reverted

Hey everyone

It will be my first time visiting Japan in mid May and just wanted to run a few things by everyone here. I've been doing my own research and have come up with a few assumptions I want to double check.

I will be in Japan for 13 days and am planning to visit Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nara, Hakone and Tokyo. I will be flying into KIX and out of HND.

1) I will be getting the JR Pass but unsure whether the 7 day or 14 day will be more useful. I'm spending the last 6 days in Tokyo so was thinking about doing the 7 day JR pass for all of my travel around Osaka/Hiroshima/Kyoto/Nara/Hakone. Is the JR pass useful around Tokyo? I will be doing the usual destinations like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Harajuku, Asakusa, etc as well as head down to Tokyo Disney for a day or two.

2) What areas/neighborhoods should I base myself in for Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo assuming I use the JR pass?
I was thinking Umeda for Osaka, Kyoto Station area around Kyoto and Shinjuku for Tokyo so far.

3) Definitely doing a ryokan/onsen in Hakone and the Hakone Free Pass. Any suggestions for a budget traveler?

Any light on these questions would be great help

ksandness

You don't need separate accommodations for Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto unless you have a special reason for being in Osaka.

Some people love Osaka, but on the whole, if you're going to Tokyo, you don't need more of big-city Japan. The JR Haruka Express will take you directly to Kyoto. If there's something you really must see in Osaka, you can base yourself in Kyoto and take the approximately one-hour train ride (more like 20 minutes if you hop onto the Shinkansen with your JR Pass) to see it.

Most people visit Nara on a day-trip from Kyoto, since the train ride is only about 30 minutes, and the compact area in which the major sights are located has been turned into a park.

Base yourself in Kyoto and save yourself the hassle of switching hotels.

Depending on what you're interested in, there are other worthwhile cities other than the ones who mentioned, but it depends on what you are interested in.

beep88

1) Is the JR pass useful around Tokyo?
Yes, it can be used. But without the pass, you pay ~200 per trip. So if you are doing 15 rides a day on the JR or something like that, it's worth it I guess. Not to mention some destinations simply cannot be reached by JR.

2) If you want to stay in ryokan, you stay in Kyoto, otherwise there is nothing to do at night, hotels tend to fill up fast. That compared to Osaka with tons of hotels to choose from (except during Marathon), of all price categories. I always stayed in Osaka and go to Kyoto as day trips.

Kyoto - Osaka 28 minutes 540 yen (by special rapid service every 15 minutes , or the slow train that takes 40 minutes)

Shinkansen:
Kyoto - ShinOsaka (there's nothing around there) - Osaka 28 minutes with 1 change, 2390yen - you save 0 minutes and you have to change train.

reverted

Thanks for your replies

I do have sights to see around Osaka and assumed that it would be easier to access Hiroshima for a daytrip from Osaka so that's why I'm basing myself there for 2 days then doing another 3 days in Kyoto for sightseeing there as well as a day trip to Nara before heading off to Tokyo.

I do want to do the onsen experience which is why I thought a ryokan onsen in Hakone would get three birds with one stone.

LapLap

bolding mine

Perhaps it's because you never stayed in Kyoto that you never figured out where to go at night.

Had to interject here as it just isn't true that there is nothing to do at night in Kyoto. It might get slightly more quiet when the University students are on their holidays but the night life in Kyoto certainly exists with a "flavour" all of its own which is well worth savouring.

Hakone has many of the same downsides as Kyoto if you are looking to experience a ryokan there. It is a short distance from Tokyo which fuels demand and keeps prices high. The budget options do exist but at these the onsen won't be glorious and the food offered will be modest.
How about tacking on another stop, either between Kyoto and Hakone or Hiroshima?
If budget is the main concern and cuisine less of a factor there is the International Villa at Okayama http://www.international-villa.or.jp.../hatto0904.htm

Your itinerary does cover all the big tourist hot spots without any "off the beaten track" options so any of the cheaper recommendations are going to be a compromise, whether on the location, room/building, bath or food.
Since your choices are so typical it also means that there are no clues as to what your main interests are.

As it stands, a two week JRpass is absolutely not required. Even if you did want to make a ridiculous amount of journeys within Tokyo (as beep88 mentioned) there are all inclusive tickets for Tokyo travel that can cap that spending to 1,500yen a day - more info here: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/tr...ai_ticket.html
Please note that I am not advocating these, far better to theme your visits to select areas of Tokyo on any given day and use a pay as you go option (ie SUICA card), not just to save money but to avoid frittering away precious time on the subway/rails. You can limit your spending to 500yen easily this way, particularly if you do stay in Shinjuku with access to the JR Yamanote line.
Tokyo Disney is quick and cheap to get to from anywhere in Tokyo. It's 460yen each way from Tokyo station add another 200yen each way from Shinjuku. From Tokyo station the travel time to the nearest station to Tokyo Disney is 20 minutes.
I'd tweak the itinerary you have to make the most of a 1 week pass. You might like to start the clock when departing Hakone as it isn't particularly expensive to get there.

ksandness

It's very true that there's nothing around Shin-Osaka. I stayed in a business hotel there one night, due to having a late appointment with a client and a need to head off to Tokyo early in the morning, and the hotel was entirely surrounded by concrete block apartments. They even had a sign up in the lobby giving directions to the nearest convenience store, and if you know Japan, you know that a neighborhood where the location of the stores isn't immediately obvious is a bleak one indeed.

reverted

What are some recommended 'off the beaten track' options? Considering Nikko and Kamakura as day trips during our stay in Tokyo.

