AP1

Author: AP1
Date: 10/07/2006, 12:18 am
My wife and I (and our 5 mo old baby) will be in Tokyo for a few days in mid November and have about three days after that to explore other areas. We're looking for someplace that isn't big city and are condsidering: Kanazawa, Hakone, or Nikko.

Anybody have thoughts on what the best choice might be? Also open to other suggestions. Thx!

mrwunrfl

Kanazawa is a pretty good sized city (population 450,000) and is four hours by train from Tokyo.

Hakone is just a bit over an hour from Tokyo and is definitely not a city (it is part of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park actually).

Nikko is about 2 hours from Tokyo and though I am not sure how to describe it, I know that it is not a big city.

I saw your other post where you were considering a nice ryokan in Kanazawa. You can certainly find a nice ryokan in Hakone, one with an onsen bath. I have read about Nikko and know there are nice ryokan in the area and, I think, an onsen. Nikko has a major cultural site also.

I've been considering a stopover in Japan for a few days, landing at Tokyo. Am thinking about Hakone or Nikko. In mid-November I think I would go to Nikko. Should still have fall colors (maybe peak if early-mid Nov.). Probably could say the same for Hakone.

Am not sure what the best choice is for you but I think it is not Kanazawa. Three days might be too long for Hakone, depending on what you are looking for.

Cilla_Tey

I enjoyed our day trip to Kamakura which is I think an hour out of Tokyo.

mrwunrfl

That's right, about an hour between Kamakura and Tokyo. And about an hour between Tokyo and Hakone. And about an hour between Hakone and Kamakura.

Atami Onsen, Ito, and the rest of Izu peninsula are also in that area (probably an hour from Hakone and Kamakura).

For transportation you could use the Hakone Free Pass (or other passes for Fuji/Hakone). And there is a free pass for Kamakura and for Ito and other parts of Izu. They are two/three day passes and are described here:
http://www.odakyu.jp/english/freepass/index.html

travelmug

Visited Kanazawa during Oct. few years back. I had the impression of it being a small town but I guess any place would feel like that after Tokyo! I remember there were a lot of local tourists. Kenrokuen was the main attraction. We also went to Kanazawa Castle and the Geisha District. Didn't see any Geishas though. My husband and I enjoy photography and we took our time looking at sceneries and people. The streets were quiet at night and there weren't much to do. We wandered around till we found a nice looking restaurant. To our surprise it was all private rooms (Japanese style tatami floors and paper sliding doors). We had a crab hotpot dinner served by a waitress dressed in kimono. It was pretty nice! At the Omicho Market it was easy to find places serving sashimi on rice. They liked to sprinkle gold leaf on top of the sashimi. It looked nice but I wasn't sure if you could eat it. I bought a small bottle of gold leaf and I use it for decoration when I have dinner guests.

On the same trip, we visited Nikko as a day trip from Tokyo to see Fall colors. It was quite a bit cooler than Tokyo so be prepared if you go!