Guide for Nagoya trip

Hi guys,
This is my 1st time posting on japan-guide. Please bear with my lack of knowledge about japan as this is my 1st time going to Japan.

So here's my initial itinerary on Nagoya Trip
Date: 17th to 24th April 2020

- planning on buying Alpine-Takayama-Matsumoto Area Tourist Pass (JR pass)

Day 1: 17/4/2020 7am arrive to Nagoya airport
- after settling down with all the ticket and stuff, I will be heading towards Matsumoto directly using the JR pass on the 1st day
- will be visiting Narai, Magome, Tsumago, Matsumoto Castle

Day 2: 18/4/2020 7am
- head towards Tateyama kurobe alpine route for the snow wall and dam. Maybe we will spend the whole day over there ( whole route should be covered by the JR pass??? )
- around 4-5 pm, I will be rushing towards Kanazawa from Toyama ( no covered by the JR pass )

Day 3: 19/4/2020
- Visit Kanazawa castle, Omicho market, Kenrokuen, Nagamachi, Shinto shrine

Day 4: 20/4/2020
- Heading towards Shirakawa-go and spend a half-day there
- heading towards Takayama and visit the old town before settling down

Day 5: 21/4/2020
Plan A: roam around Takayama, including morning market, jinya, old town, etc
Plan B: Shinhotaka Ropeway
- heading towards Nagoya around evening and rest

Day 6: 22/4/2020
- Tennogawa park, Tsushima shrine, Nabano Sato, Nagashima spa land, Mitsui outlet park jazz

Day 7: 23/4/2020
- nagoya castle, Osu kanon, Atsuta jingu, Oasis 21, and last min plan.

Day 8: 24/4/2020
back to the airport and complete the trip

Now here's some question:
1. Out of all these places that I go, any suggestion on some places that I must visit other than what i had stated in the itinerary?
2. Does the Shoryudo Nagoya pass cover the trip to Nagashima spa land?
3. If I going to buy some Gundam model kits from Japan, what are the ways to bring those back without using the delivery? I heard the delivery fee is not cheap
4. I heard some say, Gifu and Toyama is a good place to visit, any suggestion on that?

My budget for this whole trip is around SGD$1800-2000 or less, which I have already done some calculation. ( flight ticket included )

Please do correct my itinerary as this is my 1st time ever get to travel overseas.

Lastly, so sorry and thank you so much for your patience for reading my itinerary and questions, i might be too over-excited looking forward on this trip to Japan.

I think your itinerary looks good. Toyama is more of a transport hub, so u wont be missing anything much, try the white shrimp there for dinner before heading to Kanazawa.

Look for this Menyataiga if you are into miso ramen at Kanazawa, it is a short walk away from the station.

Nagoya Castle might be unavailable on your date according to this site? Inuyama Castle is an alternative choice but i think since you are going to Matsumoto already, wont lose much skipping these 2.

Enjoy your trip, sorry i cant help out on the Shoryudo Nagoya pass and delivery back questions.

I'm guessing your flying Vietnam Airlines via Hanoi right? They have some good specials at the moment. As such - I'm guessing that the flight is $500 SGD. This leaves $1500 SGD for 7 days or 120,000 yen.

Business hotels are 6,000 yen a night. That's 42,000 yen. The JR Rail pass is roughly 30,000 yen but I'm not sure if it will pay off with how much you are traveling. And no the Alpine Route is not covered by the JR pass so add 9500 yen. This is roughly 82,000 yen before food and doing anything.

There is also lots to say about how much you are traveling - but you might move at a fast pace but this can be done by others.....

@Delardino

Thank you so much for the reply!
- i will definitely go and try those delicacy that you recommended!
- Yeah, too bad for the nagoya castle, but however, i heard in japan, most of the castle look roughly the same.
- It's ok about the question, your reply is already a great help for me.

@mfedley

Haha, how did you know? im managed to grab the deal at $410, which is alot cheaper than my initial budget as i think during april to july is a high season for the trip to japan.

