Visiting Kyoto while staying in Okayama

On our trip to Japan, we will be staying for a while in Okayama (we have friends in the area), we wanted to know if it is safe for older people to take a hotel near the central station and if is it reasonable to travel to Kyoto every day for 6 days instead of dragging our luggage and changing hotels? (We intend to purchase JR pass). tank you very much

we wanted to know if it is safe for older people to take a hotel near the central station and if is it reasonable to travel to Kyoto every day for 6 days instead of dragging our luggage and changing hotels? (We intend to purchase JR pass).

This is related to your another thread. Yes Okayama station area is (like most of other areas) safe. If you will have Japan Rail Pass you can take "Hikari" and "Kodama" Shinkansen for free. Unfortunately these are not so frequent (once per hour) and take more time (90 min) than faster "Nozomi" (60 min) to Kyoto.

If I were you, I would consider staying in Shin-Osaka or Shin-Kobe. In so doing you can use your Japan Rail Pass on the day of your arrival. Okayama is a little bit too far to arrive on the day if you use "Hikari", but you can reach Shin-Osaka easily, and even Shin-Kobe with a little hustle.

From Shin-Osaka to Kyoto is 15 min while Shin-Kobe to Kyoto is about 30 min. Okayama is about 35 min from Shin-Kobe and about 50 min from Shin-Osaka.

I would NOT stay in Shin Osaka. That area of Osaka is the most boring if boring places (I stayed there weeks on end on business trips.)

Regarding safety, Japan is an incredibly safe country. I can�ft imagine any place where you could stay and it wouldn�ft be safe.

Commuting every day from Okayama to Kyoto is definitely possible. But if you are not going to stay with your friends in Okayama why do it?

Regarding luggage if it�fs hard to transport you can ship it from airport to hotel and between hotels. Normally takes 1 day. To airport 2 days.

It is doable. And since you are travelling with older people. You'd most likely have shorter days anyway. So the extra travel time shouldn't hurt too much.

It will get boring though after 6 days. So get a book etc etc.

It sounds like something I might do, but be aware that not all of the passes that cover trains from Okayama to Kyoto actually include the shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Kyoto. For the passes issued by JR West, you have to change to another train at Shin-Osaka, and that really adds to the total travel time. I would probably only do this myself if I could take the shinkansen all the way.

To clarify: you can buy the JR nationwide pass from JR West, but I think it�fs the only one that covers that Osaka to Kyoto shinkansen segment. The area passes issued by JR West are the ones that don�ft. (The Japan Guide diagrams on the pass pages make it clear what trains each pass cover.)

If you stay in Okayama it will give you more opportunities to visit with your friends, of course. I see that as a good reason to �gcommute,�h even though it could get tiresome. Remember that once you get to Kyoto Station you still have to get to wherever you want to go there, and the transit can be somewhat time-consuming. The JR pass is not all that useful within Kyoto itself.

Safety is one thing I never worry about in Japan. Of course, don�ft be careless or stupid, but there is very little crime there, and people are generally very nice and many folks will help you out if you appear to be in a bind. (If you stand in a public place studying a map, for example, you will almost inevitably have someone come up to you and ask if you need help.)

There are also some fun and neat things to do in and around Okayama so it would be a pity to spend all your time there communing to Kyoto.

Hi!

I get the commuting things, I use to stay with a JET friend in Kainan and commute to Kyoto every day. She was working, and I was on vacation, but I would plan to catch the train back in time for a 18:30 to 19:00 dinner with her. I was staying with her, so I had free accommodation. I would fly into KIX and we would meet in Wakayama.

But I guess, it would really depend on where you plan to spend more of your time, since you are paying for your accomodation. I might look at Shin-Kobe. It's not super interesting, but it's more interesting than Shin-Osaka. If you stay in Okayama, I would see what the prices are like at the Granvia since it is literally connected to Okayama Station. I've not stayed at the Granvia, but I have stayed at the Tokyo Station Hotel and the Metropolitan in Nagano, and it is just lovely being able to easily get to your hotel without ever going outside. It definitely speeds up your trip getting to somewhere else.

This is from Tokyo and for a Saturday (because that is when I am traveling) but you can see depending at least once an hour a Hikari goes from Okayama to Kyoto.

If you get a JR West Pass, you will have to change in Shin-Osaka like others have said, but I guess you would have to do the math on whether the more frequent connections and the faster Nozomi make up for needing to transfer in Shin-Osaka station. I personally have an easy time navigating Shin-Osaka Station and changing trains there, but I also did it a lot, see my first paragraph on changing for trains to Kainan.

If you're only seeing your friends a few days, after being in Okayama just change to Kyoto. You can TakQbin your luggage from your hotel in Okayama and if your luggage is small enough just take it on the train and stick it overhead. It's not so hard and the cost for forwarding luggage is not so high. I do it all the time because I like to shop for weird and bulky things in Japan. :)

Good luck!

It's only 10-12 minutes difference shinkansen vs rapid trains between Shin Osaka and Kyoto. So it's no big deal.

And if visiting some locations like Arashiyama. You would go via Kyoto anyway. Unless trying to save a few pennies. As other options are quicker.

We are also older couple. We always check the ease of catching metro or train from wherever we are staying in Japan now. We can walk 3-4 miles a day, but it really helps to be closer to our lodging when we are tired at end of the day. My husband normally plot our walk.