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10 days Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kyoto

Here is my plan itinerary.

27 May - Arrive Tokyo afternoon
28 May - Depart to Kyoto
29 May - Kyoto
30 May - Kyoto
31 May - Osaka
1 June - Osaka
2 June - Tokyo (Hakone)
3 June - Tokyo (Gotemba)
4 June - Tokyo
5 June - Depart early morning

I intend to purchase a 7 day JR pass and activate on Day 2.

For 1st day in Tokyo, should i purchase a SUICA that allow me to use in Tokyo and also for the sector in Kyoto/Osaka, or i should purchase a local metro subway card for Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka since I cover different cities. Am aware i can also take a bus from Narita airport to hotel.

For the sector in Kyoto / Osaka, I am considering making a trip to Tateyama Alpine area. Hence would like to know if a 1 day trip to alpine be realistic (depart early morning and return by evening). Should i connect from Kyoto or Osaka and how would the recommended travel route be like.

Is the traveling to alpine route covered fully by JR pass or additional transport arrangement is required?

For outlet shopping in Gotemba or Kobe-Sanda premium outlet, do you know if they both have the same price and discounts offer, since i may only select one of it.

Thank you.

Comments

  • Hi,
    First, as you mentioned, you can take a bus from Narita. The cheapest is the 1000 yen bus.
    http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
    You would have to do a LOT of riding to make a one day subway pass pay off. It is much easier to justify a 2-3 day subway pass, but it looks like you're not staying that long. A Suica card is fine.

    A day trip to Tateyama is completely unrealistic. From Kyoto with even the best connection it would take you nearly 4½ hours to get to Tateyama to even start on the tour (which is *not* covered by the JR Pass). The way back would be another 4½ hours sitting on trains.
    The pass can only get you partway to see Hakone also. For that, a Hakone Free Pass can save you money.
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html

    Aside from Kyoto, you should take at least half a day to see Nara also. It has some of Japan's best sights, many in the Nara Park area.
    Since you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. 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.
    Use that day time and go see Himeji, with Japan's finest castle. Instead of Tateyama, consider going to see Koyasan. A regional pass can save you money there too.
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4900.html
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_012.html

    You can see previews of some of the best places to see in Japan on:
    https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos
  • Hi Tenjin,

    Thank you so much for the great information given.
    Really helpful in putting up my plan.

    I am changing my plan slightly to include the alpine route with 2 night accommodation. With JR Pass & Alpine Option Pass.

    28 May - Hotel at Shinano Omachi
    29 May - Day - Start Alpine Route (From Ogizawa to Toyama)
    Hotel at Toyama
    30 May - Kyoto

    My questions :

    Question 1.
    From Tokyo to Nagano
    I read this part is covered by JR Pass (Tokyo to Nagano via Hokuriku Shinkansen.

    When i look up Hyperdia, I do not see the track Hokuriku showing up, but other tracks which still go to Nagano (about 1.30 hr). Is there something I miss?

    Question 2.

    As i am doing the alpine on the 2nd day, do i arrange baggage transfer once or 2 times.

    Baggage Transfer (2 times)
    1st at Nagano to Shimano Omachi
    2nd at Shinano Omachi to Toyama Hotel

    For this, does the express bus can take in luggage on bus?

    Baggage Transfer (1 time)
    At Nagano, to arrange baggage transfer from Nagano direct to Toyama hotel.

    I think that baggage might be from Nagano direct to Toyama, but just want to know if I am correct, or both options are also possible?

    Question 3.
    At Hakone ( with Hakone Pass), if I arrive Hakone (from Kyoto), at 11.00am, do I have sufficient time to do the Hakone by evening time?
    This will help me decide on my plan.

    I intend to purchase the JR Pass (which come with the Ebook - Japan by Rail and map, I like to have hardcopy of the book - Japan By Rail, is this available for purchase?

    Thank you.
  • Hi,
    I can only answer a few of your questions.
    First, I am not sure what your difficulty is about seeing the train schedule to Nagano - I have no problem. Under 'More Options', make sure you have the bullet train box with a check.
    I've never used the baggage transfer, so I suggest you contact them. There are also national company services like Yamato or Sagawa and often you can drop them off at a convenience store like 7-11. It may work better than the Alpine transfer offered.

