Japan Travel Itinerary March 2018

I am traveling to Japan in March 2018. Fly in and out of Tokyo from London. I am keen to visit Tokyo, Hakone, Shibu Onsen, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Miyajima. What would be the best way to plan our trip? We want to be efficient with the trains we use.

Thanks

This is a question that comes up very frequently and you can find most of your answers by searching this forum. Unless you let us know how long you are in Japan for it will be difficult for people to offer much help. In your case the complication is Shibu Onsen as it is not on the general route between your other destinations.

You really need to give a length of visit for your trip. Here are some basic tips.

Most likely, the great and powerful JR Pass will help you. Please don't expect a great beam of light to shine on you, and to hear a choir of angels, when the pass is handed to you. There are lots and lots of places where the great and powerful JR Pass has no effect. Those places are mostly placed where there is a lot of tourism. The JR Pass will get you from one location to another, say Tokyo to Kyoto, but when you reach a location, expect to use private transportation to see attractions.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

Hakone is an example of this.

Visit Hakone from Tokyo, and get a "Hakone Free Pass". The private transportation of the Round Course is not covered by a JR Pass.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

Depending on the length of your JR Pass, you will either get the "Free Area" one which starts at Odawara Station (served by JR), or you will get the one that goes into Tokyo. If your final day of your JR Pass ends up at Odawara Station for Hakone, just get the "Free Area" pass, and then pay the single ticket back to Tokyo.

A JR Pass is expensive, but pays off if you go further than just the Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo trip. You have two additional side trips, one to Hiroshima, and another to Nagoya. As far as the JR Pass is concerned, it gets you to Nagoya, and private rail and busses get you to the onsen and the snow monkeys. Since the JR Pass is expensive, you don't necessarily want it active while in Tokyo. The other location is Kyoto, in that most of the attractions are along bus lines, and not train lines.

Count the days that you expect to be out of Tokyo, (Hakone counts as "in Tokyo"). Try to make this 7 days or less, so that you can get a 7 day pass. IF your "Outside Tokyo" ends up 9 or 10 days, think about getting a discount bullet train to Kyoto, and then using the Kyoto bus system to explore before activating your JR Pass.

Many people also plan a visit to Mount Koya, with a temple stay. This is another time when private train lines are used, and the great and powerful JR Pass does not help. There are private line passes to get to Mount Koya, and you may want one of these. If you end up going to Kyoto on a discount Ticket, stick mount Koya next on your trip, and expect to use on of these private passes. Then activate the JR Pass for the rest of the trip.

Another factor for your trip is which airport you are going to fly in and out of. Narita is further away from Tokyo, and can cost some to get to and from. IF you fly in and out of Narita, think about having the JR Pass end on the final day, so that you can use it to ride the NEX (Narita Express) from Tokyo to the airport.

Finally, you do not mention Takayama as a possible place. There is a very nice spring festival in Takayama mid April, and I would suggest going to it. You can get to it -via- a JR Pass, but it is also possible to take a highway bus from either Tokyo or Kyoto. It is also possible to not get the single discount ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto, and get the two highway bus ticket to Takayama, and spend a few days there on your trip. This also extends your time without a JR Pass outside of Tokyo.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5900.html
https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/

Besides the highway busses into Takayama, there are links to the tour busses from Takayama on the Nohi bus link.

This will get you started.
Good Luck, in planning your trip.

I think previous poster might have meant Nagano not Nagoya. ^^;;

Thanks for your responses all.

We will be in Japan for 15 nights.

Thinking of spending 4 nights in Tokyo, 1-2 nights in Hakone, 3-4 nights in Kyoto, 1-2 nights in Osaka, 1 in Hiroshima and 1 Miyajima.

Slightly confused with how to get from one place to another.

Some friends have recommended Shibu Onsen for 2 nights - but really don't know how we can accommodate this in our trip. It looks amazing though and any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks all

Some quick questions...

Is there a reason you want to spend 1 night in Hiroshima and 1 night in Miyajima? They're only about 30-45 minutes apart. You can also easily day trip to both from Kyoto/Osaka depending on what you plan to do at both locations. I'm going to day trip to Miyajima and Iwakuni from Kyoto in June.

And again, you can easily day trip from Kyoto to Osaka (or vice versa) since they're only 30-45 minutes apart depending on where you are going i Kyoto/Osaka. I'd personally only stay in both if you had plans to visit Universal Osaka, because amusement parks it tends to behoove you stay as close as you can possibly afford to beat the crowds.

