Hey ya’ll! So you guys recently roasted me for my taxi question/packing abilities but it was actually really useful for planning and now I’ve got another advice request. In the middle of our 2 week trip we are taking a “road trip” to see Matsumoto, Narai juku, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, etc. Spending 3 nights at Hirayu onsen near Kamikochi and 2 nights at a ryokan in Narai-juku.
The original plan was to pick up the rental car in Tokyo at Shinagawa Station (the place we are staying in Tokyo is very close to the station) at 8AM when the place opened and head straight to Hirayu Onsen, however, when I mentioned this in my last post there were 2 to 3 people that suggested taking the train closer and then picking up the vehicle. When I first ran the numbers I thought driving would be quicker or minimal difference but a lot of you seem to think otherwise! Also honestly I do really enjoy driving and thought it would be cool…. But I’m also not super familiar with driving on the opposite side of the road so maybe figuring that out in the heart of Tokyo is a bad idea??
How easy would it be to take the train to say, Matsumoto that morning (a Wednesday) and pick my car up there and then return it to the same spot at the end? I was originally excited to drive that car down through kiso valley and back into Tokyo but honestly the way the route works I could easily loop right back to Matsumoto and drop it off and hop back on the train back down.
What do you guys think? Or do you have any other suggestions about where to get the car or how to plan the route given where I’ll be staying?
by AshtonCB_