3 week itinerary advice needed please

Hello, I have spontaneously decided to visit Japan next month (aiming to arrive 7th October) with my Dad! Extremely late booking flights/accommodation though, fingers crossed, as the season is a little quieter it should work out okay�c

Day 1: London-Tokyo, arrive 11am
Day 2 : Tokyo
Day 3: Tokyo
Day 4: Tokyo
Day 5: Day trip from Tokyo: Nikko
Day 6: Day trip from Tokyo: Kawaguchiko
Day 7: Morning train Tokyo to Kyoto *activate 14 day JR pass*
Day 8: Kyoto
Day 9: Kyoto
Day 10: Kyoto
Day 11: Day from Kyoto: Arashimaya
Day 12: Day trip from Kyoto: Nara
Day 13: Himeji + evening train to Hiroshima
Day 14: Day trip: Miyajima
Day 15: Hiroshima daytime + evening train/ferry to Naoshima
Day 16: Naoshima daytime + afternoon ferry/train Kyoto
Day 17: Morning train Kyoto to Kanazawa
Day 18: Kanazawa
Day 19: Morning train Kanazawa to Takayama
Day 20: Takayama + Shin-Hotaka ropeway
Day 21: Takayama + afternoon train to Tokyo
Day 22: Tokyo-London

Just a few questions:

1) Currently the JR 14 day pass fits quite neatly from day 7 to day 21 with two expensive journeys on those days and have avoided weekend day trips. Any ideas of how I could re-route/what to cut if I wanted to add Koyasan but still use a 14-day pass? Still haven�ft booked flights (aaah!) so flexible on adding days on if needed.

2) Any easy add-ons to appreciate more of the alpine scenery during our last few days? We�fre not huge hikers though so I appreciate we�fre probably quite limited. As said, have time to add if needed.

3) Easier way to fit in Naoshima? Seems like a lot of transfers over day 15/16 but having difficulty fitting it in using the same overall amount of days if we do stick to JR 14 day pass.

4) Any onsen/ryokan recommendations in Takayama/Kanazawa warmly welcome ☺

Thanks in advance for any help!

Day 21 is Day 15 of your pass and therefore outside of the 14 days of the pass. You will not be able to use it to return to Tokyo.

RE: Koyasan trip.
Depending on where you are coming from (Osaka or Nara?), most, if not all, of the train rides to Koyasan will be on non-JR lines. So you cannot use your JR Pass to get there, thus it does not need to be scheduled within the valid period of the pass.

Whichever day the OP uses to go to Koyasan is irrelevant, since the OP needs to use it to get to Kyoto from Tokyo. Going to Koyasan will have to fall within the 14 days of the JR Pass activation period. You can use the pass to get to Shin-Imamiya and you'll have to take non-JR lines from there.

John B is right and I think the best way for the OP is to buy 21 day JR pass.

Thanks for this advice so far!

We now have an extra 2 days because of the way the flights work out. When would be best to fit in Koyasan and any recommendations for the other day?

Terrible 14 day calculation on my part - thanks for pointing out! :) The Takayama to Tokyo train journey (bus isn't much cheaper) offsets the price difference between 14 day and 21 day pass so will be going for 21 day pass as suggested.

Koyasan is best accessed from Namba (Osaka) so you might better put it somewhere you are close to Namba.

For example,

Day 16: Naoshima daytime + afternoon ferry/train Kyoto
Day 17: Morning train Kyoto to Kanazawa

You don't need to go back to Kyoto. Instead, get off at Shin-Osaka and go to Namba and stay there. Japan Rail Pass users usually need to change train at Shin-Osaka when they move from Okayama to Kyoto, so this is a good point to detour to Koyasan.

Thanks frog1954!


Day 16: Naoshima daytime + evening travel to Namba
Day 17: morning Namba-Koyasan + overnight Koyasan
Day 18: morning Koyasan-Osaka-Kanazawa


Is this doable? We are not too fussed about Osaka so would be getting there as late as (ferry-permitting) possible on Day 16 and leaving asap on Day 17.

Is this doable? We are not too fussed about Osaka so would be getting there as late as (ferry-permitting) possible on Day 16 and leaving asap on Day 17.

Yes. You can check it via Hyperdia.

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=KOYASAN&arv_nod...