General Ideas

Hi there!

I would recommend going for the 7 day JR Pass and visit Kyoto, Nara and Osaka within its validity period (just be sure to be back in Tokyo on the last day). Nara and Osaka make for great day trips from Kyoto, Osaka is just 30 minutes away and Nara can be reached within an hour.

While in Kyoto why not make a visit to Kobe as well? it's a nice city to visit and has a lot to offer.

Enjoy Japan!
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

thank you very much for the suggestion.
Actually I had a friend who went to Kobe, but didn't had enough spare time so he didn't see the city.

I was actually thinking of Hiroshima instead.

How long is the recommended stay in each city, and what is your recommendation for Ryokans and Onsens, Kyoto or Kinosaki Onsen?

A big Thank you from Portugal.

Hi Again!

It kind-of depends depends what you wish to see in each city but I would recommend a minimum of 2 days in Tokyo and Kyoto at least. You can see most of Nara in a day and going to Hiroshima for a day trip is also a great idea (it's a little less than 2 hours by train from Kyoto)!

Kyoto has some really great Ryokans, although I don't have a specific one I could recommend, instead read some reviews by past visitors and see how what they think. Great websites for these are Travel Advisor, Expedia and Japanican.

If you really want to visit a nice onsen town, Kinosaki is really worth it, although I would certainly recommend staying the night to really enjoy the atmosphere.

I hope this helps!
Daniel

Daniel,

one last question, this one related to the validity of the JR pass.
If I exchange the XO for a 7 day pass, lets say on the 23-Sept at 10:00, it is valid up to 30-Sept at 9:59, or it is seen as full days, from the 23rd (inclusive) to the 30th (exclusive).

Just to make sure I don't have any surprises when going to Tokyo.

Thanks

Hi Again!

I just had the same question in an other topic as well.

The Pass is valid for 7 consecutive days and the first day of use is counted as a full day. So for instance if you activate it on September 23rd, than it will be valid until the end of September 29th 23:59 (basically until midnight).

I hope this helps too!
-Daniel