Hi,
I will arrive in Japan on Saturday march 22nd (9 am) at Chubu Int. / Nagoya and leave from Tokyo narita on Wednesday april 2nd (10 am). I stay in Nagoya (Kasugai) from 24-26th due to business and have a hotel in nagoya area until then. I came up with the following itinerary:
sat - Nagoya
sun - Kyoto
mon - Kyoto or Magome Nakasendo
tue - wed Nagoya/Kasugai
thu - leaving early to Takayama (and to Ainokura)
fri - same area probably or tateyama (snow walls)
sat - to tokyo
sun - tokyo
mon - nikko ???
tue - Tokyo
wed - departure
I was checking railway passes and it looks like the JR pass equals the costs for normal tickets so I would just buy one to have less hassle like having to wait at the ticket office/machine (or is it the other way round ?). I'm a bit confused about the nagoya-takayama rail, I read somewhere that it is operated privately but shows up on maps as operated by JR. In principal I would take the fastest connections (or most scenic) and not only JR. I would use the JR pass from sun (to Kyoto) to sat (to Tokyo). Would like to include a Onsen but don't know where and when I can fit it in my itinerary.
Is this itinerary alright ? Too many days in Tokyo / more in Kyoto ? straight to Kyoto from Chubu int. ? I'm rather into nature than temples but interested in samurais, shoguns and anything that is crazy and weird as well..
ciao and merci
Heiko