Updated: 2 Month Winter Trip - Feedback

Hi all!

Over the past week I have taken on board all the advice for this forum to make amendments to my winter trip (December 2019/January 2020).
Any feedback/advice on the below would be great; particularly in terms of night allocation/inter-city transport.

Nights - Destination [Day Trips]
Transport to Next Destination
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 - Nagasaki
NAGASAKI TO FUKUOKA: 2hr Drive or 2.5hr Bus

2 - Fukuoka
FUKUOKA TO YUFUIN: 2.5hr Bus or 2.5hr Train

1 - Yufuin
YUFUIN TO MATSUYAMA: Yufuin to Beppu (Bus/Train) to Yawatahama (Ferry) to Matsuyama (Train)

1 - Matsuyama: MATSUYAMA TO HIROSHIMA
70min(7100JPY) High-Speed Ferry or 2.5hr(3600JPY) Car Ferry

2 - Hiroshima [Miyajima Island (Overnight)]
HIROSHIMA TO MATSUE: 3hr(4000JPY) Bus,

1 - Matsue
MATSUE TO OKAYAMA: 2.5hr(6000JPY) Yakumo Train or 3hr(3500JPY) Bus

1 - Okayama
OKAYAMA TO KYOTO: 1hr(7500JPY) Nozomi or 1.5hr(7500JPY) Hikari Train

9 - Kyoto [Nara, Himeji, Osaka, Kobe, Koyasan (Overnight - Temple Stay)]
KYOTO TO NAGOYA: 1hr(5300JPY) Hikari/Kodama Train

2 - Nagoya [Magome & Tsumago]
NAGOYA TO FUKUI: 3hr(3000JPY) Bus or 2.5hr(6000JPY) Shirasagi Limited Express Train

1 - Fukui
FUKUI TO KANAZAWA: 1.5hr(1500JPY) Hokuriku Train or 50min(2500JPY) Limited Express Train or 1.5hr(1200JPY) Bus

2 - Kanazawa
KANAZAWA TO SHIRAKAWAGO: 1.5hr(2000JPY) Bus

1 - Shirakawago
SHIRAKAWAGO TO TAKAYAMA: 1.5hr(2600JPY) Bus

1 - Takayama
TAKAYAMA TO MATSUMOTO: 2.5hr(3200JPY) Bus

1 - Matsumoto
MATSUMOTO TO YAMANOUCHI: 1.5hr(1000JPY) Train to Nagano -> 1hr(1300JPY) Train to Yudanaka

2 - Yamanouchi
YAMANOUCHI: TO TOKYO: 45min(1500JPY) Nagano-Dentetsu Train to Nagano -> 2hr(8000JPY) Train to Tokyo

14 - Tokyo [Kamakura, Yokohama, Hakone, Fujisan (Overnight), Izu (Overnight), Kusatsu Onsen (Overnight)]
TOKYO TO NIKKO: 2hr(3000JPY) Tobu Express Train (0-1 Connections) or 3hr(1500JPY) Local Train (1-3 Connections)

1 - Nikko
NIKKO TO AIZU-WAKAMATSU: 3hr(3500JPY) Direct Train or 4hr(Transfer+3500JY) Train (via Kinugawaonsen)

1 - Aizu-Wakamatsu
AIZUWAKAMATSU TO SENDAI: 2hr Train (via Koriyama, Fukushima)

2 - Sendai [Ginzan Onsen]
SENDAI TO HAKODATE: 3.5hr Train Hayabusa Shinkansen (Sendai -> Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto)

1 - Hakodate
HAKODATE TO NOBORIBETSU: 3hr(6400JPY) 'Super Hokuto' Express Train

1 - Noboribetsu Onsen
NOBORIBETSU TO SAPPORO: 1hr(4000JPY) Express Train or 2hr(2200JPY) Local Train or 2hr(2000JPY)
Bus

9 - Sapporo [Otaru, Jozankei Onsen, Niseko (3 Nights), Biei/Furano (1 Night)]
SAPPORO TO TOKYO: 1hr35min(6000JPY) Flight

2 - Tokyo

Total = 60 Nights
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you! :D

For Kyushu, you must buy sunQ pass cost =7000 yen covered Fukuoka
Nagasaki, beppu,yufuin.

Looks like a good plan. The only place I am not familiar (never been there) is Yamanouchi, and the other thing is I don�ft know how winter affects your plan. I personally would consider adding few nights in Aomori, and subtract them from perhaps Tokyo or Sapporo, depending on your interests. Have a good trip.

My advice after traveling by bike for about 2 months through japan in autumn is to leave some flexibility. Have your plan. But be prepared to change some parts of it on the go. If you like it somewhere. If you don�ft like it somewhere or if weather or something else gets into your way.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Hi!

Like I recommended before, you want to look into then 3 star route
http://www.alpico.co.jp/access/ticket/pdf/panf701[1].pdf

(You need to copy and paste the link) It's 5500 yen vs. the 7800 yen you currently are planning to spend and is good for 4 days. It will cover Kanazawa to Shirakawa Go to Takayama to Matsumoto. You would start it the day you leave Kanazawa for Shirakawa Go ( day 1) Shirakawa Go to Takayama (day 2) Takayama to Matsumoto (day 3) and it would give you the flexibility to add a day to Takayama if you so chose without being out any money or you could add a day and stay in Hirayu onsen since it is a valid stop with the pass.

