Hello!
I'm traveling in August 24 days to Japan (+ arrival and departing day, both from Tokyo). Looking at guides and websites, I've crafted this itinerary. Could you please advise about it? We are getting a 21 days Japan Rail Pass.
Day 1: Nikko
Day 2: Matsumoto
Day 3: Takayama
Day 4: Shirakagawo
Day 5: Kanazawa
Day 6: stay in a temple?
Day 7: Himeji
Day 8: Kurashiki
Day 9: Hiroshima-Miyajima
Day 10: Osaka
Day 11: Koya-san
Day 12: Ise
Day 13: (free day)
Days 14-18: Kyoto (+ day trip to Nara)
Days 19-24: Tokyo (+ day trips to Kamakura and Hakone National Park).
Am I doing too much? Is there anything wonderful I'm missing? I've got doubts about days 12-13: I don't know if Ise is worth it and where to go the extra day. Day 18 I want to be in Kyoto for the Daimonji (bonfires at the end of the Obon).
Is the 21 days JRP worth it or better a combination of 14 days + regional passes?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!!
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Comments
I think you can make a 21 day pass pay off pretty well, used Days 1-21. A few notes regarding your plans though. First, it's about 2½ hours by train from Tokyo to Matsumoto, and a rather grueling 4½ hours from Matsumoto to Takayama. If you'd like to save about 2 hours, you could pay the ¥3190 highway bus fare from Matsumoto to Takayama instead. Up to you.
For Days 3-5, it only takes a few hours to see Shirakawago (and you'll need to pay the ¥2470 for the 50 minute bus ride there - no rail lines go to Shirakawago). Kanazawa is worth more than a day anyways. So you could take the bus to Shirakawago late in the afternoon or evening of Day 3, stay at one of the farmhouses there (very worthwhile), and in the morning after a few hours sightseeing, make your way to Kanazawa in the afternoon of Day 4. The bus takes 75 minutes and costs ¥1850.
For your Day 6, you are already staying at a temple at Koyasan for Day 11, so you are already covered. I'll get back to that in a moment.
Day 7 looks fine - you can see the castle, Kokoen Garden next to it and go to Mt Shosha for the huge temple complex, and on the way back see some of Kobe in the evening if you like. Day 8 looks thin - it only takes a few hours at most to see Kurashiki. You could then get some rental cycles for the Kibi Plain,
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5705.html
or go do the temple tour at Onomichi, plus the Kosanji temple on one of the islands is amazing. Or visit Okayama City and see Korakuen, which is one of Japan's traditional Top 3 Gardens.
Day 9 is possible with an early morning start. Hiroshima has the Peace Park/Museum, castle, Shukkeien Garden, and try the okonomiyaki at Okonomiyaki-mura by the downtown shopping arcade. For Miyajima, 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.
Now here's a suggestion if you're up for it - you could take your time from Days 6,13, and part of Day 10, and fly to someplace nice like Okinawa or Hokkaido. Both are beautiful (you can also escape the miserable muggy summer humid weather that is going to hit you hard with the latter), and you can fly very cheaply on ANA's Experience Japan Fare,
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/wws_common/promotions/share/experience_jp/index.html
or fly to Kyushu on a special discount this year for half of that. Nagasaki is a very beautiful city with lots to see,
http://www.at-nagasaki.jp/foreign/english/
and Fukuoka has some good places as well.
http://www.thejapanfaq.com/fukpic.html
For your day trips from Tokyo, look at the Odakyu regional passes:
http://www.odakyu.jp/english/deels/
plus the 2 or 3 day Tokyo subway pass:
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.html#anc03
and if leaving Japan from Narita, use the ¥1000 bus:
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/