Originally Posted by
Pureboy
My revision to your schedule would be something like this:
21st: Tokyo
22nd: Take one of the first trains to Kyoto, stay in Kyoto
23rd: Take one of early trains to Nara, be a tourist for a day, then return to Kyoto (deliver luggage to Kobe?)
24th: Go to Himeji early, tour Himeji, catch a train to Kobe, tour Kobe, stay in Kobe.
25th-27th: Tokyo
After careful deliberating, this itinerary sounds better than my original. I would've never come up with it on my own.. thanks FTers! Osaka does seem pretty similar to Tokyo and Himeji looks beautiful/more authentic. There are lockers at the Himeji station so hopefully I can just leave my luggage at the station, retrieve it after the tour when I take the train to Kobe, then check in before I sightsee in Kobe.
My new problem is now lodging.. I haven't found any hotels that are rail friendly. We want to stay at a ryokan in Kyoto and a capsule hotel our last night in Tokyo. I expect the latter to be easy to find but can anyone recommend a ryokan in Kyoto or somewhere transit-accessible? We wanted to do one with hot springs but all the transit-friendly ones I found were $300US for two people. A regular traditional or modern one would do as well.. I suppose. Also, does anyone have any recommendations for Kobe or Tokyo lodging? Thanks for your help!