Hi,
I will be in Tokyo for a week, leaving on Thursday of next week.
I am interested in traveling from Tokyo to Hiroshima (leaving as early in the day as possible. I'm thinking about doing this on August 28, a Monday) and I would like to travel using the shinkansen. After spending several hours in Hiroshima, I would like to head to Osaka, spend a few hours and then, at night, take the train back to Tokyo.
First off, can this all be done in one day using the rail pass? If this is too ambitious, I could go back to Osaka another night for several hours. I'm not sure if the rail pass is a good value for this trip or not, as I know for the shinkansen there are many high speed trains I cannot use the pass on.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Many thanks,
Steven
0
Comments
It's unclear why you'd want to go to Osaka. Every place has something to see, but Osaka is mostly a clone of Tokyo.
With only a week, I suggest you just focus on the Tokyo area. There are a LOT of great day trips you can take, and a Tokyo Wide Pass is a great way to save money.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_06.html
You could go see Nikko, Karatsu, Karuizawa, Izu, Kawagoe, Takao, Mitake, the Hitachi Seaside Park, the Boso Peninsula, and many others.
There's also Kamakura/Enoshima, plus the Mt Fuji area of Hakone and the Fuji 5 Lakes, though there are other regional passes for those.
The mountainous areas might be very good, since Japan is still in summer, which a sweltering, muggy and humid nightmare.
I visited Osaka once before and loved the neon lights at night along the canals, and I would like to revisit the area one evening. I can visit Osaka on another day, but would like to spend some time there in the evening. With that said, I know that trains stop running early in Japan, and I was wondering about what time I would need to leave Osaka to make it back to Tokyo, specifically Shinjuku, which is where I am staying.
I presume for Osaka you are referring to Dotonbori.
Well, next week on Aug 22nd for example sunset is listed as 6:40 PM. The last bullet train from Shin-Osaka Stn to Shinagawa leaves at 8:37 PM if using the JR Pass. That would put you arriving into Shinjuku at about midnight on the last train or almost the train.
Getting from Dotonbori to Shin-Osaka might take you 30-40 minutes assuming you don't get lost or go to the wrong station. That leaves you extremely little time to enjoy the lights. And all for 7 hours of sitting on trains and subways.
It's your time, but personally, if you can't do an overnight in Osaka, I suggest you skip it.
For Hiroshima, the last bullet train that let's you get to Tokyo leaves at 6:48 PM.
There is one last option though. You could fly for about US $100 per flight on ANA or JAL's tourist air fares. You need to be ticketed at least 3 days before the flight and there are no changes or refunds, but you can fly each way in about 85 minutes, and the bus from Hiroshima airport to Hiroshima Stn takes about 50 minutes (¥1340).
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/wws_common/promotions/share/experience_jp/index.html
http://www.world.jal.com/world/en/japan_explorer_pass/ar/
The last flights leave around 8:30 PM in the evening.
I could take an early morning train from Tokyo to Hiroshima, spend several hours there, then take the train from Hiroshima to Osaka. Spend the night in Osaka (always wanted to try a capsule hotel), and leave Osaka in the morning to head back to Tokyo. Aside from Kyoto (which I already visited) are there any other cities on the Shinkansen between Osaka and Tokyo that you would recommend visiting for a few hours, as a stop over on my way back?
The following morning, if you haven't been there yet, Nara is truly a must see place. The Todaiji Temple is just mind blowing. Most of the best is in the Nara Park area, including Todaiji, feeding the eager deer in the park, Kofukuji Temple, and Kasuga Grand Shrine.
If you have been there, then there is always the possibility of seeing Himeji, with Japan's finest castle. The Kokoen Garden next door is also very good. It is easy to get to by bullet train in 35 minutes or so.
For cheap places to stay, you might look at the Chuo Group.
http://www.chuogroup.jp/en/
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
Good luck.