The Route: Tokyo West (Shinjuku) > Kanazawa > Takayama > Nagano > Tokyo West (Shinjuku)
This is our second trip to Japan, so we decided to spend most of our time outside metropolitan areas.
Day 1: We stayed at the Knot Hotel in Shinjuku. This wasn't our first choice, but due to delays in booking, we ended up here. The rooms are incredibly small and despite packing light, it was hard to navigate the limited space. That said, the hotel is in a quieter part of Shinjuku surrounded by lovely gardens. We did come across a really nice little Indian restaurant, Khana Indian Restaurant, which was good. If you are looking for a break from the local cuisine, I would recommend this one.
We had planned to keep this day light as we'd undertaken a long haul and it was our first time in the Shinjuku area. We reserved it for Shinjuku Gyoen, which was awash with Sakura and azaleas were also in bloom, this is a lovely, expansive space in the heart of bustling Shinjuku and would recommend it regardless of time of year especially, if you are looking for a breather.
Day 2: This was a Ginza day for a bit of window shopping and some much-needed R&R. We had originally planned to stay near Tokyo station/Ueno at the start of our trip so that our onward journey to Kanazawa would be straightforward and also for easy access to Ginza and Kappabashi but staying in Shinjuku wasn’t really a deal breaker since we had no sightseeing plans.
Tip: If you have an optimised scheduled though, trekking across town will be an annoyance and if you really like Tokyo (and there is loads to do, I could easily spend a year there and not get bored) you could stay a week in Ueno and explore the east and then a week in Shinjuku and use it as a base to explore the west.
Day 3: Shinkansen to Kanazawa. We've never bothered with the JR pass; our approach has been to get to the station an hour ahead of departure, buy the ticket at the window, pick up snacks, and admire the sleek trains while waiting for ours.
Tip: The primary reason for choosing to book through a person is because for the Shinkansen, you need a fare ticket and if you would like a reserved seat a separate ticket. I haven't quite worked out how to do this on the machine. On this trip, I managed to reserve the seat but not the fare ticket, go figure! So, for avoidance of unnecessary aggravation, I just get there a bit early and buy it at the window. It’s dead easy and these days they’ve got English speaking staff manning the counters.
Day 4: Our non-negotiable for our first day in Kanazawa was the Kenroku-en Gardens; it was stunningly beautiful. For the first time in my life, I got caught in a sakura petal storm (hanafubuki) and it is something I will remember forever. The Oyama Shrine, Kanazawa 21st Century Museum, and Castle are all within walking distance of each other and I just leaned into my jet lag and did this in a day. I lunched at a little tempura place called Fukuten, very close to the castle. Highly recommend, but it is cash only.
Tip: Kanazawa Castle is under construction, and the grounds are free to walk through there isn't much to see as such; you could skip this if you are short on time. There is a free tour which I took – the guide was an elderly local who was very engaging and informative. I'd recommend the tour only if you have time.
Day 5: It was a very wet day and I had planned to go to Higashi Chaya, but it was a bit of a washout. I did stop by a little tea shop called Amano Cha which was fab, I had the whole place to myself and it was lovely chatting with the owner. If you have been to Kyoto, this area will seem a bit underwhelming. I would say it's "nice to do, not need to do." The Nagamachi Samurai District, on the other hand, was interesting and I would recommend it.
Food-wise, I went to Gelateria Retort; it’s an authentic gelato place that their pistachio flavour was really good, they also do a variety of seasonal flavours which are worth trying. I also recommend Kikuyoshi Sakai for their Kaiseki in the Nagamachi area. It seemed like a family-run restaurant and was really good. Both places accepted card.
Day 6: Picked up our rental car for our onward trip to Takayama. We used Toyota Rent-a-Car and everything was dead easy.
Tip: You will need an international driving permit and the version depends on which country you are from, so do check. You will need to have this sorted before you leave for Japan. The car did have a satnav but we just used Google Maps instead, which worked perfectly.
We stopped at Shirakawa-go on the way to Takayama and I have mixed feelings about it. It is charming no doubt, with the surrounding mountains and the cherry blossoms really making an impression. However, it is clear this is very much a tourist hotspot. It took us half an hour in the parking queue before we could park and the sheer volume of people was a bit off-putting despite it being quite spaced out and not quite full-on tourist season at the time.
Tip: If you are in Takayama, my recommendation would be to go to the Hida no Sato Folk Village Museum. It is a model village with comparable architecture to Shirakawa-go, but the latter is an active village so has more authenticity.
