We really enjoyed Kanazawa. After taking the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Kanazawa, we arrived at its splendid train station – a mix of modern and ancient. We were able to walk to our ryokan. It was spacious and central and we were happy it had hot baths. Kanazawa was known as ‘little Kyoto’ for having the ancient sites – intact and original samurai houses and geisha district – and there was a higher degree of authenticity to the place without the hoards of tourists. The Kanazawa castle garden and Kenroku-en were spectacular. The food we had at the Izakayas were bar none some of the best we had on this trip.