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How many nights in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka? Organizing an itinerary?

How many nights in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka? Organizing an itinerary?

Old May 19th, 2017, 04:32 PM
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How many nights in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka? Organizing an itinerary?

All right. So I've been doing a lot of research on Japan Guide and I've got several guide books. I still don't have a good grasp on how much time I need in the major cities. I thought I'd ask here because Fodorites tend to be fans of slow travel.

Tokyo:
Day trips (Or overnight?): naoshima (actually, setouchi trienale as a whole), Nikko.
Activities: Disneysea, the fabric district, tokyo national museum, the Imperial palace area, studio ghibli, shopping in daikanyama, kagurazaka, national Showa museum, koishikawa korakuen

Kyoto: so many shrines and temples I don't even know where to start. But certainly the fushimi Inari shrine and the otagi Nenbutsu-ji . Would 7 nights be too much? Too little? Nara (day or overnight? Multiple nights?)

Mount Koya- not sure if this is more accessible from Kyoto or Osaka.

Hiroshima: the memorial, miyajima island (day or overnight trip?) anything else?

I'd like to do the walk between Magome and tsumago. Can't figure out where to put that though because I haven't decided what order to put the cities in. I understand that it's part of the "Japanese romantics road" so perhaps I should add a day or two to enjoy the area?

Also interested in hakone and the alpine route. Is one superior to the other? Both worth visiting for their unique aspects?

Then also Takayama and and Kanazawa look worthy of a few nights. thoughts on either?

As a Ghibli geek, I'm also also interested in visiting dogo onsen in matsuyama, and yakushima island. I'm thinking that matsuyama is easier to reach but Yakushima is more along the lines of my interests.

I was going to ask about booking a temple for an overnight stay. But I cannot figure out where I had in mind. Perhaps it was mount koya? Has anyone done this? Did you enjoy the experience?

Mostly I plan to stay in hostels, and I plan to buy a JR pass but I cannot decide which one would be best.

My two possible starting points are Osaka and Tokyo. Osaka is looking much cheaper to fly in and out of. But I usually fly open jaw, and I am not sure if I'd find a round trip ticket a hassle.

So Osaka would probably eat at least one night. Any thing you really enjoyed there?

I love museums, history, nature, food. Textiles, daily life, art, mostly, although I'll go to an excellent war or technology museum. Unesco sites are of particular interest. I like all sizes of towns or cities and I'd like to mix it up a bit. So I want to stay long enough in the cities to get a good feel for the place, but I don't want the cities to take up the lions share of the trip. If that makes sense? I hope it does.

Any other places you absolutely loved, please do fell free to add!

Also interested in excursions such as bike tours or kayaking, if anyone has done something like that they'd recommend.

Thank you for any feedback!
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Old May 19th, 2017, 07:45 PM
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I spent three nights in Nara last fall, one day for Nara and one for temples nearby. Don't miss the saki tasting or the merchant house museums - it's not all temples.

Seven nights for Kyoto sounds a bit long to me, but depends a bit on how long you have for the trip.

Yes, the temple stay would be Koya-san. Pick your temple with care! Mine wasn't great, but there are posts here from people who had better experiences.

I thought two nights were enough for Takayama, but at least three for Kanazawa.

You need to firm up your itinerary a bit before thinking about passes. Then you can price the train trips on hypredia and see if a pass wuld work. If a JR Pass doesn't work, one of the regional passes might.

How long do you have? You might consider time on Kyushu or Shikoku as well as Honshu if it's a long trip.
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Old May 19th, 2017, 08:04 PM
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When and how long is the trip?

You have Naoshima with Tokyo. They are nowhere near each other.

If you are interested in Matsuyama then that could be part of your Hiroshima area trip. There is a ferry between the two cities and it goes through a national park area. It was a scenic ride around sunset.

Cycling: you should look into the Shimanami Kaido.
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Old May 19th, 2017, 08:19 PM
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Oh, the merchant house museums sound great! I probably have no longer than a month. I might stretch it for one more week, but not sure that will work out.

Did you write up a Tr for your Japan trip by chance? I feel like I've read a TR of yours for Asia but I don't think it included Japan.

Seven nights sounded like a lot to me too, but people keep saying it's more interesting than Tokyo and it does sound like somewhere I'd want a bit extra time for seeing stuff I discover while I'm there. I always end wandering around and stumbling across something neat. But there's so much else I want to see elsewhere as well.

