Four days on the Kumano Kodo, inn to inn, with one bag sent ahead

The Kumano Kodo is a network of pilgrimage trails across the Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka, used for more than a thousand years to reach the three grand shrines of Kumano. The Nakahechi route, from Takijiri-ōji to Kumano Hongū Taisha, is the one most visitors walk. The tourism bureau describes it as the core trail of the network, and it can be walked in consecutive days or as shorter highlight walks. It runs through cedar and cypress forest, over passes and past small roadside shrines called ōji.

The plan is four days, inn to inn, with one bag sent ahead each morning, so you walk with a day pack. The distances and walking times come from the Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau's section pages, which give a range because walking times vary. Treat the plan as a template: the bureau's own advice is to choose the route that fits your abilities and to plan escape routes, and the notes below show where the plan can be shortened.

The route has to be booked in the right order. Takahara and Chikatsuyu, the two settlements where you sleep on the trail, have only a few places to stay each. The bureau notes that walking up to an inn without a booking is not common in Japan, that accommodations may be full or may not have food prepared, and that some close on dates when nobody has reserved. In spring and autumn the popular seasons, book the beds first and build the rest of the trip around them.

The Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau runs a reservation site for inns along the route, called KUMANO TRAVEL, and it is the easiest way to book. The luggage shuttle is booked through the same site and runs only between accommodations booked there, so it makes sense to do both together. Route maps, bus times, trail notices and closures are on the bureau's site.

Osaka and Kyoto are the usual starting points. From Osaka, JR's Kuroshio limited express runs down the Kii coast to Kii-Tanabe, and from there local buses serve the trailheads. The bureau's bus map lists a route from Kii-Tanabe and Shirahama to Kumano Hongū Taisha with stops at Takijiri-ōji, Hosshinmon-ōji, Yunomine Onsen and Kawayu Onsen, and it warns that bus timetables and prices change, so check the page before you travel. There are not many buses, so plan the train around the bus, not the other way around.

If you are coming from Tokyo, the usual approach is the shinkansen to Shin-Osaka and the Kuroshio from there, or a flight to Nanki-Shirahama Airport and a connection to Kii-Tanabe. Either way, the first day works best if you sleep near Kii-Tanabe Station the night before and take the first useful bus to Takijiri. That gives you the afternoon for the climb to Takahara and time to settle in before dinner.

If you have a large case, leave it in Osaka or send it ahead to your last inn with a regular luggage delivery service. The bureau names Yamato Transport and Japan Post's Yu-Pack as national services that do not need to be booked in advance, and that can ship to your last accommodation in the Kumano area or to the next one after it, such as an Osaka hotel. The daily shuttle itself works from accommodation to accommodation, and the bureau also lists plans that collect bags from the Kii-Tanabe Station area or from Takijiri and take them to your first night's accommodation.

Morning: travel from Osaka or Kyoto to Kii-Tanabe and on to Takijiri by bus. Pick up the bureau's route map at an information center before you start. Afternoon: the trail starts behind Takijiri-ōji and climbs from the first step, on roots and stone through dark forest. The bureau rates the section 2.5 on its difficulty scale. It is short but steep, so take it slowly. Evening: Takahara sits on a ridge with views over layers of mountains, and it is known as the village in the clouds. Stay for dinner and the view.

Morning: ask your inn for a lunch box the night before; there is little to buy on this stretch. The trail climbs through old forest and the bureau notes a clearing at Jūjō-ōji that is a popular picnic spot. Afternoon: the trail drops quickly to a creek near Ōsakamoto-ōji, and a short final stretch from the Gyūba-dōji statue, a figure riding a horse and an ox, leads down to Chikatsuyu. Evening: Chikatsuyu is a village by the river, with a few places to stay. Dinner at a minshuku is usually built from what the family buys that week, so tell them about dietary needs when you book.

Morning: this is the long day, and the bureau rates it 4 on its difficulty scale, with about 1,100 m of climbing and 1,380 m of descent. Start at first light. The trail climbs and falls through forest and past small hamlets, with long stretches away from any road. If that is too much, buses on the road that follows the valley let you skip part of the middle. Starting from the Doyukawa-bashi bus stop cuts roughly 8 km and leaves about 17.5 km, or 6 to 9 hours. The bureau notes there is no water and no toilet on that shortcut until Hosshinmon-ōji, so carry enough water from the start.

Afternoon: from Hosshinmon-ōji, the traditional gate to the sacred area, the last stretch to the shrine is about 7.5 km and 2 to 3 hours, mostly downhill through tea fields and small villages. Evening: walk the stone steps up to Kumano Hongū Taisha, with its dark wooden halls and bark roofs, then take the bus to Yunomine Onsen, which the bureau's bus map lists as a stop on the Hongū route.

Hongū Taisha is one of the three grand shrines of Kumano and the end of the road for Nakahechi pilgrims. The main halls sit at the top of a long flight of stone steps lined with banners, in a grove of old cedars. Their dark wood and thick roofs make them look older than their setting suggests, and the setting suits the end of a long pilgrimage.

