Hi there,
I will be travelling to Japan with a friend for 2 weeks around the end of September.
Below is the itinerary I have come up with so far, could you please advise if this will be too rushed and would a 14 day JR pass suffice for the intended travelling?
21st: Arrive at Narita Airport (spend rest of the day in Tokyo seeing Shibuya & Harajuku)
22nd: Tokyo - Hakone (Organised Tour Day Trip)
23rd: Tokyo - Kamakura & Yokohama (Sightseeing)
24th: Tokyo - Nikko (Organised Tour Day Trip)
25th: Tokyo - Shinjuku, Ginza & Akihabara (Sightseeing)
26th: Tokyo - Takayama (Shirakawa-go & Kamikochi, stay for a night in Takayama)
27th: Takayama - Kyoto (Takayama Old Town, Hida Folk Village, travel to Kyoto in afternoon)
28th: Kyoto (Sightseeing)
29th: Kyoto (Sightseeing)
30th: Kyoto - Nara (Morning in Nara & afternoon in Osaka?)
1st: Kyoto - Himeji - Kobe (Himeji Castle in morning & Kobe / Mount Maya in afternoon)
2nd: Kyoto - Hiroshima - Miyajima (Peace Memorial in morning then train & ferry to stay for a night on Miyajima)
3rd: Miyajima - Tokyo (Shopping / Sightseeing)
4th: Depart from Narita Airport
I'm aware the JR pass does not cover the Subway / Metro lines in Tokyo, however will we be able to visit the main areas
of Tokyo using just the Yamanote line and then walking to each place? Or would you recommend a subway pass?
The only other concern I had was regarding luggage storage. On the 2nd October when we plan to leave Kyoto I
have read that there are coin operated lockers in Hiroshima station but not many of these are large enough for suitcases. Is there a manned office where luggage can be left for several hours? We could then pickup our suitcases
on route to Miyajima? I've also heard about luggage forwarding services, however I would be worried that our cases would arrive several days later by using these?
Many thanks for your help in advance, any recommendations or suggested alterations to the above itinerary would greatly be appreciated.
Kindest regards,
Rob