Thanks for your suggestions, off to do more research. I didn't actually know there were regional passes!
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Old May 19th, 2017, 08:37 PM
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Mrwunrfl- good catch, re:naoshima. No idea why I had that written in my notes next to Tokyo- it's clear on the other side of Osaka and belongs with Okayama and korakuen.
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Old May 19th, 2017, 09:01 PM
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I too think that 7 days is too much for Kyoto but than again I only have so much an appetite for Temples and Churches. Can do many short trips from Tokyo including Hakone, Nara, Izu, Kamakura... Make a reservation for the Ghibli as far ahead as possible. Tokyo to me is more interesting than Osaka but than again I have not been to Osaka in a very long time. I think of Tokyo as the essence of modern Japan. What time of year are you traveling?
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Old May 19th, 2017, 09:20 PM
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Summer, most likely. I am considering May but life wise July is almost always the least complicated. And Obon sounds interesting.

I would have said last year that I haven't much appetite for temples and churches, but they turned out to be a major highlight for me in Europe. So I don't know. I will say that I am definitely looking forward to gardens in Japan, and that's one of the reasons I'm considering summer over winter.

Have also learned that I definitely prefer stopping for a night or two over a lot of day trips. So I'm thinking Nara will be an overnight trip at least. Don't know about Hakone.
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Old May 20th, 2017, 12:03 AM
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If your 7 nights in Kyoto includes any day or half day trips (such as Uji, Osaka, Kobe) then it's not too much at all, but that's based on my interests and travelling style. We did 5 nights in Kyoto on first trip, 6 nights on second trip and 7 on our last trip. Obviously, we adore Kyoto!

If you can do one or two nights in Nara, I'd recommend it. I did a blogpost on the wonderful Ryokan Kankaso which we did one night at during our first trip and wished we'd done two nights.

For Tokyo, it's hard to say, I'd say you might want 4 actual days there (so 5 nights if all in one block), and that's to allow for day trips, maybe Nikko and Kamakura?

Takayama and Kanazawa are well worth visiting, you'll probably want a good 5 nights between the two of them, 6 if you want to also visit Shirikawa-go. I did 2 nights in Takayama on our first visit (but train times meant we had the afternoon of our arrival day too). We did 4 nights in Kanazawa on our most recent trip, 3 would have been fine but we didn't mind having 4. We also rented a car and headed up and around the Noto Peninsula from Kanazawa starting point.

Koya-san is a wonderful experience, you'll need to set off early on your arrival day to get there in time to check in, enjoy the monk's cuisine meal, explore the graveyard and temple...

I didn't love Hakone, but I'm probably the exception rather than the rule there.
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Old May 20th, 2017, 12:16 AM
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I would not recommend July as a time to visit Japan. Rainy season is early June to about mid July and if it is not raining it will be hot and muggy. August has been extremely hot recently with temps to around 40 according to my friends. Also Typhoon season. Recommend the fall if it works out for you.
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Old May 20th, 2017, 01:09 AM
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The fall definitely does not work I know summer is rainy season.

I was thinking mid April to mid May might work, but then I run into Golden week.

So. Between mid may to mid July, what span of time would you recommend.
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Old May 20th, 2017, 02:08 AM
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Tentative itinerary- is there anything that really doesn't work? Are there any modifications or additions or subtractions you'd recommend?

Tokyo area- 8 nights
(Activate JR pass)
Nikko- 3 nights
Kanazawa- 4 nights
Takayama-2 nights
Shirakawago- 1 night
Kyoto- 6 nights
Koya- 1
Nara- 2
(Himeji)
Okayama- 2
Matsuyama- 1
Hiroshima- 3
Miyajima- 2

I took out magome/tsumago, and the alpine route. No Hakone either. Probably no naoshima. It would make it simpler. Although perhaps that's a possible day trip from somewhere.

I'm thinking mid May to mid June. It probably isn't ideal but hopefully good enough weather for hiking. I'm also interested in biking the Shimani Keido, and I know I won't be able to do that in July.
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Old May 20th, 2017, 06:44 AM
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Lots to cover! First, the temples, castles and gardens are nothing like those you saw in Europe. Interesting and worth seeing, but very, very different. I had trouble seeing the castles AS castles at first! Also, the gardens are not really about flowers, so being there in summer is not important. Spring for cherry blossom and fall for foliage are the biggies. My first take on the gardens was that they were far too manicured, but I came to like them. (One I saw on my last trip was designed as a series of pictures, you couldn't walk in it.)