The shrine office stamps pilgrims' books and sells amulets. Check the shrine's own site for the hours it keeps, because a late arrival after a long day on the trail can miss the office. If you are tired, the shorter finish from Hosshinmon-ōji gets you to the steps with energy left for the shrine itself.

Yunomine is one of the oldest hot spring villages in Japan, a single street of inns along a stream. Pilgrims bathed here to purify themselves before visiting the shrine. It is small enough to walk end to end in a few minutes.

Its best-known bath is Tsuboyu, a small cabin by the creek that is registered as part of the World Heritage listing. The tourism bureau says it is a private bath for one or two people for 30 minutes, first come, first served, with no reservations. You buy a ticket from a vending machine, exchange it for a numbered card at the counter and wait your turn. It costs ¥800 for adults and ¥400 for children under 12, and the ticket is also good for the nearby Kusuri medicine bath and the public bath. No swimsuits, soap or shampoo are allowed in the bath. Go early in the day, because the numbered system means a wait on busy mornings.

The same page lists the public bath at ¥400 for adults and the medicine bath at ¥600, and Yunomine's other attraction is the Yuzutsu, a public cooking basin where visitors boil hot spring eggs.

Morning: take the bus back to Hongū and walk to Ōyunohara, the old shrine grounds marked by a giant torii. Then take the Dainichi-goe, a short, steep trail over a hill back to Yunomine; the bureau lists it as about 2 km, 1 to 2 hours, with about 250 m of climbing. Afternoon: your turn at Tsuboyu, then eggs boiled in the spring at the stall by the stream. Evening: buses run from Yunomine and Hongū to Kii-Tanabe or to Shingū, and the bureau warns that evening buses are limited, so check the last departure. Kii-Tanabe connects to trains back toward Osaka.

With the luggage shuttle doing the heavy lifting, your day pack only needs what you use on the trail. Ask each inn what it provides, such as towels and slippers, so the bag that travels ahead can be small. The bureau's own gear list is a good base:

• Day pack with a rain cover, and rainwear; the area has high rainfall

• Shoes with good grip for wet stone and roots, already broken in, and layers that dry easily, not cotton

• Water, with extra on day 3 because refills are scarce

• Lunch boxes ordered from your inn, and snacks for day 3

• A first-aid kit with blister care, a paper route map, a headlamp, sun protection and insect repellent

• Cash for the inns, buses and shrine stamps, and a phone charger

• Collapsible walking poles, which the bureau says help balance and ease the knees

Minshuku are family homes that take guests, and they run on a family schedule. Dinner is usually served at a set time and breakfast early so walkers can start. Tell the inn about any dietary needs when you book, not on arrival. Vegetarian meals depend on the inn and the notice you give, so ask early.

Baths are shared and used in turns or at set hours. Wash and rinse at the taps before getting in, and keep your towel out of the water. The bureau has a short guide to bathing etiquette on its site. Rooms are Japanese style, with futons laid out on tatami, and walls are thin, so expect an early night.

Minshuku and guesthouses on the trail sit at $$ with dinner and breakfast included. The ryokan in Yunomine is $$$. Those half-board prices cover most of your food, so the rest is lunch boxes, snacks and drinks. The luggage shuttle fee is shown on the KUMANO TRAVEL site when you book, so check it there. These bands are a rough guide, not quotes.

Getting there adds the limited express from Osaka to Kii-Tanabe and back, and the buses at each end. The bureau's tips page says the currency in the countryside is yen, that many facilities and service providers do not accept credit cards, that places to exchange money are very limited, and that Japan Post Bank ATMs at post offices are the best option for withdrawals, with a reminder to check with your card company that your card works there. Bring enough cash from the city.

Add a fifth day if you can. Day 3 is long, and a night at Hongū or in the nearby Kawayu Onsen before the last stretch lets you walk into the shrine rested. With five days you could also add Kumano Nachi Taisha and its waterfall, which the bureau's bus pages list as reachable from Kii-Katsuura and Nachi stations.

Cut the plan if the weather turns. The bureau reminds walkers that weather in the Kumano mountains can change rapidly, that typhoons can be unpredictable and that trains and trails may close. Check the forecast and your inn each morning, and use the bus stops that meet the trail to skip a stretch. The tourism bureau also notes that Asiatic black bears live in the area and are rarely seen; if you see one, keep your distance and report it as the bureau asks.

Skip the inn-to-inn version if you dislike fixed dinner times, shared bathrooms or early nights, because those are part of the minshuku experience. Skip it if you cannot commit to booking weeks ahead, because the luggage shuttle and the small inns both depend on it. If you want the shrine and the baths without the long day, base yourself in Yunomine and take the short walks from Hosshinmon-ōji and over the Dainichi-goe. That version suits families and anyone with a tight schedule.