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Second Japan visit, 14 days, October 2017/8/21 06:30
Hi,

We are a couple with a 1 year old that are planning a 14 day vacation to Japan in October. It will be our second Japan visit and we plan to visit Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Kamikochi, Tokyo and Nikko. We plan to take it a little slower and not jump around to much as it is very stressful to travel and switch accommodations with a baby.

This is our itienary so far:

Day 1: Tokyo, land and sleep
Day 2: Tokyo - Kanazawa, Train
Day 3: Kanazawa
Day 4: Kanazawa, daytrip Shirakawa-go, Bus
Day 5: Kanazawa
Day 6: Kanazawa - Takayama, Bus
Day 7: Takayama, daytrip Kamikochi, Bus
Day 8: Takayama
Day 9: Takayama - Kanazawa - Tokyo, Bus + Train
Day 10: Tokyo
Day 11: Tokyo
Day 12: Tokyo, daytrip Nikko, Train
Day 13: Tokyo
Day 14: Tokyo, fly home

Thoughts on the itienary so far?
Is Japan Rail Pass necessary?
Is the transportations that we have chosen good?
Is the daytrip to Shirakawa-go worth it?

Thanks in advance!

by baatch  

Re: Second Japan visit, 14 days, October 2017/8/21 11:40
Overall I think your pace is great and you will be able to enjoy Japan a lot.


Day 3: Kanazawa
Day 4: Kanazawa, daytrip Shirakawa-go, Bus
Day 5: Kanazawa
Day 6: Kanazawa - Takayama, Bus

Is the daytrip to Shirakawa-go worth it?


I would probably do Shirakawa-go on the say to Takayama. It is quite close, so you would be doing a lot of back-tracking in Day 4 and 6. If you have the possibility to rent a car, I think that is the best for Shirakawa-go as it allows you to go to the less visited and more remote villages. We definitely enjoyed the remote one much more than the main one, where there are too many tourists. If you rent a car you might also go one day to Noto peninsula, where there is on the Western coast a nice temple with a pagode.

Day 9: Takayama - Kanazawa - Tokyo, Bus + Train
Is the transportations that we have chosen good?


Check out the bus connection, but if you can do Takayama - Toyama only, you could jump on the shinkansen in Toyama and come back to Tokyo instead of going all the way back to Kanazawa.

Is Japan Rail Pass necessary?
I can't answer your question on Japan Rail pass, but kind of get a feeling that it might be unnecessary. But there are experts on the different pass options out there on this forum.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!
by LikeBike rate this post as useful

Re: Second Japan visit, 14 days, October 2017/8/21 16:56
A very nice relaxed itinerary. I particularly enjoyed the Shinise Kinenkan Museum in Kanazawa . I happened to walk past it & thought long & hard before I went in. It was thoroughly worth it.
by Stan Norrell rate this post as useful

Re: Second Japan visit, 14 days, October 2017/8/21 17:53
I'd definitely do Shirakawa en route from Kanazawa to Takayama. The bus connections work really well. Unless you're staying the night in Shirakawa, it's easily experienced in a couple of hours and then you can hop on the bus to Takayama.

Even if you decide to stay the night, I'd still say to do it en route from Kanazawa to Takayama. This will save you a day and you could maybe use that by going to an onsen ryokan (in Hida, or around Kanazawa). You might then decide to travel back from Takayama to Tokyo on the (Wideview Hida Express) train via Nagoya - which is a really scenic ride (see info on this website and elsewhere).

I understand your reasons for spending the first night in Tokyo. However, depending on where you're staying, it may not be so restful and relaxing heading into Tokyo for just one night and then (I assume) heading off early the next morning for the train station.

All kids are different, but we've done it twice before from the UK with a 3 yr old/5 yr old where we've arrived and either got straight onto a train to Kyoto or got straight onto another flight to Okinawa. The "logic" was that we'd all be 80% tired out after a long flight and so the incremental effort of travelling on straight away wouldn't be so much. We then got an extra night at our destination which allowed us to relax and gently get to know the place, rather than having a night in transit in Tokyo.

If you were able to fly Tokyo to Kanazawa, and the connections worked well with your incoming flight from your home country, and then use bus to go Kanazawa - Shirakawa - Takayama, you might well find that this is cost effective.
by Winter Visitor rate this post as useful

Re: Second Japan visit, 14 days, October 2017/8/21 18:32
Do you really wanna travel at night on a bus for long hours and be unable to move around holding a baby?

Taking a train and being able to freely move around at your leisure seems so much more practical and easy.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Second Japan visit, 14 days, October 2017/8/22 05:39
Thank you all for the tips and suggestions, especially around the transportations. We will stop at Shirakawago on our way from Kanazawa to Takayama and we will take the train from Takayama-Nagoya-Tokyo. We also skipped the first rest day in Tokyo and opted to go straight to Kanazawa as we will land very early.

Here is our revised itienary:

Day 1: Tokyo-Kanazawa, Train
Day 2: Kanazawa
Day 3: Kanazawa
Day 4: Kanazawa
Day 5: Kanazawa-Shirakawago-Takayama, Bus
Day 6: Takayama
Day 7: Takayama, daytrip Kamikochi, Bus
Day 8: Takayama-Nagoya-Tokyo, Train
Day 9: Tokyo
Day 10: Tokyo, daytrip Yokohoma, Train
Day 11: Tokyo
Day 12: Tokyo, daytrip Nikko, Train
Day 13: Tokyo
Day 14: Tokyo, fly home

Hope this will be a good trip =) !

by baatch rate this post as useful

Re: Second Japan visit, 14 days, October 2017/8/30 16:48
Hi everybody i have some more questions:

Do we need to book the the train ticket from Tokyo to Kanazawa in advance or are they always available?

Thanks in advance!
by baatch rate this post as useful

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