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Going off the beaten path always amuses me a bit as advice (what happens when everyone decides to do that?) but it's also quite true that you can often be liter

Going off the beaten path always amuses me a bit as advice (what happens when everyone decides to do that?) but it's also quite true that you can often be literally tens of metres away from the most touristic locations with barely any tourists actually around you in most places (exceptions include cities that have become theme parks like Venice).

soneca 4y ago
I think the robustness of the advice is that there is a myriad of unbeaten paths in any place. And, if one particular unbeaten path becomes so popular among unbeaten paths fans that it becomes beaten, there will several others still unbeaten paths.
pyb 4y ago
This is kind of true of Venice as well !
omnibrain 4y ago
> exceptions include cities that have become theme parks like Venice Even in Venice, if you leave San Marco and if you cross into San Polo, you just have to leave the Ponte Rialto behind. It also helps if you arrive by boat and land at Fondamente Nove and just don't take the "straight" route to Piazetta San Marco. Cinque Terre is a similar "theme park" in italy. We've been there on an holiday weekend in spring with really nice weather. The trains were packed like in Tokio during rush hour. But even there, as soon as you left the main route, ascended some stairs, you had amazing views all for yourself and the only other tourists were those you saw down below. People are just too lazy to take even small detours.
- eCa 4y ago
  Agreed completely about Venice (and Cinque Terre). Sometimes just a couple of blocks away from the signposted route to San Marco is enough. Also, get out early in the morning, before the heat and the day visitors arrive.
- the_af 4y ago
  Cinque Terre is gorgeous though. Out of this world. Unlike Venice, which truly is a cliché theme park to me...
rjh29 4y ago
Well there are basically 10 places in Tokyo everyone goes to, and maybe they go to Kyoto or Osaka too. That leaves... the entire rest of the country. I've travelled around most of Japan and the majority of time I see zero foreigners. Seriously just pick a random city from Japan Guide or go to an onsen. Visit Kyushu, it's beautiful and nobody seems to travel there because it's too far away :P
- ehnto 4y ago
  Truly. Even if you want to land in Tokyo (since lots of flight deals take you there or Osaka). Grab the Rail Pass before you fly in, then take the bullet train to any number of cities. You'll enjoy relatively low-cost travel thanks to the rail pass, and you'll get to see a bunch of cities that aren't as popular.
  - ValentineC 4y ago
    > Grab the Rail Pass before you fly in This doesn't seem to be a must now that JR themselves is selling it online (though at a slightly higher price): https://japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html https://japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html
    - rjh29 4y ago
      That's good to know. Last time I looked at agencies in my country, they were charging more than it costs to buy one in Japan!
  - m4rtink 4y ago
    Its perfectly doable to land, activate Rail Pass and then move to your starting city by Shikansen on the same day. In 2019 we moved all the way to Hiroshima on the first day and stayed in Tokyo at the end for a couple days. This order also very useful if you want to buy stome stuff, as usually Tokay has the best selection but you don't want to lug it all over Japan with you - best do the shopping at the end of the trip.
- tmtvl 4y ago
ehnto 4y ago
My top tip is, since everyone loves Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, there's actually a fantastic natural trail network there that I saw no one on. It takes you out through a valley of smaller shrines and graves, and nearly to the top of the mountain still. Then you can take the gates walk on the way down if you still want that experience. The trail had a beautiful uninterrupted view of Kyoto from a natural clearing in the forest canopy. Some of my best photos were from that little diversion.
- davidkuennen 4y ago
  That's the way I walked by accident when I was at that shrine 4 weeks ago. Very beautiful.
- chasely 4y ago
  When my wife and I went, I think we "accidentally" went on this trail. Our philosophy is to do the touristy things, but go just beyond what most do. This meant walking past the shrine and onto the trail network where we ran into a number of smaller shrines one the walking path. Overall I was very impressed with the number of managed walking paths when we were in Japan. Allowed you to get away from the crowds pretty quickly if you'd like.
Legogris 4y ago
For sure. Slight tangent from OP: > Is climbing Mt. Fuji worth it? > Yes, though it is very on the beaten path, and you can infer some things from that about what the human experience of a Fuji trip will be like. As for the hiking trail and the major mountain stations, this is very true. On the other hand - it really is very concentrated and the vast majority of tourists will just head straight to the hotspots. Case in point: I happen to live here (Fuji 5 Lakes area; technically on Mt Fuji) since a couple of years. Been in and around Tokyo for several years prior. This summer, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, they finally threw the famous usually-yearly fire festival in town here. It was really something, and even having been to more matsuri than I can count, this one really stood out in how lively it was, and the fact that it went on throughout the evening (the event peaks with the fires after sunset). Packed with locals and even more tourists - many thousands of people, including hundreds of foreigners. The air was electric. You could feel the fires bring out something different in the people. Many were drinking, of course. At the tail end of the event (around 10pm), I went down to the local bar area and hung around for a bit. 'twas totally dead. Maybe even more than a normal weekend. I didn't see a single non-local soul out on the streets or in the few couple of bars. It was eerie. You'd think at least a percent or two of the visitors would stick around or explore instead of heading straight out or to their private accommodations on the dot? Anyway, apart from just reinforcing your point and OPs about the beaten path being very narrow: Do come to Fuji, even off-season there's a lot more around here to see and experience than that hike itself and locals are still very much in want of business.
- valenterry 4y ago
  > Do come to Fuji, even off-season there's a lot more around here to see and experience than that hike itself and locals are still very much in want of business. Please do tell!

