Is my itinerary realistic?

Ivebryke

Im trying to plan a 14 days trip. I have the 14 days JR pass - green (first class)

This is how is looking, since after few days I had received cancellations of hotels - moving to maximize my trip. We are interested in culture, arts and visit temples, etc.

3/22-USA
3/23 Narita airport
3/23 and 3/24 -Tokyo
3/25- Nara
3/26 Hiroshima and spending night in Miyajima
3/27 and 3/28 - Kumamoto
3/29 and 3/30 - Kyoto- staying in Otsu (closest hotel I found to Kyoto)
3/31 and 4/1 Kanazawa
4/2 and 4/3 - Tokyo
4/4- Narita international airport departing to USA 4/5.

Is this itinerary possible? I have hotels arranged all the way to Otsu. I would like to go to the Alps and see that side... and them back to Tokyo.

I'm not sure the advantage of the green card of the JR rails... other than the cost but it may be crowded and it will be easier to travel for us.

The JR schedule is quite confusing. I hope I am ok with this to complete the hotels arrangements. Thanks for your response. Please let me know. Thanks

Mimimi

Wow, this looks like a big challenge (to me)...honestly, I haven't been to Japan yet, but I hope that you thought twice. Kyoto has 2.000(!) temples and shrines and old, typical japanese districts. Tokyo also has many different, interesting districts containing old and new culture, of course. It is your desicion, but I would take at least some days for bigger cities.. You should also consider if you really want to sit for hours in a train every second day. Well, I don't know if this was helpful, but these are my thoughts^^'

Ivebryke

Hi Mimimi,
I appreciate your thoughts. Ideally we wanted 3 days in Kyoto however, the hotels are sold out. we will stay in a close by city (Otsu). We are planning to do our best. In Tokyo we will have 4.5 days as a total. We are planning to contact tour guides for at least a full day in Tokyo and Kyoto. We do want to maximize the days and see the beautiful cities. thank you!