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Travelling Tokyo-Sapporo-Kyoto-Hiroshima-Tokyo

jrahman
jrahman
about 7 years ago
1 response

Hello all:
OHAIYO GOZAIMASU (Good Morning) !
Please review and give your suggestion/advice on my family (4 members) vacation to Japan from May 01 ~ 15.

Questions:
- Can you please guide/suggest me if my plan below is reasonable ? - I am a little worried about the 'Golden Week' rush while travelling TOKYO->SAPPORO, any concern ? - What is the best train for travelling TOKYO->KYOTO->HIROSHIMA->TOKYO, when Nozomi is not permitted by JR Rail Pass ?

Completed so far:
Booked flight from North America to Haneda

In progress (not complete yet):
1. Hotels/AirBnB bookings and confirmation
2. JR Rail pass (Ordinary pass) purchase for 14 days

Planned itinerary:
TOKYO stay for 2 nights
TOKYO->SAPPORO (Tohoku Shinkansen to Hakodate then Hokuto Express to Sapporo)
SAPPORO stay for 3 nights
SAPPORO->TOKYO (Hokuto Express to Hakodate then Tohoku Shinkansen to Tokyo)
TOKYO stay for 1 night

TOKYO->KYOTO (?? I think Nozomi Shinkansen is not permitted by JR Rail Pass ??)
KYOTO stay for 2 nights

KYOTO->HIROSHIMA (?? I think Nozomi Shinkansen is not permitted by JR Rail Pass ??)
HIROSHIMA stay for 1 night

HIROSHIMA->TOKYO (?? I think Nozomi Shinkansen is not permitted by JR Rail Pass ??)
TOKYO stay rest of the vacation period

Toraneko
Toraneko
1303 posts
about 7 years ago

Hi,
You are correct that you cannot ride the Nozomi trains with the pass. During Golden Week, there is a lot of people traveling, so it'd be smart to make seat reservations when you know what train you want to ride. With the pass, they are free. Using the Hikari and Sakura bullet trains will serve you the best. Avoid the Kodama trains if you can for long distance since they stop at every single bullet train station.
Be aware that Tokyo to Sapporo is about 8 hours - you will arrive exhausted. Staying overnight and seeing Hakodate or northern Honshu would give you a welcome break. Hiroshima to Tokyo is nearly 5 hours with a good connection. You should not miss Miyajima there, and Iwakuni with its iconic historical bridge and mountaintop castle is great too.

Kyoto is worth a lot of attention, but don't skip Nara either. In Nara, the Todaiji Great Buddha is an extraordinary place, as well as many other historic temples, shrines and gardens in the area. After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5PM, you can zip over to Osaka for the evening. At night the city comes alive and has some great places to see, such as Dotonbori, plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg, and Abeno Harukas Bldg are wonderful. On another evening, you could also go and see Kobe.

Good luck.

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