Kyoto Nagoya w/ side trips on 7-day Rail Pass

Hi all,

I have some questions about our itinerary in late March/early April. I'm sure it's feasible, but I'd appreciate any feedback on it nonetheless. I'll be traveling with my wife, so I'd prefer to minimize hotel transfers. We'll be traveling on the JR Rail Pass.

I also have a couple of questions, which I'll post below.

Itinerary:
Day 1 - arrive NRT afternoon, get JR Rail Pass, go to Kyoto, arrive Kyoto at night, overnight in Kyoto.
Day 2 - Osaka day trip, overnight in Kyoto
Day 3 - Kyoto daytime, overnight in Kyoto
Day 4 - Kyoto morning, transfer to Nagoya, overnight in Nagoya
Day 5 - Day trip to Takayama (Old Town), overnight in Nagoya
Day 6 - Day trip to Kiso Valley (hike from Magome to Tsumago), overnight in Nagoya
Day 7 - Nagoya daytime, transfer to Tokyo, spend rest of trip in Tokyo.

- We've both been to Kansai numerous times, so we only need a couple of days there to enjoy the cherry blossoms.
- I visited Takayama years ago, but this will be my wife's first time. If I recall, a single day to see the old town should be enough time.
- We've never been to Kiso Valley, so we thought we'd try to squeeze that in. Maybe spend a 2-3 hours each in Magome and Tsumago and another couple of hours doing the hike.

Also, on day 1, after arriving at NRT, I'd like to send one suitcase (full of gifts for friends in Tokyo) to our hotel by takkyubin. The problem with this is the 7 day period we'll be away from Tokyo. Does anyone know if takkyubin will store our suitcase and send it to Tokyo the day of our arrival there (day 7)?

Thanks for any comments.

I have some questions about our itinerary in late March/early April.

What exact date is Day 1?

Itinerary:
Day 1 - arrive NRT afternoon, get JR Rail Pass, go to Kyoto, arrive Kyoto at night, overnight in Kyoto.

What time is your plane scheduled to land? It isn't clear from your post but I assume you know that you must buy the voucher for the JR Pass before you get to Japan, then you exchange the voucher for the actual JR Pass once you arrive. You cannot buy the JR Pass in Japan.

Day 2 - Osaka day trip, overnight in Kyoto
Day 3 - Kyoto daytime, overnight in Kyoto

Seems fine.

Day 4 - Kyoto morning, transfer to Nagoya, overnight in Nagoya

Do you plan on seeing anything in Nagoya or are you just using it to access Kiso Valley?

Day 5 - Day trip to Takayama (Old Town), overnight in Nagoya

Seems ok, try and arrive early if you can.

Day 6 - Day trip to Kiso Valley (hike from Magome to Tsumago), overnight in Nagoya

I'd check conditions before you go, but should be fine.

Day 7 - Nagoya daytime, transfer to Tokyo, spend rest of trip in Tokyo.

What do you plan to see in Nagoya?

- I visited Takayama years ago, but this will be my wife's first time. If I recall, a single day to see the old town should be enough time.

Agreed.

- We've never been to Kiso Valley, so we thought we'd try to squeeze that in. Maybe spend a 2-3 hours each in Magome and Tsumago and another couple of hours doing the hike.

Seems fine.

Also, on day 1, after arriving at NRT, I'd like to send one suitcase (full of gifts for friends in Tokyo) to our hotel by takkyubin. The problem with this is the 7 day period we'll be away from Tokyo. Does anyone know if takkyubin will store our suitcase and send it to Tokyo the day of our arrival there (day 7)?

Yes, you can specify a deliver date up to a week away.

Enjoy your trip!

What exact date is Day 1?
Day 1 is Mar 26. I know it might be a bit early for the cherry blossoms, but that's our schedule for better or for worse.

What time is your plane scheduled to land? It isn't clear from your post but I assume you know that you must buy the voucher for the JR Pass before you get to Japan, then you exchange the voucher for the actual JR Pass once you arrive. You cannot buy the JR Pass in Japan.

Flight is arriving NRT at 15:50. I figure it'll take 2 hours or so for immigration, baggage, customs, ATM, takkyubin, and JR rail pass voucher/pass exhange. We will be getting the rail pass voucher here in the US. I wasn't clear about that in the first post; thanks for mentioning it.

If we can catch NEX 44 to Tokyo at 18:19 and transfer to the Hikari 529 at 19:33, that'll put us in Kyoto at 22:11. If we can't get on the 18:19 departure from NRT, the next departure is at 18:52 (via Shinagawa) and that'll get us to Kyoto by 23:02. If we can't get on that, well, then we'll just either stay overnight in NRT or go into Tokyo or Yokohama and continue on the next morning.

Do you plan on seeing anything in Nagoya or are you just using it to access Kiso Valley?
We are just using Nagoya as a base for day trips to Takayama and Kiso Valley. As I mentioned, I'd like to minimize hotel transfers because I'll be traveling with my wife. If I were going solo, I would go Kyoto-Nagoya-Kiso-Tokyo, but the additional hotel transfers would be too stressful for my wife.

I've been to Nagoya when I was a child, but don't remember anything about it. If we have time, we'll probably wander around a bit, but don't have anything specific we'd like to see. Do you have any recommendations?

I'd check conditions before you go, but should be fine.
What kind of conditions should I check on in Kiso Valley? Weather? Hiking trail conditions?

Thanks for the reassurance about everything else. Glad it'll all work out :-)