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10 Days Trip - Itinerary & JR Pass

Good day everyone!
My 10 days brief itinerary as per below:

19 Nov:
7am arrival in Narita Airport
Transfer to Ueno by Keisei Narita Sky Access
Get around Tokyo

20 Nov
Get around Tokyo

21 Nov
Get around Tokyo till noon then transfer to Kyoto
(Start using JR Pass)

22 Nov
Kyoto to Shirakawa-go (Day Trip)

23 Nov
Sightseeing in Kyoto

24 Nov
Sightseeing in Kyoto
Transfer to Osaka in the evening

25 Nov
Get around Osaka

26 Nov
Osaka to Kobe (Day Trip)

27 Nov
Get around Osaka
(Last day using JR Pass)

28 Nov
Transfer to Kansai Airport

Planning to get a 7 days JR National Pass and use on 21st to 27th November.

As for the day to Shirakawa-go, we've refer to Hyperdia, will be taking the early train, depart from Kyoto Station to Kanazawa Station and change Nohi bus at Kanazawa bus station to Shirakawa-go. And back to Kyoto in the evening with the same method.

We will buy the bus ticket separately via this website:
https://japanbusonline.com/AreaSearch2/4172014/4216046/20171006

Need your advise is Kyoto to Shirakawa-go plan doable?
Worth getting a 7 day pass for this Itinerary? Or should I just buy regular ticket for each transfer?

Thank you in advance for your advice :)

Comments

  • Hi,
    From my calculations, you are very close or just over making a 7 day pass pay off. You could improve your itinerary though in my opinion.
    Since you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5 PM, you can zip over to Osaka for the evening. At night the city comes alive and has some great places to see, such as Dotonbori, plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg and Abeno Harukas Bldg are wonderful.
    On another evening, you could also go and see Kobe.

    Instead, I suggest you take at least half a day and see Nara - it was also a former capital and has some of Japan's best sights. Nara is often neglected by some tourists, which is a shame. Missing the Todaiji Great Buddha would be a tragedy. Nara Park has a lot of other great places, such as Kasuga Shrine, Kofukuji Temple, and feeding the many deer in the area.
    Himeji also makes a great day trip to see Japan's finest castle and Kokoen Garden next door.

    For Shirakawago, it is doable but you are putting in a lot of time to get out just a little. Kyoto to Kanazawa is about 2 hours, and then the bus ride to Shirakawago is an additional 75 minutes by bus. On top of this you are traveling during what is close to the time of year with the least daylight hours. It only takes a few hours to see Shirakawago though. I'd say if you get an early start and add a bit, you could make it more worthwhile. Kanazawa is a lovely city and worth some of your time. The Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa is widely regarded as the best historical landscape garden in the country, and passing it up with be sad. The castle next to it is nice as well. If you don't linger too much, you could see both places in a day and make it a pretty nice outing. There's a convenient loop bus as well as rental bicycles.

    If you are unaware of it, you are also traveling during one of the most beautiful times of the year - the autumn colors. Some popular places will have more people, but they are well worth seeing. Here is a list of some of the most popular places.
    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2014.html

    You can see previews of some of the best places to see in Japan on:
    https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos

    Hope that helps.
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