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Need help! What are the best ways to travel for my itinerary?

edited November 2017 in About the Rail Pass
Hello,
Could you assist me with figuring out what would be the best and most economical methods of transport in Japan? would I need JR pass? Following is my itinerary:
12/26 Arrival Tokyo HND at 3 pm - need to travel to Tokyo - what to use?
12/27 Tokyo - what transport to use?
12/28 Tokyo
12/29 Day trip to Hakone - how to get to Hakone
12/30 Day trip to Snow Monkeys - how to get there
12/31 Travel to Kyoto - what is the best way from Tokyo yo Kyoto
1/01 Kyoto
1/02 Kyoto
1/03 Kyoto
1/04 day trip to Osaka from Kyoto
1/05 day trip to Nara from Kyoto
1/06 day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima from Kyoto
1/07 Travel from Kyoto to Tokyo - flight back home at 5:40 pm from NRT airport.
Thank you so much for your help! I have been just spending hours trying to figure it all out!
Kind regards,
Anna

Comments

  • Hi,
    The only thing that comes close to doing everything you want is a 14 day JR Pass. It will take you to all the places but only part of the way for Hakone and the snow monkeys.
    Get the pass voucher before your flight to save money, and activate it at Haneda airport.
    For transport within Tokyo, you could use the JR Pass to go on the Yamanote Line which rings the central part of the city, and goes to several popular tourist areas. Depending on where you are going, you might need to buy a subway ticket, but they are cheap.

    For Hakone, take the bullet train from Tokyo and get off at Odawara Stn., then to save money, buy a Hakone Free Pass
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html
    The Hakone Loop Course
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html
    is a common way to see the area and takes a full day.

    For the Jigokudani Monkey Park, take the bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano, then you need to pay for the Nagaden train.
    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6028.html

    To go to Kyoto from Tokyo, just go to either Tokyo Stn or Shinagawa. With the pass, it will take a bit less than 3 hours. From Kyoto to Narita, it will take at least 4 hours.
    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 Himeji, with Japan's finest original castle and Kokoen Garden - and for a full day, if you have time go to Mt. Shosha with its large temple complex.
    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3500.html

    You can see both Hiroshima and Miyajima with an early morning start. You can cover the Peace Park/Museum, castle, Shukkeien Garden and Okonomiyaki-mura, and then go down to take the JR ferry to the island. Aside from the Itsukushima Shrine with the giant "floating" torii, the Daishoin Temple is also a must-see place. There are several other pagodas and temples, and climbing Mt. Misen offers a fantastic view over the island and whole area.

    You can see regular rail fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia.
    http://www.hyperdia.com
    Under "More Options", be sure to uncheck the Nozomi box since you can't ride that train using the pass.

    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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