Good day,
We (3 people) will be travelling from Tokyo to Kyoto on April 27. We arrive at Haneda April 19 afternoon and will be staying in Shinagawa. Here are some questions I have:
1) Is it better to exchange voucher for JR Pass at Haneda or at Shinagawa Station and also make reservations for Tokyo to Kyoto? I`m thinking it will be very busy at Haneda airport office and we are within walking distance at Shinagawa station. I am also thinking I should reserve tickets ASAP since Golden Week.
2) if I do reserve but need to change or cancel, how would I do this with JR Pass reservation?
3) Do you think it is a good idea to go to Tokyo-Kamakura on Monday April 27, since this the first day JR 7 day pass activated? Then I was thinking of going from Kamakura to Kyoto. However, from hyperdia it seems we have to go back to Yokohama or go through Ofuna and Odawara but either way still takes over 180mins, whereas Shinagawa-Kamakura is only 50 mins direct on Yokosuka and costs 720 yen one way. So I am thinking that it is not worth trying to save money using the JR pass and having to deal with luggage by going to Shinagawa-Kamakura-Kyoto. Rather do Shinagawa-Kamakura-Shinagawa a different day and pay the 1440 yen return extra. Is there a better way to get from Kamakura to Kyoto (so I benefit a bit from the JR pass)? Also, it looks like the Tokunai Pass is not valid for Shingawa-Kamukura, but is there another pass that I may use and then I can use within Tokyo?
4) We will be in Kyoto April 27-May 3 (Apr 27 & May 3 includes travel to and from Tokyo). We are staying at the Westin Miyako, so I was thinking to break up the days as follows (no particular order). Some days trying to use JR pass as much as possible within time reasoning:
1 day - Kyoto Imperial Palace (actually booked for April 28 10am) then Ginkakuji, Philosophers Walk, Kyomizu Temple. How long do you think it would take do all of this? I think this is within walking distance from hotel, or I was considering going to Ginkakuji on local bus and then walking the rest. What do you recommend?
1 day - Kinkakuji, then Nijojo castle, then Arashiyama Do you think I should buy a Kyoto City Bus Pass - one day for this or just use Suica OR Pasmo? (I don`t think JR Pass would be time effective)
1 day - Fushimi Inari then Nara (using JR Pass) - Is it better to break up these activities to two days and fill afternoon with other places to visit? If these two sites are good for one day visit, then which is better to do first?
1 day Kyoto-Himeji-Hiroshima-Kyoto I was planning to use JR pass. Do you think these should be broken to two days and then maybe I could include Hiroshima & Miyajima as a day trip from Kyoto?
The filler time on some of the days could be used to explore Gion, Katsura Imperial Villa, Pontocho, Nishi Market, Osaka (most likely a couple of evenings- maybe Dotonbori , Umeda Sky Building, possible use of JR Pass from Kyoto-Osaka?)
Please assist on whether this itinerary is feasible and if I should break out Fushimi Inari-Nara and Himeji-Hiroshima to two different days each.
Also please note that travel Tokyo-Kyoto on April 27 and Kyoto-Tokyo May 3 . If we don`t get reserved tickets, what do you recommend is the best time to travel those days for 3 people?
Thank you for your assistance!