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Proposed itinerary for my honey moon -
01-08-2009, 03:07 PM
Hey all. The following is my tentative itinerary for my honeymoon this November. Let me know what you think. The duration will be from November 11 to November 29. I've been to most of these places (except for Hakata), this trip is for my Fiancee (Wife then) mostly
November 11, arrive in Japan. I haven't decide where to arrive in Osaka or Narita yet. But the idea is to travel to Fukuoka (Hakata) right away. So assume that I really can start my activity in Hakata on the 12th. November 12 - Hakata. Sightseeing, Canal City, and the Yatai along Naka River. November 13 - Miyajima. We will leave Hakata early in the morning and arrive Miyajima Guchi hopefully just before noon. We will lock our stuff in the locker (Does anyone know if they have locker that will fit a full size luggae, if not, I will need to find a place to store our stuff first). Take the ferry over the the island and visit the shirne. I wanted to climb the Misen as well if time permits, but we want to leave Miyajima at no later than 4:00pm to head for Osaka where we will be based in for a few days November 14 - We will be based in Osaka now. On the 14th, we will be going to Himeji to see the castle. Then, closer toward the evening, we will travel to Kobe for a nice Kobe beef dinner before we head back to Osaka November 15 - We will go to the Osaka Aquarium (Kaiukan) in the day, and will go to the Umeda Sky building at night November 16 - Probably will hang around the Minami area to visit the Dotonbori/Namba area and the canal November 17 - Change our base to Kyoto. Will visit the Ginkakuji, Sanjusangendo and Kiyomizudera on this first day. Dinner will be around Gion November 18 - Nara and the Fushimi Inari Shrine November 19 - Kinkakuji, Kokedera. Possibly a side trip to mount Koya November 20 - We may make a stop at Nagoya. The wife is a mechanical engineer, so she might be insterested to see the Toyota museum November 21, 22 - Change our base to Yumoto (Hakone). Will spend 2 days here to relax our self and to see lake Ashi as well as Fuji November 23 - Yokohama. The Ramen Museum and the Minato Mirai area November 24-29 - Tokyo. This gets tricky, we want to cover the following stuff, but our time is limited (5.5 days only) - Edo Museum - Mitaka Ghibli museum - Various museum at Daiba - Disney Tokyo will probably be also on the list. - Daiba Standard attractions like: Akiba, Todai, Harajuku (must, she want to go to the snoopy store), Shinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa.Kappabashi Street Thats about it. Any thoughts on where I need to shave, add or any other location you think I should take her to? We are not too interested in night life, food is a must, but I suppose I can figure that out myself  
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01-08-2009, 03:28 PM
I haven't been to all the places you listed, so I can't comment on everything. But a few points...
If you're going straight to Hakata, there's no point in choosing Narita over Kansai International. In fact, you might want to consider getting a connecting flight to Fukuoka, as the distance between Kansai and Hakata is rather long, even by shinkansen. Most of the big JR stations do have large coin lockers, although in my experiences, it can be difficult to find an open one, depending on the time of day, etc. Most cities actually have baggage drops, where people will hold your stuff for you safely, usually for free or for a small price. Just ask the local tourist information desk. As for Himeji, it can take a while to get out there, unless you splurge and take the shinkansen. It takes a good few hours to get through the castle and longer if you want to check out the city. I'd suggest going early if you want to make it back to Kobe in time for dinner. If you're going to visit Mount Koya, you'll have to set aside a full day for it. It takes awhile to get there, and you'd be missing a lot if you tried to squeeze it in as a side trip in a single day. You can actually spend the night in the temples at Mount Koya, with traditional rooms and good meals - I haven't done it, but I've heard its quite an experience -- might be something to think about, especially since its a honeymoon. I'd say only go to the Toyota museum if they'll let you see the robots that actually build the cars - it's an engineers dream. They showed them to us, as we went as a big group for a field trip from our Uni in Nagoya, but I don't know if individual travelers can see them. Also FYI, they won't let you take pictures of the robots, but you can take pictures in the actual museum, which is interesting too, but I don't know if you'd want to go out of your way if you can only see the museum. Unfortunately, I can't say much about Tokyo, as I've really never "been there" in the tourist sense. Hope that helps, though. Good luck!
