First trip to Japan

Hi there,

The most expensive routes are to Fuji Five lakes, Nikko and Kyoto. Make sure to cover these using your JR Pass and from there try to include as many as possible.

Going from Nikko to Kyoto, would indeed mean a transfer at Tokyo station.

I would also recommend a day trip to Hiroshima from Kyoto.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for that.

Going from what you have said I think the best option would be to activate it on our 3rd day and it would then cover us for the rest of our trip and include all those routes you mentioned which might be expensive, we have thought about a day trip to Hiroshima from Kyoto as well which i`m guessing would be quite expensive so that would be covered as well.

I saw that you mentioned that you had done a bit of the Kumono kodo yourself? What is the best place to stay? Would it be Tanabe?

Hi there,

I did not stay in Tanabe, though I'm sure it will be good for a nights stay. Personally I really enjoyed the area around Nachifalls and Kii-Katsura.

Thanks you, that area looks a lot nicer than Tanabe, especially with the falls.

One more questions and then I will leave you alone : )

Does the line going round the coast go all the way to Fuji lakes area? looking on the map it does seem to. I.e. Can i just go from Kii-Katsura station all the way there or would it be a case of going back to Osaka then out towards Fuji area?

Hi again :)

Maps can be deceptive, there is a railway up from Kii-katsura through Mie but this is not a JR line and would require additional fares. Using the JR Pass, you'd take the ltd. express from Kii-katsura to Shin-Osaka, then the Shinkansen from there.

From both options you'd travel to Mishima station and from there take a Fujikyu express bus to any of the five lakes. It's not that easy of a trip. A great alternative would be Hakone, which is a lot easier to access, offers more to do in terms of variety and has just as a good a view of Fuji-san.