I am thinking of doing a four day trip to Hiroshima area during Golden Week. I have one limitation; I cannot get a JR rail pass. I was thinking of going down on Saturday, spending Sunday at Miyajima and Monday and Tuesday (until early afternoon) seeing the sights in Hiroshima. However, Himeji looks very interesting. Unfortunately, taking the train up from Hiroshima and back again is around 16,000 Yen each.

Is it possible to spend a night at Himeji on the way down without increasing the cost (substantially) of our Shinkansen tickets? Would this have to be done through a tour company?

Are there any western style hotels in Himeji that you could recommend with easy access to both station and Himeji Castle?

For Hiroshima, what western style hotel would you recommend? The Rhinga seems decent but expensive; are there cheaper accomodations that would still be clean and comfortable?

This will probably be our last chance to head down to Western Japan. Would we really be upset if we returned home to US without having spent at least a day in Fukuoka or a day in Shikoku before we left?

Should I use one of the local travel agencies to arrange this trip (shinkansen and hotels), purchase each separately, or use the discount tour office at Shinagawa station?

thanks,

Marc