Maybe Golden Week would be a good time to be in Tokyo? (Although that is more time than I would want there.) I would definitely skip summer. Check https://www.wunderground.com/ to see when things start getting hot and humid. I ran into some of that early October and it's no fun.

For inexpensive accommodation look at Toyoko and Dormy Inns. Very small rooms and no atmosphere, but everything you need at reasonable prices.

I did do a TR for my first Japan trip:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...omment-6696716

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...ping-to-kyoto/

I have been having health problems this year, and have not got the TRs for last year up to Tokyo (currently in Samarkand!) but these were my planning threads:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...n-part-one.cfm

(Note: the bus trip to Hagi was fine. Kyoto was packed.)

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-difficult.cfm

(Wound up spending the first night on Kyushu in Nagasaki instead of Fukuoka as a large sink hole opened in the pavement outside the station the day of my arrival and I couldn't check into my hotel! Also slept in Ofuna instead of Kamakura. The Kochi hotel was a dump.)
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Old May 20th, 2017, 12:30 PM
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Golden week next year will be April 28-May 6. You have a long trip so you could arrive in Tokyo during Golden week as long as you have a place to stay as your time in Tokyo will not be hampered by the holiday. This time of year will be fairly warm but usually not unbearable. Better still would be to do your visit before Golden week.
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Old May 20th, 2017, 03:44 PM
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I considered going in April, but I'm wondering if the crowds would be too bad and the weather might be less good? However, Cherry blossoms would be nice to see and I'd enjoy attending the Miyako Odori. I'm just not sure it worth the trade off.

(I went to DC for the cherry blossoms last year. I enjoyed it but I don't think I would have liked it much if I had been there to sightsee. The crowds were crazy and it was an expensive time to be there. So that's why I'm a little concerned).
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Old May 20th, 2017, 08:30 PM
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Japan like most of Asia is crowded. I would much rather go to Japan in April than May. While the temperature in May seems reasonable, the high humidity can make it uncomfortable for the tourist. I have never stayed at a hostel in Japan but I suspect that the rates will not change much for the cherry blossoms. Airfare may be a little higher but if you book early enough it may not be much of a factor. This of course depends on where you are flying from.
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Old May 20th, 2017, 08:58 PM
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Thanks. I hadn't considered the humidity- I've been reading trip reports and I think April is warmer than I expected.

Right now I'm puzzled over the train schedules. I can't buy tickets ahead of time, can I? Do tickets get higher close to the date of travel? I posted on another site and the responder thought I was travelling too slow for the JR pass to pay off. But I've gotten the idea that train travel is quite expensive. So if I can't use a pass, how much should I budget for in country travel?
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Old May 21st, 2017, 12:12 AM
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You need to look at the Japan rail site and do some calculating.
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Old May 21st, 2017, 06:52 AM
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Go here: http://www.hyperdia.com/

Price all your train trips. Don't forget to add the seat reservation fee (don't bother with Green class), it will be included in "Total" at the top of each itinerary.

Then compare to the price of the pass. If the full JR Pass isn't cost effective (it hasn't been for me), take a look at the regional passes.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

I used a JR West Sanyo Sanin pass on my last trip, bought in country but with a discount for reserving it online..

Seat fees are cheaper in the "off" season, but no reason to buy ahead. If your itinerary is fixed you might want to buy all your long distance tickets/make your reservations with your pass at the beginning of the trip.
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Old May 21st, 2017, 08:46 AM
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Thank you! Do trains frequently sell out during high seasons? Like if I decide to go during cherry blossoms? I actually prefer to buy tickets day of because I tend to lose money otherwise. There are days I'm ready to just get out of town and then there are days I just want to see one last thing. Do you recommend reserved or unreserved seats?

I've read a few reports that ticket machines may not accept us cards. Is there a staffed desk I can buy them at at the stations that will accept cards? Can I buy bus tickets at the train stations too? Or do I buy bus tickets online or on the bus?

Thursdaysd- thanks for linking your report! I didn't know about the hida art nouveau museum and I'm really looking forward to that!
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Old May 21st, 2017, 08:52 AM
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In answer to your question, yes on busy dates during peak season, some trains do sell out BUT there is nearly always another train on that same route at a different time, with seats still available.
What I would suggest is that if you are keen to travel on a particular time train, and the date falls in a peak travel period, then book it. Likewise if the route only has one departure on that date, or only one that works with your itinerary.
Otherwise, where there are multiple trains running the route on a given day, you should be fine if not tied to a particular time.
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