16 day trip in Japan - itinerary help!?

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

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.

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