Jun 28 until July 06 It may well be in a rainy season. Get prepared for rain and moist air.
UKTraveller:
You can use Hyperdia for timings Now it is too early to use a route-finding tool. For example Hyperdia is supporting timetables for only until March 2013. And, railroad diagrams may get revised in March.
UKTraveller:
Maybe you should make a priority list, with the "must-dos" for each day at the top, and then the "optional-dos". I agree....
It is amazing to me that you have gathered many pieces of information on various cultural aspects of my country. However, you seem to have not yet got enough correct and detailed information on some of them. For example, Umeda Sky Building and Yodobashi Umeda Building are located apart, as you can see in the map in the following article.
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http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4009.htmlCan I use JR pass to airport limousine from Shinjuku Washington Hotel to Haneda? No. This airport limousine is not a JR bus.
In Osaka City, non-JR rail (mainly subway) will be more useful for your trips.
In Kyoto City, non-JR bus and rail will be more useful for your trips.
Fares for bus in Nara City and Disney Resort Line monorail are not covered by a Japan Rail Pass.
Odaiba or Asakusa is not served by JR.
Is it possible to visit them all? I suppose it is not practically possible, even if it is logically possible, considering that three of the four will be first-time travelers and they will include two children.
And, I suggest you would make one more Kyoto daytrip and narrow down sites to visit in Osaka and in Tokyo.
: Day 1 (June 28) for arrival to KIX, Nara trip and Osaka trips (along subway Midosuji Line).
: Days 2 and 3 (June 29 and 30) for Kyoto trips. Note that Manga Museum will be closed from July 1 through 4, 2013.
: Day 4 (July 1) for Osaka trip (bay area).
: Day 5 (July 2) for Hiroshima and Miyajima trips.
: Day 6 (July 3) for heading to Tokyo and Tokyo trip (Akihabara).
: Day 7 (July 4) for Tokyo trips (Asakusa and Odaiba) or maybe Matsumoto trip.
: Day 8 (July 5) for Tokyo DisneySea.
: Day 9 (July 6) for Tokyo trips (around Shinjuku) and departure from HND.
How is view of Matsumoto castle on early July? I have never visited Matsumoto Castle in July, but I assume it is not the best season to visit Matsumoto for the first time.
(I made a Matsumoto trip in November 2012. I was forgetting the fact that the dungeon of Matsumoto Castle is difficult to climb up (like that of Himeji Castle), but from the Main Keep I had nice views of the town and mountains in the time of foliage.)
[Tokyo DisneySea, Odaiba and Asakusa]
I recommend you would stay for the previous night in one of Tokyo Disney Resort Official Hotels, which will bring you a benefit of guaranteed admission to the park.
I guess that a Tokyo Disney park on a weekday in the first week of July is not extremely crowded as a whole, but even if you are given this benefit, you may need to wait for some attractions.
Or, if you are OK to pick up in advance your tickets for TDS at Ticket Center, you are given a similar benefit by ordering your tickets via the official reservation website.
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http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/about/rh/official.html-
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/online/en/plan/ticket/index.htmlIf you stay in TDR for the previous night, you can visit Odaiba (not Oidaba) on the way from Shinjuku, taking a direct train on Saikyo Line of JR-East and Rinkai Line of TWR.
Or, you might hope to visit Asakusa in the morning then take a Water Bus cruise to Odaiba Seaside Park.
In Odaiba, two rail lines are available: Rinkai Line of TWR (lying mainly under the ground) and Yurikamome Line.
Odaiba is vast, but the three sites you have listed are located close to each other near Tokyo Teleport Station on Rinkai Line and Daiba or Odaiba-kaihinkoen Station on Yurikamome Line.
On the way back you might hope to catch a close view of Rainbow Bridge from Yurikamome, in which case you can get back to Shinjuku taking a Local train from Shimbashi (of JR-East, Track 4) on Yamanote Line's outer loop for about 30 minutes.
Tokyo Big Sight is offering a nice route map of Odaiba in the following webpage.
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http://www.bigsight.jp/english/general/access/index.html[Osaka, Nara and Kyoto]
It sounds better to visit Osaka Bay Area later. After a flight to a first-time country, the children may well be too tired to enjoy aquarium, Ferris wheel, etc.
(In order to get from Tennoji Station to Osakako Station in the area, you will need to change subway lines.)
Your Osaka hotel is located near East Gate of Tennoji Station of JR-West.
If your flight or immigration process is not delayed much, you can reach Nara Station around the noon, taking one direct train from Tennoji. And, if your only purpose is to visit Todaiji temple, you can come back to Osaka in the evening then stroll in areas along subway Midosuji Line such as Namba and Shinsaibashi, and if time permits also Umeda.
A merit of this order is that you will have chances to have rest in your hotel twice.
Osaka Temmangu and Sumiyoshi Taisha are roughly in the opposite direction of Tennoji.
If you make two daytrips to Tokyo, it may be a good choice to visit each of the Osaka shrines before / after each of the Kyoto trips.
In Kyoto, Kinkakuji temple and Fushimi Inari shrine are located apart.
I suggest on one day you would visit Kinkakuji temple first then visit Manga Museum and nearby Nijo Castle, and on the other day you would visit Fushimi Inari shrine and Kiyomizudera temple.
For your information: Even some native Japanese people may be mixing it up, but when we make a prayer we do not clap hands at temples, while we clap hands twice before a prayer at shrines.
