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3 week itinerary - is this doable and what passes make the most sense?

cisaacoff
cisaacoff
about 9 years ago
7 responses

My husband and I are coming to Japan late September/early October and have the follow as our tentative itinerary:

Arrive Osaka (ITM), limousine bus to Nara
Nara - 2 nights
Kyoto - 4 nights

This is where I need help. From Kyoto, we want to head to the Alps. We're looking at Kanazawa, Takayama, Gujo-Hachiman and Matsumoto as our destinations before heading to Hakone. We have a potential of seven nights in the Alps, but need to be able to get from one place to another in a manner than makes sense. Could you help?

Hakone - 2 nights
Tokyo - 6 nights
Depart NRT

In addition to the logistical questions, what passes make the most sense? I'm not sure a 21 day pass would be to our advantage because I don't think it works on the buses.

Please help me firm up my schedule. Thank you!

michvoo
michvoo
10 posts
about 9 years ago

Here is a sequence suggestion :

Osaka
Kyoto
Tokyo
Hakone
Side trips to Takayama (2nights)
Shirakawa-go (1 night)
Kanazawa
Matsumoto
Back to Tokyo

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 9 years ago
Expert

Hello there,

Assuming you would want to go into the Alps right after Kyoto, my advise would be to travel to Kanazawa, from there go to Takayama, or alternatively swing by Shirakawag by bus. From Takayama/Shirakawago buses travel to Guji Hachiman.From there is would make most sense to travel to Nagoya and take a train from there to Matsumoto but fore going to Hakone and Tokyo.

Please be aware that you'll spend a good amount of traveling and I would advise a minimum of 8 days for this part.
For this itinerary it would be better to buy normal tickets, you could also look at a Hokuriku Pass.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

cisaacoff
cisaacoff
7 posts
about 9 years ago

Daniel, michvoo, Thank you for your answers.

Assuming that I do want to go from Kyoto to the Alps and end that portion of our trip in Hakone, besides Kanazawa and Takayama, what other places do you recommend visiting? I'm not tied to Guji Hachiman, especially since it seems complicated to get there. We do have about 7-8 days to spend in this region.

Please advise!

Thank you in advance.

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 9 years ago
Expert

Hi again!

Well there is much more you could visit. Gero-Onsen (onsen town near Takayama), Kamikochi, the Kurobe Alpine route and my previously mentioned Shirakawago all come to mind and make for very nice visits. Alternatively you could spend a day in Nagoya between traveling from Takayama to Matsumoto.

Kamikochi is easy to visit from Matsumoto by bus and is easy to fit in as a day trip.

There's a lot to explore and visit!


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