Itinerary July 2011 - Advice needed

[kojtl1000]

Hello,

This is our first trip to Japan from Belgium and it is seriously overwhelming.

We already booked our flights from Brussels to Tokyo and back from Tokyo to Brussels. We are now trying to put together our itinerary and try to reserve our hotels in these places asap. We will be traveling using public transport, so we will not have a car during our trip.

We were thinking of following route:

15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Kyoto (Arrive Tokyo 9am - Travel directly to Kyoto)
17 jul 11: Kyoto
18 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
19 jul 11: Kyoto
20 jul 11: Kyoto - Hiroshima
21 jul 11: Hiroshima - Miyajima
22 jul 11: Miyajima - Osaka
23 jul 11: Osaka - Nagoya (Visit Toyota Factory + Sumo game)
24 jul 11: Nagoya - Takayama
25 jul 11: Takayama - Toyama
26 jul 11: Toyama - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
27 jul 11: Matsumoto - Kamikochi
28 jul 11: Kamikochi - Hakone
29 jul 11: Hakone - Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
30 jul 11: Tokyo
31 jul 11: Tokyo
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Kamakura)
03 aug 11: Tokyo
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

We really need help with the 'Japanese Alps' part. Is this the best way (most logical way) through the Alps (taking into account we do not have a car)? Or is it better to skip some places and stay a night longer in another place?

Ofcourse any other suggestions are more than welcome. Other than our flights, nothing is fixed at this moment and can still be changed.

Thanks a lot.

[jesselt]

Wow, it seems like you are trying to do quite a lot! I couldn't handle that much travel each day throughout the middle of your trip... maybe you can, but I would suggest cutting a few places out so you have more time to relax and enjoy.

[kojtl1000]

Originally Posted by jesselt

Wow, it seems like you are trying to do quite a lot! I couldn't handle that much travel each day throughout the middle of your trip... maybe you can, but I would suggest cutting a few places out so you have more time to relax and enjoy.

Thank you jesselt, that is why I needed your advise
If you guys think we need to consolidate 2 stays into 1 city, please let us know your suggestions.

Cheers

[godwine]

Originally Posted by kojtl1000

Thank you jesselt, that is why I needed your advise
If you guys think we need to consolidate 2 stays into 1 city, please let us know your suggestions.

Cheers

I think this is doable, I've done something similar myself before with 2 weeks... but as suggested, it will be a LOT of traveling....

[kojtl1000]

Thank you for your input.
Based upon this, I tried to modify the schedule. I would be grateful if you all could have another look at this and spare me your thoughts. Hoping to finalize soon so we can start booking the hotels/ryokans in these places.

15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Hakone (Arrive Tokyo 9am -- Travel directly to Hakone)
17 jul 11: Hakone - Kyoto (Hakone loop during morning)
18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Osaka)
21 jul 11: Kyoto
22 jul 11: Kyoto - Miyajima (Visit Hiroshima on way to Miyajima)
23 jul 11: Miyajima - Nagoya (Visit Toyota Factory + Sumo game)
24 jul 11: Nagoya - Takayama
25 jul 11: Takayama - Shirakawa-go
26 jul 11: Shirakawa-go - Kanazawa
27 jul 11: Kanazawa - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
28 jul 11: Matsumoto (Castle + Visit Kamikochi)
29 jul 11: Matsumoto - Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
30 jul 11: Tokyo
31 jul 11: Tokyo
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Kamakura)
03 aug 11: Tokyo
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

PS: Nagoya is must because of visit to Toyota factory (Wife is a logistics nerd ;-). Sumo game would be great, but no absolute must.

Cheers

[godwine]

For the few days in kyoto, i will do this instead:

18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto AM-PM, Osaka - PM/Evening
21 jul 11: Osaka
22 jul 11: Osaka - Miyajima (Visit Hiroshima on way to Miyajima)

On the 21st, you can also do a side trip to Kobe..... I would normally recommend one more day for Osaka....

Your days between Nagoya to Tokyo seems a bit rush... how much time do you intend to stay at each city and to do what?

