Tohoku & autumn colours

I thought it would be interesting to record our planned itinerary for this years koyo trip before and after the trip. People have remarked before that the days in my write ups seem very full, but often that is as a result of doing spontaneous things during our planned days. So this is the plan so far, I will check back in November and see what differs!

Day 1: Land Haneda 5:30am, shinkansen to Sendai, check in to hotel, visit Matsushima bay

Day 2: Travel to Yamadera in Yamagata and climb the mountain temple

Day 3: Shinkansen to Aomori, rent a car and drive to Tsugaru, then Iwaki-san, and Hirosaki castle before ending at Towadako

Day 4: Oirase gorge, Hakkoda ropeway and back to Aomori

Day 5: Shinkansen to Ichinoseki, rent a car and drive to Geibikei gorge and Rikuzentakata

Day 6: Drive to Miyako, visit Jodogahama

Day 7: Ryusendo caves and Tono village, return car in Ichinoseki

Day 8: Shinkansen to Fukushima, train to Aizu-wakamatsu and rent a car

Day 9-11: Explore Aizu-wakamatsu region with a trip to Zao fox village

Day 12: Drive to Mito to see the torii in the sea

Day 13: Kairakuen gardens, return car and shinkansen to Tokyo

Day 14 – 15: Explore Tokyo

Day 16 – 21: Explore Mount Fuji region, day trip to Matsumoto and Komagane in Nagano

Day 22: Back to Tokyo

Day 23: Fly back home

That is the plan so far, the first week of the trip is planned more fully as the region is harder to drive around and to travel the remote sites due to rural roads/trains.

It will be interesting to see what we end up doing, what we miss or what we add as we go along. Can’t wait for our koyo trip this autumn.