Traveling between Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo

Hi there,

The JR Pass provides unlimited travel, you can make as many stops as you like, change your plan anytime and be as flexible as much as you like. That said, the JR Pass has a base price and you would need to cover at least this amount in travel to break even. A one way Kansai - Tokyo is not enough for this and you may want to add a bit more travel. You can use our JR Farecalculator to get an idea of costs involved.

To get good use out of your JR Pass, I would recommend going a bit south west and visit Hiroshima/Miyajima and possible Himeji. These would certainly add to your itinerary. Also be sure to read up on Onomichi, I think you may very much like it if you want to see a bit more of rural Japan.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Hi Daniel-san!

Thanks for your advice. We have looked into the places you suggested and they are really nice! But we've found that the way to the east is something we'd like to cover on this trip. We have seen that Japan has acually a lot of nature trails and October could be a good season to over them.

We will keep the first half of our itinerary (5 days for Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto). It's the days in between that we'd like help with :) From Kyoto, we plan to go to Shirakawa, Kamikochi, Nikko.

1) Is it possible to cover these three locations in four days? We are thinking of doing one night in the Kamigochi area during a hike.

2) Based on our own research, it looks a little tight so would like to ask for your recommendation beween Shirakawa go and Kamigochi?

3) Does the JR Pass cover these places? If so, can you suggest how we can get to these places via JR Pass?

4) Can we still make good use of the JR pass if we decide to go this route? We are more or less decided to get the 7-day JR Pass. We think of activating it around day 3/4 when we will be going around Kyoto, a day or so before we Kansai region.

5) Do you recommend booking all accomodations ahead of time for this season? We would like to kee our options open and book only selective places.

Thank you so much for the help!

Hi again,

1.) Shirakawago and Kamikochi both need a good amount of time to get too. I think you could manage if you stay the night in Kamikochi or Shirakawago but I'd plan the itinerary in full detail.

2.) To minimise travel, take the bus from Takayama to Kamikochi. Details can be found here: https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/

3.) The JR Pass will not cover the bus I'm afraid. However, the price of the bus will not break your bank or anything. You could use the train to travel between Takayama and Matsumoto but this takes a lot longer than a direct bus from Takayama to Kamikochi.

4.) To know for sure I'd have to see your day by day updated itinerary. It could be possible that using normal tickets or a regional pass would fit better.

5.) When you travel to cities it is generally no problen to find accomodation once you arrive, I would certainly book accomodations in more remote places for sure. Such as Kamikochi or Shirakawago (a stay in one of the local old houses can be amazing).

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Hello Daniel-san,

Thanks for your response! We will look into the bus option.

We more or less have an outline of what we want to do:

12 – Osaka
13 – Nara Day Trip, go to Kyoto by night
14 – Kyoto Day 1
15 – Kyoto Day 2
16 – Takayama
17 – Kamikochi, Overnight
18 – Kamikochi
19 – Matsumoto, go to Tokyo
20 – Tokyo
21 – Tokyo
22 –Tokyo

Do you think the time spent in each place is enough? I would like it if I can spend one more day in Tokyo. Otherwise, we will have 2.5 days for it.

We will book the accommodations in advanced, especially for Kamikochi.

Thank you for the help!

Hi again!

Yes, this looks like a very sensible itinerary and enough time to explore each place. Note that there is not that much choice for accommodation in Kamikochi. If you can't find a place there, then you can base yourself in Matsumoto and visit Kamikochi as a day trip.

I think 2.5 days is fine for Tokyo, there's a lot to do there but I think the overall atmosphere in the other places is better.

All the best,
Daniel

Thanks for the tips and confirmation Daniel-san!

My boyfriend and I are used to hiking in mountains and are interested to do some treks but it’s hard to find enough information online. If possible, we'd like your opinion about the treks in Kamikochi since there are so much to choose from. We want to make the most of our time there and get the best scenery and experience possible.

We first thought about Mount Hotaka, but the last part seems to be dangerous, Mount Yake looks also interesting.
Can you recommend us some treks in the region (not too easy but also not too hard). Is it possible to do a 2D 1N trek and stay overnight in a hotel/hostel in the mountain?

Are the paths well defined and with enough marks to don’t get lost?

For Kamikochi, I recommend doing the full circle. That's to Taisho pond in the west and Hotaka Shrine in the east. Then go up on the mountain too. I think the picture of a local map on this website is useful: http://www.wangtrain.com/2016/06/kamikochi-japan-day-in-japanese-alps.html

I see that you already have done some research regarding possible mountains. Mount Yari looks really good to me but could be a test of endurance. A map is here: http://www.clubtread.com/forumPix/195000/195273.jpg

There not that many locations to stay around Kamikochi, maybe I would look at them first and then plan a hike around that. There are some mountain huts too where you can stay.

Hope this helps,
Daniel