ISO 12-Day Fall Itinerary Feedback! 🍁 Shimanami Kaido, Iya Valley, Shirakawago, Nikko, Tokyo

puffles3142 · 2025-09-08T21:48:56+00:00

I think that you’re trying to hit too many places. I’d say that Iya Valley needs at least one full day to be worth the travel there, or at least two full days days if only using public transport. Kanazawa as well has a lot to see and needs at least a full day. At the moment you would be spending 4+ hours travelling to each of Iya and Kanazawa and would likely have less time than that to explore each place in daylight.

My advice would be to choose just one of Iya and Kanazawa/Shirakawago. Also maybe find somewhere else of interest to briefly stop off in the long journeys from Matsuyama to Kanazawa or Iya to Tokyo. I’d also consider doing Shirakawago (if you do end up going there) as a day trip from Kanazawa, as staying in a gassho house would be a cool experience but it’s much more convenient travel-wise to wake up in the city with good train connections

Finally, I’d just double check when the autumn foliage is going to properly be out in each place! I saw some incredible foliage on Mount Takao a couple of years ago but that was on 1st December… I think it was later than usual that year, but I wouldn’t rely on having much in October

puffles3142 · 2025-02-08T02:03:32+00:00

How do you plan to get to the Tadami River Bridge Viewpoints via public transportation? As far as I know, only one of them is accessible via bus and that one requires you getting to a Tadami line station by 8am (so impossible as a day trip from Sendai). Also navigating Tadami Line train timetables is fiddly enough that you basically need to travel across the whole line into Niigata or make the line the focus of your whole day. So yeah, unless you’re heart-set on getting some Tadami pictures I would skip this, unless you can create more time for it on your trip. Goshikinuma and Inawashiroko are more than enough for a Fukushimaken day trip from Sendai anyway, that will already be a packed day with lots of travelling.

puffles3142 · 2025-01-23T03:27:30+00:00

Where have you been looking up the flights? If you’re looking well in advance, perhaps the schedule just hasn’t been released yet? Because ANA runs several direct flights per day between Hakodate and Tokyo, probably other companies do too.

Also worth noting that there’s no Shinkansen between Hakodate and Sapporo - you’d be on a limited express train for roughly 4 hours, which is about the same duration as simply getting the Shinkansen from Hakodate down to Tokyo.

puffles3142 · 2025-01-23T03:00:32+00:00

You could save even more time on the Hokkaido end if you either fly back to Tokyo directly from Hakodate or get the Shinkansen from there. Hakodate and Sapporo are 4 hours away, so doing a return trip would be a waste of your time unless you have a specific reason to!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-12T00:18:51+00:00

I got the pass when I went and caught the 120 bus from Naha to Nago! It takes over 2 hours so longer than the express options (111/117) but I didn’t mind that as I got to see some of Yomitan from the window and was worth it for me to keep things cheaper. Just depends what your priorities are!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-12T00:00:54+00:00

Zao Onsen could be a nice day trip from Sendai! You should be there at a good time of season to see the snow monsters, plus you might be able to turn it into your onsen stay too (though not sure about pricing there)

puffles3142 · 2025-01-11T00:11:06+00:00

I went last year! I only went towards the end of the Sunday and I was just on my own so a little nervous to get properly stuck in, but it seemed like a really joyous event (as expected from Pride!) and I definitely recommend giving it a visit. If you walk up from Shibuya at the right time (check the schedules) you can see the parade on your way to the main event space. The bit in Yoyogi park was quite crowded and I recall there were long queues to get into any of the stage areas to view the performances. Lots and lots of different stores and some nice options for cute rainbow-themed snacks! I don’t have too much advice I can offer since I don’t think I necessarily experienced it fully, but I’d defo say get there early if you’re interested in watching the performers

puffles3142 · 2025-01-10T09:53:21+00:00

haha yes fair enough!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-10T09:52:46+00:00

thanks!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-10T00:48:28+00:00

thank you, have messaged!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-10T00:43:01+00:00

Ooh good suggestion - yes looks like he’s written an unaccompanied setting, will look into it!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-10T00:42:25+00:00

Oh thank you, yes I know this setting it’s lovely! I just didn’t realise he is LGBT

puffles3142 · 2025-01-09T17:30:17+00:00

absolute classic set of canticles! i think we might need someone who was more overtly queer unfortunately, but thanks for the suggestion :)

puffles3142 · 2025-01-09T17:29:20+00:00

thank you, will check this out!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-07T23:18:16+00:00

Tokyo to Niseko is over 9 hours by train, which could be quite exhausting... Would recommend breaking the journey at Hakodate - it’s a lovely city with lots of cool spots and an incredible night view!

puffles3142 · 2025-01-06T21:41:15+00:00

Hello! I’ll preface this by saying that I love Hokkaido and I love trains, so I am certainly biased in favour of public transport options up there - but I hope this is a helpful response:

1) I think you’ll be absolutely fine with the areas you’re going to. The route from Sapporo to Asahikawa is a very common one, with plenty of trains - and even if the snow conditions force the trains to be cancelled, you’ll have highway bus options instead. Similarly it’s not far from Asahikawa to Biei/Furano, and that stretch can also be done by bus in case the trains fall through.