soneca 4y ago

I think the robustness of the advice is that there is a myriad of unbeaten paths in any place. And, if one particular unbeaten path becomes so popular among unbeaten paths fans that it becomes beaten, there will several others still unbeaten paths.

pyb 4y ago

This is kind of true of Venice as well !

omnibrain 4y ago

> exceptions include cities that have become theme parks like Venice Even in Venice, if you leave San Marco and if you cross into San Polo, you just have to leave the Ponte Rialto behind. It also helps if you arrive by boat and land at Fondamente Nove and just don't take the "straight" route to Piazetta San Marco. Cinque Terre is a similar "theme park" in italy. We've been there on an holiday weekend in spring with really nice weather. The trains were packed like in Tokio during rush hour. But even there, as soon as you left the main route, ascended some stairs, you had amazing views all for yourself and the only other tourists were those you saw down below. People are just too lazy to take even small detours.

eCa 4y ago
Agreed completely about Venice (and Cinque Terre). Sometimes just a couple of blocks away from the signposted route to San Marco is enough. Also, get out early in the morning, before the heat and the day visitors arrive.
the_af 4y ago
Cinque Terre is gorgeous though. Out of this world. Unlike Venice, which truly is a cliché theme park to me...

rjh29 4y ago

Well there are basically 10 places in Tokyo everyone goes to, and maybe they go to Kyoto or Osaka too. That leaves... the entire rest of the country. I've travelled around most of Japan and the majority of time I see zero foreigners. Seriously just pick a random city from Japan Guide or go to an onsen. Visit Kyushu, it's beautiful and nobody seems to travel there because it's too far away :P

ehnto 4y ago
Truly. Even if you want to land in Tokyo (since lots of flight deals take you there or Osaka). Grab the Rail Pass before you fly in, then take the bullet train to any number of cities. You'll enjoy relatively low-cost travel thanks to the rail pass, and you'll get to see a bunch of cities that aren't as popular.
- ValentineC 4y ago
  > Grab the Rail Pass before you fly in This doesn't seem to be a must now that JR themselves is selling it online (though at a slightly higher price): https://japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html https://japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html
  - rjh29 4y ago
    That's good to know. Last time I looked at agencies in my country, they were charging more than it costs to buy one in Japan!
- m4rtink 4y ago
  Its perfectly doable to land, activate Rail Pass and then move to your starting city by Shikansen on the same day. In 2019 we moved all the way to Hiroshima on the first day and stayed in Tokyo at the end for a couple days. This order also very useful if you want to buy stome stuff, as usually Tokay has the best selection but you don't want to lug it all over Japan with you - best do the shopping at the end of the trip.
tmtvl 4y ago

ehnto 4y ago

My top tip is, since everyone loves Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, there's actually a fantastic natural trail network there that I saw no one on. It takes you out through a valley of smaller shrines and graves, and nearly to the top of the mountain still. Then you can take the gates walk on the way down if you still want that experience. The trail had a beautiful uninterrupted view of Kyoto from a natural clearing in the forest canopy. Some of my best photos were from that little diversion.

davidkuennen 4y ago
That's the way I walked by accident when I was at that shrine 4 weeks ago. Very beautiful.
chasely 4y ago
When my wife and I went, I think we "accidentally" went on this trail. Our philosophy is to do the touristy things, but go just beyond what most do. This meant walking past the shrine and onto the trail network where we ran into a number of smaller shrines one the walking path. Overall I was very impressed with the number of managed walking paths when we were in Japan. Allowed you to get away from the crowds pretty quickly if you'd like.

Legogris 4y ago

For sure. Slight tangent from OP: > Is climbing Mt. Fuji worth it? > Yes, though it is very on the beaten path, and you can infer some things from that about what the human experience of a Fuji trip will be like. As for the hiking trail and the major mountain stations, this is very true. On the other hand - it really is very concentrated and the vast majority of tourists will just head straight to the hotspots. Case in point: I happen to live here (Fuji 5 Lakes area; technically on Mt Fuji) since a couple of years. Been in and around Tokyo for several years prior. This summer, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, they finally threw the famous usually-yearly fire festival in town here. It was really something, and even having been to more matsuri than I can count, this one really stood out in how lively it was, and the fact that it went on throughout the evening (the event peaks with the fires after sunset). Packed with locals and even more tourists - many thousands of people, including hundreds of foreigners. The air was electric. You could feel the fires bring out something different in the people. Many were drinking, of course. At the tail end of the event (around 10pm), I went down to the local bar area and hung around for a bit. 'twas totally dead. Maybe even more than a normal weekend. I didn't see a single non-local soul out on the streets or in the few couple of bars. It was eerie. You'd think at least a percent or two of the visitors would stick around or explore instead of heading straight out or to their private accommodations on the dot? Anyway, apart from just reinforcing your point and OPs about the beaten path being very narrow: Do come to Fuji, even off-season there's a lot more around here to see and experience than that hike itself and locals are still very much in want of business.

valenterry 4y ago
> Do come to Fuji, even off-season there's a lot more around here to see and experience than that hike itself and locals are still very much in want of business. Please do tell!