. Also, there are more eateries and shops found around the stations. Ryokans and minshukus in the small rural villages along the Nakasendo Trail like Magome, Tsumago and Narai are limited. So, I need to book well ahead of the trip. Most do not offer online booking and those that do so, have it in Japanese language only. I don’t speak or write Japanese. I use google translate to send short simple email messages to make my bookings. It works! These ryokans and minshukus also operate on trust. Most did not ask me for credit cards or advance payment to hold the rooms. It is my responsibility to inform them about any needed changes and cancellations, way ahead of time. And payment is by cash only in the small villages.
Half the fun in going for a do-it-yourself vacation is in the planning. With the above plan, the 16 days trip through Japan went without a hitch and was truly amazing and enjoyable. More details about the trip are in the trip journal.
Hope you find the above itinerary and trip overview useful.
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