We are 4 adults visiting Japan in April 2018. Our Itinerary is as follows.
Reach Narita 14th April 9.00 AM. Go to Kyoto directly.
Kyoto 4 nights from 14th to 18th.
Want to see Kyoto, Osak & Hiroshima from Kyoto itself
On 18th evening reach Tokyo.
5 night stay. 18th to 23rd. Dep from Narita 23rd at 11.00 AM
Want to see Tokyo, Mt. Fuji & Hanoke.
my questions are
1. JR pass I will purchase from you in advance but exchange will be possible at Narita or not?
2. Is my Itinerary perfect? I have to do hotel bookings. Will you suggest any change?
3. I think 7 day jR pass is sufficient? It will expire on 20th midnight. on 19th I will use it for Mt. Fuji &
on 20th for Hanoke( to & fro only by bullet train). Is it OK
4. What I will do for remaining 3 days. 21, 22, & 23rd April to explore Tokyo? I think I should take Metro pass.
5. What will be cheapest way to go to Narita from Tokyo on 23rd April.
Liz reply soon
Dr. Goyal. India
Japan tour.
Hi there,
1.) Yes, you can exchange the pass at any time when you are in Japan and select a first day of use. In other words, you don't have to start using it right away.
2.) Your itinerary looks good to me, with a nice variety of options.
3.) Yes, a 7 day JR Pass would be enough if you can travel to Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima with it and make the return to Tokyo.
4.) The cheapest way would be to use an express bus. Details are here:http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
Kind regards,
Daniel
Hello,
Your plans look good but please be aware that from Kyoto to Hiroshima is, with the best connections, about 2 hours one way - you should get an early morning start. With all your time in Kansai, I highly recommend at least half a day to see Nara. It was also a former capital and has some of Japan's best sights. Missing the Todaiji Great Buddha would be a tragedy. Nara Park has a lot of other great places, such as the Kasuga Grand Shrine, Kofukuji Temple, and feeding the many deer in the area.
Since you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5 PM, you can zip over to Osaka for the evening. At night the city comes alive and has some great places to see, such as Dotonbori, plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg, and Abeno Harukas Bldg are exquisite.
On another evening, if you still have some energy you could also go and see Kobe.
For Tokyo, if you want to use a subway, you might consider a 2 or 3 day subway pass.
Hakone has a number of good sights to see, and if you haven't planned it elsewhere, visiting a hot spring at least once in Japan is a great idea. Hakone has some famous ones, but you can find them all over. Using a Hakone Free Pass is a good way to save some money. The Loop Course is a common way to see all the sights and takes a full day.
Best of luck.
