Hi. We are planning a 9 days Osaka/Takayama/Matsumoto/Tokyo trip in mid-April 2015. We would appreciate your help to figure out if we should buy the 7 days JR Pass. Our itinerary and questions are as follow:-
D1. Osaka Itami airport to Kyoto - we will catch a bus to Kyoto train station. Our lodging is near to this station.
D2. Kyoto - Arashiyama and maybe Dotonbori in Osaka at night and back to Kyoto
q1. Should we take a JR train for most part of the journey to these destinations.
D3. Leave Kyoto for Takayama. Our lodging is close to this station.
q1. Should we take a JR train to Takayama
q2. In Takayama, we would like to go to Shirakawa-go, the Golden Pavilion and Gion. Should we take the JR trains to these destinations.
D4. Leave Takayama for Matsumoto. Our lodging is close to this station.
q1. Should we take a JR train to Matsumoto
q2. At Matsumoto, our 1st stop will be the Jigokudani Monkey Park. This will involve taking a train and then a bus. ls a JR train available here.
D5. We will do a day trip to the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine. We may need to take a train to somewhere to connect to the Alpine route.
q1. Should we take a JR train or would it be easier to catch a bus.
D6. Walk to the Matsumoto Castle as it's within walking distance from our hotel.
D7. Leave Matsumoto for Tokyo. Our lodging in Tokyo is near to the Golanda station in the Shinagawa area.
q1. Should we take a JR train or a JR Shinkansen to Tokyo
q2. Should we travel around tokyo with the JR Pass
D8. Tokyo - probably go to some popular places within Tokyo or do a day trip outside Tokyo. No definite plans yet.
D9. Tokyo to Haneda airport
q1. Should we take a JR train or catch the airport bus
Thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions.
phwong