Hi, i am planning a 12D11N itinerary (in early Dec 2018) to Kansai Area namely, Kyoto-Hiroshima-Osaka-Kobe.Looking at purchasing the the 7D Sanyo San’in Pass Itinerary will be something as follows:
Day 1: Arrive KIX and travel to Kyoto by ICOCA+Haruka package
Day 2: Arashiyama/ Fushimi Inari (hopefully still get to catch a glimpse of the autumn foliage)
Day 3: Day trip to shiragawa-ko (would there be snow in the village by 5th dec?) and is it easy to go on own?
Day 4: Activate 7D Sanyo San’in Pass and travel to Osaka’s Abeno Harukas/ Osaka Castle/ Dotonbori/ Osaka City and back to Kyoto at night
Day 5: GION Kyoto/ late afternoon travel down to Hiroshima
Day 6: Miyajima Island/ Hakata (if time permits) / Hiroshima
Day 7: Hiroshima City/ Kurashiki/ Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto - USJ - Kyoto
Day 9: Kyoto - USJ - Kyoto
Day 10 : Kyoto to Kobe city (last day usage of 7D Sanyo San’in Pass)
Day 11: Kobe’s Mt Maya - Mt Rokko Pasture/ Mt Rokko’s snow park n other places of interest atop Mt Rokko.
Day 12: Depart Kobe for KIX via Haruka Discounted Ticket from Sannomiya stn/ by Airport Limousine Bus
I’ll am planning to stay in Ibis Styles Kyoto Station for most of my trip except for 2N in Hiroshima (coz its cheaper) and last 2N in Kobe.
Questions:
1. For Day 8 and 9 where i travel from kyoto to USJ, apart from train, are there any JR buses that leaves Kyoto for USJ and can be covered under thr Sanyo San’in pass?
2. Any idea if the buses to Mt Maya and Mt Rokko accepts payment by ICOCA? Or any day pass that covers both the ride to Mt rokko’s pasture and mt rokko’s snow park?
3. Do you think i am under using my 7D pass? I can’t decide if i should use the Kansai-Hiroshima 5Day Pass instead as the latter only allows travel on non reserve seats. Do you think it is difficult to secure 3 seats in non reserve cars in early Dec?
Sorry for the long entry