Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited. There aren’t many places that I can think of with so many temples, cultural artifacts and manicured gardens like in Kyoto. We had 2 days here and these were our favorite activities — Day 1: Cycle Kyoto Kyoto is one…
We loved our time in Takayama, but today we’re off to the city of Kanazawa (located about 2 hours by bus). To break up the trip, we stopped at the historic villages of a region called Shirakawa-go. Specifically the very convenient and easy-to-reach village of Ogimachi, which is one of Japan’s…
After a few days in Tokyo, we were ready to head out and explore. For a complete change of pace, we headed out to the tiny town of Takayama in the Japanese Alps. This area is loaded with outdoor hot springs and was one of our favorite parts of the…
Kevin and I have traveled a lot. Yet, Japan was full of some really strange things unlike anywhere we’ve been. That’s when I decided to jot some of these odd moments down — and you know what? My list ended up going over 1 page! But I’ve narrowed it down to…
I have to admit – I was NOT looking forward to the food in Japan. I’m allergic to most fish. I can’t stand red beans. And I read about Japan’s most infamous dish called Natto (rotted stinking and slimy soybeans). Okay, technically they’re fermented soybeans but really, what’s the difference? More…
When researching our trip to Japan, there was one thing that I INSTANTLY knew we had to do — visit one of Tokyo’s weird cafes. They have cafes with cats, puppies, turtles, snakes (NOPE!) and some cafes that I still really don’t understand (a chambermaid cafe?). But when I saw a cafe with…
Below you’ll find our ambitious 2 week itinerary in Japan. We packed a lot in! So if you’re less inclined to wake up early, it’s easy to scale back. This itinerary hit the mark for us — and can be completed all by train (and 1 bus ride). Just note,…
