Just looking for quick thoughts and recommendations on our 10-day itinerary before we make any bookings! My wife and I will be traveling together in late November, hoping to see lots of autumn colors, gardens, historical shrines/temples/castles, and if lucky some nature. I really like food and look forward to exploring the food scene, but outside of casual drinks and cocktail bars, my wife and I are not that into late-night-life.
Our current thoughts are as follows:
Day 0: Osaka – Arrive at Itami airport (late at night, will likely just crash)
Day 1: Osaka
Day 2: Osaka + Day Trip to Nara
Day 3: Osaka (+ Optional Day Trip to Kobe or Himeji if we're feeling it)
Day 4: Train to Okayama for the gardens, train afterwards to Hiroshima
Day 5: Hiroshima
Day 6: Hiroshima + Day Trip to Miyajima Island
Day 7: Train to Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto
Day 9: Kyoto
Day 10: Kyoto + Day Trip to Uji
Day 11: Kyoto, but stay overnight near Itami for early flight
Day 12: Fly out of Itami (Early AM)
I had previously made an itinerary where we did Okayama instead of Hiroshima, but day-tripped to Hiroshima and my research made me think that would be a bit boring. I am mostly just trying to check that this pace is proper and travel isn't too annoying. We both like to see a city well as opposed to constantly moving around, so I am unsure if it's better to only have Osaka and Kyoto as a base for day trips and not do the Hiroshima portion.
by FreeJG