Our Japanese Adventure 12.1 - 12.12

[LovesTimone]

Honestly I EXACTLY echo your friends' sentiments!! I've been telling all my family/friends to put emphasis on Kyoto, less on Tokyo, and YES we also wish we had down a trip to Hiroshima!! We did do a day trip to Nara/Kobe from Kyoto but I would have loved to do Hiroshima and also Osaka. I will say that there are awesome things in Tokyo... gah! i'm going to have to write stuff up tonight and just get this trip report moving.

Could you let me know what your itinerary looked liked in Kyoto... and any information or thoughts that you would like to share... We have decided to spend more time in Kyoto, 4 nights and there is just so much that we want to see, I'm trying to get a good picture of what is kinda close to each other, and we are going to do a day trip to Hiroshima, and another sorta 1/2 day trip to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo forest and the monkey park, not sure if there is any other site to see in this area...

 

[PaintsWithAllTheColors]

Could you let me know what your itinerary looked liked in Kyoto... and any information or thoughts that you would like to share... We have decided to spend more time in Kyoto, 4 nights and there is just so much that we want to see, I'm trying to get a good picture of what is kinda close to each other, and we are going to do a day trip to Hiroshima, and another sorta 1/2 day trip to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo forest and the monkey park, not sure if there is any other site to see in this area...

Sure! Heres’s a high-level look:
We only spent three nights in Kyoto and could have easily done more. We spent a day trip doing Nara/Kobe (Nara in the morning to see some of the historical sights and feed the deer, Kobe in the afternoon for lunch). We spent another day seeing the bamboo forest, riding the romantic train, visiting serval shrines/temples, and hiking to the monkeys. Our final day was spent with an old friend of my mom’s and her husband. They live a few hours away from Kyoto but met us in Kyoto and we all went to even more temples/shrines, had a delicious lunch, and then in the evening took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

If it’s helpful, I’ll look up the names of the exact temples/shrines we went to - it’ll probably be a few weeks before I get a full Kyoto trip report up.

 

[LovesTimone]

Sure! Heres’s a high-level look:
We only spent three nights in Kyoto and could have easily done more. We spent a day trip doing Nara/Kobe (Nara in the morning to see some of the historical sights and feed the deer, Kobe in the afternoon for lunch). We spent another day seeing the bamboo forest, riding the romantic train, visiting serval shrines/temples, and hiking to the monkeys. Our final day was spent with an old friend of my mom’s and her husband. They live a few hours away from Kyoto but met us in Kyoto and we all went to even more temples/shrines, had a delicious lunch, and then in the evening took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

If it’s helpful, I’ll look up the names of the exact temples/shrines we went to - it’ll probably be a few weeks before I get a full Kyoto trip report up.

Thanks for your info... We are looking at spending more time in Kyoto and sorta using it as a base... So anything and everything you would like to share would be great. I look forward to reading all about your adventure...

Must do's for us so far - while in Kyoto and not in any order or firm planning, trying to group site into areas so that we are not wasting time. I think 4 nights in Kyoto is going to be the magic number...

We are doing a day trip for sure to Hiroshima from Kyoto - still in planning - travel and sites to see while we are there, as well as managing the train to and from....

Arashiyama to see the Bamboo forest, and hiking to see the Monkeys, the romantic train one way then possibly doing a Hozo river cruise back to where the train starts, visiting Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple and Saga Preserved street....

Definitely going to the Fushimi Inar Shrine - the Torii gates

Kiyomizudeera temple - this is the one with the wooden terrace


There is just so much... I spent about 4 hours yesterday just checking out, and instead of shorting the list... it got longer....

 

[PaintsWithAllTheColors]

Thanks for your info... We are looking at spending more time in Kyoto and sorta using it as a base... So anything and everything you would like to share would be great. I look forward to reading all about your adventure...

Must do's for us so far - while in Kyoto and not in any order or firm planning, trying to group site into areas so that we are not wasting time. I think 4 nights in Kyoto is going to be the magic number...

We are doing a day trip for sure to Hiroshima from Kyoto - still in planning - travel and sites to see while we are there, as well as managing the train to and from....

Arashiyama to see the Bamboo forest, and hiking to see the Monkeys, the romantic train one way then possibly doing a Hozo river cruise back to where the train starts, visiting Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple and Saga Preserved street....

Definitely going to the Fushimi Inar Shrine - the Torii gates

Kiyomizudeera temple - this is the one with the wooden terrace


There is just so much... I spent about 4 hours yesterday just checking out, and instead of shorting the list... it got longer....

I’ll get the names of some of our favorite temples/shrines. One thing I’ll mention - we had planned on doing the river cruise on the reverse trip of the train but it was incredibly cold and would have been unpleasant. My advice would be just to see what the day looks like. The boat also takes a lot more time, so take that into consideration as well.

 

[LovesTimone]

I’ll get the names of some of our favorite temples/shrines. One thing I’ll mention - we had planned on doing the river cruise on the reverse trip of the train but it was incredibly cold and would have been unpleasant. My advice would be just to see what the day looks like. The boat also takes a lot more time, so take that into consideration as well.

We are looking at mid April or May next year.. or November... Its all up to DH work scheduling... I appreciate the advice and have jotted it down... As far as time DH and I would be okay with it taking longer...

Was the hike to see the Monkeys - a "hike" like climbing over boulders and rough terrain, or "hike" more like a well traveled path?