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Need Help in Travel - 21 days

boswell310
boswell310
over 6 years ago
14 responses

Hello,

My wife and I loved your country so much when we travelled back on February 2017 that we are planning to go again this March 15, 2018, BUT, I need your help. Our last trip, we went to Tokyo, Takayama, Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Hakone. This time we will again fly into Tokyo (Narita) but want to go to Hokkaido (Sapporo) and need your help where to stop as we travel north. We want to go to these other places we did not stop at last time - Nagano (to see snow monkeys), Nikko, Koyasan, Himeji. Lastly, we want to go back to Kanazawa and Kyoto. We plan on staying in Tokyo for the 5 days when we first arrive. Can you please help with our itinerary and which JR Pass to purchase.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,
Charlie

Toraneko
Toraneko
1303 posts
over 6 years ago

Hi,

It would help if you could please give more info like the total length of your planned stay. It would be a very good idea to stop off along somewhere between Tokyo and Sapporo. The whole ride is excruciatingly long and there are some rarely visited gems along the way. You could make a 21 day pass pay off quite well. A 14 day pass would offer even greater savings, but you'd really be packing in a fast itinerary for 14 days.
A lot is up to your interests of course, but a few obvious choices north of Tokyo are Sendai (and the Matsushima Coast) as well as Hakodate.
Not too far from Sendai is Yamadera which is one of Japan's best.

The Tohoku Region is loaded with great places. Another good choice might be Hiraizumi with the Chusonji Temple and Geibikei Gorge. There really are so many, but I would not stray too far from the bullet train line to save some time.

You can do Nikko as a day trip from Tokyo, and Himeji makes a good day trip from Osaka or Kyoto. Koyasan is best as an overnight, and you can save money with a Koyasan World Heritage Ticket . Staying at a monastery for the night can be a very rich experience. In Kansai you should not skip Nara.

Please be aware that Hokkaido will be quite cold, even in March. Also there is no rail access to Shirakawago - you need to pay for a bus or rental car. You also need to pay for a non-JR train or bus from Nagano to see the monkeys.

Best of luck.


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