Best order of travel

Hello Bobby, Sarah & Austin,

The first thing I can recommend is learning to plan with Navitime - this will help you find the best routes at any time of day that are valid with the JR Pass (use the Japan Rail Pass search function under tourist passes).

As for your itinerary, I think the pacing is done well - especially with a child. I think it would make sense to start in Hakone after your long flight. Where you can enjoy a relaxing onsen and the beautiful views the area has to offer. After I'd go to Osaka - Kyoto - (add) Kanazawa - Takayama - Nikko - Tokyo.

Kanazawa is a fun stop with plenty of nice things to see/do/eat, such as the historic geisha quarter, Kanazawa castle and Kenrokuen Garden and an easy stop to add to Takayama. You could then spend the last days in Tokyo, have fun shopping and enjoy Halloween in Shibuya.

I can also highly recommend a side trip from Tokyo to Nokogiriyama.

Hope this helps!
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

Thank you. As always, such a quick response with fabulous advice.

I have just had a look at Kanazawa. Looks to be the perfect extra stop on our holiday and somewhere new for us. I’ll be sure to use Navitime to explore the travel times for your recommended order of travel.

Nokogiriyama, a beautiful natural day trip. I’ll see how the little ones hiking legs are going. We plan to make a trip to Mount Takao-San. We know it’s busy, but worth it.

Kind regards
Sarah, Bobby & Austin

Hi Sarah, Bobby & Austin,

Both Takao-San and Nokogiri-yama have ropeways, so no need to hike.

(You can even just get a taxi to the top of both if you feel like cheating ;) )

Let me know if we can help with anything else :)
Daniel