Tokyo-Kyoto-Koyasan - getting there advice?

Good evening

I am revisiting my original plan - Tokyo and Kyoto only during 9 day trip as a first timer to Japan.

I am now looking at Tokyo, Kyoto and a night at
a Shukubo. I'd like to the Women's Pilgramige walk.
Is one night enough?

I don't know which order is best from Tokyo.
I read that I could go from Kyoto to Koyasan
There is limited information.

Is it doable? If yes, is there so much travel involved that it will take the shine off the whole experience?

Suggestions all welcomed - thank you

Hodophile

You can buy koyasan world heritage ticket 2 day= 3080 yen.I also suggest You to buy japan bus pass 7 day =15300 yen to travel Tokyo ,kyoto unlimited time

One night might be enough if you plan it all correct. But you,d need to arrived early on the first day, and depart later on the second day. As you would get in the 2 hour walk and all the other stuff in a 24 hour period.

Is Tokyo a must? Be much easier and slower paced just to do Osaka-Kyoto-Koyasan.

Hello Meritage,

Thank you for your post.

What is the koyasan world heritage ticket 2 day= 3080 yen?

Re - buy japan bus pass 7 day =15300 yen to travel Tokyo ,kyoto unlimited time.

It was recommended I buy the JR pass for the bullet train. Is the bus pass better?

What is the best way to get to Koyasan?
Directly from Tokyo or stop/stay at Kyoto and from Kyoto spend 1 or 2 nights in Koyasan?

Thank you

This Page explains how to get to Koya-San. The easiest is from Osaka, but Kyoto is also doable. From Tokyo you�fll need a long time.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4904.html

Regarding that information on bus passes, don�ft get confused by it. I have no idea why, but there are some users on this forum that consistently post costs of some passes, even when the original question had nothing to do with it. Yes, there are a lot of travel passes for tourists in Japan, but only because they exist doesn�ft mean they are best for you.

Hello @H,

That's one of my concerns - coordinating the planning.

I have already booked my tickets from Sydney to Tokyo return. Tokyo wasn't a must - a direct flight appealed and as a newbie to Japan thought I could do 2 nights in Tokyo including arrival (arrive 14th pm, check out of Tokyo accommodation 16th)


I then hoped to jump on the bullet to Kyoto
(which I believe I need to pre purchase). Leave early morning for Kyoto.

I will have 16th to 21st free to spend between Kyoto and Koyasan. I was going to return to Tokyo on 21st to fly out 6pm on the 22nd.

I'm thinking not to do that now and bullet train it back from Kyoto to Tokyo to Haneda Airport on my departing day. No last overnight in Tokyo.
Soak in the beauty of Kyoto and Koyasan.

Is that realistic and doable?
If yes - what are your thoughts around the how/when from Kyoto to Koyasan?

I searched the forum for similar posts but not much there. Leads me to think - maybe I've got this idea all wrong 😞

Hi LikeBike,

Thanks for your response.
I did a search and it showed that I had to use multiple different trains buses to get to Koya-San.

This is why I trying to work out how to do it by breaking the trip up - from Tokyo stop/stay at Kyoto, go to Koya-San (which is still lengthy) stay the night, go back to Kyoto stay there another night or 2 and leave to go to Haneda airport.

Given the above scenario - what train passes, bus passes should I (pre) purchase?

Or should I do the above differently including Osaka? I'm not sure what to do there or where to stay - I have no research.

Thank you

Bus pass VS rail pass
Both have their own appeal,both have own charming.if we travel by nightbus,then we can save hotel cost.bus pass is affordable.by traveling by bus we can see modern japan, urban japan,rural city,village,mountain, expre ssway.Now u will decide,what pass u will buy

For me: i am a residence of japan ,so i cant buy JR nationwide pass.probably ,you visit japan with tourist visa.

I fly from Gold Coast direct to save on transfers. So I understand why you'd fly into Tokyo from Sydney they way that your want. Guessing JAL or Qantas?

Itinerary is still doable.

Day 1 - Tokyo arrive in evening?
Day 2 - Travel to Kyoto
Day 3 - Kyoto sightseeing
Day 4 - Kyoto sightseeing
Day 5 - Travel to Koyasan
Day 6 - Koyasan sightseeing
Day 7 - Travel to Tokyo
Day 8 - Tokyo sightseeing
Day 9 - Tokyo sightseeing, depart Tokyo evening flight

Day 2 - If you leave Tokyo early aka 8-9-10, then you will still have time in Kyoto for afternoon sightseeing.

Day 7 - This day has about 4.5-6.0 hours of train travel depending on connections. I did this to allow for a rest day off your feet. Just leave Koyasan 9-10, and arrive in Tokyo late afternoon. Still some time to check out the lights of Tokyo at night if your wish.

Just a note for day one. You said 9 days. I have included arriving as day 1. If you actually have more days, just add other Tokyo day to the end of the itinerary.

I just re-read your response with travel dates.

You really only have 8 days.

14 - pm arr
15 - travel to kyoto
16 - kyoto sightseeing
17 - kyoto sightseeing
18 - travel to koyasan
19 - koyasan sightseeing
20 - travel to tokyo
21 - tokyo sightseeing
22 - tokyosightseeing, pm dep

I did a search and it showed that I had to use multiple different trains buses to get to Koya-San.
Yep, that is exactly right. It is a bit of a PITA to get there and the travel time is non-trivial.

