giblet

My tentative 3 week itinerary:

10 nights in Tokyo (will include a day trip to Yokohama for the ramen museum)
2 nights in Osaka
4 nights in Kyoto (might make 1 night in Nara, or can this just be a day trip?)
1 night in Tsumago
2 nights in Hiroshima
2 nights in Fukuoka (either leave from here or back to NRT)

I know that this is weighted pretty heavily towards Tokyo, but I have friends there and some classes lined up so I can't really make that bit shorter.

I'm travelling alone, will be hosteling and my main interest is food! Any suggestions about my itinerary would be much appreciated.

My big question--what sort of rail pass should I get? I'm having a hard time figuring it out. I don't think I need one for the time I am in Tokyo, so should I just get a 14 day one?

ksandness

Tsumago would work best if you went to it between Tokyo and Kyoto, because that's where it's located.

There's no need to switch hotels between Kyoto and Osaka. They're an hour or less apart by train.

A two-week rail pass should be sufficient. Within Tokyo itself, a Pasmo/Suica debit card is more useful, because it gives you access to all surface trains and the subway system in the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area.

giblet

Oops, I should have explained. I have Tsumago after Kyoto because I will be staying with a friend that week and then we will go to do the hike from Magome to Tsumago on the weekend (when she's not working). So it has to be in that illogical order.



edit to add: If we are going to do the hike between Magome and Tsumago, which town would you recommend ending (and staying) in?

abmj-jr

The 14-day Pass should work out just about right. Get a Suica or Pasmo card for travel around Tokyo.

I agree with the above that there is really little need to move hotels between Kyoto and Osaka (and Nara, for that matter.) With a Rail Pass, Kyoto to Osaka is less than a half hour. Osaka to Nara is 48 minutes and Kyoto to Nara is 44 minutes, all on JR lines which you can ride using the Pass. I'd recommend just basing yourself in either Kyoto or Osaka and daytripping among the three and perhaps to Himeji. What time frame is your trip? Himeji Castle is still open but will be under repair starting in the spring.

Unless you will be departing for home from FUK, I'd suggest reversing the order of your visits to Hiroshima and Fukuoka/Hakata and work your way back east toward your departure city from Fukuoka to Hiroshima.

It sounds like you haven't locked your air itinerary yet. Is it possible for you to depart for home from Kansai International (KIX) outside of Osaka? Or perhaps Nagoya (NGO)? If so, and assuming an afternoon departure flight, you could leave directly from Hiroshima to KIX in under 3 hours, saving another hotel move just to get near the airport. From Fukuoka (actually Hakata) to KIX is more like 4 hours. On the other hand, Hiroshima to NRT is over 6 hours.

The only destinations I might suggest fooling with might be to consider cutting a day out of Kyoto/Osaka/Nara and adding it to Fukuoka to allow a visit to Nagasaki or Kumamoto. YMMV.

giblet

abmj-jr, thanks for the advice. This itinerary starts on October 15th. Will Himeji castle be open then?

I'm still unsure what city I will be leaving from. I am going to Seoul next, and may just take the ferry from FUK if I can't find a flight. Right now they are all looking pretty ridiculously overpriced, but I may use miles and leave from one of the other airports like you suggested.

Do you have any suggestions regarding the weather during this time?

deltaflyer256

The ferry is not a bad choice from Fukuoka to Seoul. The hydrofoil ferry to pusan takes about 3 hours, and then you can switch to KTX high speed rail to Seoul (there is a shuttle bus for the short ride from the ferry terminal to the train station). The train ride also takes about 3 hours. All in, the ferry + train combo takes about 3 or 4 hours longer than flying (remember that if you fly to ICN, you will have to take a limobus into town). When you're searching for FUK-ICN flights, have you tried booking a round-trip? The fares are usually cheaper than a one-way and you can just throw away the return leg.

Also, when you are in Fukuoka, don't miss the ramen stadium at canal city.

abmj-jr

The scaffolding for the renovation is not due to go up until April. They will start moving some of the construction materials onto the castle grounds in October so you may see some of that activity but the castle itself will still be open and definitely worth a visit.

In my experience, mid-October in Japan will still be warm and fine with occasional rain showers. The last time I was in Tokyo in early November I was in short shirt sleeves 5 out of 7 days. I had similar experience in western Honshu last year in October. Very pleasant. Only put on a light jacket in the evenings and got rained on twice in 10 days.

J.R.

giblet

deltaflyer256, the main reason I am going to Fukuoka is because of the ramen! I don't know any of the particulars so if you have any specific recommendations, let me know.

ksandness

I didn't hike the Nakasendo, just took the train to Nakatsugawa (?) and a bus to Tsumago. No motorized vehicles are allowed in Tsumago after 10AM, so you have to walk in from the bus station. I headed straight for the tourist information agency, which assigned me to a pleasant minshuku.