    For Hakone, logistically you could do it, but it cuts a lot into your time to see the area without rushing. If you can get there an hour or 2 earlier, you'd have a better experience.

    Hope that helps.
  • Thank you Tenjin on the suggestions. That helps.
  • edited July 2017
    Hi,
    Here is my plan itinerary.

    12 jun'18 - Arrive osaka at 9.20am (osaka caste,sumiosha taisha,dottonbori,namba)
    13 jun'18 - osaka (shiumeda,usj,aquarium kaiyukan,shinsekai)
    14 juni'18 - tokyo disneyland one day full
    15 juni'18- tokyo (kawaguchiko,Fujiko Hakubutsukan,Tokyo tower dan sky tree,Asakusa dan Sumida River,Shibuya dan Shinjuku)
    16 juni'18- tokyo (ghibli museum,tokyo imperial palace,akihabara,ueno,odaiba)
    17 juni;18 - kyoto (Fushimi Inari Shrine ,nishiki market,kiyomizu temple ,himeji castle,Kyoto Tower)
    18 juni'18- kyoto (kikakuji temple,tenryuji temple ,Arashiyama, gion distric)
    19 juni'18- depart in kix 11am

    we stay in osaka 8 night.
    I intend to purchase a 7 day JR pass
    Our questions are the following:
    What kind of Pass should we be buying for the itinerary?
    Or is our itinerary too wide spread to make it worthwhile?
    Can we use the JR pass to visit all these places ?
    How do we know the train that we suppose to take to visit all these cities?
    We will be doing day trips during our stay. Not too sure if the JR pass would cover those.
  • First, it's better to start a new thread and not piggyback your question on someone else's.

    It looks like you are way overloading some of your days. Some things can be done in the evening, but still....
    Your first day you might be too tired to do much. Fortunately, Dotonbori is only good at night, and shouldn't be missed.
    It's very unlikely you can see USJ and the rest in one day, unless you do things a mile wide and an inch deep. Same thing for trying to see the Kawaguchiko and the rest in one day. Just going one way there will take 2½-3 hours. And if you are going to the Sky Tree, you can skip the Tokyo Tower - it's just redundant.

    June 17 is barely doable since Fushimi Inari is open 24/7 and you can go to Kyoto Tower in the evening (Kyoto Stn at night is great too), and in fact you make a 7 day JR Pass pay off for going to Himeji. But again, it's 60-90 minutes there one way. You should not miss the Kokoen Garden as well, next to the castle.

    You can see regular train 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

  • thankyou for your reply.
    why fushimi inari close 17 juni 2018? it;s Very unfortunate :(
    If I search the internet operating hours fushimi inari 24 hours.
    Besides fushimi inari what place is reccomended?
    Do i need to book a hotel in tokyo?
    If i buy jr pass west kansai is it suited to the iitenary?
    Hmm,Is it true japan visa-free?
  • Hi,
    I never said Fushimi Inari is going to be closed. Just the opposite. What I said is that you can do what you plan, but it will be a very busy day.

    The Top 3 sights in Kyoto are the Kinkakuji Temple, Kiyomizudera Temple, and Fushimi Inari Shrine. Fushimi is the most time consuming; you could spend a couple of hours to over half a day if you want to run over all the trails. Kinkakuji just takes 30 minutes. Kiyomizudera can take 60-90 minutes or so. Another excellent place to visit are the 2 Honganji Temples - they are within walking distance of Kyoto Station, and are open at dawn, so if you get up early they are easy to fit in.
    The rest is up to your interests. Try looking through
    http://www.kyoto.travel/
    http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html
    But just seeing only temples and shrines can get monotonous, so try to include some other places so you don't get bored.

    It looks like you're staying in Tokyo for 3 days, so naturally you'll need to stay somewhere. There are extremely cheap places onhttp://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/7209/Budget-hotels-and-hostels-in-Tokyo
    or try a business hotel like Toyoko Inn
    http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
    Or if you want something more upscale, there are countless hotels. Try some booking engine like hotels.com or booking.com
    If you do a day trip to Himeji, then a 1 day Kansai Area Pass would pay off. For other passes, it depends on where you go.

    For visa, I have no idea. It depends what passport you hold. See:
    http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html
  • Once you get you might want to download the favy app to get good suggestions on where to eat! http://favy-jp.com/ or just check the website.
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