Continue planning my trip - and so overwhelmed with questions!
 

Here is my several times revised plan.
(March,27 to Tokyo, to April, 12 back home from Osaka)
Day 1,2,3 – Tokyo (this includes the arrival day) - Villa Fountain Hotel
Day 4 – Day Trip Nikko with Sunrise Tour
Day 5 – Train to Takayama (overnight Takayama)
Day 6 – Takayama and day trip to Shirakawa-Go (Overnight Takayama or Shirakawa-Go not sure)
Day 7 – Morning travel Train to Kyoto - Hotel Karasuma
Day 8,9 – Kyoto
Day, 10 – day trip to Nara (overnight Kyoto)
Day, 11 – to Koyasan overnight - Shojoshin-in temple
Day 12 - to Osaka - day trip to Himeji - overnight Osaka
Day 13 - Day trip to Kurashiki/Okayama(garden) - Overnight Osaka
Day, 14 To Miyajima island overnight (leave most of the luggage in Osaka hotel)- ryokan Jukeiso
Day 15 Osaka (want to try the SPA world)
Day 16 Departure from Osaka

Decided to make Osaka my base for the rest several days, so we don't need to move between hotels (originally thought of staying in Kurashiki for a couple of nights).

Does it make sense to stay around SHIN-OSAKA - to make the day trips easier?

It looks like I could benefit from 14 days JR pass to be activated on day 5 or day 4 (if I decide to go to Nikko on my own). I did some calculations, and it does not seem I get a lot of financial benefits, but it seems like it could make my life easier. Any thoughts on it?

I still don't have an onsen experience in my plan, and not sure if I can incorporate it somewhere. Any suggestions?

And now the stupid question - I am so overwelmed with the number of trains and various travel/transfer options.I will plan my route using Hyperdia, but when I get to the station- how do I find the right train? Do they have English signs? Do they indentify the trains by names like 'Shinkansen Kodama' or something similar I see at Hyperdia.
We have traveled a lot independently, but for some reason I feel intimidated planning this trip.

The JR Pass does have some benefits. When you get to a station you can go to the reserved seat window/counter to get a reserved seat and don't have to get in the ticket line. At one end of the ticket turnstiles is a little JR office with a swinging gate (wheelchair pax can go thru there). You show your pass as you walk thru that gate.

Your reserved seat ticket identifies the train by name and number, departure time, platform, car number and seat number. They should print you one in English (if not then ask for one in English).

If you have the departure time you can find your train on the departures board. It is electronic and alternates between Japanese and English. Yes, it will say Kodama 123 or Ltd Exp Haruka 12. That is it identifies the train name and number, departure time and destination. And platform. Go up to the platform and wait for the train. Next to the doors of each train car you will see the car number.

Gero Onsen is on the way to/from Takayama. There is an onsen bath at the Green Hotel in Takayama and it is open to the public.

mrw gives good advice about the trains in Japan. Just take your time and give yourself enough time to familiarize yourself with the stations before you depart. After a couple of rides you will be a veteran. For a detailed version, see here:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2016.html

Will you have an onsen in Ryokan Jukeiso on Miyajima? There are ryokan with onsen on the island. There are also onsen in and around Takayama as mrw suggests. See here for locations of onsen in and around where you are traveling. Maybe you can stop by one or two along the way if you have time.

http://tinyurl.com/5eoowa

and

http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/index.htm

Aloha!

Hi, helen63 -

I think your trip sounds great!

> Decided to make Osaka my base for the rest several days, so we don't need to move between hotels (originally thought of staying in Kurashiki for a couple of nights).

I chose to stay in Kurashiki and make it my base for Himeji and Okayama, and that worked out very well for me. Kurashiki is quite charming and IMO well worth a bit of time. Staying there also meant that I had time to stop in Hiroshima on the way to Miyajima.

And as others have said, the trains are VERY easy to use!

Hope that helps!

Thank you so much! This makes me feel better! Maybe, I will figure it out after all :)

Thanks for the tip about the Green hotel. Seems like it is not much more expensive than best Western, so maybe I even can stay there.

