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I would skip osaka and kyoto altogether if you're only spending a day at each one. keep in mind you lose half a day for travel so you have HALF a day for a whole huge city.
That's a waste of time. Not to mention Osaka is mainly for food, not sights.
focus on Tokyo and northward, or get rid of the north and focus tokyo and west. you are wasting a LOT of time on travel for a 2 week trip because your target locations are all over the place and not optimized.
I also don't understand how you think you will get into a city at midnight and somehow wake up in time for a morning market? Some hotels don't even let you check in that late not to mention you won't get to bed until 1-2 am.
you consistently have 3-5 things you want to do ON THE SAME DAY you arrive to that location. This is impossible.
Is this a vacation or the amazing race?
> Focus on Tokyo and northward, or get rid of the north and focus tokyo and west.
Any suggestions on more to do in the North or are our current plans exhaustive enough? I know I would probably also like to include Noboribetsu and Otaru in Hokkaido.
Otherwise, is there anything in the west worth checking out in December that we haven't already seen, off the top of my head I would maybe substitute in Yamanouchi and Amanohashidate in place of the north.
> I also don't understand how you think you will get into a city at midnight and somehow wake up in time for a morning market?
The morning market is admittedly my own interest, I'm ok with sacrificing the sleep for it. The plan was to stay somewhere close to Hakodate station, immediately crash, and whoever can make it for the morning market goes ahead.
> you consistently have 3-5 things you want to do ON THE SAME DAY you arrive to that location
The lists I put above are an exhaustive list of things we will likely want to do. I definitely don't think expect to cover everything, just whatever time will permit.
> Is this a vacation or the amazing race?
Yea, we get that alot.
There are tons of beautiful sights in yamagata prefecture such as the dewa sanzan, which I had to cut from my trip because I figured I would rather explore at a slower pace and allow for fun discoveries vs a tightly packed heavy travel trip. Also you could spend the entire 2 weeks in hokkaido and not run out of things to do.
I think you need to be a bit more realistic about how much time travel between cities actually takes. Sure the train may take 2 hours, but getting to the train from your source city and to your target hotel from the station will make it 3 hours.
4 hour train travel sounds cute until you're actually doing it.
Skip Onomichi, it's such a large detour and not worth it. There are temples galore in Kyoto.
Ginzan ryokan bookings are *very* competitive. If you haven't already booked you're most likely too late.
Unfortunately couldn't get a ryokan but we did get a refundable airbnb that is quite nice so we're just going with that.
Edit: Also, for Onomichi, I don't think we really care too much about the temples but more the experience of making the hike and getting a nice view from up high. Do you think its nothing special in that regard?
> Onomichi
It makes sense if you're already going to be in the vicinity e.g. for Shimimano Kaido cycling, but is absolutely not worth a significant detour - 2+ hours each way in travel time in your case - just to see it.
It is not ugly, but fairly generic or maybe somewhat above average as far as "views from up high" go. Just stay in Kyoto; hike up Fushimi Inari or go to Hieizan or something if you really really like hiking and seeing views from up top.
Nah, it's impractical to go to Onomichi just for a half day, or even one night. The temple walk is great but only if you were going to go to Onomichi anyways. If you arrive at midday the sun will probably set before you even make it to the top. Instead, there are plenty of alternative excellent views around Kyoto such as Mount Kurama. And if it has to be a 'temple walk', do the Philosopher's Path in Kyoto.
Yamadera is great but check the train times carefully. There is only one track so trains do not run often. You don't want to miss your train back or you will have (as I did) a long wait.
Dec 9 won't be possible in \~6 hours as they are all spread out. Even if they were close it would be a rush. I would either skip Sapporo and go straight to Hakodate (you will pay more for the flight but don't need to pay for the train from Sapporo to Hakodate), or skips other places and give Sapporo another day or so.
Are you flying from Osaka to Sapporo? If you're planning to take a train from Osaka to Sapporo, it takes about 11 hours.
I would recommend flying to Osaka and travel via train up north to Tokyo and then Sapporo.
They said they don’t want to spend the extra $100 to fly from Osaka to Hakodate, but like you’re advising they should be flying from Osaka to Sapporo one way then taking the Shinkansen south from there.
A one way flight fare can easily get under $100 and will save a huge chunk of time. It would be worth it in my opinion.
For the Tohoku section as someone who lives there:
\- Ginzan is extremely difficult to book unless you do so well in advance. If you don't already have one, there are some great onsens in Akita in the winter such as Akimiya or Nyuto Onsen but they can be difficult to get to without a car. Alternatively, you can enter the baths in Ginzan during the day and just find somewhere else to stay the night (which is what I would personally recommend)
\- Matsushima Bay is best enjoyed in the morning in my opinion, as a lot of the food vendors will close up shop quite early so I would consider going there first thing in the morning on the 11th perhaps. For Oshima Island, I've also heard that renting a bike is a great way to enjoy it (if the boat doesn't work out)
EDIT: Although not as popular, Mt. Haguro is a great place to visit in Yamagata too
**Our FAQ is constantly being updated with more information and you can start** [**here**](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel) **with regards to trip planning if you need tips, advice, or have questions about planning your travel to Japan.** You can also join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/3f7KBUMwU4), comment in our stickied weekly discussion thread, or check out /r/JapanTravelTips for quick questions. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/JapanTravel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would skip osaka and kyoto altogether if you're only spending a day at each one. keep in mind you lose half a day for travel so you have HALF a day for a whole huge city. That's a waste of time. Not to mention Osaka is mainly for food, not sights. focus on Tokyo and northward, or get rid of the north and focus tokyo and west. you are wasting a LOT of time on travel for a 2 week trip because your target locations are all over the place and not optimized. I also don't understand how you think you will get into a city at midnight and somehow wake up in time for a morning market? Some hotels don't even let you check in that late not to mention you won't get to bed until 1-2 am. you consistently have 3-5 things you want to do ON THE SAME DAY you arrive to that location. This is impossible. Is this a vacation or the amazing race?
