I wanted to wait until I got back so I could spend more time writing about Nikko and the surrounding area.
Nikko is a small city about 2 hours north of Tokyo, in the mountains, by train. It is the site of Toshogu, the famous Shinto shrine established in 1617 as a memorial for Tokugawa leyasu, founding ruler of the Tokugawa shogunate or Edo period.
Nikko had been a center of Shinto and Buddhist mountain worship for many centuries before Toshogu was built in the 1600's. Nikko National Park continues to offer scenic, mountainous landscapes, lakes, waterfalls, hot springs, wild monkeys and hiking trails.
Kevin and I took the 2 trains from Tokyo early last week. Taking the trains was easy with a short connection to Nikko. Once you are in Nikko you have many options to explore. You can walk to the shrines or take a bus. They also offer bus service up the mountain to Lake Chuzenji and the waterfalls beyond that. We opted to take the bus up the mountain and then on the way back hop off the bus and walk to the shrines. The ticket is good for the day and allows you to hop on, hop off any time.
Once you leave the city you start climbing pretty fast and the first major stop is Lake Chuzenji. This is a very beautiful alpine lake with many hotels in the area to stay at. This would make a great spot to vacation if you wanted to really relax in a beautiful setting or, for the more adventurous, take advantage of the hiking trails.We continued past the lake and on to the waterfalls where we hopped off to hike and enjoy the falls. After hiking and taking pictures of the falls we hopped back on the bus to return to Nikko.
Back in Nikko we walked about 1 km to the shrines. The walk was along a river in a heavily forested area. Everything was lush and green when we were there. They say the best time to go is in October and early November to watch the colors of the trees change. There is a fee to enter the shrine which is a large complex of many buildings and the tomb itself. Also the bridge on the edge of the city is a must see. The water in the river is a beautiful turquoise color.
After touring the shrines we walked into the city and looked for a place to eat. We wanted something unusual and passed up a number of restaurants. We almost gave up and returned to one we had passed when we looked down a small road and saw something that may be a restaurant. There were no markings or menus outside as you would typically see and it kind of looked like a house but we went in anyway. We were lucky we did! Inside there was room for about 4 people to sit and was run by a husband and wife. We sat down and had the best sushi of the trip. Now for the bad news. It is so small we didn't see a name. If you want to try, walk straight out the front of the train station across the street and past a bigger restaurant. Keep walking until you are almost to a main road. It should be on the right. It really doesn't look like that much but it is really worth trying.
After dinner we took the 2 trains back to Tokyo and still had time to explore Tokyo at night. When you are in Tokyo and want to get out of the city then Nikko is my recommendation. It is an easy day trip.
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