I wanted to stay in Kurashiki too. But I will be coming back from Koyasan, and the trip to Kurashiki seems like to many transfers. I thought it would be easier to get to Osaka, drop the luggage at the hotel somewhere around ShinOsaka, and then go to Himejii. Next day seems like a short trip to Okayama\Kurashiki from ShinOsaka. But you are righ about Hiroshima, not too much time there. So, maybe I am wrong about stayin in Osaka, but I just hate moving between hotels with all these luggage.
Thank you again! I am sure I will be back with some more questions :)

Wait....you are not carrying your luggage with you on the trains are you?

How much luggage do you have?

I only carry only one 22" wheeled suitcase with me on the trains. The other bigger bags I send along with the takuhaibin service.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

Very easy and inexpensive way to "handle" your luggage in Japan.

I usually send my bags a couple or more stops ahead of me and catch up to them, fill them up, then send them off again to meet up with them at another hotel along my route.

The bell desk at the hotels will make all the arrangements for you, just have the address of the hotels you want to send your bags to and wallah, it's done.

If you choose to carry your own bags with you on the train(I have done 2ea. 26" and 2ea. 22" suitcases at a time and lived to tell the tale)be aware of the space limitations and where you can store your bags on the trains

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2274.html

http://www.japanrail.com/JR_luggage.html

Aloha!

I keep reading about this luggage service, but was reluctant to use it, since it is a new concept...So, the bags don't get lost? And the next hotel knows what to do with them? If so, then it makes sense. I think, I can send my big bag from Tokyo to Kyoto (taking only small ones to Takayama), then send the big bag from Kyoto to Osaka (taking only a small one to Koyasan and Miyajima). Does this sound right? Does it take only one day for a bag to reach a destination? I read about the space limitation, so I was planning to pack light, which has never worked for me before. Besides, I like buying souvenirs :)

They have been doing the bag service for almost 40 years now so they have got it down pat.

The bags will reach the destination the next day unless the distance is really far like the they state on the Japan Guide site.

You would tell the sending hotel what day you want the bags to arrive at the receiving hotel. You will give them your reservation number. I have had the sending hotel keep my bags in storage for me for several days before forwarding them to the receiving hotel in time for my arrival. The longest time between sending and seeing my bags again was 8 days once. I had it sent to where I was going to be in 8 days. No problem they said.

I have also had the sending hotel call the receiving hotel for me to ask if they could send my bags earlier as they had little or no storage....no problem they said, send it. Very accommodating to say the least.

It's one of the reasons I love travel in Japan. People in the service industry there actually take pride in their service.

Of course you will want to do this in the larger hotels you will be staying at to assure they have adequate luggage handling services. You will want to be traveling lightly through the smaller towns and hotels anyway.

Hawaii, great info! I will stop being paranoid about packing light, and use the service. I will send it Tokyo->Kyoto-> Osaka. Thanks again!

I recommend the Best Western in Takayama. Nice rooms, tho not large, and great location. Just two short blocks from the bus/train station.

I do not recommend staying at the Green Hotel. I haven't stayed there. It is a typical Japanese-tourist hotel, maybe a bit on the upscale side of average, IIRC. There is a very touristy souvenir store that is connected to the hotel. I think that the Japanese are not at their best when they are in tour groups and that is mostly what is going on at the Green Hotel. My guess is the rooms would be as good as the BW but with dirty carpets in the hallways. The location is not very good.

Mrwunrfl, thank you! I actually planned on staying at BW, but thought of changing my plans because of onsen. Ok, then, BW it is, and just a visit to the bath.

Hi Helen,

Have just returned from nearly four weeks in Japan and covered some of areas that you will be doing.

As others have mentioned we found the train travel really very easy. The platform number that you needed wasn't actually printed on the tickets but when you make your reservation they will tell you. If you still don't know, ask the staff at the time you need to show your JR Pass to actually enter into the platform areas of the station. Hyperdia also gives you platform numbers too but I would always double check that on arrival at the station.

We really enjoyed our time in Takayama and Shirakawa and have no doubt you will as well. If the Best Western doesn't have availability, we were very happy with the Rickshaw Inn.

We also stayed at the Jukeiso on Miyajima. We had a lovely room and even had a view over the Torii Gate. I put in a request for this when I made the booking, so it doesn't hurt to try. The staff were good and there was absolutely no trouble getting them to come and pick us up from the ferry terminal. We didn't actually eat there but believe the meals are good.