Depending on what you wanted in Hiroshima/Miyajima, you might be able to slip in a visit to Shibu onsen on the way out to Kansai. You can take the shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano, then take the private line to Shiba onsen. If you pick the right ryokan to stay in overnight they will drive you to the monkey park. You then catch a train back to Nagano and can either back track to Tokyo or continue onto Kanazawa and then take the Thunderbird down to Osaka or Kyoto. I'm not sure which Hyperdia recommends, but one plus of the latter route is if you have time stopping over in Kanazawa.

You might be able to make a 1 week pass work if you arrive in Hakone the last day of your pass, you can then take the Odakyu (private) line back to Tokyo assuming you are flying into and out of Tokyo.

Oops... Yeah, I meant Nagano.

Go as late in March as you can, if you want to see cherry blossoms. The usual "best" time is the last week in March/first week in April.

For the length of time that you're going, I would suggest starting in Tokyo, and seeing what you want to there first. Hakone can be tagged on at the beginning or end of your trip

I will suggest that you get either a 7 or 14 day JR pass. The discount ticket/7 day option is a little less in cost, but you may make that up with some use on the extra days. For instance, getting from Tokyo to Hakone can be done using the JR pass, so some of the extra cost of a 14 day pass will be in getting just a "free area" Hakone pass.

Some of this "I don't know how to" is a bit confusing. Have you ever ridden on a train? In general, you enter the station, and then you go to the ticket counter and get a ticket. If you have a JR pass, you show it to the clerk for payment of the ticket, otherwise, you will have to pay for the ticket. If the train does not have reserved seating, you can not bother getting a ticket with the JR pass. Your then go through the turn style or, you flash the JR pass at the manned entrance to the train platforms. When your train arrives, you get on...... And so forth.....

There are also IC cards that allow you to pay for tickets. The IC cards also work to get you past the turn styles. The system records when you started your journey, when you swipe the IC card at the turn style. The fare for your trip is deducted at the end of your trip when swipiwhexitwhenthethethe turn styles.

If this is still confusing, try some on the articles here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e627.html

Think about getting a IC card, to supplement the JR pass.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html

Since you are staying 15 nights, you will need transport for 16 days. Even if you do get a 14 day pass, you will have two days not covered. The IC card may be handy on these two days as well.

These question are asked over and over and over and over again on this site. So please look around and read several articles.

Additional tip: do your train travel in the early morning, or early evening. You can check in or out of your hotel, and have them hold your luggage until the afternoon for you. For many attractions, your daylight time is when you will be visiting, so travel between locations outside of this time.

I would, for instance, suggest one night stay near Hiroshima close to Hiroshima Station. Go in the early morning, and drop your luggage off at the hotel. You will then visit either Miyajima Island or Hiroshima during the day. Check into the hotel at the end of the day. In the morning, check out and have your luggage held, so that you can visit the other location. You will return at the end on the day to collect you luggage and move on to another location. Staying close to a station, or even at the station, will make this work better for you.

Good luck.

Thanks for your responses all.

We will be in Japan for 15 nights.

Thinking of spending 4 nights in Tokyo, 1-2 nights in Hakone, 3-4 nights in Kyoto, 1-2 nights in Osaka, 1 in Hiroshima and 1 Miyajima.

Slightly confused with how to get from one place to another.

Some friends have recommended Shibu Onsen for 2 nights - but really don't know how we can accommodate this in our trip. It looks amazing though and any suggestions would be welcome.

My standard reply. Stay in fewer cities & do day trips.
I would(as I have done before) suggest something like the following.

3 nights Tokyo
5 nights Kyoto
3 nights Hiroshima
3 nights Tokyo
1 night added wherever you need more time

From Tokyo you can day trip to Hakone. From Kyoto you can day trip to Osaka. From Hiroshima you can Day trip to Miyajima. The advantage of day trips is that you can check the weather & for instance not go to Hakone when there is heavy rain etc.

I agree with Stan about fewer destinations as well. Unless you are one of those people who is extremely good at packing light, every time you move hotels, you need to move your luggage or pay to move your luggage. Some trains can be fine for suitcases (airport trains) but I personally do not enjoy taking actual suitcases on local trains and I think taking anything larger than a small backpack on Kyoto buses is awful.

