Bhavana

Hi

We are a family of 3 (2 adults and 1 child) planning to visit in mid May.

Our rough itinerary is as follows:

Tokyo - 4 nights
Alpine ROute- 2 nights
Mt Fuji- Lake Kamaguchi - 2nights
Kyoto- 4 nights
Osaka - 4 nights

My questions:
1. Does this sound ok?
2. For the Alpine route- do we need to go through a tour or we can do it ourselves? Not getting much details on the web about this.
3 Is renting a car from mount fuji till last day in Osaka advisable? We are comfortable driving.
4 Is there any way I can include the northern part of Hokaiddo?

Responses will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance

mrwunrfl

1. It is ok. You could reverse the order of Kawaguchiko and Alpine Roure. End the Alpine Route in Toyama and then easy enough to get to Kyoto via Kanazawa. Why 4 nts Osaka?
2. No. See links below.
3. No. Train
4. No.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route Travel Guide - What to do along the Tateyama Kurobe Alpen Route (japan-guide.com)

Tokyo to Alpine Route: How to get to and around Alpine Route - Access, Transport and Orientation (japan-guide.com)

Bhavana

Thank you, this was helpful.

Would you recommend a day trip to the snow corridor through one of the tour operators?

Would prefer to do it as a day trip from Tokyo, is it possible to do it on our own? Will the bus halt there and we can walk in the snow corridor?

Is it worth the visit? Or should we skip it, add 1 day each from Kyoto and Osaka and include Hokaiddo for 4 days?

Any suggestions will be helpful. Thanks

mrwunrfl

>> tour operators?
Give a link, please. Might be worthwhile

>> Would prefer to do it as a day trip from Tokyo, is it possible to do it on our own?
You can travel the route on your own. Would be a long day, 6-7 hours for the route and 6-7 hours travel time from/to Tokyo.

>> Will the bus halt there and we can walk in the snow corridor?
The photos say yes. Looks like it would be safe from getting run over by locals.

>> Hokaiddo for 4 days
What is your plan for that?

>> Why 4 nts Osaka?
You didn't answer that question.

.>> Is it worth the visit? Or should we skip it,
IDK, it is your trip. I think you are overlooking a lot of what that part of Japan has to offer.

A week in just this area could be well spent:

Map from japan-guide.com

mrwunrfl

Good route with no change of trains
08:00 Shinjuku
11:16 Shinano-Omachi

Time required 3:16 Price: 7,390 YEN

Then shinkansen back from Toyama to Tokyo: Time required: 2:12 Price: 13,160 YEN

In May it likely would still be daylight at end of the route in Toyama at 7PM

Bhavana

Hi

So have revisited the itenerary:
Day 1: fly into Sapporo and explore the city
Day 2: Furano day trip
Day 3: Otaru day trip
Day 4: Noboribetsu Onsen day trip
Day 5: Asahikawa day trip
Day 6: Fly to Osaka & explore bay area+ acquarium+ Kita district + Castle+ evening cruise
Day 7: Minami + Dotanbori +Hozenji Yokocho + den den town + Abeno Harukas 300 observation decks
Day 8: Hiroshima and Miyajima day trip
Day 9: Travel to Kyoto + Temples + shrines
Day 10 : Bamboo forest + shrines
Day 11 : Day trip to Nara
Day 12: Travel to Kawaguchiko lake and explore mount fuji views / Hakone
Day 13: Travel to Tokyo
Day 14 Tokyo
Day 15: Tokyo
Day 16: Fly out from Tokyo

We will hire a car in the Hokkaido area. Please critique and offer suggestions. Thanks

mrwunrfl

days 1 to 5 are unrealistic
day 12 is a lot of travel just to Kawaguchiko and ending the day in Hakone makes that day unrealistic, a tough day
the last four days are ok, of course
the rest of the plan is busy

Bhavana

thanks...let me relook at this again and come back

mrwunrfl

Sorry, I missed that you were driving in Hokkaido. That would not be crazy. Instead of two day trips you could spend the night around Aasahikawa or Furano and travel between those two places instead of backtracking