Itinerary

Hi everyone,
I have used this website before to get help for my Itinerary for a 3 week trip to Japan. I have used this site for suggestions etc and this is what I have come up with.

Any advice/opinions that anyone could provide from the following plans I have, would be much appreciated! :)

22/12/2008: Depart AU - Arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport

23/12/2008: Akihabara

24/12/2008: Harajuku (Meiji Shrine), Shibuya, Odaiba.

25/12/2008: Imperial Palace (Kokyo), Asakusa, Imperial East Gardens (Tokyo Metro Govt Bldg)

26/12/2008: Shinjuku

27/12/2008: Nikko

28/12/2008: Kamakura

29/12/2008 - 30/12/2008: Revist favourite areas of Tokyo ... perhaps see things that I've missed.

31/12/2008: Travel to Kyoto by Shinkansen - check in new Hotel now based in Kyoto.

1/01/2009: New Years Day festivities - (Fushimi Inari Shrine)

2/01/2009: Himeji Castle

3/01/2009: More Kyoto sightseeing, -- Kinkakuji.

4/01/2009: Gion

5/01/2009: Osaka - Minami (Namba)

6/01/2009: Nara (Todaiji temple)

7/01/2009: Travel to Hiroshima - check in new hotel, based in Hiroshima. See the Peace Memorial Park

8/01/2009: Miyajima Island

9/01/2009: Hiroshima Castle , other sightseeing

10/01/2009: Travel back to Kyoto or maybe Osaka.

11/01/2009: Last day in Japan

12/01/2009: Flight back to AU


Opinions? Specfically, is what I have planned possible to do? Also I plan to travel using the JR Rail Pass, can the pass get me to all the places I have in the schedule?

Yes you can use the JR Pass to go everywhere, but I would only get a 14 days pass and start it the day you go to Nikko. on your arrival at Narita get a Suica + Nex package. it gives you a cheaper train ride to Tokyo plus a card to ride Jr trains and others within Tokyo. you can add money to that card.check it at www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_002.html
and www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/index.html I changed some dates and stuff around. so have a good look at it

23/12/2008: Akihabara it really doesn't take the whole day as you will suffer from sensory overload. There are many stores that are all selling the same stuff. I added another trip to Akihbara much later. You should go to Asakusa in the early afternoon then take a boat to Odaiba.
24/12/2008: Harajuku (Meiji Shrine),Shibuya you must also see Omotesando st and Takeshita st.All this doesn't take the whole day unless you plan to check most of the stores.
25/12/2008: Imperial Palace (Tokyo)+ Imperial East Gardens. They are side by side and you can't see the palace unless you have an advance booking. At any rate the Palace is modern and not that interesting. I would then go to nearby Ginza. note that The Tokyo Metro Govt Bldg is in Shinjuku west.
26/12/2008: Shinjuku. Again this doesn't take a whole day unless you want to see everything. Also you should see Shinjuku west and south in the morning and Shinjuku east in the evening when it comes alive.
27/12/2008 Nikko GREAT place! START YOU 14 DAYS PASS NOW. You can get your pass and plan for it to start on the 27 several day before and even reserve trains in advance too. especially the train to Kyoto.
28/12/2008: Kamakura Great!
29/12/2008 Travel to Kyoto by Shinkansen - check in new Hotel now based in Kyoto.
30/12/2008: Kyoto sightseeing: Kinkakuji. You can also see on the same day Kiomizu Dera and Gion without rushing at all. Gion comes alive in late afternoon and in the evening.
31/12/2008: Himeji Castle . it takes 1/2 day (and I am a huge castle fan,as I used to live in Europe and have visited several hundreds of castles there). You can visit Osaka Umeda in the pm. don't miss Yodobashi cameras on the north side of JR Osaka station if you missed it in Tokyo.
1/01/2009: New Years Day festivities - (Fushimi Inari Shrine). be ready for truly huge crowds.
2/01/2009: Osaka - Minami (Namba). Again it doesn't take the whole day unless you want to see all the department stores and all the stores in the arcades (covered shopping streets). Dotonbori in Minami is also more lively in the evening
3/01/2009: Nara (Todaiji temple)do see a couple of other temples in that park.
4/01/2009: how about Arashiyama? or Fuhimi Inari again so that you can climb Mt Inari under the torii without the crowds.
5/01/2009: More Kyoto or Osaka or a bit of each..
6/01/2009: same
7/01/2009: Travel to Hiroshima - check in new hotel, based in Hiroshima. See the Peace Memorial Park. it takes a couple of hours. you can then see the castle (small and rebuilt after the war. Nothing as spectacular as Himeji)
8/01/2009: Miyajima Island yes, worth the whole day!
9/01/2009: Hiroshima: some sightseeing in the am.as there really isn't much to see that you can't see in any other town! Go back to Tokyo right after noon (book your seat the first day you are in Hiroshima). It is the LAST DAY OF THE JR PASS.
10, 11. Revisit favourite areas of Tokyo ... perhaps see things that I've missed. like Ebisu, Yanaka, Ueno.. AND Akihabara..
12 departure

Thank you very much!
Great suggestions, I feel like I have a pretty good plan now, and with your tweaks it looks even better! :)

Once again, thank you very much!