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01-08-2009, 04:37 PM
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01-08-2009, 05:20 PM
I think you have too much planned. Getting around takes a bit longer in Japan, waiting for trains and walking, etc. Plus, you will get too tired. Just my opinion.
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01-08-2009, 05:27 PM
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Just want to make sure that my wife won't complain and thats all
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01-08-2009, 09:52 PM
I dont know if this is a plausible option for you but to resolve the issue of not knowing where to lock up your lugguage if you fly into Osaka, go directly to the hotel you plan to be staying at from the 13th until 16th and get them to hold your suitcases until you check in on the 13th.
This way you will only need to bring a small bag with you for Hakata and when you get back to Osaka your bag will be waiting for you at your hotel.
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01-08-2009, 10:24 PM
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01-09-2009, 01:09 AM
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Since you'll be heading to Himeji after Miyajima, you may want to stay in Miyajima, Hiroshima, or Himeji the night of the 13th rather than heading all the way to Osaka that night, and then head back west again the next morning to Himeji. That would give you more time at Miyajima too. I hiked up the mountain and it took me 90 minutes, but you may be in much better physical shape than me... it was a fairly hard climb for me. Don't let the cute picture at the start of the trail fool you, LOL! You might want to instead take the gondolla ride to the top, and then hike down the mountain rather than up it... that's what I should have done! Koya-san is south of Osaka, not near Kyoto, so if you are going there, it should be while you are based in Osaka. I too recommend staying in a temple overnight if you go. What you could do is this: Visit Dotonburi on the 15th, along with the Aquarium (which only takes a few hours to see). Evening, when the streets are lit up, is probably best. Lots of restaurants along there, choose one that catches your eye for dinner maybe. On the 16th, you can see some of the Namba station area in the morning if you like (there are shops and restaurants under the station), and then take the Nankai-Koya line out of Namba station. If takes a little over 90 minutes to reach Koya-san, the last stop, and the cable car ride up the mountain at the end is included in the ticket price. See the cemetery and temples the rest of the day, and spend the night at a temple for a unique experience. (Wandering in the temples or cemetery early the next morning shrouded in fog, if there is any that day, is incredible too!) On the 17th, take the train about 30 minutes to Hashimoto station (my old hometown!), where you can change trains to head east to Nara. (If you want a good lunch in Hashimoto, I can tell you a couple places within a block of the station, if they're still there after 10 years!) Spend most of the day seeing Nara park, the Great Buddha, etc, and that evening continue on to Kyoto. From the 18th on, you are in Kyoto as you'd planned. This way saves you some backtracking and traveling. Finally, after you've been in Tokyo several days at the end of your trip, and you are eager to see some trees and nature again, I recommend a trip north to Nikko, which has a very impressive and ornate temple complex to the 3 "see, hear, and speak no evil" monkeys, set in an old ceder forest. Have fun, and congratulations!
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01-09-2009, 01:32 AM
Because you are allready going to Hiroshima, to visit Miyajima, and considering going to Nagoya only to visit the Toyota museum, think about staying a night in Hiroshima and visiting the Mazda museum. It would make your trip to Miyajima less rushed, 4 hours there is not enough time if you want to do anything other than visit Itsukushima shrine. It is really a day long thing even when you are based in Hiroshima.
Regarding lockers, I don't know if Miyajima guchi has lockers but I am certain that Hiroshima station has lockers big enough for full size but not giant luggage.
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01-10-2009, 02:19 PM
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I will consider the suggestions on statying at Hiroshima on the night of the 13th... i too don't want to make it a rush trip for her, but at the same time, there are just too much to cover for the 2.5 weeks we are there. I am still trying to convince her to skip HK so that we get at least 3 full weeks in Japan.. but that will be a tough battle
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