Trip Suggestion
 

Hey all,

Planning a trip in a week to Japan. Starting off with three days in Tokyo, then heading down for 2 days to Osaka followed by another 2 in Kyoto. I've been to Tokyo and Kyoto before and plan on purchasing the rail pass for the shinkansen.

I've got a 10AM flight out of Narita on my last day. I believe the earliest departure from Kyoto to Tokyo is at 7AM, therefore I'll spend a night closer to Narita.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Since Kyoto and Osaka are pretty close, you may want to just stay in Osaka and take the train to Kyoto instead of moving hotel for two nights. Both Hankyu and JR have trains to Kyoto from Umeda. The Hankyu station in Kyoto is uptown a bit and pretty convenient.

With that early flight out from NRT, you might want to consider a night in Narita City to eliminate the 1 hour+ ride out to the airport in the morning from Tokyo. There are some decent inexpensive hotels near the Narita City station, a nice temple and park, a small shopping street and some good restaurants - all less than a 10 minute local train ride from NRT. You could stay in Kyoto or Osaka until afternoon, take the shinkansen to Tokyo, local trains to Narita and have a relaxing evening before leaving the next morning.

I also agree with the above that changing hotels between Osaka and Kyoto just adds needless complexity. They are very close together. I'd opt to stay in Kyoto and daytrip to Osaka but others prefer it the other way around. YMMV.

Since you have been there before, I assume you know that both Osaka and Kyoto are just a short, easy daytrip by local train or shinkansen from Nara or Himeji.

FWIW, the first non-Nozomi from Kyoto to Tokyo is at 6:23 but it gets to Tokyo at 9:10 - far too late to make a 10:00 flight out of NRT.

Since you've been to Tokyo and Kyoto before, I suggest skipping both and making a trip to the Japan sea coast.

Thanks everyone for the quick replies!

Which local train from Tokyo would I take to get to Narita?

I've been to Kyoto once before, but it was a day trip from Tokyo and I don't remember too much. I'll think about maybe then doing 3 nights in Kyoto and skipping staying in Osaka?

jib71, which cities on the sea cost do you reccomend? Are they accessible via Tokyo or Kyoto via shinkansen?

Thanks everyone!

Since you got the rail pass, take the Narita Express to the airport and then take either the hotel shuttle or backtrack on the local lines. It will be more comfortable and probably still be faster than taking a local or rapid train directly from Tokyo to Narita City.

This website - http://www.tokyosubway.info/ - makes understanding and using the various Tokyo trains easy from a visitor's perspective.

http://www.tokyosubway.info/airport.html has information on getting to and from NRT.

[QUOTE=bhd87;11536179]... jib71, which cities on the sea cost do you reccomend? Are they accessible via Tokyo or Kyoto via shinkansen?../QUOTE]

Jumping in uninvited here:

I thoroughly enjoyed staying a few days in Matsue, which is off the usual tourist track. Later this week, I will be in Kanazawa, which is kind-of the same but different. :)

Neither is on a shinkansen line but easily accessible from the shinkansen lines via limited express trains. Matsue requires a change from the shinkansen at Okayama. Kanazawa is direct from Kyoto or Shin-Osaka by limited express.

Neither of the above is a convenient daytrip but make for a good overnight or longer visit.

I'm sure jib-san has some even better suggestions.

Not really. Those are two great places to see. There are extensive reports in existing threads, with further recommendations.

The JR Thunderbird Express from Osaka Stn or Kyoto Stn. will get to Kanazawa in 2 hr. The Kenrokuen is a must see for snow scenes but April may be too late for that. The Noto Hanto, Wakura onsen area is nevertheless a nice place to stay for a few days. The Thunderbird goes to Wakura onsen directly.

Staying in Osaka will allow you to see the Kitashinji, Namba night life.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

In revising our plans, how does this sound:

From Saturday to Monday, we stay in Tokyo. On Tuesday morning, we take the shinkansen down to Osaka for 3 days until Thursday. Tuesday spent in Osaka, then Wednesday daytrip to Kyoto, and Thursday with another day trip (Kobe or Hiroshima?).

Kanazawa looks interesting, but would only have day, from Friday to Saturday. Our plane leaves NRT Sunday AM.

Suggestions welcome on day trip from Osaka and what to do on Friday from Osaka knowing that we have to be in Narita Sunday AM.

Thanks again!

Out west beside Hiroshima are several other possibilities:

Himeji Castle
Okayama and the Korakoen. Unlike the Kenrokoen in Kanazawa, this is a summer garden.
Kurashiki and the canal area

Other:

Koya san, south on the Nankai line. The all in one train, cable car and bus ticket is about Y3500.
Nara, east on the Kintetsu line

I would not do Hiroshima as a day trip from Osaka. Too much time on trains for too little time in Hiroshima/Miyajima.

For that extra day, in order of preference (mine, YMMV):

1. A second day in Kyoto
2. A day trip to Himeji - or 1/2 day Himeji + 1/2 Kyoto
3. A day trip to Nara
4. Day trip to Okayama. Longer than Himeji but shorter than Hiroshima. Korakuen and Okayama (Black Crow) Castle make a nice visit. If there is extra time, Kurashiki is only 10 minutes by local train but trying to combine Okayama and Kurashiki into one day trip would make for a very long, tiring day.

All are easy shinkansen or local train line connections from Osaka.

abmj-jr, thanks for the reply.

I'm thinking 3 days in Tokyo, then staying in Kyoto for 2 nights. We really liked Kyoto the last time we passed by.

Then spend two nights in Osaka, one day staying in the city, and the other doing a side trip. I guess I need to just narrow it down to either Himeji or Nara. Much to see in Himeji other than the castle?

Thanks!

If you start early in the morning, you may be able to cover Himeji and Okayama in the same day. May be about one hour on the JR Shinkaisoku service from JR Osaka stn. or Shinkansen Hikari/Kodama service from JR Shin-Osaka stn.

The Himeji castle was never burned thus one of the large original surviving castle. This is where Tokugawa Shogun placed his widowed daughter after the war with Toyotomi.