Hello,
We have a family of 2 adults and 2 kids.
We will have 8 days total in Japan and would love to get advise on how to get around by train below.
Flying into Narita on Sunday, staying one night in Tokyo (Shinjuku Ward)
Monday - Boarding a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto (Higashiyama Ward)
Friday - Boarding a bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo (Shinjuku Ward)
Sunday - train from Tokyo (Shinjuku Ward) to Narita
Thank you so much!
Vincent Nguyen
0
Comments
You can make a 7 day JR Pass pay off for you, used Days 1-7 or 2-8. You can board the bullet train from Tokyo or Shinagawa Station to Kyoto. You can also use the Narita Express once to or from the airport using the pass, but not both ways since you're staying 8 days. So you'd need to pay to use it once, or if you want a much cheaper way there's the 1000 yen bus you can take from Tokyo Stn.
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
You can see regular fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia.
http://www.hyperdia.com
I strongly recommend while in Kyoto you take at least half a day and see Nara as well. Not seeing the Todaiji Temple is like going to India and skipping the Taj Mahal. While in Kyoto, there are countless shrines and temples, but to break up the monotony, for your kids you also like to go see the Iwatayama Monkey Park in Arashiyama, new railway museum, and Toei Eigamura film studio.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html
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.
If you want more to do, you could also take half a day and see Himeji, with Japan's finest castle, and on another evening you could go see Kobe.
There are some good previews of the places you plan to see on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos