glitch23

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are in the process of planning our trip to Japan this October. We've done a little bit of research and have come up with the schedule below. It's not 100% set yet, as we are still trying to figure out the best combination of national and regional JR pass options. We are also trying to decide whether we should try to fit Hiroshima into it, as it is our first time in Japan and we want to leave ourselves plenty of time to people watch and be confused.

It would be great to know what other Japan-travellers think of this game plan, and what the most economical solution would be in terms of train tickets. It doesn't seem to make sense to do the 14-day JR pass, as it seems to be cheaper to travel around the Kansai district with the local (mall-based) trains. Alternatively, there is the JR West Kansai Area pass, which we could use to go to Himeji at least. (Is it really true that a JR West Kansai day pass that gets you to Himeji is 2000 Yen, whereas a normal roundtrip shinkansen pass to Himeji is 10000 Yen?)

It seems like it would make sense to get the 7-day JR pass for the last portion of the trip IF we indeed choose to go to Hiroshima. It would take care of our rides to Himeji, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and back to Tokyo, Kamakura, and eventually Narita.

Also, airfare from Tokyo to Osaka seems cheaper than the shinkansen, but we also hear that it is more time-consuming and best avoided in our scenario.

Would any of you know what the best place to visit an onsen would be, along this particular route?

Any other comments or suggestions would be immensely appreciated!!!!

-------------------------

Day 1, 2, 3 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) - jetlag in crazy Tokyo & taking it all in.

Day 4, 5, 6 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) - Kyoto.

Day 7 (Thursday) - Nara. Ryokan stay?

Day 8, 9 (Friday and Saturday) - clubbing in Osaka.

Day 10 (Sunday) - departing from Osaka, visiting Himeji castle on our way to Hiroshima. Arriving in Hiroshima at night.

Day 11 and 12 (Monday and Tuesday) - Hiroshima and Miyajima as a day trip (on the Tuesday, perhaps?)

Day 13, 14, 15 (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) - Back to Tokyo madness, shopping in Akihabara, day trip to Kamakura.

Day 16 (Saturday) - departure from Narita.

Pureboy

Looks like a good itin, and certainly an enjoyable one. I would suggest a few things:

1) How much of a priority is "clubbing?" I would cut one day out of Osaka. It is a vibrant city, but not all that different from Tokyo for the casual tourist. The castle isn't worth your time if you are hitting Himeji. Even if you want to have fun with nightlife, why not spend one day/night in Kobe? It is on a hillside going down to the coast, and is a very pretty city.

2) Miyajima is great, but I'm not such a fan of Hiroshima. If you are sticking to southern Honshu, then I would say include it. But...

3) With 1-2 days of extra time, if you are on the main JR rail pass, I would consider heading south to Kyushu and spending a day or two in Nagasaki, and even hit Fukuoka on the way back. If you were really adventurous, you could venture out to Beppu or Kagoshima. I would consider this option more if you have no plans to return to Japan for a long time, if ever. Kyushu has a different feel than Honshu, and Nagasaki has great things to see, including its own A-bomb museum, a truly international peace park, and a reconstruction of the Dutch island Dejima among many other things.

I haven't been to Kamakura, but I would forgo that day trip in favor of hitting Nagasaki or Kobe.

mosburger

Kobe is quite good for nightlife (and even the home of the bodicon - body conscious - phenomenon of the 1990's).

Osaka, however, is great on this. Clubs and places for pre-and post-club eating and drinking are aplenty especially in Namba. One of my best experiences there was a live performance by Japanese techno guru Ken Ishii. Rather expensive but very, very enjoyable.

Maybe a night of clubbing in Osaka followed by a "chill out" day in the maritime atmosphere of Kobe? And then see what the afternoon and evening bring with them...

ksandness

No need to get more than one rail pass. If you have the JR Pass, it's good on JR lines all over the country.

Yes, the private railroads in the Kansai area are cheaper than JR--if you're buying single tickets. However, with a JR Pass, you can just hop on and off JR trains at will, so there's no need to spend extra money traveling city to city. All your destinations seem to be reachable by JR, especially since you will be returning to Tokyo.

(By the way, are your tickets set in stone? If you flew into NRT and out of KIX, you could add Kyushu more easily.)

