Travel to Sapporo, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto

hi
My husband and I are travelling to Japan from November 21- december 5, 2014

the following is our proposed itineraries,

Nov 21- Haneda aiport - Hakodate
Nov 22- Sapporo
Nov 23- Sapporo
Nov 24- Sapporo
Nov 25 - Sapporo
Nov 26- Sapporo- Tokyo
Nov 27- Tokyo
NOv 28- Tokyo- ( Fujisan)
Nov 29- Tokyo- Kyoto
Nov 30- Kyoto
Dec 1- Kyoto
Dec 2- Kyoto
Dec 3- Kyoto- Osaka
Dec 4- Osaka
Dec 5- Osaka- back home

what do you think of the above itineraries? practical? What do you think of the inter region transfer- Tokyo- sapporo- kyoto? JR Rail pass will be a better deal?
days allocation Ok? or will it be too many days in sapporo itself?

hope to hear your comments

thanks lots

Elaine

Elaine,
I might be wrong but I would suggest to go to Sapporo (Shin-Chitose) Airport instead of Hakodate as it would be like backtracking going to Sapporo and then back. Just my opinion.

The trip from Sapporo to Tokyo takes roughly 10 hours if doing it in one go, unless you plan on going by night train I would suggest doing a stop-over in either Hakodate or Aomori. From Sapporo to Hakodate is about 3,5 h by train, passing by Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, Onuma-Koen, etc. Then from Hakodate is about 6 h to Tokyo, or from Aomori about 3,5 h. (Hakodate to Aomori 2 h).

Are you planning on spending all time in Sapporo or sidetrips too?

Also if you go from Hakodate in the morning (rather than arriving there in the afternoon from Haneda) you can try out the morning market and buy a fish and rice breakfast. A bit expensive but so fresh if you like fish of course.

Might be too many days in Sapporo, 2 could be fine depending on your preferences of what to do. You could do some sidetrips from there as well.

For Japan Rail Pass. The 1 week cost 29 110 yen, 2 week cost 46 390 yen.

A trip from Sapporo to Tokyo + Tokyo to Kyoto would be roughly 36 900 yen without seat reservations (except for Shin-Aomori to Tokyo where seat reservation is needed).

That would cover a 1 week pass. For the 2 week pass it would mean about 9500 yen of travel on JR to cover it up. For example 4-5 one-way trips to Asahikawa from Sapporo.


Or a one-way trip Hakodate-Sapporo + Kyoto-Osaka.


But if you are just staying in Sapporo and Kyoto and Tokyo without doing very long side-trips I would just recommend a 1 week pass.

Unless you've already been to Tokyo and Kyoto, it's too much time in Sapporo and too little in Kyoto and Tokyo, specially Tokyo.

hi All
thanks for your inputs.

We are planning to purchase JR pass to travel to sapporo/tokyo/kyoto and osaka- looking at 14 days pass.

btw, of course, we are planning to do some side trip from Sapporo, after reading your comments, we shall forgo Hakodate, straight to Sapporo and side trip to Otaru, any other side trip from Sapporo which is worth visiting?

revised itineraries as follows;
Nov 21-24 - Sapporo ( 4 nights)
Nov 25-29 - Tokyo ( 4 nights)
Nov 30-Dec 2- Kyoto ( 4 nights)
Dec 3-5 Osaka ( 2 nights)

what do you guys think about the above revised itineraries? NOt sure 4 nights in Kyoto will be too many?

Is it necessary to purchase internal transport passes when we are in kyoto and sapporo? or JR Rail pass is sufficient?

oh ya, can we still see colors in Tokyo and Kyoto during that time? any must visit places that we must not missed?

thanks again

Elaine

I would actually suggest flying between Haneda - Sapporo (Shin-chitose) - Tokyo.
Then the rest from Tokyo - Mt. Fuji - Kyoto - Osaka can be done by trains. But you won't need any train pass, you can buy individual train tickets.

Why Tokyo-Sapporo-Tokyo-Kansai? It would make more sense to visit Tokyo first, then fly to Sapporo, and then fly from Sapporo to Osaka. Both flights can be done with LCCs too (Jetstar and Peach respectively), so it would probably come out much cheaper than any train option, even with a JR Pass.