1st week December

[Illusionist_85]

Hi folks is 5 days decent enough to explore these places?

Tottori
Kinosaki
Okayama
Takeda ruin castle
Himeji (maybe)

Any good place to stay as a base to roam around? Or stay overnight at each location?

thinking of getting the kansai wide pass

39 in advance

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[saffronsatire]

No one reply probably bcos 1, 2 and 4 not alot of ppl went before. Never been but kinosaki should be worthwhile to stay overnight.

Okayama don't need full day unless going kurashiki and outlet too. Himeji half a day is enough unless you wanna do mt shosha too. I did himeji with kurashiki previously in one day.

 

[purpleberry]

Highly recommend mt shosha and just soak in the atmosphere. This will make it a full day trip for Himeji.

 

[saffronsatire]

Kansai wide pass should be good for you. I believe it can pay off.

Didn't research in detail but possibly can start off in kyoto. Have you been to amanohashidate?

Kyoto > Amanohashidate > kinosaki onsen (overnight)

Kinosaki > tottori > himeji (overnight)

Himeji > kurashiki + okayama (overnight)

Okayama > takeda > osaka (overnight)

 

[limweeli]

Kinosaki onsen is good. You have to stay over and onsen hop using the one day pass.

 

[Illusionist_85]

thanks folks, thought ppl hiam me a low ses bbfa thats y no response

 

[Illusionist_85]

Bump for more inputs

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[purpleberry]

I can only advice Himeji. Highly recommend Mt Shosha (https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3503.html) besides the castle of course.

 

[nemo88]

Only been to Himeji - was planning to combo Himeji-Kobe in one day and end at Kobe for their winter illumination, but end up spending too much time at Himeji castle and the garden next to it ... Hahahah. But I went while it was still very good autumn fall colour and weather was great that day. Nice to be outside. It was also my first castle visit so spent more time - I’m guessing if you’ve done Japanese castles before you prob won’t spend that much time and half day is really enough.

 

[pikafunk3]

Only been to Himeji - was planning to combo Himeji-Kobe in one day and end at Kobe for their winter illumination, but end up spending too much time at Himeji castle and the garden next to it ... Hahahah. But I went while it was still very good autumn fall colour and weather was great that day. Nice to be outside. It was also my first castle visit so spent more time - I’m guessing if you’ve done Japanese castles before you prob won’t spend that much time and half day is really enough.

nemo is right
most japanese castles are all modern remakes and are tourist traps basically
usually filled with PRC
seen 1 time you've seen them all

tottori is quite sub-urban/"rural" with nothing much there... if you really like scenery you can try, but need to waste at least 1-2 days without achieving much. a few tourist traps like the sand area etc. scattered apart.
if you have extra time then ok la

 

[Illusionist_85]

Bump for the month end

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[kifo]

most of the places can be easily completed. tottori can easily be done in a day trip, including riding the fatbike on the beach. the only big question is how much time and effort are you going to spend for the takeda castle ruin. are you driving? i suppose the first week of december timing is also to try to catch the unkai scene, so you might need to stat overnight nearby. And because you missed the autumn season for the castle, the opening times are now later at 10am instead of 4am. So you need to hang around and wait for the castle to open after watching the unkai from one of the nearby hills.

 

[cqwrish]

Hmm I went in the wrong season for unkai - went in May last year, but did the very tiring hike from the train station up to the top. Travelled from Okayama (visited Kurashiki, and Naoshima) to Tottori. Besides sand dunes, I also went to the sand museum and did a little cruise along the Uradome Coastline. From Tottori, I went along the coast to my base city - this quiet town called Toyooka - from where I did side trips to Takeda Castle, Kinosaki Onsen, then onward to Amanohashidate.

most of the places can be easily completed. tottori can easily be done in a day trip, including riding the fatbike on the beach. the only big question is how much time and effort are you going to spend for the takeda castle ruin. are you driving? i suppose the first week of december timing is also to try to catch the unkai scene, so you might need to stat overnight nearby. And because you missed the autumn season for the castle, the opening times are now later at 10am instead of 4am. So you need to hang around and wait for the castle to open after watching the unkai from one of the nearby hills.

 

[kifo]

Hmm I went in the wrong season for unkai - went in May last year, but did the very tiring hike from the train station up to the top. Travelled from Okayama (visited Kurashiki, and Naoshima) to Tottori. Besides sand dunes, I also went to the sand museum and did a little cruise along the Uradome Coastline. From Tottori, I went along the coast to my base city - this quiet town called Toyooka - from where I did side trips to Takeda Castle, Kinosaki Onsen, then onward to Amanohashidate.

ah then you should be quite familiar. I would say look out for the weather. you want a clear day with a high day temp difference, e.g. > 10 deg. Not too windy and check weather map for a high pressure system over Sea of Japan. If weather is perfect, I suggest taking the last train into Asago city and stay overnight. Book a taxi to pick you up at 4plus am and bring you to the Ritsuunkyou carpark. Good luck!

 

[Illusionist_85]

most of the places can be easily completed. tottori can easily be done in a day trip, including riding the fatbike on the beach. the only big question is how much time and effort are you going to spend for the takeda castle ruin. are you driving? i suppose the first week of december timing is also to try to catch the unkai scene, so you might need to stat overnight nearby. And because you missed the autumn season for the castle, the opening times are now later at 10am instead of 4am. So you need to hang around and wait for the castle to open after watching the unkai from one of the nearby hills.

Thanks mate

Mayb I Include this

https://soranews24.com/2019/10/16/japan-travel-explore-a-hidden-cave-on-a-tiny-monorail-roller-coaster-thrill-ride-in-nara/

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[kifo]

Thanks mate

Mayb I Include this

https://soranews24.com/2019/10/16/japan-travel-explore-a-hidden-cave-on-a-tiny-monorail-roller-coaster-thrill-ride-in-nara/

Sent from Rem Is Best Waifu using GAGT

Haha. That thing looks very cool but rather sketchy. Considering koyo is rather late this year, you should have plenty of options.