Hi
I'll be travelling to Japan from 1st-12th November and the slightly tight itinerary is something like this.
Land in Tokyo (Narita) on 1st afternoon
1st, 2nd - Tokyo.
3rd - Day trip to Nikko or Hakone
4th - Tokyo to Takayama
5th - Day trip from Takayama to Shirakawago
6th - Takayama to Kanazawa
7th - Kanazawa to Kyoto
7th, 8th, 9th, 10th - Kyoto (with a trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima on one of the days)
11th - Kyoto to Tokyo
12th evening - Fly back from Narita.
I wanted to check in case it would be feasible to do this with a 7 day pass starting on the 3rd or 4th, or if the 14 day pass will pay for itself and be the better option? This is also keeping in mind travel from the airport to Tokyo and within the cities of Tokyo and Kyoto.
I'll be staying in the Bunkyo area of Tokyo and was wondering if it's close to any of the stops on the Narita express from the airport or the JR lines within the city. Or is it better to get a separate travel pass for the subway or metro lines?
Any other suggestions or recommendations on the trains to take, passes, the places themselves, or anything important to keep in mind would be welcome.
Thanks in advance.
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Comments
You could not do your full long distance itinerary on a 7 day pass obviously. But fortunately with your destinations, a 14 day pass would pay off, and adding the Narita Express round trip would add even more savings.
It's not hard for you to go to Tokyo Stn to catch the Narita Express. You can also use the pass for the Yamanote Line and go to many popular tourist areas.
A couple observations - I hope you know that for Shirakawago there is no rail access - you'll need to pay for the bus. It is still well worth seeing though. And you really should take at least half a day while in Kansai and see Nara. Most of the best is in the Nara Park area, and the Todaiji Temple is a muse see place.
After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5PM, 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 can go and see Kobe.