If you're going to Kawaguchiko, it might make sense to head to Hakone from there, rather than going back to Tokyo. From Hakone-Yumoto I would head to where you are going in Izu depending on where it is. It's only 23 minutes by train from Odawara to Atami and only costs 410 yen. It seems weird to back track to Tokyo. From Izu head to Yokohama and overnight there and then go to Kamakura before returning to Tokyo. I've heard Yokohama is quite budget friendly.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone!

Would the following order make more sense? (Starting then returning to Tokyo):

5 Night Mini-Trip:
= Begin Tokyo
Izu (Overnight)
-> Fujisan (Overnight)
-> Hakone (Overnight)
-> Kamakura (Overnight)
-> Yokohama (Overnight)
End Tokyo

For your Tokyo-Nikko-Aizuwakamatsu-Sendai-Hakodate-Noboribetsu-Sapporo trip, JR East South Hokkaido Rail Pass would be useful.

http://jreasthokkaido.com/e/

5 Night Mini-Trip:


I've not stayed at Yokohama, but I think that plan would be fine if you dont mind moving around each day and just want to see the countryside and do one or two things in between. Otherwise I think I'd drop Fujisan and stay an extra night in Izu (use one place as a base and just train around). We stayed at Ajiro which is very very quiet but 2 minutes from the train and major centres 10 minutes either direction).

For Kamakura I'd spend 2 nights there and daytrip Yokohama or 2 nights at Yokohama and daytrip Kamakura. Personally I really like Kamakura and Enoshima in particular, so I know which one I'd be staying at (looking at you Kamakura, and you in particular Iwamotoro Honkan at Enoshima)

Chipping in to agree with Lazy Pious, don't go all the way back to Tokyo if you are going to Kamakura. You should be able to stay either in the middle of Yokohama or somewhere on the way.

Have a great trip!

Thanks guys! For the Tokyo mini-trip, I am thinking:

5 Night Mini-Trip:
Begin Tokyo
Izu (2 Nights - Fujisan Day Trip)
-> Hakone (1 Night)
-> Kamakura (2 Nights - Yokohoma Day Trip)
End Tokyo

...What are the best way to spend one full day in Izu? Where should I base myself?
Keeping in mind it is winter and I probably will not hire a car...

Also, are there any other sections of the trip where a JR Pass/Other Transport Pass makes sense?

The "3 Star Route" and JR East South Hokkaido Rail Passes look quite handy for some parts (as suggested)!

:)

;-)

I truly respect @Lazy Pious' opinion and I think they tend to stay in lovely places, but to be blunt they also tend to have a decently large budget for accommodations. If you're still planning to try to do this trip on 12,000 yen per day all in (for hotel, sightseeing, food, and transport) you're honestly not going to be staying at many places @Lazy Pious would recommend. I've gotten the Associa in Takayama for as low as 13,000 yen a night, but that included breakfast only and that might not be in your budget even at that relatively good price.

For Izu you need to look at map. If you're not renting a car, you need to travel by bus from Mishima to get to Fuji Five Lakes. It's going to run you about 1.5 hours each way just to Kawaguchiko and not including whatever you want to do there. You should also look at the cost. I would do the same for the places you want to go in Izu. (which I don't know because you just tend to say place names and not actual activities you want to do.) Look at a map, use some transport schedules and see how long it will take you to get from one location to another and look to see where there are places you can afford. You need to spend the time figuring your budget.

It might make more sense to do: Tokyo to Kawaguchiko to Izu (stay the night somewhere in Izu) spend the day in Izu (overnight) then go to Hakone, Kamakura and Yokohama. There are buses from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko for like 2000 yen, which I think is cheaper than the bus from Mishima.

Some places have set budgets, like staying in a gassho zukuri in Shirakawa Go. Others have a lot more flexibility. The best budget locations tend to book up quickly.

If you're traveling over New Years make sure you know what is closed for New Years. It's a huge holiday and a lot closes down, the more rural you are, the more things close including some convenience stores.

Yes, my apologies, I didnt see that budget of 12000 JPY a day. You can pretty much ignore anything I have suggested.

Lazy Pios, you did not miss it. It was in another thread

@LazyPious, this guy has made like 8 or 9 maybe more threads and it's only because I've read all of them and connected them to the same username I know about the budget. OP is on in my opinion, a tight budget for some of their destinations. A lot of onsen resort areas are really hard to find a place for under 8000 yen a night and when the rooms are that cheap they rarely involved meals.

Sorry if I came off as rude, I really respect and look forward to your reviews of properties @LazyPious, even though I suspect we sometimes have different interests.

No drama at all. Animals (well cared for ones that is - and tasty ones too I suppose), forests, and onsens are the top of our agenda.

Thanks for the information everyone ! Much appreciated!!