We're planning on going to Japan for 7 days, arrive Osaka May 15 stay for 4 days and stay in Tokyo for 2 days and then back to Osaka to fly to the Philippines. While in Osaka we plan to take the trains to Kyoto, Nara. Is it worth to buy the 7 day JR rail pass? Any suggestions where to take day trips from Osaka with the JR pass? How do we get to Kansai airport with the train? Thanks!
Comments
You make a 7 day pass pay off with your planned round trip but could add more value with a day trip to someplace like Himeji (with Japan's finest castle) from Osaka.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3500.html
Since Osaka is pretty much a clone of Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. Kyoto is the crown jewel of the country. 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.
Definitely you should take at least half a day and see Nara - it was also a former capital and has some of Japan's best sights. Missing the Todaiji Great Buddha would be a tragedy. Nara Park has a lot of other great places, such as Kasuga Shrine, Kofukuji Temple, the Isuien and Yoshikien Gardens, and feeding the many deer in the area.
You can easily get to KIX using the Haruka express train, from Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, or Tennoji Stn. There is also the JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service from Osaka Stn but takes a bit longer.
You can see regular fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia.
http://www.hyperdia.com
Under "More Options", be sure to uncheck the Nozomi box if on a JR Pass since you can't ride that train using the JR pass.
You can see previews of some of the best places to see in Japan on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos
There are also loads of other tips on
http://www.thejapanfaq.com/the-best-japan-travel-tips/
Best wishes.
As I mentioned, with the round trip to Tokyo and back, plus the side trips to Nara and trip down to Kansai Int'l, you do make a 7 day pass pay off.
You can see Hakone near Mt Fuji and it does take a full day. That with 2 days in Tokyo and the rest in Kansai is packing it in pretty tight. But if you are OK with a fast pace you can see some good places, though certainly not all that most of the places offer.
If you'd like to see Hakone, take the bullet train and get off at Osawara Station, then get a Hakone Free Pass to see the area.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html
The Loop Course is a common way to see all the sights and takes a full day.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html
You could see Nara Park for half a day and give Kyoto at least a few more hours.
http://bit.ly/1Rhxg0E
I would suggest you concentrate your time in Kansai on Kyoto.
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.
On your last day, you could see Osaka Castle, Shitennoji Temple, and Sumiyoshi Taisha. It depends on your interests of course.
On the day of the arrival, I would take an overnight bus to Mt Fuji.
http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/9/#routemap
The easiest transfer would be by an airport limousine bus to OCAT, but you might take a Nankai train to Namba, or a JR train to Tennoji=Abenobashi, Osaka, or Kyoto.
http://www.kate.co.jp/en/timetable/detail/OC
http://www.howto-osaka.com/en/traffic/train/fromkix.html
https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/travel/shopping/access/train.html
It seems you would have more time if you transfer at Kyoto. It should be noted that train schedules will be updated on Mar 17 in this year.
KIX 20:46-21:18 Tennoji https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/?p=0&xpd=1&from=Kansai-Airport&to=Tennoji&date=03/16/2018&time=21:20&ft=1&ic=0&us=1&up=0&ut=0&nzm=0&sub_lang=nosub&estt=Tennoji
KIX 20:36-21:17 Namba https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/?p=0&xpd=1&from=Kansai-Airport&to=Namba&date=03/16/2018&time=21:30&ft=1&ic=0&us=1&up=0&ut=0&nzm=0&sub_lang=nosub&estt=Namba
KIX 20:48-21:59 Osaka https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/?p=0&xpd=1&from=Kansai-Airport&to=Osaka&date=03/16/2018&time=22:00&ft=1&ic=0&us=1&up=0&ut=0&nzm=0&sub_lang=nosub&estt=Osaka
KIX 21:25-22:42 Kyoto https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/?p=0&from=Kansai-Airport&to=Kyoto&date=03/16/2018&time=23:00&ft=1&ic=0&ut=0&up=0&us=1&nzm=0&sub_lang=nosub
After enjoying Mt Fuji, you could go to Tokyo by a direct bus. JR Tokyo and Shinagawa are Shinkansen stops.
Shibuya: http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/32/#routemap
Shinjuku: http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/1/#routemap
Akihabara: http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/40/#routemap
JR Tokyo: http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/37/#routemap
Shinagawa: http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/4/#routemap
After Tokyo, I would ride on a Nozomi SuperExpress, the fastest Shinkansen train. You may have one more chance to see Mt Fuji from the south.
http://english.jr-central.co.jp
Nara, Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka are neighboring each other. You could stay anywhere in this area. The latter two have more attractions in the night. If you choose Kobe for a base, you could go to KIX by Bay Shuttle.
https://www.kobe-access.jp/eng/areamap.php
You may rely only on JR to go around the Kansai region, however, it is said that private operators offer more economical train fares than JR. This is a train map for Kansai.
https://kansaionepass.com/en/pdf/en_map_kansai.pdf
I explained JR and Nankai for the KIX access in the above. The others are below (counterclockwise).
Kintetsu is for Nara.
http://www.kintetsu.co.jp/foreign/english/
Keihan is for Kyoto (Fushimi, Kiyomizu, and Gion).
https://www.keihan.co.jp/travel/en/accessmap.pdf
Hankyu is also for Kyoto (Kawaramachi(Kyoto Downtown) and Arashiyama). Another line from Osaka/Umeda to Kobe.
http://www.hankyu.co.jp/global/en/
Hanshin is also for Kobe.
http://www.hanshin.co.jp/global/en/index.html
Sanyo is for Himeji, if you are interested in it.
http://www.sanyo-railway.co.jp/global/en/index.html
You could utilize direct trains over two operartors; such as the routes of Kintetsu-Nara to Hanshin-Kobe, and Hanshin-Umeda to Sanyo-Himeji.
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=KINTETSUNARA&arv_node=KOBE-SANNOMIYA(HANSHIN)&via_node01=&via_node02=&via_node03=&year=2018&month=03&day=04&hour=15&minute=57&search_type=0&search_way=&transtime=undefined&sort=1&max_route=1&faretype=0&ship=off&jr=off&lmlimit=null&search_target=route&facility=reserved&sum_target=7
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=UMEDA(HANSHIN)&arv_node=SANYOHIMEJI&via_node01=&via_node02=&via_node03=&year=2018&month=03&day=04&hour=15&minute=57&search_type=0&search_way=&transtime=undefined&sort=1&max_route=1&faretype=0&ship=off&jr=off&lmlimit=null&search_target=route&facility=reserved&sum_target=7
These are subway maps for Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe.
https://kansaionepass.com/en/pdf/en_map_osaka.pdf
https://kansaionepass.com/en/pdf/en_map_kyoto.pdf
https://kansaionepass.com/en/pdf/en_map_kobe.pdf