Hi @H,

** Thank you H. JAL from Syd. 9 days including travel days. Yep 8 with day 1 arrival time.

14th Day 1 - Tokyo arrive in evening?
*Arrive at 5:15pm

15th Day 2 - Travel to Kyoto
*I was thinking give self break from another
round of travel. Stay in Tokyo

16th Day 3 - Kyoto sightseein
*Travel to Kyoto in morning

17th Day 4 - Kyoto sightseeing

18th Day 5 - Travel to Koyasan.Catch 7am train
*Stay overnight (temple stay)

19th Day 6 - Koyasan sightseeing
*Leave Koyasan in the afternoon for Kyoto

20th Day 7 - Travel to Tokyo
*Stay in Kyoto

21st Day 8 - Tokyo sightseeing
*Stay in Kyoto

22nd Day 9 - Tokyo sightseeing, depart Tokyo evening flight
*Depart Kyoto mid morning for Tokyo/depart from Haneda for Syd at 6:30pm. My aim is to only have carry on. The downside is having enough winter clothes (?)

I prefer to spend more time in Kyoto. I think it will be a better fit for me.

Is this itinerary doable without feeling sheer exhaustion?

Morning @JapanCustomTours

Yes seems to be PITA but is it worth the effort?

Thanks @Markel

Because this is a short trip and my first time to Japan, I prefer not to be on transport most of the time. If I had more time that wouldn't matter as much.

Is the JR pass only for tourists/foreigners?

May I ask, as a resident of Japan how would you plan this trip?

I see no real issues with your revised plan.

But I think on day 2 you could go to Kyoto without issue if you wanted. You have a daytime flight, and a one hour time zone difference.

I think for a short trip I would totally skip Koyasan. It eats up 2 full days between transport and some sightseeing there. It sure is nice, but with a short, first trip not worthwhile unless staying in a temple is an absolute must.
I remember from earlier posts of you that you were packing a lot of other experiences in your few days in Japan as well. Eg tea ceremony, Forrest bathing (really? No Forrest close to where you live???) �c. All those experiences plus some basic sightseeing is already a lot. Plus you are kind of flying into / out of the wrong city.
If it were me I would probably skip Kansai all together , do Tokyo, Kamakura , Nikko and maybe Chichibu for your fix of countryside. There is even a temple in Chichibu for your temple stay:

https://youtu.be/7S9R2vyvZVc

Can I hijack this thread? We will be in Nara in a few weeks for 4 days (cant get enough of Nara). But I am thinking I would like to see Koyasan, never been. Train looks as though it would be 2.5 hours each way. Is there a quicker way - bus perhaps?

You say you don't want transfers, but you have 2 massive ones at Tokyo.

Why not invest the $320 aud the shinkansen trips or JR pass will cost you and rebook flights to Osaka.

Opens up two more days for you. With way less rushing around.

JR pass is near useless within Kyoto. Goes to a few locations. And no JR services go to Koyasan. So stop thinking a JR pass is super useful for your trip.

Hi @Hodophile,

I'm with @LikeBike on itineraries. Kamakura is really quite nice. I really think Zeniarai Benten is a lot of fun and I like Kencho-ji a lot. People don't tend to go through the small bamboo forest in the back to the shrine on the top of a hill with all the tengu statues, and from up there, you can get Mt Fuji views and if you want to, a nice hike down to other parts of Kamakura.

Honestly, if you're interested in forest bathing, I might look for a different forest. The bamboo forest in Arashiyama is on nearly every single first time itinerary to Japan (just check on Japan travel on reddit) and it's sort of crowded and not really peaceful nature anymore. You're better off going somewhere which is not on every single person's itinerary. I said this before, but I think you also might be disappointed in Kyoto. It's a lovely city, but it isn't a small town with just old fashioned buildings, it's a city with plenty of boxy modern architecture. I think you would really like Kamakura. It's small and most tourists only go to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, Hase-dera and the Daibutsu.

I have not stayed here, but Koya-san is not the only place offering temple lodging.
https://www2.hkr.ne.jp/~komadori/komadori.html (near Mt Mitake near Tokyo) Even though it is about 2 hours there, if you're not going to Kyoto and Koya-san, one long 2 hour overnight is much more doable.



@Lazy Pious, The problem is all the trains between Nara and Hashimoto are just not timed all that well and are mostly locals. You can switch to Kintetsu but I think you still end up needing a bunch of transfers to get to Nara. I read the River Ki in college, so decided to take the Wakayama line up to Gojo on my first trip to Japan. I didn't want to go back to Wakayama to go to Kyoto because I thought it would be faster to just continue on upwards. It took forever and I spent a lot of time sitting on half empty local line trains or waiting for connections. This was pre-Google Maps so I couldn't even look for other options, just keep going.

Generally the fastest way back is a limited express to nearly Osaka and changing there for a fast train to Nara.

"Is it worth it?"
That can be applied to a lot of different things (like a view of Fuji or the Hakone shine - a photo op and move on) and it is subjective. A lot of people love the place and think it is a great destination. Personally, there are so many other noteworthy temples and shrines (assuming you don't over binge on them) that are easy to get to, the time investment for that one spot given a short trip, I would suggest concentrate on some of the other places. But, it is your trip, so do what you want to do.
I will be visiting there next in early May, and the travel to (from Nara) and from (to Hiroshima) is going to take a lot of time and effort, but it is what my guests have insisted on (and I have made clear how the accommodation is necessarily quite basic). My suspicion is that they will probably be happy to have done the visit, but they would skip it a second time around, but they have a lot longer in Japan than the OP.