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Need your recommendation: Narita - Sendai - Hokkaido - Sapporo - Kyoto - Koyasan - Nara - Osaka - Tokyo - Hakone - Fujisan

Athena Anh
Athena Anh
over 8 years ago
5 responses

Hi Dears,

I'm going to visit beautiful Japan at the end of this year.

This is my routine: Narita - Sendai - Hokkaido - Sapporo - Kyoto - Koyasan - Nara - Osaka - Tokyo - Hakone - Fujisan

Please give me your good recommendation for 7 days or 14 days JP Pass.

By the way, I don't know how to get to Hokkaido from Sendai (by Shinkansen or plane)?

Hope to get your good advise.

Thanks so much.

Best regards,
Athena

avatar
Daniel-san
18832 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi Athena,

If you plan on making the above trip, then I would recommend at least a 14 day JR Pass, if you want to do the full trip by rail. There's a lot of travel here and more than a week is needed to fit it all in.

Getting from Sendai to Hokkaido can either be done by Shinkansen or a domestic flight. While Sendai - Hokkaido takes a couple of hours, it is a pretty easy trip to make. However from Sapporo - Kyoto, is a lot longer. All together it takes about 12h to get from Sapporo - Kyoto. So taking a flight here does make sense, or it could be nice to plan in a couple of stops in on the way down. You could for instance visit Hakodate, Tokyo and Hakone on the way to Kyoto.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Athena Anh
Athena Anh
5 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi Daniel-san,

Domo arigatou for your best support ^^!

I have some question as below:

  1. Can I use JP Pass for Nozomi và Mizuho shinkansen?

  2. Can I use JP Pass for all means of transport in Japan? Any limited service?

  3. How much flight cost for Sapporo - Kyoto?

Because I would like to be Tokyo as final routine. So I will be Kyoto before.

This is my schedule:

06-Nov 0:30 8:00 SGN - NRT => Hokkaido
07-Nov Hokkaido (Saporo)
08-Nov Hokkaido
09-Nov Hokkaido
10-Nov Sapporo - Itami/Osaka Airport (Move to Kyoto)
11-Nov Kyoto - Koyasan - Nara
12-Nov Kyoto - Koyasan - Nara
13-Nov Kyoto => Osaka (arriving Tokyo late evening)
14-Nov Tokyo
15-Nov Tokyo
16-Nov Hakone - Fujisan
17-Nov Tokyo

Please help me to check is it ok for 14 days JP Pass with all means of transport this period.

Thank you so much!

Best regards,
Athena Anh

Toraneko
Toraneko
1303 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi,
Unfortunately, you cannot use the Nozomi or Mizuho trains with a JR Pass. For other trains, the pass is not valid on "all means of transport in Japan" - it covers the JR trains and JR routes, plus local JR buses - but non-JR trains, city subways etc are not covered.
To fly from Sapporo to Osaka (there is no airport for Kyoto), it depends on the airline and the time. There are low cost carriers like Jet Star or Peach. Off season fares are often dirt cheap.

Best of luck.

avatar
Daniel-san
18832 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi Athena,

Toraneko beat me to it and already answered most of your questions very well!

What I can add to it, by taking flights, you'll cover most of the distance already and there's not much left for the JR Pass. Therefor it is better to just buy normal train tickets for the parts that you'll be traveling by rail.

As for flight costs, they can be very low but also very high if you book at the wrong time. Generally it is best to reserve the tickets in advance and as soon as possible.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Athena Anh
Athena Anh
5 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi Toraneko san and Daniel san,

Thanks for your very good support.

I have just revise my schedule as below:

Day 1: Arriving Narita airport => I will go to Sendai once (by Shinkansen)
Day 2: Moving to Hokkaido (by Shinkansen)
Day 2,3,4: Enjoying beautiful Hokkaido ^^
Day 5: Coming back Sendai (by Shinkansen)
Day 6: Sendai => Fujisan (by Shinkansen)
Day 7: Fujisan => Kyoto (by Shinkansen)
Day 7,8: Enjoying Momiji at Kyoto, Nara
Day 9: Kyoto => Tokyo (by Shinkansen)
Day 9,10,11,12: Enjoying Tokyo
Day 13: Moving to Narita

Please let me know could I use JP Pass for Shinkansen, because almost my steps are on it.

Thanks & Best regards,
Athena

avatar
Daniel-san
18832 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi Athena,

This looks great! You can use the JR Pass for Shinkansen and you will put the JR Pass to fantastic use!

I do suggest having a look at where to visit Fuji, there are many ways to visit and not all are easy. Have a look at this article for more information.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help with!
Daniel

Athena Anh
Athena Anh
5 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi Daniel san,

Thanks for your recommend!

Could I visit Fujisan that period (10 Nov.)?

Thanks & Best regards,
Athena

avatar
Daniel-san
18832 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi Athena,

You can certainly view Fuji, although climbing is no longer recommended.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Athena Anh
Athena Anh
5 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi Daniel-san,

Domo arigatou ^^.

Hope I have beautiful vacation there.

Nice day to you!

Thanks & Best regards,
Athena


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