Kyoto Kansai region or Kyoto Tokyo?

Hello guys and girls,

From 11th to 24th of november, I will be visiting Japan. I will start with Kyoto, but have to end at Osaka to take my flight home.

My itinerary looks like this;
Date Place
11 Arrival – straight to Kyoto
12 – 14 Kyoto
15 Uiji – Nara
16 Nara
17 Mount Koya
17 – 18 Koya – Osaka
19 – 23 5 days empty
24 Osaka
25 Leave Japan

So my question is what do you recommend for the 19 - 23 (5 days)?
I am not familiar with the Kansai region, but with the exception of Himeji, which I think can be skipped, I have seen most of it all.
Alternative I could visit Tokyo (perhaps 3 days in Tokyo and 1 day at Kamakura)
If I do choose Tokyo, I suppose that JP Rail pass would be useful. However would 7 or 14 days be useful?

Thank you for your advice and look forward to your reply.

You could get a 7-day JR Pass for the trip to Tokyo and back; it nearly pays off with a round-trip between the Kansai area and Tokyo, and you could rearrange your current schedule to be able to use it for the trips to Nara and back to the airport (JR Pass will not cover Koyasan).

However, rather than go to Tokyo, I'd suggest visiting Hiroshima and Miyajima, or perhaps even Kanazawa. There are places much closer than Tokyo, especially if you only have a few days. Maybe look at a map of Japan and see if there are any closer areas you'd like to visit. Hikone and Okayama are other day trip possibilities, as well as Himeji (it is worth it - there's more than just the castle!).

Well you have 5 days, so you have a lot of options:
Kyushu, Hiroshima, Shikoku, Kanazawa, Tokyo.... have a look at a travel guide books or this web page.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Oh thank you!

Seems I had a narrow minded view, thinking of only Tokyo. Of course Japan has alot of beautiful places, it is just that I am not familiar with it.

Going west; Hiroshima and such are also options, which I will need to consider.

Difficult, difficult.

If you all have more suggestions, that would be welcome!

Hi. What you have so far looks good. Nara is awesome and Uji is nice too.

If I had 5 days from there I would do this : Hikone (not Hakone) - it is on Lake Biwa and has a great castle and great beef and fish. Good place for a stay in a ryokan. Then From Hikone to Takayama via Nagoya on the wideview Hida. Best train trip I've been on, just spectacular. I'd spend one or two nights in Takayama, nice old town with a great squirrel park nearby. Takayama to Kanazawa by bus via Shirakawa. Many people stay overnight at Shirakawa, it would probably be nice to do that to get it to yourself in the morning. Otherwise a 2 - 3 hour stop is fine before getting back on the bus to Kanazawa. Kanazawa 2 nights. Nice town, good food (crab). We stayed at Hakuchoro, which is a lovely hotel. Kanazawa to Osaka via Thunderbird. Not a bad trip but nowhere near as pretty as the Nagoya/Takayama run.

That would give you a nice look through different parts of Japan.

Hey Lazy Pious,

thanks for the tip.

The itiniary looks abit full, so I simplified it to;

1. Osaka to Kanazawa (3 ½h travel)
2. Kanazawa
3. Kanazawa to Shirakawa (2hours)
4. Shirakawa
5. Shirakawa to Hikone lunch to Osaka (??5 hours travel)

I am kinda worried of the last day though, travelling from Shirakawa to Osaka.
Especially if I take a bus from Shirakawa to Nagoya , would the connection be good and/or too rush?
Not sure if the bus in the morning has great scenery, but the travel by train does.
Then by train from Nagoya to Osaka.
Perhaps lunch at lake Biwa in Hakone.

Do you think this is realistic?

What is your advice?

Travel time from Shirakawa to Osaka via Nagoya is at least 1 hour longer (more like 6 hr) than via Kanazawa. If you stop for a lunch, it's even longer.

1. Osaka to Kanazawa (3 ½h travel)
2. Kanazawa
3. Kanazawa to Shirakawa (2hours)
4. Shirakawa
5. Shirakawa to Hikone lunch to Osaka (??5 hours travel)

You don't have to spend the night in Shirakawa, you can do it as a day trip from Kanazawa and sleep another night there, then you can go directly to Osaka from Kanazawa (2 hours and a half by bullet train).

As for Hikone, you may consider skipping it this time, or do it as a day trip from Kyoto in the first half of your journey. It's only bout an hour by train from Kyoto.