If it were me, assuming you were flying into and out of Tokyo I would prob do:

3 nights Tokyo (get yourself settled, look at things around Tokyo)
2 nights Hakone (I'd take the Odakyu line to Hakone, on the Romance line from Shinjuku and buy one of the specials that includes the free pass. I actually enjoyed Hakone in the rain, but it was also hydrangea season so they were quite pretty. The other option is don't take the Odakyu and arrive at Hakone late post visiting Kamakura, just pick a hotel/ryokan near the Tozan line so you can easily get there even if it is late. I'd also take a small overnight bag and forward my big stuff onwards.)
5 nights Kyoto you can day trip to Miyajima/Hiroshima depending on how much time you wanted to spend, It's just a matter of how early you want to leave. You can enjoy a lot of nightlife in Osaka and as long as the place you are staying is walking distance from Kyoto Station, you can catch the last train from Osaka at close to midnight. I'd personally stay in Kyoto over Osaka. I think the accommodations in Kyoto are nicer for your money unless you want to visit Universal, which will be a mob scene. In that case you need to stay at one of the resorts walking distance.
1 night in Shibu onsen, sending your bags onwards to Tokyo, taking the Thunderbird up to Kanazawa and seeing the garden and then continuing onto Nagano.
4 nights Tokyo (spend much of the day before you arrive in Tokyo at Shibu onsen/Monkey park and seeing Zenkoji or Togakushi before going to Tokyo.

This is assuming you want to be budgetary by getting only a 1 week pass. If you want to have more flexibility and get a two week pass, I would do:
3 nights Tokyo
1 night Hakone
7 nights Kyoto
1 night Shibu onsen
3 nights Tokyo
I personally like having a night or two in my ending destination rather than just racing to make a flight, but everyone varies. I would plan my 14 day rail pass to end on my last day, and I guess when back in Tokyo could make long day trips like Sendai or Hiraizumi or well all sorts of places. A lot depends on what you want to do and how much you want to sit on trains.

Thanks Stan and Rkold - these are very good suggestions. I think you are right in that we should stay in fewer locations, I didn't realise the movement of luggage would be a big issue.

There will be 7 adults and 1 baby with us, hence I thought if we stay in each of the locations it might be easier.

Just a FYI we fly into Tokyo on Saturday 10th March 2018 and depart Tokyo on Sunday 25th March 2018.

We will most likely go for the 2 weeks pass - if it makes it easier for us to get around.

I do like the look of this itinerary:

3 nights Tokyo
1 night Hakone
7 nights Kyoto
1 night Shibu onsen
3 nights Tokyo

On this basis with the 2 week JR pass how would we go about travelling to and from each of these locations? Also how do we get to Shibu Onsen from Kyoto? How easy is it to get to Tokyo from Shibhu Onsen.

I think we are getting there ;-)

Really really appreciate the help thus far.

That looks pretty good. Bear in mind that although the hotels will hold your luggage before check in you won't be able to get into the hotel rooms till about 3pm & will have to check out by 10 or 11 am. So your one night stays don't allow that much time in a place. People will probably tell you that the JRP wont pay off but if you are doing day trips it just makes things that much easier. If there are that many of you then you also have the ability to split into two groups aif people want to see different things.

Shibu Onsen is quite out of the way to your other locations listed. so you'll probably need two nights so you can actually have a decent amount of time there. I would consider omitting it unless you are really desperate to go to it. As other locations you've listed have onsen facilities.

Tokyo 3 nights
Kyoto 5 or 6 nights
Hiroshima 2 nights
Hakone 1 or 2 nights
Tokyo 3 nights

I'm afraid I would have to disagree with Hakata. It's not that hard to get to ^^;

For the issue Stan brought up, I personally use a small overnight bag and send on my big suitcases to the next location I am staying at for a long period of time, so in the case of the potential itinerary in your post:
From Narita, I would send my suitcases to Tokyo depending on where I am staying. If it's somewhere a Nex or Skyliner goes to, I would take it with me, if it's somewhere I will need to take subways too, maybe not? I don't know your budget and how fancy you want to get with hotels etc. When Leaving Tokyo forward on your suitcases to Kyoto, take a small bag with a change of clothes for the next day to Hakone. If you arrive in Hakone before 1 I think there is same day baggage transfer from Hakone Yumoto Station so even if the place you are staying is on a bus line, it's a non issue. When you get to Kyoto on day 5 your big suitcase is waiting. :D When you leave Kyoto, forward your bag back to Tokyo and take the same small overnight bag to Shibu Onsen.