[kojtl1000]

Originally Posted by godwine

For the few days in kyoto, i will do this instead:

18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto AM-PM, Osaka - PM/Evening
21 jul 11: Osaka
22 jul 11: Osaka - Miyajima (Visit Hiroshima on way to Miyajima)

On the 21st, you can also do a side trip to Kobe..... I would normally recommend one more day for Osaka....

Your days between Nagoya to Tokyo seems a bit rush... how much time do you intend to stay at each city and to do what?

Thanks a lot. We are still trying to figure out what to do in each city. But we would like to book our hotels asap, so we have first choice (if even possible ofcourse)

[kojtl1000]

Thank you all for your constructive input. Based on this, we adapted our schedule a bit, hoping to come closer to our final itinerary:

15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Hakone (Arrive Tokyo 9am -- Travel directly to Hakone)
17 jul 11: Hakone - Kyoto (Hakone loop during morning)
18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Osaka)
21 jul 11: Kyoto
22 jul 11: Kyoto - Miyajima (Visit Hiroshima on way to Miyajima)
23 jul 11: Miyajima - Nagoya (Sumo game)
24 jul 11: Nagoya - Takayama
25 jul 11: Takayama - Shirakawa-go
26 jul 11: Shirakawa-go - Toyama (Spend day in Kanazawa)
27 jul 11: Toyama - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
28 jul 11: Matsumoto (Castle + Visit Kamikochi)
29 jul 11: Matsumoto - Tokyo
30 jul 11: Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
31 jul 11: Tokyo
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Kamakura)
03 aug 11: Tokyo
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

Perhaps we could take one day off our stay in Tokyo in favor of the Alps. But where would you guys suggest we add a day in our Alp schedule?

Also another question: We really want to see Mt Fuji and surroundings, but it was my understanding that this would be from Hakone? If not, perhaps its better to leave the extra Tokyo day and do a daytrip to Mt Fuji and surroundings from Tokyo?

PS: Disney at Sea is not really a must, but if it's at all possible, we would try to fit it in our schedule.

Cheers

[oumishounin]

Originally Posted by kojtl1000

We really want to see Mt Fuji and surroundings, but it was my understanding that this would be from Hakone?

Mt Fuji from Hakone area.
What do you mean by the word "surroundings"?What do you wanna see?

[kojtl1000]

this seems to be harder than expected :-)
Ofcourse, we want to see as much as possible during our time in Japan. That being said, we are used to a tight schedule when traveling, but we do not want to rush through everything.
I tried to modify the schedule a bit, taking into account all of your recommendations. Can you guys please have another look at this to see if the order is a bit 'logical'?
We opted to travel directly to Kyoto when arriving in Tokyo after our international flight. I know it will be a long day, but we hope to arrive in Kyoto late afternoon. That way, we can drop our bags in the hotel, go out for something to eat and have an early night, hopefully bright and ready to start the next morning in Kyoto.
We also dropped 1 day of Tokyo in favor of the rest of the schedule. If necessary, we can also drop 1 day Kyoto to add to the rest of the schedule.

15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Kyoto (Arrive Tokyo 9am -- Travel directly to Kyoto)
17 jul 11: Kyoto
18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto
21 jul 11: Kyoto - Hiroshima (Visit Hiroshima + Miyajima)
22 jul 11: Hiroshima - Osaka
23 jul 11: Osaka (Daytrip Kobe)
24 jul 11: Osaka - Kanazawa
25 jul 11: Kanazawa - Toyama
26 jul 11: Toyama - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
27 jul 11: Matsumoto - Takayama (Visit Kamikochi / Shirakawa-go)
28 jul 11: Takayama - Nagoya (Visit Toyota Factory + Sumo game)
29 jul 11: Nagoya - Hakone (Hakone Roundcourse)
30 jul 11: Hakone - Tokyo
31 jul 11: Tokyo
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
03 aug 11: Tokyo
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

Thank you guys for all your recommendations and your patience with me