20 day itinerary & JR Pass

Hi there!

Reading your plans as they are now, I'd recommend going for the 14 day JR Pass. You could indeed use it from the 14th - 7th and even use it for a day trip to Nikko on the 7th if you want to get the most out of your pass. Don't worry about accommodations not being available yet, most hotels and ryokans only make there availability known 3 months in advance. If you do find some place that you really like, it is best to contact the accommodations directly by email.

For the rest I think it looks like a great itinerary, only day that looks very busy to me is 25/11 when you visit Shibu Onsen - Nagano - Matsumoto to Takayama (bus)Stop by Hirasu Onsen, is this travel only or do you want to explore Nagano too? If so I'd recommend making a timetable before hand, the same is kinda true for visiting the Snow Money park. Actually getting there takes up a surprising amount of time, so be sure to calculate this in.

Hope this helps and let me know if I can help with anything!
Daniel

Thanks for the reply and it is likely that I will get a 14 day JR pass and I'm glad to know accommodation is still able to be booked. I'm happy with my itinerary but could you please tell me though is it the most efficient way (least travel time). My main concern is going from Kawaguchiko station to Matsumoto seems like its not very efficient. Would there be less travel time overall if I made the first destination of my itinerary Matsumoto continue my intinerary as normal and then when back in the Tokyo portion of my trip, from Tokyo do the first part of my itinerary as intended? Love to here what is best.

For the 25/11/2014 Shibu Onsen - Nagano - Matsumoto to Takayama (bus)Stop by Hirasu Onsen. Initially I was staying a night at Nagano after going to Matsumoto castle but I realised I had time to get to Yudanaka and see the snow monkeys so I skipped Nagano. Coming back on the 25/11 I thought maybe I would have time to just drop by and see Nagano city (like a temple) on my way to the Matsumoto-Takayama bus. Would that be possible to do in a day?

Hi again!

Travel for Kawaguchiko - Matsumoto is not too hard and only includes 1 transfer, the trip however does take about 3H. Here is the route in Hyperdia. You could return to Tokyo the evening before and travel to Matsumoto the following morning, this way you could spread your travel time a little. Either way you put it, traveling to Kawaguchiko will include a return from Tokyo or at least Otsuki station so it would not really matter when you place it.

Nagano is quite a nice city and good for a day of sightseeing, especially the temple at the head of the city is worth visiting. Adding a visit to Yudanaka and the snow money park is where I am a bit worried. You could easily spend 6H traveling from Nagano to the snow money park and back. This would leave little time for sightseeing specially if you would have an other 3H of travel coming from Kawaguchiko. Ideally it would be best to reserve a full day for visiting the monkey park.

Hope this helps with planning!
Daniel