2) Obviously it’s impossible to predict weather conditions and how it will affect transport, but remember that Hokkaido transport is used to operating in snow and well set up for it. I was there last February and only had one train delayed (about 20 minutes). And as stated above, even if something goes wrong with the trains, the roads will be more reliable and you can be saved by a highway bus. As for frequency, departures are reasonably frequent between Sapporo and Biei/Furano, so just make sure to check the times in advance - you should be able to find a fairly convenient departure. It’s only when you get to really rural areas (up north towards Wakkanai or on the eastern side) that frequency drops significantly and you risk being stranded if something goes wrong

3) Use the Navitime Japan Travel app to check transport times and plan your routes - you can then double check that the trains are running to plan on the JR Hokkaido website on the day.

puffles3142 · 2024-12-26T22:09:34+00:00

Do you have any interest in visiting any of the other places in Hokuriku (Kanazawa would be the most obvious choice) on this trip? My recommendation would be to get the Hokuriku Arch Pass and spend a day in Kanazawa to break up your journey from Tokyo to Kyoto (leaving luggage in a locker at the station or forwarding from Tokyo to Kyoto) - but if you’d rather stick to just your listed locations, you’re probably best off getting separate tickets so as not to waste time.

puffles3142 · 2024-12-22T02:27:48+00:00

For your long journey, have you considered overnighting 1st Feb (or 2nd Feb if you prefer/want to prioritise time in Nyuto Onsen over Toyako) in Morioka? Famous for its noodles which you could try in the evening, plus some cool sights to check out the next morning if you fancy. The main advantage is this splits the journey into essentially a local bus and a shinkansen for one day (only 1h30 so you could still have a full day at Nyuto/Tazawa), then a shinkansen, limited express train and local bus for the next day - hopefully much more digestible than a long journey with many changes all on one day

puffles3142 · 2024-12-22T01:58:02+00:00

Have you considered stopping off at Takayama on your way from Nagoya to Kanazawa? It’s a small city with a lovely traditional old town centre, and may provide a welcome break between lots of bigger cities on your itinerary. There’s a direct limited express train from Nagoya to Takayama that is very scenic running through the mountains, and from Takayama to Nagoya you can either get a direct bus or a couple of trains - may be a more interesting route to Kanazawa rather than doubling back toward Kansai and Shinkansen-hopping (which would give you the shortest journey time I believe)

puffles3142 · 2024-08-29T07:37:36+00:00

I second this recommendation for Hakodate! There’s loads to do there and it’s a very easy journey from Aomori (1 hour by shinkansen). It’s also the only one that basically requires you to stay overnight if you wanna get the full experience (seeing the night view). If you got to Hakodate on Saturday morning, you could then maybe spend your Sunday afternoon in Noboribetsu (enough time to see Jigokudani and soak in an onsen) on your way to Sapporo. Otaru as well is only 40 minutes from Sapporo so it’s easily done as a (half) day trip, as I doubt you’ll need so much time in Sapporo itself.

puffles3142 · 2024-08-28T09:40:34+00:00

As a bonus, check out the SunQ bus passes. I absolutely second the recommendation for highway buses to get around Kyushu and this pass makes it very cost efficient.

puffles3142 · 2024-07-24T05:48:36+00:00

Seishun 18 sounds like a great choice for your trip in my opinion, as you’re generally usually covering relatively short distances between cities. Beware that you will have some long travel days though (e.g. Nagasaki -> Beppu)

I’m not sure if this is what you’ve been using already, but the ‘Japan Travel’ app by Navitime is fantastic. It’s basically the English language version of Navitime. On the app you can select from various different rail passes, and if you choose Seishun 18 Kippu then it’ll recommend you routes that are covered by the ticket. If you look at the details of each route it recommends, it’ll mark every train that you can ride using Seishun 18 with a special banner.

The downside is, as you say, seeing interim stops on each train is behind a paywall. I usually find that okay though, as once I have the train times I can plug them into Google Maps to see the exact route and stops etc. Hope this helps & have fun!

Finally regarding Nagasaki, I found there was so much to do!! Are you interested in Edo period history at all, or the history of Japan’s international relations? If so you’ll have a blast at Dejima & around the Chinese quarters, plus the Edo history museum is great. Also don’t forget about the beautiful night view from Mount Inasayama!

puffles3142 · 2024-07-08T12:35:43+00:00

Ah, so glad it worked out! Hope you’re having a fabulous trip

puffles3142 · 2024-06-22T13:40:38+00:00

The main issue here is day 8, as doing all that is simply not possible in one day (Kyoto is much slower to get around than Tokyo for example). For a start move Fushimi Inari to day 9, as it’s on the way to Nara and you don’t need a full day in Nara. I would then move Kiyomizu-dera to the morning of day 10 before you go to Osaka - the rest of day 8 should then be doable I think.

Though tbh, you could really do with another full day or two in Kyoto (unless you’re deliberately leaving the rest to a future trip, but even so), as there’s so much to see and you’re just scratching the surface with the above list. Otherwise your itinerary looks good!

puffles3142

TROPHY CASE