Hi, I’m just finalising an itinerary for our first trip to japan later in the year. I’d really love some feedback on:
a) the itinerary itself (does it sound achievable without rushing too much, are we doing things roughly in the right order in terms of connections between matsumoto/kiso valley/takayama/kanazawa) and
b) is there any benefit for us in getting a Japan Rail Pass? By my calculations (using Hyperdia) we are actually better off financially without one (either a 7 day or a 14 day), presumably because we are mostly doing short hops and not likely to be using bullet trains other than the Kyoto-Tokyo trip. I’m wondering if I’ve missed anything though.
Day 1 Arrive Tokyo
2 Tokyo
3 Tokyo
4 to Matsumoto
5 Matsumoto – day trip to Kamikochi
6 to Nakatsuwaga (for Magome)
7 from Nagiso (Tsumago) to Takayama
8 Takayama
9 Takayama
10 to Kanazawa by bus via Shirakawa-go
11 Kanazawa
12 to Kyoto
13 Kyoto
14 Kyoto
15 Kyoto (day trip to Nara)
16 Kyoto
17 to Tokyo
18 Fly out from Tokyo in the evening.
Thank you!