2 Weeks and yet another JR Pass Question

Hi all,

I've been doing a lot of hunting around these forums to plan for my upcoming trip to Japan in Feb/Mar 09 and everything has been really helpful. Unfortunately, the atrocious exchange rate has forced us to cut the trip back by about a week, meaning we have had to make a bit more of a solid itinerary than I would like.

My proposed itinerary is below:
Day 1 (Feb 25) �EArrive Osaka 7pm, stay in Osaka overnight
Day 2 �EShinkansen to Tokyo, Stay in Tokyo
Day 3 �ETokyo
Day 4 �EDay trip to Hakone
Day 5 �ETokyo
Day 6 �EDay trip to Nikko
Day 7 �EShinkansen to Kyoto, stay in Kyoto
Day 8 �EKyoto
Day 9 �EKyoto
Day 10 �EShinkansen to Osaka, stay in Osaka
Day 11 �EDay trip to Hiroshima & Miyajima
Day 12 �EDay trip to Shirakawa-go/Takayama/Kanazawa (depending on weather/accessibility)
Day 13 �EDay trip to Nara
Day 14 �EDay trip to Iga Ueno
Day 15 �EDay trip to Himeji & Kobe
Day 16 �EAll day in Osaka, fly out at 6pm

We plan to buy the JR 14 Day Rail Pass and activate it for the 2nd day, for the trip up to Tokyo. To cover the additional 2 days in the Kansai region (day 15 & 16), we plan to buy a 2 day JR West Rail Pass.

I have compared the ticket options and think this is the best/cheapest way to do this, but I would love it if anyone out there could confirm that for me, or suggest a better way to do it.

I'm also hoping someone can help me in the decision between Takayama/Shirakawa-go(Ogimachi)/Kanazawa, or whether it is possible to do 2 of these areas in a day, and if so, which 2? We originally had a few days to spend exploring these areas, but now that it's down to 1, we'd like to see as much as possible in a short time.

Thanks! :)

As I did the math in my head, the 14-day JR Pass pays for itself for the itinerary above.

Transport-wise, you might make a day trip to Kanazawa from Osaka. The limited express train runs at least once an hour.

Takayama and Shirakawago wouldn't be realistic as a day trip destination from Osaka.

check individual trips on Hyperdia: with all you plan to do the 14 day pass will be well worth it.
day 12 is impossible: won't see anything: need to at least overnight, or 2 nights, in one of either Takayama or Kanazawa: can't possibly do Kanazawa, Takayama, Sirakawago in one day trip from anywhere..think you may need to rejig the itinerary a bit, but Osaka to Tokyo, to Hiroshima, to Osaka alone nearly covers the pass costs, and the convenience is well worth it..have fun

Perhaps you could travel from Tokyo to Takayama, stay overnight in Takayama, then travel from Takayama to Kyoto

to save time and money in travel, plan to arrive in one airport and leave in another. (if you haven't already bought your tickets)

For the latter half of your trip, consider just staying in Kyoto. Day trips to Hiroshima/Miyajima and Himeji/Kobe can be done from Kyoto and Osaka is just 30 min JR from Kyoto. Side-trips to Nara and Iga Ueno are more accessable from Kyoto than Osaka. You may even do both in just one day, allowing you to have 2 days for Kanazawa/Shirakawa-go/Takayama.

On the first day start early and take 2 hr direct JR from Kyoto to Kanazawa, spend the whole day touring Kanazawa and spend the night there. Next day take an early bus and tour Shirakawa-go in the morning, continue by bus to Takayama and take in Takayama's Old Town district for the rest of the day before riding JR back to Kyoto in the evening.

You are making a mistake many tourists make. Cramming far too many places in a trip. Just because lots of places are "must see" doesn't mean you actually have to see them! Every dish in a menu is good yet we only choose a few of them. Same with sightseeing. Most Japanese have never seen, and will never see, all the famous towns in Japan (just like Most French, Italians, Americans etc. will never see all of their own country). Based on well over 30 years of travelling I know that doing one new place a day is very tiring and, worse still, later on you don't even remember what you saw. It is much better to only see a few places but see them long enough to save them in our deep memory. By the way, it always take much longer to see something in Japan than one planned for! a temple for example is often not just one building but many and has gardens, and interesting stores and restaurants nearby and before you know it hours have gone by! You are going to a country you aren't familiar with so EVERYTING will be a cultural shock. Even things that are "ordinary" will really surprise you. One of my old friends, a lady, came back from a quick walk around the hotel before breakfast, on her first day in Japan, amazed by how tight against a building many cars were parked (you have to see it to truly understand). We stayed in the same hotel in Kobe for 1 week and went out everyday to other places in the Kansai. Because we walked around Kobe early in the morning then later in the evening, went to Osaka, Kyoto, Nara etc. a couple of times, years later she has still all these places vivid in her mind.

Hi all, Thanks heaps for the help, especially in regards to the Takayama question!

I have lived in Japan before for several months, and did most of the first half of the itinerary during a week of travelling, and the rest of it over a few months. But I wanted to show my partner around the country that has influenced so much of my life, and thanks to short leave allowances at work and other travel plans, this trip will be our only chance to go! If I had a choice, we’d live there for a while, but that is unfortunately not possible, so I’m trying to cram as much of my 4 months of living there into 2 weeks as possible to give my partner a feel for the country!

On a side note, I agree with Daz on the flying into and out of different cities and I originally tried to book to fly into Tokyo and come out from Osaka, but this added thousands onto the ticket price! Going from the east coast of Australia, taking the Jetstar option meant flying in and out of Osaka, but also only cost $600 return…

I don’t mind busy/long days, as long as we see what we want to see (having done most of it I know it’ll be hectic, but hey, we’re not going for a rest!), but the one place we were unsure about, and unable to find too much specific information about day trips/accessibility apart from on here was Kanazawa/Takayama/Shirakawa. I’ll definitely look into the suggested changes, thanks everyone!

I also appreciate the confirmation that the 14 day pass is the way to go – I was worried I’d missed something glaringly obvious with it!

So again, thanks to all for your help and advice, much appreciated :)