Regarding the JR rail pass, so getting one for 3 weeks wouldn't be cheaper overall? If not the 2 week idea, sounds good.

To compare the 14 days and 21 days JR passes you need to find out how much each trip around Tokyo will cost. Use www. hyperdia.com for all trains, even non JR ones. Roughly you will be spending yen 1000 per day max for transportation within Tokyo, plus the trips from Narita to Tokyo and Tokyo to Narita. Actually--I am blushing there, can you see it?--you may save 3000 yen at most by using a 14 days pass plus a Suica + Nex on arrival and either JR or Keisei to Narita on departure day...so if your value not having to fiddle too much with tickets machines etc. a 21 days pass isn't a waste of money.. I still like my itinerary --like a proud father-as it blocks Kyoto/ Osaka between your trip to Hiroshima and the return to Tokyo thus saving having to stay in one more hotel. Also having a couple of days back in Tokyo is nice. A third person may well tweak your itinerary in a totally different manner that you may too. The more options you have
the better.

Thank you once again :)

Hmm .. I think I value the convience of the 3 week JR pass over saving a few thousand yen .. in which case I may just stick with the 3 week pass.

I like your suggestions on where to go .. and I think I'll be incorporating them into my travel plans, thanks again.

Looking forward to the trip now! :D

Hi Matt,

My friend and I are interested in going to Japan at the end of year so we'll probably use your itinerary as a guide :)

Just out of interest (if you don't mind me asking), how much did your tickets cost and which airline are you flying with? Thanks!

Hi z3ro,

I haven't made any bookings yet, I'm just doing the preliminary research at the moment, but by all means feel free to use my itinerary as a guide, happy to help! :D

On the cost though, from what I have seen a return flight from Australia to Japan is around the $2000AU mark .. flying Qantas. This is a rough idea of what you can expect.

Due to some new scheduling arrangements, my trip to Japan will have to be pushed up a week, which changes a few things, particularly where I will be during New Years, nonetheless taking Monkey's advice, here is my new plans :) More thoughts and opinions are welcome.

15/12/2008: Depart AU for Tokyo, check in hotel

16/12/2008: Morning: Akihabara
Afternoon: Asakusa, then later Odaiba

17/12/2008: Harajuku (Meiji Shrine), Shibuya see Omotesando st and Takeshita st.

18/12/2008: Imperial Palace (Kokyo) & Imperial East Gardens, then Ginza.

19/12/2008: Shinjuku - West/South in morning, East in evening. See Tokyo Metro Govt Bldg, while in west.

20/12/2008: Matsumoto Castle

21/12/2008: Kamakura

22/12/2008: Nikko

23/12/2008: Travel to Kyoto by Shinkansen - check in new Hotel now based in Kyoto.

24/12/2008: Morning: Kinkakuji
Afternoon: Kiomizu Dera
Late Afternoon/Evening: Gion

25/12/2008: Himeji Castle

26/12/2008: Osaka - Minami (Namba) - morining, evening: Osaka Umeda

27/12/2008: Nara (Todaiji temple) and other surrounding temples

28/12/2008: Arashiyama and Sagano

29-30/12/08: More Kyoto/Osaka

31/12/2009: Travel to Hiroshima, see Peace Memorial Park

1/01/2009: Miyajima Island -visit New Years shrine celeberations

2/01/2009: Morning: sighseeing Hiroshima, Hiroshima Castle.

Afternoon: Travel to Tokyo

3-4/01/2009: Akihabara, Ebisu, Yanaka, Ueno.

Also one other question, when taking the Shinkansen trains to the other cities, i.e. Tokyo to Kyoto etc .. is it required that you make a booking in advance?

And one last question, does public holidays, particularly the Dec 29 - Jan 3 New Years period, affect my plans in anyway? i.e. will I not be able to do certain things because of closures?

Hi Mat,

I have travelled Japan last month and I had a Japanese woman as a guide. She helped me a lot.

http://www.tokyofreeguide.com/e-about%20us.html