Central Honshu travel advice

We're traveling in Japan for 17 nights, and we plan to spend a week in Tokyo and Kyoto, and make a few side trips to places like Nara, Hiroshima, Kamakura and Miyajima.

Apart from that we'd also like to visit central Honshu (my wife is very keen to see the snow monkeys). The two routes we're considering are:)

Tokyo - Yudanaka - Kiso - Takayama - Kanazawa. The thing here was that if we skipped one (Kiso) or two (Kiso and Takayama) then we could use those extra days to spend more places like Hiroshima, Miyajima and Himeji (which I think I would prefer to Matsumoto) when we go down south towards Kyoto, which is where we go after Kanazawa. The problem is that if we skip just Kiso itself the journey from Yudanaka to Takayama is almost 7h30m by train.

So the other alternative we're thinking about is Tokyo - Nikko - Yudanaka - Kanzawa, which would probably a bit more economical time-wise.

Yours thoughts much appreciated.

The problem is that if we skip just Kiso itself the journey from Yudanaka to Takayama is almost 7h30m by train.

That's why you should not travel all by train, but instead take the train only as far as Matsumoto and the bus from there to Takayama. The bus is not covered by the Japan Rail Pass, but will save you lots of time. The entire trip from Yudanaka to Takayama would be just around 5 hours with good connections.

Hello,

Thank you so much!! You're absolutely right, taking the bus from Matsumoto is far, far quicker and easier. That's exactly what we're going to do.

Our plan is now to from Yudanaka to Matsumoto by train, from Matsumoto to Takayama by bus, from Takayama to Kanazawa by train.

That's a really helpful suggestion and will let us complete our journey quite easily. The total travel time from Yudanaka to Takayama will be approx 4h30m, a saving of over 3 hours!

Much appreciated.

and Himeji (which I think I would prefer to Matsumoto)

Just note that Himeji is being renovated at the moment so is covered in scaffolding. If the renovation work interests you it can be worth a visit but you won't get any nice views of the castle exterior in Himeji. Consequently, you may want to spend time in Matsumoto to at least see Matsumoto Castle.
Himeji Castle:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3501.html

Another alternative is to see Hikone Castle on a half day side-trip from Kyoto.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7001.html

Enjoy your trip!

Most definitely use some of your time to visit Hiroshima and with a side trip to Miyajima Island in the Inland Sea.

If you are only spending one day for the visit to both places, then it is advisable to use the local tram system to visit the Peace Park from the Shinkansen station (leave your travel luggage in a locker at the station). A visit to the Peace Park Museum is a very sobering experience but NOT TO BE MISSED!!

From the park you can catch the tram to the ferry terminal for Miyajima island and catch the JR ferry. On approach you will see the famous Tori Gate. There are many food outlets and gift shops leading from the ferry and if the weather is clear take the chair lift to the summit for the remarkable views back to the mainland.

It is only a short trip back to Kyoto by Shinkansen (Hikari Express), but be warned this area including Nara will eat up one week very quickly. On my last visit I spoke to school teacher who has spent one week holiday at Kyoto every year for the past 12 years and he has only seen about one quarter of all features on offer.

The last recommendation is to arrange a visit to the Movie Studio in Kyoto and take a walk back into time.

Enjoy.

Hello all,

Actually the reason we've decided to go to Matsumoto (apart from the fact that it's recommended and we're in the area) is that Himeji is under renovation and we've decided to give it a miss altogether.

Our original plan was to go straight to Takayama from Yudanaka, but the helpful posts here have enabled us to visit Matusmoto and reduce our travel time.

I realise that for Kyoto/Nara we want to pace ourselves and not necessarily visit every temple and every shrine.

Thank you.