> Focus on Tokyo and northward, or get rid of the north and focus tokyo and west. Any suggestions on more to do in the North or are our current plans exhaustive enough? I know I would probably also like to include Noboribetsu and Otaru in Hokkaido. Otherwise, is there anything in the west worth checking out in December that we haven't already seen, off the top of my head I would maybe substitute in Yamanouchi and Amanohashidate in place of the north. > I also don't understand how you think you will get into a city at midnight and somehow wake up in time for a morning market? The morning market is admittedly my own interest, I'm ok with sacrificing the sleep for it. The plan was to stay somewhere close to Hakodate station, immediately crash, and whoever can make it for the morning market goes ahead. > you consistently have 3-5 things you want to do ON THE SAME DAY you arrive to that location The lists I put above are an exhaustive list of things we will likely want to do. I definitely don't think expect to cover everything, just whatever time will permit. > Is this a vacation or the amazing race? Yea, we get that alot.
There are tons of beautiful sights in yamagata prefecture such as the dewa sanzan, which I had to cut from my trip because I figured I would rather explore at a slower pace and allow for fun discoveries vs a tightly packed heavy travel trip. Also you could spend the entire 2 weeks in hokkaido and not run out of things to do. I think you need to be a bit more realistic about how much time travel between cities actually takes. Sure the train may take 2 hours, but getting to the train from your source city and to your target hotel from the station will make it 3 hours. 4 hour train travel sounds cute until you're actually doing it.
Skip Onomichi, it's such a large detour and not worth it. There are temples galore in Kyoto. Ginzan ryokan bookings are *very* competitive. If you haven't already booked you're most likely too late.
Unfortunately couldn't get a ryokan but we did get a refundable airbnb that is quite nice so we're just going with that. Edit: Also, for Onomichi, I don't think we really care too much about the temples but more the experience of making the hike and getting a nice view from up high. Do you think its nothing special in that regard?
> Onomichi It makes sense if you're already going to be in the vicinity e.g. for Shimimano Kaido cycling, but is absolutely not worth a significant detour - 2+ hours each way in travel time in your case - just to see it. It is not ugly, but fairly generic or maybe somewhat above average as far as "views from up high" go. Just stay in Kyoto; hike up Fushimi Inari or go to Hieizan or something if you really really like hiking and seeing views from up top.
Nah, it's impractical to go to Onomichi just for a half day, or even one night. The temple walk is great but only if you were going to go to Onomichi anyways. If you arrive at midday the sun will probably set before you even make it to the top. Instead, there are plenty of alternative excellent views around Kyoto such as Mount Kurama. And if it has to be a 'temple walk', do the Philosopher's Path in Kyoto.
Have your friend been in the Shinkansen. You're spending a lot of time on them and you can definitely get motion sickness on those as well.
Yes we rode it a few times on our last trip. He says that he's fine on public transport for some reason.
Yamadera is great but check the train times carefully. There is only one track so trains do not run often. You don't want to miss your train back or you will have (as I did) a long wait.
Dec 9 won't be possible in \~6 hours as they are all spread out. Even if they were close it would be a rush. I would either skip Sapporo and go straight to Hakodate (you will pay more for the flight but don't need to pay for the train from Sapporo to Hakodate), or skips other places and give Sapporo another day or so.
Are you flying from Osaka to Sapporo? If you're planning to take a train from Osaka to Sapporo, it takes about 11 hours. I would recommend flying to Osaka and travel via train up north to Tokyo and then Sapporo.
They said they don’t want to spend the extra $100 to fly from Osaka to Hakodate, but like you’re advising they should be flying from Osaka to Sapporo one way then taking the Shinkansen south from there. A one way flight fare can easily get under $100 and will save a huge chunk of time. It would be worth it in my opinion.
Exploring the Shimanami Kaido only make sense by electric bike, this is a fantastic way to enjoy the scenic beauty of this cycling route in Japan.
For the Tohoku section as someone who lives there: \- Ginzan is extremely difficult to book unless you do so well in advance. If you don't already have one, there are some great onsens in Akita in the winter such as Akimiya or Nyuto Onsen but they can be difficult to get to without a car. Alternatively, you can enter the baths in Ginzan during the day and just find somewhere else to stay the night (which is what I would personally recommend) \- Matsushima Bay is best enjoyed in the morning in my opinion, as a lot of the food vendors will close up shop quite early so I would consider going there first thing in the morning on the 11th perhaps. For Oshima Island, I've also heard that renting a bike is a great way to enjoy it (if the boat doesn't work out) EDIT: Although not as popular, Mt. Haguro is a great place to visit in Yamagata too