Note, however, that the JR Pass is not good on non-JR local transportation such as subways and private commuter trains, which you will need to get around in Tokyo. For that, you should get a Suica/Pasmo refillable debit card, which is sold in denominations of �1000-5000 and is good on all forms of transportation in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. You don't save any money, but the cards are extremely convenient, especially when transferring among different types of transportation, such as JR to the subway or vice versa.

SJUAMMF

If you are going from Osaka to Hiroshima and stopping at Himeji, you can start early and stop at Okayama and Kurashiki also. There is the Korakoen at Okayama and the canal area in Kurashiki. It is easier to take the local JR train from Okayama to the JR Kurashiki stn. Then taxi to the Shin-Kurashiki stn on the Shinkansen line. Only Kodama trains stop at the Shin-Kurashiki stn. If you want to take Hikari or Nozomi to Hiroshima, go back to JR Okayama stn. You may want to send your luggage to the Hiroshima hotel by delivery service.

For Kamakura day trip, you can stop at Kami-Kamakura first, visit several temples there. There is a nice tea house over a noll near the big bell offering tea and traditional sweets. Then take the JR Yokotsuka line down to Kamakura to see a few more sights and have lunch. Look for places in alleyways in traditional houses. You can find restaurants with tranquil courtyards and reasonably priced lunch. After that, take Eno-den to Hase and see the Daibutsu and Hasedera. Proceed forward to Enoshima and walk around the island. Then take the Shonan Monorail back to Ofuna.

On this triangular route you would have taken three modes of transportation, a mainline, narrow gauge, then a hanging monorail. The front street facing Ofuna station has several moderately priced restaurants but the back street has very reasonably priced places for dinner.

Since Ofuna has a few N'EX trains around noon to mid-afternoon, you can even storage your bag in a locker and do this on the last day if your flight is late afternoon.

Note: My bad, should be Kita-Kamakura instead of Kami-Kamakura.

Q Shoe Guy

Just remember that you will be missing out on the best island in Japan....trade you Nagasaki for Hiroshima anyday!

SJUAMMF

I like Kumamoto better, not only because of friends there but the beautiful castle, back drop for the story behind movie "Last Samurai", food, Higo handicraft. reasonably prices onsen, Miyamoto Musashi's swords, Aso san etc.

kaka

JR west pass includes only local train/"intercity"s and the Haruku Limited Express train. Other faster trains are not included. then again, Himeji is 30 mins from Kobe, 60 mins from Osaka and 90 mins from Kyoto.

and JR west pass cost 2000/4000/5000/6000 for 1,2,3 and 4 days respectively.

Pureboy

And a cool park, as well. The Miyamoto museum is not close to anything, and almost everything is in Japanese. However, it was a cool museum. I ended up hitching a ride with a nice stranger to get there.

k3nnis

Hi All,

Sorry to budget in on this thread but I was thinking of a very similar itenary as the above but I want to add Sapporo/Hokkaido as I want to experience the snow/cold (call me crazy) . I will be in japan (arriving at NRT on 3rd Jan) and planning to leave on the 20th out of NRT back to HKG. So I will have 17 days? Will it be ok to add Sapporo with the amount of days I have? Was thinking 2-3 nights at Sapporo...I will probably take a flight from Osaka or tokyo to CTS...Is this ok?

Cheers,
Kenn.

ksandness

k3nnis, you already have your own thread. Why are you asking the same question on someone else's thread?

jpatokal

No need to go all the way to Sapporo to experience "the snow and the cold" -- there's a honking big mountain range running the length of the country, and the Sea of Japan side of it gets some of the highest snowfalls in the entire world.

k3nnis

Oops i sincerely apologize! I will go back to the other thread.

csakamoto

I agree that Miyajima is great, but I would say that Hiroshima is also a must see for the Peace Museum and atomic bomb memorial.

SJUAMMF

Yes, the Shimada Museum is in the middle of nowhere. I took a taxi there last time. According to their websit, the City Bus Araobashi line from the Transportation Center downtown goes by there. Get off at the hospital stop or just ask the bus driver.

http://www.shimada-museum.net/access-01.html

Suisenji park is not the level of Korakuen, Kairakuen but local people are still very proud of it.