I want to say now, I agree with Stan while a rail pass doesn't cover everything, sometimes it is nice to have a 2 week and just not need to worry. If you have a pass it would make sense to stay places where it behooves you the most, so in Tokyo stay off a JR line vs the subway. On my next trip, I could technically try to cut travel down to 1 week and spend more time in Tokyo, but I know me. I don't want to spend more time in Tokyo. (especially since in Tokyo I prefer expensive hotels so by extending my pass, I can travel more and recoup the cost of the pass in cheaper non-Tokyo hotels.)

In terms of Shibu onsen, Hyperdia recommends taking the Thunderbird to Kanazawa and changing there for the Horikuru shinkansen to Nagano. At Nagano you transfer to the private Nagano electric railway and take it until Yudanka Station. (Occasionally you need to transfer on that line.) From Yudanka, pick a ryokan that has pick up/and takes you the monkey park and you are set! (or cab it or walk it, it's about 2km away.) I would make sure to pick a ryokan/hotel that offers free shuttle to the monkey park and Yudanka pick-up/drop-off, quite a few do. The route will take between 315 minutes and 335 including transfers but not sightseeing. I would personally visit Kanazawa on the way out and try to get to Yudanka closer to 5 or 5:30, but that is me. It is doable, but I guess some people consider traveling 5-5.5 hours on the train is too much? I don't know, since Hiroshima to Tokyo is also around 4.5-5 hours also. I guess that is why I wold break it up. If you left Kyoto around 9, you would have more than enough time to see Kanazawa. Going back to Tokyo is even easier! And takes about 178 minutes with transfers. You get back to Yudanka Station, take the Nagano Electric Railway back to Nagano and catch the shinkansen back to Tokyo. Easy-peasy macadeasy as my daughter would say. Personally, if it were me, I would go to the Monkey Park post breakfast (cause honestly other than onsening small onsen towns like Shibu onsen don't offer much post dinner) and then go to Nagano, see Zenkoji and then head to Tokyo. There are shinkansen at least once an hour from Nagano to Tokyo, probably more often.

Just be aware the Nagano electric line is not covered by the JR Pass just like the Tozan line in Hakone. For the JR pass with 14 days, you either start it when you arrive on Sat or on Sunday the 11th. I guess it would depend on if the hotel you are first staying in is near a Skyliner or a JR station. (Since the Skyliner is private) You take either a NEX or a Skyliner to/from Narita to Tokyo depending on where you are staying. When going to Hakone, take the shinkansen to Odawara and transfer there to the private line to go to Hakone Yumoto. I think you can get a pass in Odawara for Hakone, a lot depends on what you plan to do there to see if it is worth it. You leave Hakone by going back to Odawara and transferring to a shinkansen to Kyoto. From Kyoto to Osaka there are many many routes it depends on where you are trying to get there and when you are leaving, hyperdia is your friend for the fastest route at any given time. Kyoto to Hiroshima is a shinkansen ride, then transfer to a local JR line to Miyajima or take a tram or walk around Hiroshima, only the train to Miyajima (and subsequent ferry) is included with your pass. And I've detailed above how to get to Shibu onsen. Hyperdia is VERY helpful in plotting exactly what you want to do.

Thank you all for your help thus far - this blog is incredibly useful!

Do you all live in Japan? Or have you been multiple times? I am quite impressed with the knowledge shared.

Actually thinking about this, because we will have a 1 year old baby with us maybe Shibu Onsen will be out of the way for us. 5-6 hours journey time might be too long for us.

Instead of going to Shibu Onsen, it might be better for us to do 2 nights in Hakone.

Also Osaka nightlife looks amazing, plus it might be too rushed for us to get back to Kyoto for the night. Hence could it be worth staying in Osaka for 2 nights?

Also is it possible to do Hiroshima and Miyajima in a one day trip? So we leave early from Kyoto, see all the main sights in Hiroshima and Miyajima and come back to Kyoto for the night....I am just concerned with a 1 year old baby whether we should stay 1 night in Hiroshima.

But I totally agree with all the comments above in terms of staying longer in places - it's much easier with regards to luggage purposes.

How about something like this:

3 nights Tokyo
2 nights Hakone
5 nights Kyoto (including day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima)
2 nights Osaka
3 nights Tokyo

Do you think something like this would work? Is it easy to get to Tokyo from Osaka? Or is it easier to get to Tokyo from Kyoto?

Thanks all!

