Kyoto to Hiroshima to "Rabbit Island"

Hi there,

It's the first time somebody asking about this here, so I had to look into it as well.
It looks like a very interesting experience and I think that you could make a day trip there from Kyoto but visiting Hiroshima at the same day would be too much.

To get to the Island, take the train to Tadanoumi station, which is about 3 hours travel from Kyoto by train, the route is completely covered by the JR Pass. At Tadanoumi you can take the ferry to the island, the ferry runs very frequently and only takes 12 minutes.

I would suggest either visiting Hiroshima or Ōkunoshima (Rabbit Island) or Hiroshima as a day trip from Kyoto, visiting both would simply give you too much travel time to do anything. An alternative could be to stay a night or two at Hiroshima and make the trip from there.

Hope this helps!
Daniel

Thanks! I delighted to be able to give you a "new" question!
I am really looking forward to our trip. My one son just wants to ride the bullet trains all over the country -
Which leads me to another question.

I was reading about the Japanese Alps. Do you have a suggestion for a day of "riding the rails" or wide view train that would be an adventure in itself covered by the JP pass? Based from Tokyo, Kyoto or elsewhere?

That's one of the really nice things about the pass, you can just hop on any train you want.

As for routes worth travelling, one comes to mind right away, which is the route between Nagoya - Takayama on the Wide View Hida express, the train follows a river bed trough the Japanese alps. It is one of the most scenic routes in Japan and worth making by itself. Takayama btw is also worth visiting.

An other is the Kirishima train route between Kagoshima and Miyazaki, this route follows the southern coast shore of Kyushu but also trough the inland mountains. It's a very beautiful route but it may be a bit too far away from Kyoto/Tokyo.

Hope this helps too!
Daniel

Leading to more questions….
We have to be back at Narita on June 26th to catch a flight on the 27th.
If we are going to be in Kyoto from the 22-26th, can we leave early, and do the Nagoya -Takayama trip and end up at the airport using the JP pass?
If we want to stop in Takayama - should we spend the night of the 25th there?
What about luggage?

I read somewhere we can get our luggage delivered and that is easier - does JP have the service or is that independent?
Again thank you.
Anne

Hi Anne,

Given the travel time to Takayama, I would suggest spending the night there. Takayama is a very beautiful traditional town and offers more than enough to keep you occupied. For instance you could visit the old folk village or enjoy one of the local onsen.

For luggage, I think that you should be fine taking it with you. However there's a very convenient service called Takkyubin from Yamamoto transport. Which you can use to forward your luggage to your next accommodation in Japan. Details can be found here.

Hope this helps,
Daniel