It looks like I would be able to do all of my inter-city traveling (Osaka-Hiroshima RT, Osaka-Kyoto, Kyoto-Nara RT and Kyoto-Tokyo) within 7 days as long as I start the pass on Day 2 of my trip.

If we travel to Nikko/Kamakura, I tried pricing the trips and it may be more economical/convenient to do a 14 day JR pass and it would also cover our fare to and from Hakone.

Kallio

I don't think even both Nikko and Kamakura would be enough to make 14 day pass worth it. At best you could just barely break even, but even that would reqyire some serious use of JR trains and probably is some occasions selecting JR over more convenient non-JR option (travel to Nikko comes to my mind first).

reverted

Thanks for the input! When I figure out specifically what I'll be doing each day, I can get a better pricing and see whether the 14 day pass is really worth it. Do you recommend going to Nikko?

Kallio

I went there for two days first time I was in Tokyo. It is basically temples and nature and thus it was refreshing change from Tokyo, but since you are going to Kyoto and Hakone you already have both things covered in your itinerary. It is up to you if you feel you need more of those things. If you choose to do a day trip over there, you probably don't want to waste too much time in trains, and then non-JR option (Tobu railways) is better.

With you itinerary I would not do any advance reservations for your days you have scheduled for Tokyo and just take day trips if I felt like it. And I would stick with seven day rail pass.

shavri

Hi, just wanted to chime in since it sounds like you will be doing a lot of rail travel. I've abused the heck out of the JR rail passes and HIGHLY recommend this website for checking rail times/prices, etc: http://www.hyperdia.com/en/
It may help you decide if the second week is worth it vs. just paying for your travel within Tokyo separately.

Another small tip: If you are planning on traveling with a lot of stuff or buying a lot of things while traveling you may want to look up takkyubin (also spelled Takuhaibin) service too. American's traveling in Japan will often find that they have WAY more stuff or bigger bags with them than the average Japanese traveler. Takkyubin service is friggen awesome and I wish we had something like it in the US. It's basically a luggage forwarding service and can be done in lots of various ways--airport to hotel, hotel to hotel, hotel to airport. It's pretty cheap if you are lugging around a huge bag (I think I paid something like $10-15 to ship my HUGE luggage overnight from a 7-eleven in suburban Tokyo after staying with friend to a business hotel in Umeda area, Osaka. Just took a change of clothes with me for the night.) It made it great for abusing the rail pass (jumping on and off at a few different interesting stations along the way from Tokyo to Osaka with just a backpack instead of full-on luggage).

Pureboy

Here is a suggestion: Tamba. Not a personal suggestion but it happened to come up in my search.

BTW, the May Grand Sumo tournament is in Tokyo May 11-25. I went to one in Osaka and found it to be a worthwhile cultural experience.

If you want to seriously consider using a 14-day pass, I'd reduce Tokyo to 3 days, cut out Osaka, consider cutting out Hiroshima (unless you are doing Miyajima, but Nara covers some of that) and either head to Shikoku or Kyushu. Osaka isn't different enough from Tokyo for a first-timer to spend limited time in, and Osaka castle is a reconstruction and not a great example of an authentic Japanese castle. I think Hiroshima is over-rated at best.

I would recommend Kyushu- it is diverse, with a different feel from Honshu (where your entire itinerary is based), and lots of great nature, culture, and street cars! I would suggest 1-2 days in Nagasaki and the other days in some combination of Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Beppu, and Kagoshima. These are all charming cities most Western tourists don't make it to, especially on a first-time trip to Japan. If Nagasaki were closer to Tokyo, I would push for it to be on most first-time itineraries- it is that cool.

However, that is a lot of coming and going for a 13-day trip, so it really depends on your travel style. I love Tokyo, and there is enough there with day trips to easily fill up 6 days.

LapLap

I haven't chimed in on this as I still haven't got any sense of who reverted is and what your interests are.

shavri has distilled a lot of useful knowledge in a short, informative post. Pureboy has answered your question beautifully, but the same question can be answered in many ways. Without knowing your interests I don't know what kind of touristic "detour" you are looking to take.

Quarantine

I visited Shikoku in the past, and it was a wonderful, off the beaten track place. It's also incredibly rural, so your knowledge of Japanese should at least be minimal (it helped us greatly when trying to navigate a Japanese only GPS..).

Visit Shirakawa-go to see ancient houses with thatched roofs, and stay at Takayama. The drive to Shirakawa-go was very picturesque.

abmj-jr

If you are seriously considering the 14-day Pass and want "off the beaten track," then I can recommend the Japan Sea coast - particularly Matsue and Izumo Taisha. Matsue is easily reached by train from Kyoto via Okayama and Izumo is a day trip from Matsue. You could also extend to a couple of days at Okayama to see the garden and castle and do a day trip to Kurashiki or run over to Shikoku for a day or two at Takamatsu and the famous garden there.

I could see 2/3 nights at Kyoto, 2/3 nights Matsue, 2/3 nights Hiroshima or Takamatsu or Okayama or combination thereof, 1 night Hakone and 3 or 4 nights Tokyo. Or something like that. With all that rail travel, the 14-day Pass becomes viable. I did something similar a few years ago except without Hakone/Tokyo.