That looks pretty much what I would do. Osaka & Kyoto are both on the same line so there is no difference in the access to Tokyo. Personally I prefer Kyoto

Regarding your question about Hiroshima. The answer is inevitably that it depends. If you want to just see Miyajima and the A bomb dome etc then fine but if you want to take the ropeway up Mount Misen and explore a bit more then it might be a bit rushed. You might a day trip to Nara for the deer park & giant Buddha instead. The lovely thing about day trips is that you can decide on the day.

Don't forget many museums/ galleries etc are closed on Mondays so that makes it an ideal travel day

Thanks Stan for your insight.

Maybe we go for something like:

3 nights Tokyo
2 nights Hakone
7 nights Kyoto (including day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima, day trip to Osaka, day trip to Nara, etc)
3 nights Tokyo

I'm a bit confused whether to stay in Osaka or not?! I know we can easily get there from Kyoto however.....

Also if we do want to stay a night Miyajima - do you think the Kyoto hotel would store our luggage for one night?

So do something like:

3 nights Tokyo
2 nights Hakone
3 nights Kyoto
1 night Miyajima
3 nights Kyoto
3 nights Tokyo

Thoughts?

Agreeing with Stan again in terms of staying in Kyoto the whole time, I guess if you wanted to change some things you could do:

3 nights Tokyo
2 nights Hakone
3 nights Kyoto
1 night Hiroshima/Miyajima (Hiroshima has more nightlife, Miyajima is more scenic and has more ryokans)
3 nights Kyoto
3 nights Tokyo

If you stayed in the same hotel for all 6 nights in Kyoto, they might be willing to hold your luggage the one night you stay in Miyajima/Hiroshima or you can take this as a way to try two different hotels within Kyoto, or I think the left luggage facility in Kyoto Station might be willing to hold bags overnight. A lot depends on where you are staying.

I am not really sure what sort of nightlife you think you will be enjoying in Osaka with a baby or are you planning to split up? Just be aware even if you stay in Osaka around midnight/1 all trains and subways stop, so unless you are staying walking distance from where you are enjoying the nightlife, you will still need to finish everything by around midnight/1 just like if you want to return to Kyoto. (Unless you are planning to do all night karaoke, in which case you just paid for a hotel you are not using.) All cities in Japan have no transportation from around 12:30/1 until I think 4 or 5 things start up again. (I am generally not on the last train or first, I do like an early start but not THAT early, so someone else can give you exact times.) This can be an issue in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, any city. I personally just find hotel rooms in Osaka are small for the money, except if you stay near Universal, but then the problem is you are staying near Universal and have to do a bunch of transfers to get anywhere else unless you get the one or two direct trains. How long it takes to get from Kyoto or Osaka to Tokyo varies more on where you choose to stay. They're almost the same distance, but if you pick to stay somewhere in Osaka with lots of transfers to Shin-Osaka vs stay at Kyoto station, it will just take longer. *shrugs* The more transfers the longer things take. I think where you plan to stay in each location can make a huge difference. I was originally going to do 3 nights in Osaka and 3 in Kyoto on my next trip since I have several friends who live in Osaka, but realized with transfers, I would rather just be in Kyoto.

Agree with Stan that Nara is a great day trip. I also love Uji, it's on the way from Kyoto to Nara on the JR line. Depending on crowd level, Himeji is also lovely to visit and easy to reach from Kyoto and Osaka.

I think most shinkansen have baby changing tables, though I have never personally used them. I've never lived in Japan, just visited over 30x and once with a child. :D

Thanks to you both for your answers very helpful!

So after all the playing around with itineraries - I think we will go for:

3 nights Tokyo
2 nights Hakone
7 nights Kyoto (including day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima, day trip to Osaka, day trip to Nara, etc)
3 nights Tokyo

As we are going in March 2018 - when do you think we should start booking hotels/ryokans? As there will be 7 adults and 1 baby, in some locations we may also consider Air BnB.

Our exact dates will be 10th March to 25th March - what is the approximate weather around this time? Is it still cold? Or do we start seeing more Spring weather? We will need this information to know what sort of clothing to bring to Japan...

We really hope we get good weather in Hakone, as would be a shame not be able to see Mt Fuji due to cloud cover. This out of our control I guess!

Getting very exciting ;-)

Start looking at hotels about 6 months in advance, many hotel booking sites allow free cancellation so you can book while still looking for somewhere nicer. About the weather, you say you are flying from London so I would say that the weather would generally be similar to that in England 3 or 4 weeks later. It can be very cold first thing in the morning but will warm up quickly. The Cherry blossoms will not be out but the plum blossoms will.