mar in japan

Hi there!

I think the best way to travel would be to use a 7 day JR Pass from day 3 to 9 and buy local tickets for the rest. Travel to Takayama - Nagano - Kyoto and back to Tokyo.

Now let's go a little more in detail, Yamanashi is a little out when you plan to travel on to Takayama but at the same so is Nagano. The difference in ticket price is (¥ 2,720) for Yamanashi from Tokyo and (¥ 8,170) for Nagano .

On to Takayama and Shirakawago, the area is beautiful to visit year round, however the snow season is coming to an end in March, so there may or may not be snow when you get there. Shirakawago village can be visited either as a trip or night's stay. If you have the time I would recommend staying the night as this is one of the only ways to experience to village light up, which is just beautiful!

As for going to Nagano or directly to Kyoto after, going to Nagano adds about 5 hours of travel time from Takayama and an other 4 hours travel time from Nagano to Kyoto. Depending on your own preferences it may be better to skip Nagano as it adds so much travel time.

I hope this helps!
Daniel