Have you fly with Vietnam Airlines before? is their "service" ok?

i managed to grab a total of <$1000 for 4 on the stays
2 hotel, 2 airbnb
each person $250

food wise, we are not eager to try out those expensive delicacy as our main objective is to go for sigh seeing.

about the JR pass, if you're living in Singapore, have you heard about changi recommend? because the JR pass that i search for and when i contact them, they said the pass includes the whole trip around the Alpine Route.


- Again, Thank you all for helping me on my questions, i'm very grateful and appreciated for your help.

The Furukawa festival will be on April 19th and 20th. You might be able to catch some of it while you're in Takayama on the 20th. I think the highlight is on the evening of the 19th though, which you will miss.

Dear GenesisAlex,
I believe you are correct and the Alpine Route is covered by the "Alpine-Takayama-Matsumoto Area Tourist Pass" according to this page of japan-guide > https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_alpen.html

The say "Unlimited travel along the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route" on point number 2.

I wonder if it is possible to bac track in the same day, bacause I was thinking about not forwarding my luggage, go only until Kurobe Dam and get back to Tateyama in the same day. I someone can tell me, I appreciate it.

About the price for this particular Pass, tha same page says it's 17,830 yen per person if bought online and there's a link for you to purchase.

I hope I could help, but don't just take my word for it, confirm by yourself, I am just another Japan Lover who is also planning a visit!

Hi MP5!

As you said with reference on the No.2 from the link you shared here, I actually asked 1 of the travel agent from Singapore, which is Changi Recommend. They did mention that as long as it's within the route given from the JR pass, we can have an unlimited ride along the whole JR route, which also includes Alpine Route.

Some of the recommended sites to purchase this JR pass are Klook, Changi Recommend, and KKday if you're staying in Taiwan, Singapore or Malaysia and MAYBE ASEAN country. I believe there more travel agents in other countries as well, but just be safe, read more reviews and T&C before booking. As I'm staying in Singapore. i will most likely purchase from Changi Recommend or Klook, together with the travel wifi and get some cashback or voucher from their own promo. Also, you may use shopback.com to get some cash back as well!

However, the last I saw from Klook and KKday, they are already sold out since 1-2months ago.
Note: You should only buy these JR passes within the 3 months of your travel period, as the moment you make the payment, the exchange ticket only valid for 3 months. For example, 11/1/2020 purchase, you must use it before 11/4/2020.

Again, thank you so much for the comment and appreciate your help with my questions!!!

you might have too much on your first day. But being flexible and not a set tour, you can easily adjust your schedule. I don't know how much time you're allotting for travel time and actual time at these places, but don't feel you have to include all of these. I would eliminate one or more of the post towns and spend more time at the other places. Of the three post towns, I like tsumago the best.

HI, Nealson

Yeah with that I had to agree with you, I read through the japan-guide on these 3 places, but still cant decide which particular post town to go. I had never been to any part of japan before, hence I need some advice on the sight-seeing spot.

I would really love to hear about your opinions on these places in my itinerary and maybe suggest some other places that I should or MUST along the JR pass that was stated above. It would be my utmost gratitude to your help.

Besides, any night spot or attractions to make full use of our time in Japan?

Thank you!

Hi!

Just be aware that not only is the train between Toyama and Kanazawa not covered but the bus between Kanazawa and ShirakawaGo (and Takayama) is not covered as well. Shirakawa Go is not reachable outside of bus or rental car as it has no train station near it.

If you go to Shin-Hokata that will be additional also (since it is by uncovered bus) and No, the map makes really clear going to Nagashima Spa Land is not covered either. It's southwest of Nagoya, not North

Good luck!

As I stated, I like Tsumago. It was easy for me to meander around the town and enjoy the atmosphere. I was there in the late afternoon and stayed the night so I wasn't surrounded by tourists. I did the hike to Magome, but I found that town just okay. I've never been to Narai (thought about going several times but after exploring it through street level on Google Maps, I wasn't excited evough to put it on my must visit list). If I remember, Tsumago might be the least easy of the three post towns to get to. From the train station, you can catch a cab or walk (15 min?) to Tsumago.
By the way, I'll be visiting the Nagoya area at the end of March. I'll return to Hawaii on April 5. I'll let you know how things went (for example, I'm going to Nabana no Sato)