Day 7: Takayama exploration day. We stayed at the Koko Hotel, which I do not recommend. It was so tiny and a copy/paste of the Knot Hotel model but worse. There was just no room to manoeuvre, you had to stay still like you were in a straitjacket or you’d bump into something, so we spent as little time there as we could! We also paid too much for it and they had 100% charge for cancellations under 60 days so we just went with it.
Tip: Choose free cancellations wherever possible!
Day 8: We had timed our trip to coincide with the Yatai Festival. It was a unique experience and the locals were so warm and welcoming; we loved the whole experience. The other two things I would recommend are the Showa-kan Museum (there's two of them in town and we went to both—both were fun!).
Food-wise, I would recommend the Takayama Pudding Tei store for caramel custard (to die for!) and Tamago Kake Gohan—they only do breakfast and eggs are their specialty. If you ever want to try the quintessential Japanese breakfast of raw eggs over steaming hot rice, this is the place!
Day 9: Onward to Nagano. We stayed in a lovely family-run B&B called Shiorisha. Highly recommend, especially if you have a car. The weather wasn't great so we only went to the Hokusai Museum, which was underwhelming to be honest, there is only one original Hokusai on display which was stunning but not worth the detour unless you were a huge Hokusai fan.
Day 10: Our must-dos for Nagano were Togakushi. The weather was still grey and damp and unfortunately, the main walking route that we wanted to take at Togakushi Shrine was closed due to avalanche risk, so we had to cut our day short. We did stop by a restaurant, though, called Soba no Mi. It was good, but it took them over an hour to serve. There aren't many restaurants in the area so if you are on a tour bus, for instance, between getting a table and getting served, I would allot at least a couple of hours.
Tip: Do check route/road closures etc. before you set out, especially since Togakushi is not easy to get to without personal transport. You can put your name down at the restaurant before you start sightseeing and then come back in time for your table so you’re not wasting time hanging around.
Day 11: This was a bit of a long day. We explored Hakuba on the recommendation of our B&B hosts, which was very scenic and I believe a skiing destination, and then onward to Matsumoto to see the castle before returning to Nagano. We would return to Nagano just to explore more of the Alps and the not-so-touristy areas like Hakuba, where we had the best cherry blossom viewing in the most random places! We wouldn’t have made the trip to Hakuba had our B&B hosts not recommended it and it turned out to be the best thing we did on the trip.
Tip: Build some flexibility in your itinerary.
Day 12: Kamikōchi was one of the main reasons for stopping in Nagano and we went the day it opened and boy, was it disappointing. I would recommend this only if you have never been to any snow-capped/alpine areas and want to explore the area for half a day with minimum physical effort and maximum photo ops. I can see why this is popular with day-trippers, but it wasn't for us. That said, I think the area would be a great base for serious hiking.
Tip: If you have a car, you will need to park 20 mins away from the national park and get on a shuttle bus as private vehicles aren't permitted. There is space for 2000 vehicles so you don't need to worry, but the shuttle buses do fill up fast and we didn't even go during high season, so do expect long waits. Most people seem to have got there with tour companies. If you are interested in Kamikōchi, my recommendation is to stay in Matsumoto for a couple of nights, you could do the Castle and Matsumoto exploration one day and then Kamikochi the next and leave the following day.
Day 13: Back to Tokyo via Shinkansen and stayed in Shinjuku again for a few days before flying out. We explored neighbourhoods like Ikebukuro, Daikanyama, Nakameguro, just people watching and pottering about in local shops and bookstores. We also got massages, spa treatments etc. before wrapping up our trip. GENKI foot and body massage in Shinjuku was great! Looked a bit shady but it wasn't in reality.
Tip: Carry a handheld-fan, it gets very hot and humid, especially on the trains, water is also a must (Pocari Sweat – electrolyte – is your best friend!). Carry a hand sanitizer and tissues, while toilets to have soap dispensers, they do run out occasionally and also obligatory, carry a bag for rubbish. Also Shinjuku train station is truly Hotel California. My hack is to focus on platform numbers and exit numbers, it is easier to navigate cause it's sequential and all other information when you get closer to where you need to be, also google always gets it right.
Our original plan was to drive from Kanazawa > Takayama > Fujikawaguchiko > Hakone book-ended by Tokyo but when I couldn’t get any reasonable accommodation in the Fuji area despite looking five months in advance, I decided to skip it altogether and chose Nagano instead. It was the best decision I made, everything was reasonably priced, fewer crowds and just a better overall experience. Japan has loads to offer and yes, often people don’t have the luxury of revisiting, but my top tip would be not always feel the need to tick boxes.
by nrupathunga