16 day trip in Japan - itinerary help!?

jeffreyamsterdam

vor mehr als 9 Jahre

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Hi everyone! I've read great tips on this forum and already had a lot of help, so thanks! I decided to add one more question. We are a couple from Amsterdam planning a 16 day trip in Japan with flights to and from Tokyo. Hopefully you can help us to decide if this itinerary makes sense and what would be the most ideal way of using the JR pass.

I think starting the JR pass on mo 15 may for 14 days would be most efficient as it only leaves us in Tokyo without the pass - I think there are other good deals coming from and going to the Narita airport.

We also have one gap in our itinerary and hope to get some ideas for that. Ideally we would travel a different route than the one between Tokyo and Kyoto through the south that's already in the itinerary. Somewhere in the northern alps or Nikko might be an option? Thanks in advance!!!

sa 13 may Tokyo (flight arrival in evening)
su 14 may Tokyo (eastern part of the city + Senso-ji Temple)
mo 15 may Tokyo-Kamakura
tu 16 may Kamakura-Hakone
we 17 may Hakone (all day to visit Onsen)
th 18 may Hakone-Nara
fr 19 may Nara (all day to visit Nara Park)
sa 20 may Nara-Mt Koya
su 21 may Mt Koya-Osaka
mo 22 may Osaka (daytrip himeji castle)
tu 23 may Osaka-Hiroshima-Kyoto (daytrip hiroshima)
we 24 may Kyoto (explore city)
th 25 may Kyoto (explore city)
fr 26 may Kyoto-???
sa 27 may ???
su 28 may ???-Tokyo (going out in Shinjuku)
mo 29 may Tokyo (shopping in Harajuku / Shibuya)
tue 30 may Tokyo (flight departure in evening)

Thanks again!

Daniel-san

19375 posten

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vor mehr als 9 Jahre

Hi there,

A JR Pass will likely be a great help here. There is plenty of travel and a 14 day JR Pass would help you make great savings. I do think that using it for the last 14 days would make the most sense.

For the days that are open, my first thought would be to include a visit to the Japanese Alps and think of a visit to Kanazawa and Takayama. These are both great visits and would add a site of Japan not yet in your itinerary.

You could visit both for a day and include a visit to Shirakawago on the side as well. I did a write up about this a while ago on our Blog and it may be useful here: see here.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

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jeffreyamsterdam

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vor mehr als 9 Jahre

Thank you Daniel-san, for your fast response! Very helpful.

If we decide to include Kanazawa and Takayama (probably going to!) in our itinerary between Kyoto and Tokyo, the fastest travel would be to cover the same train line between Nagoya and Tokyo that we also are using earlier in the trip but then going east of course. -> I also see connections between Takayama - Matsumoto - Tokyo. Even though this is just a train journey, would it be recommendable to take this route just for the different scenery and if so, is it covered by JR pass as well?

I think this could be interesting information for all round trippers starting and finishing in Tokyo as I would really like to make this a "round" trip instead of a going back and forth.

Thanks again Daniel-san and others.

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Daniel-san

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vor mehr als 9 Jahre

Hi again,

I would start in Kanazawa, you can use the Thunderbird express directly from Kyoto to Kanazawa. From Kanazawa, you can either use the train to Takayama or bus via Shirakawago.

Traveling via Matsumoto is an option but adds a lot of travel time. It is a scenic route and you can even view Fuji on a clear day when the train makes a curve around Kofu. The JR Pass covers this route. Note that you'd arrive at Shinjuku station and not Tokyo.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

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