AFoo

In the early stages of planning a trip with my husband and 2 year old son to Japan in late June - early July of this year. Would like some feedback on our projected itinerary. We've eliminated any day trips from Tokyo since we want to have enough time to enjoy the areas and will have to cut our evenings short because of our son.

Here's what I have so far. Considering whether Hiroshima/Miyajima is too aggressive how we have it planned or whether we should do a day trip to one or the other from Kyoto instead. Thoughts?

June 25 NYC → NAR
June 26 ARRIVE 2PM → TOKYO HALF DAY
June 27 TOKYO
June 28 TOKYO
June 29 TOKYO → HIROSHIMA (4 hours train)
June 30 MIYAJIMA --> KYOTO (1.5 hours)
July 1 KYOTO
July 2 KYOTO
July 3 NARA DAY TRIP
July 4 KYOTO
July 5 KYOTO → TOKYO (2.5 hours)
July 6 – TOKYO HALF DAY → NYC

HOTELS: Would appreciate any recommendations for hotels in each location, keeping in mind we will have a small child with us. Hostels or the like will not work for us, but doesn't need to be the Ritz... When in Tokyo for our last night, should we stay somewhere near the airport?

TRAIN: Is the train pass worth it for this itinerary? I've heard it's only cost effective for at least 14 days. If we don't get the pass, where do we buy tickets?

Thanks in advance!

Kathie

You buy train tickets at the train stations. Whether a pass is worth it doesn't depend so much on number of days, but on number and cost of your train journeys. We spent a little over two weeks in Japan, and the pass was not cost effective for us. You an figure it out for yourself on www.hyperdia.com

Also, note that 10 nights is never 11 days, but yields 9 full days for seeing/doing/experiencing. And each time you change locations, it will eat up at least half a day from the time you check out of lodgings in one place until you are checked in at the next.

kja

Have you already booked your flights? If not, consider flying into Narita and out of Kansai or vice versa.

Otherwise, I think this plan makes good sense for a first visit!

I don't think the Hiroshima / Miyajima trip too aggressive, but you know your family and I don't. if you include it -- and IMO, it is worth doing so if you can -- consider taking advantage of Japan's excellent luggage forwarding option. It's called takuhaibin; here's the info:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

mjs

I think you are trying to do too much. It will be rainy season and you are traveling with a 2 yo. You don't have a half day in Tokyo on the 26th as you arrive at NRT at 1400. It will probably be something like 1700 or probably later as you will be arriving on a Monday and you will hit rush hour traffic if you take the limo into the city. I also doubt that you will have much free time on the 6th when you leave. An open jaw ticket would help.

Reading54

A 7-day JR Pass will save you money. Activate to start on 6/29, ending on 7/5, covering all your long-distance train rides.

AFoo

Thank you for the replies. I agree that an open jaw ticket would help, but for cost reasons (and non-stop options) we had to fly roundtrip from Narita. It isn't ideal, but we will have to make it work.

As for how much we do in each location, we realize we will have to limit because of our son. He travels very well, however, and is able to nap/fall asleep in his stroller which will benefit us if we decide to stay out later one night.

The only thing I did not include in the itinerary is any stop/visit to Mount Fuji. We would like to see it, but obviously not climb. I your opinions, is this worthwhile or is Hiroshima the better stop?

An option is that we can change Hiroshima/Miyajima to a day trip from Kyoto (with lodging booked in Kyoto). This way, if we aren't feeling up to the trip we can skip it...

thursdaysd

If you have to fly out of Narita I would recommend staying in Narita the last night - the town, not an airport hotel. It is a neat little town with a castle and park, and is just one stop on the Keisei line from the airport. I just did that, staying at the Richmond.

Reading54

4-hr on a Shinkansen train can pass quickly. Arrive at the starting station ahead of time to select/buy Bento boxes and drinks to bring on the train for lunch.

After train starts, look at the scenery outside for a while, then enjoy your lunch, then look at the scenery outside again, then you are there! (I believe you'll need a train change somewhere, probably in Shin-Osaka. Be prepared to get on/off a Shinkansen train quickly, it only stops for one minute.)

Sit on the right side of the train on the way down, may be you'll get a glimpse of Mt. Fuji if it is a clear day. Or try again by sitting on the left hand side of the train on the way back to Tokyo.

I really enjoyed my leisurely afternoon spent in Miyajima.

mrwunrfl

Reading54 gave good advice on the JR Pass.

If you go to Hiroshima/Miyajima then the pass will give a nice savings. You basically have Tokyo-Kyoto roundrip, ¥27,000, and Kyoto-Miyajimma roundtrip, ¥23,000. The pass gets you all that for about ¥29,000.

If you get the pass and choose not to go to Hiroshima then you won't lose much. The Kyoto-Nara-Kyoto trip is about ¥1,400 on JR. There are non-JR options for this.

If you choose in advance to not go to Hiroshima then you can do without a JR Pass because you could then use the more frequent and somewhat faster Nozomi shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto.

>>June 29 TOKYO → HIROSHIMA (4 hours train)
The shinkansen part of the trip will be closer to 5 hours than 4. It will require a change of shinkansen trains. The extra time and the transfer would be required due to your use of that 7-day JR Pass. Your total travel time depends on where you are staying in Tokyo.

>>June 30 MIYAJIMA --> KYOTO (1.5 hours)
That must be a typo. The trip will be about 3 to 3.5 hours: ferry, walk, JR local, and two shinkanen.

mrwunrfl

You could make a stop in Nara for a night on the way between Tokyo and Hiroshima/Miyajima, in either direction.

mjs

If the prices are close to just buying tickets get the pass for convenience. Can also use it around Tokyo on the Curcle and Chou line. Very unlikely to see Mt Fuji from the train in June / July. What is your budget for Hotels?

AFoo

Great ideas! As I mentioned, we are in the very early stages of planning and only have our flight so far. In the process of formulating our blueprint for the trip first and transportation between them.

To save time and avoid transfer, we were hoping to take the Nozomi. I realize we can't use the JR Pass for these train rides though and not sure what the cost difference would be between the two options. Again, I know I have a lot of work and research left just wanted to ask some of the experts to help guide me in the right direction.

As for hotels, we are looking at spending around $150/night. Since we are traveling with our small child, we would opt for a "nicer" hotel if we had the choice even if it meant spending a little more money.