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tourmania
tourmania
about 7 years ago
1 response

I'm planning a trip to Japan during summer July 4 to Aug 1.
I’m planning to purchase the 21 day Japan Rail Pass.

Here's what I have in mind, please check and correct the routes.
I’m open to suggestion and changes to my itinerary.
Thank You!

July 5 - Tokyo
July 6 - Tokyo
July 7 - Tokyo
July 8 - Tokyo -> Nagano (activate JR Pass)
July 9 - Nagano -> Matsumoto
July 10 - Matsumoto -> Takayama (BY Bus?)
July 11 - Takayama -> Shirakawa-Go -> Kanazawa (BY Bus)
July 12 - Kanazawa
July 13 - Kanazawa ->Kyoto
July 14 - Kyoto ->Nara -> Osaka
July 15 - Osaka
July 16 - Osaka -> Kobe -> Hiroshima
July 17 - Hiroshima -> Fukuoka
July 18 - Fukuoka
July 19 - Fukuoka -> Nagoya
July 20 - Nagoya -> Shizuoka
July 21 - Shizuoka -> Atami
July 22 - Atami ->Kanagawa
July 23 - Kanagawa ->Kamakura
July 24 - Kamakura -> Tokyo
July 25 - Tokyo -> Nikko
July 26 - Nikko
July 27 - Nikko -> Tochigi
July 28 - Tochigi -> Tokyo
July 29 - Tokyo
July 30 - Tokyo
July 31 - Tokyo
Aug 1 - Going home!

Toraneko
Toraneko
1303 posts
about 7 years ago

Hi,
I think you've done a great job planning your itinerary. Going from Matsumoto to Takayama would have to be paid out of pocket for the bus (¥3190) but saves you a lot of time. You might find Takayama these days to be a bit too touristy. If so, then go up a bit to Hida-Furukawa for a lot of the same atmosphere without the tourists.

One thing I might change is that since you are already going to see Tokyo, Osaka is rather redundant, and I noticed you have not listed Himeji, which has Japan's best castle. Keep Osaka for the evening after the temples in Kyoto close around sunset.

For Hiroshima, you might fit in Miyajima and Iwakuni as well if you like.
Fukuoka is sadly an often ignored city and some just use it as a jumping off point. But there are many good places to see, which you can listed here. The Nanzoin Temple in particular is extraordinary, yet so unknown that the tourist guidebooks and online guides have never discovered it. If you can fit it in, a day trip to Nagasaki is also very worthwhile.

The rest of your itinerary is a bit murky. I don't know what you plan to see in Kanagawa, Atami (although Izu is great), Shizuoka or Tochigi. For Kamakura, you can also include Enoshima for some very good scenery.
For your time in Tokyo, you can use a 2 or 3 day subway pass and if you're using Narita, there is the 1000 yen bus.

Good luck.


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