jgg

In the beginning stages of planning a trip to Japan the last two weeks in March 2010, with our 15 yo son. Have done a lot of reading and have checked out train times/distances on hyperdia.

5 nights Tokyo
2 nights Miyajima
5 nights Kyoto
2 nights Hakone
train straight from Hakone to Narita airport for late afternoon flight (possibly 3:30pm)

My original thought was to switch Hakone and Miyajima, but like the idea of going straight from last destination to the airport, and I think Miyajima to NRT would be too long of a train ride and make for a VERY long travel day - since would go from long train ride to long plane ride. Or could take a night from Kyoto and spend our last night in Tokyo. Is 5 nights too much in Kyoto?
Could do Tokyo-Hakone-Miya-Kyoto, but really want to break up the ryokan/onsens with times in the city - don't want to do them one right after the other.

Anyway, just wanted some expert opinions, especially wrt if one way is better than another for a railpass perspective. Haven't really looked at railpasses yet, except to get familiar with the hyperdia website.

Thanks!

hawaiiantraveler

Have you thought of flying into KIX and flying out of NRT? That way you could do Kyoto-Miyajima-Tokyo and Hakone. You also would not need a rail pass this way. You might want to utilize the Hakone Free Pass though. The original way you would need at least a 14 day JR rail pass.

If you are not worried about the pass situation your itinerary is actually well thought out and looks pretty good to me. See how much if any you can save by doing the open jaw flight.

Aloha!

kja

> Is 5 nights too much in Kyoto?

I didn't think so! But it depends on what you want to see and experience.

Enjoy!

rhkkmk

you missed the trip....it got over a few months ago

jgg

Thanks for that info. that was what I was looking for. We are using FF miles that require us to have a RT ticket, so unfortunately we can't do the open jaw. I have now read up a bit on the JR railpass, and have a few more questions:

1. If I did the Kyoto-Miya-Tokyo-Hakone, why would I not need a rail pass that way? Would I just be buying single tickets? and that is cheaper than the railpass? I looked into the cost of train ticket from NRT to Kyoto and that is about $150/person.

2. If I did Tokyo-Miya-Kyoto-Hakone and bought the 14 day railpass, would that take care of all of my train/transportation needs? Would I still need a Hakone Free Pass?

Thanks, I'm a newbie at this train stuff.

jgg

ha!ha! rhkmk!! March 2011!!

hawaiiantraveler

1. Looking at prices on hyperdia.com
Kyoto-Miyajimaguchi(stop for Miyajima) 11,610 yen
Miyajimaguchi-Tokyo 18,750 yen
Total 30,360 yen so 7 Day JR Pass would work here as cost of pass is 28,300 yen. The cost of the 14 day JR Pass is 45,100 yen.....quite a difference

Most airlines have switched so you can now do one way awards which will allow you to do this, check it out.

2. Yes and no, depends on what you are going to do in Hakone. If you have the 14 day JR Rail pass you would probably only need the 2-day 3900 yen Hakone Free Pass which would cover all your travel in the Hakone region ie bus, gondola, pirate ships, trains, cog ways, etc. If you just plan on going to the ryokan and not sightseeing you would probably not get the value out of the HFP so in that case you would not need one. You would use your JR pass from Tokyo to Odawara(Hakone stop)then use the HFP from Odawara around the Hakone region.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

Aloha!

jgg

Thanks again HT. I checked it out and, as I suspected the open jaw is not an option. This is is not with a specific airline, but Wells Fargo Rewards - so I can go on any airline, miles used is based on cost of ticket - two one ways are way more expensive than one RT.

We are planning on doing the Hakone loop so sounds like we need the Hakone Free Pass either way.

I did add up all the extra little train rides we would need to buy separately if we were able to fly into KIX and just get the 7 day pass. With buying KIX-Kyoto, Odawara-Narita, RT Kyoto-Osaka, RT Tokyo Disney Sea, RT Miyajima-Hiroshima, the savings is more like $30/person rather than almost $200/person (assuming my calculations are correct!) So, that makes me feel a bit better about having to do the RT NRT flight.

WillJame

This Japan Airpass might work for you, if you wanted to fly from Narita to Osaka's Itami airport directly on arrival: http://tinyurl.com/39cb6o
It would cost an extra ¥10,000 each, but get you to a domestic airport within easy reach of Kyoto or Osaka. An alternative to the US-KIX-NRT-US route that you can't do on your points.

W9London

On the last leg of Hakone-NRT, you know you have to go via Tokyo? If you have 3:30pm flight, you'll need to be at NRT say around 2pm. Working backward, you'll have to leave Hakne by around 10am so it's more like 1.5day instead of 2 days you have at Hakone, which is a pity.

I'd cut one day out of Tokyo, spend the full 2 days in Hakone, get to Tokyo night before heading to Narita. Makes your morning a bit more leisurely.

lcuy

We had a 3:30 flight from Narita on our last trip, and left Hakone right after breakfast. No problems getting there in that time at all, even with a typhoon closing all the trains and busses, but not before we go on them!

We had flown in from Singapore at 5am then traveled straight to Hakone and did the circuit that afternoon. It was a fast trip, but still well worth going, especially since we had a great dinner and breakfast at our inn.