Japan 9 days without Tokyo, Kyoto with teens in December
Hello,
- We are a family of 4 (two adults and two teen boys).
- We have made a family trip to japan before which covered Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto. We wanted to visit other areas. Planning to arrive mid-december and leave just after xmas.
- We come from a region which has skiing and theme parks. not looking for snow activities but would like to see some winter lights and quaint villages. Boys are active, would like to throw in some manageable trail hiking.
We liked the museums, loved the Kyoto temples and we like to eat :). Below is tentative itinerary. Should we add/remove any place?
We can land in either tokyo or osaka, so there is some flexibility there. We have an option of adding an extra day - where should it be?
Day 1 Land Osaka. take traing Osaka-> Hiroshima
Day 2 Hiroshima
Day 3 island shrine, stay ?
Day 4 Back to Hiroshima; Take train to Kanazawa
Day 5 day trip to shirokawago
Day 6 Kanazawa spend some time; leave evening to Osaka
Day 7 Osaka
Day 8 Himchei castle half day; visit Kobe maybe
Day 9 Osaka Nara half day; Osaka
Day 10 Osaka; Evening out
Thanks
Your itinerary should work, though Hiroshima to Kanazawa is a long way. If you can add a night, stay in Kanazawa one more night.
You might want to consider Okayama/Kurashiki or Fukuoka instead of Kanazawa.
Thanks for your suggestions. Should we make another base at Okayama and make day trips to Kurushiki and Onomichi. We chose Kanazawa just based on pictures and winter appeal of Shirokawago - would any other place provide similar feel?
We do like hiking but not sure where to fit it in - not planning on carrying snowgear.
lastly we do anticipate being jetlagged - we should be up very early and out of acco by 7am though evenings will be short - based on our past trips to Japan. Should we change transfers or anything given this?
Shirakawago is unique and there are only a few other places like that. So if Shirakawago is important, go to Kanazawa. But keep in mind that Shirakawagi is not a secluded small village any longer. It’s packed with tourists and very busy.
You can stay in Hiroshima and visit Okayama, Kurashiki, and Onomichi, or move your base to Okayama. Either works.
For hiking, you can do Mt. Misen in Miyajima, Mt. Shosha in Himeji and Onomichi is a hike itself. In Nara, Wakakusa Hill is a good hike.
I don't think you need to change anything because of jet lag. You just have to wing it. I suffer quite badly and I’m up at 3-4am for the first few days.