The Ryokan is on the edge of the forest and I really enjoyed a walk through the forest early the next day to the Temple. I didn't meet another soul (except for the odd deer) during the walk until I reached the temple. I think I only saw one other person who was obviously a tourist whilst I was at the temple. The few others were Japanses who had actually come to make devotions. I even got to join in a Buddhist ceremony, lots of chanting, banging of drums and gongs. I am sure that you will be happy with your choice. We actually spent one night at the very upmarket Iwaso as well, and whilst that was a fabulous experience, the Jukeiso was much better value for money. Our room itself at Jukeiso was actually better than we had at Iwaso.

I know that you after an onsen experience some time during your trip and Jukeiso is obviously not an onsen, but it does have a very large communal bath down in the basement. It would fit a dozen people very comfortably. Depending on what you are actually after, perhaps that would satisfy you. It has the traditional sit at the side of the pool first to wash yourself down and then join the others. Mind you, when I went I was the only person there.

Himeji was a great stop off for us on the way to Miyajima and we also spent a night at Kurashiki which we enjoyed. It is a lovely little town with the canal through the middle and all the willow trees alongside. I can't give any advice as to whether it is better to base yourself at Osaka or not as we didn't go there at all.

We also stopped at Okayama for about 3 hours so that we could visit the Korakuen garden. If that is your main purpose in going I have to say that we were rather disappointed. Perhaps our expectation were way too high. As one of the 3 best gardens in Japan I was expecting something spectacular. In fact, we considered it "pleasant" more than anything else. We were pleased that we hadn't wasted time in going to it as a destination in itself, but simply as a stop off on the way to Kurashiki.

Incidenally we didn't have trouble anywhere in storing our bags in lockers if we stopped off somewhere on the way to that night's destination (and I am talking about needing big lockers not just the little ones). Nor did we ever have any trouble storing our bags behind the last seats at the back of the carriage. Admittedly we were not travelling during peak season.

Shandy, thank you for sharing these experiences from your trip. So helpful!

It is nice to know that you liked Jukeiso, since it was not my first choice, so I did not know what to expect. I am sure I will love the bath!
It is disappointing to hear about the garden. Since we are missing the one in Kanazawa, so I was hoping we will be happy with the one in Okayama. Are there any other gardens you enjoyed more?

My onsen vision is (probably not too realistic) - it is located in a small and a very charming town, with people in there yakatas strolling the streets (I am not sure if this possible in early April), with the some outdoor bath and beautiful scenery...:) that's why I keep thinking of Kinosaki or Arima, or something like this, but have no time to fit it into my schedule. Oh well, I hope will be happy with what Takayama and Miyajima has to offer... :)

Helen,

It is a shame that you won't make it over to Kanazawa as the garden there was much better. Much more along the lines of what I was expecting.

We did in fact quite enjoy a stroll around the garden which is a couple hundred of metres from the entrance to Himeji. You can buy a combined ticket for the two attractions. This garden is a series of small gardens and the main one has a lovely pond setting. It is also possible to have something to eat/drink overlooking the pond. We in fact enjoyed this garden more, but that is probably bound up with low expectations for this one so it was a very pleasant surprise, and too high an expectation at Okayama. Both gardens take only an hour to walk around.

I have not been to it but at one stage we were hoping to fit in Takamatsu into our plans because the Ritsurin Koen garden looks wonderful on the website. It may well be too hard to fit in with your plans but is a possibility. Although it is over on Shikoku Island the train goes direct there.

I can certainly understand your wish to fit in a "proper" onsen experience. I would have loved to have gone to Kinosaki too but it was just pushing things a bit too much (and my travelling companion wasn't as keen as I was). Incidentally, there were a few people wandering around on Miyajima at night in their yukatas. I was wearing mine when I wandered down to take some night time photos of the Torii gate.

I could probably fit Kanazawa, if I drop Kurashiki/Okayama, but for some reason I feel like spending more time in Kansai area (warmer). Besides, I think the garden in Kanazawa would not be as lovely in the early April(I could be wrong)

To tell you the truth, I am tempted to drop Mt Koya, and go to Kinosaki instead. I realize that these two places are not in the same league, but still... It is a lot of efforts to get to Mt Koya, and I hope it is all worth it. On the other hand, I can see this pretty town(at least how it looks on photos), with all these bath houses, and the local crab specialty - sounds so inviting! :)
Have you visit Mt Koya? You did not mention it in your post.

Hi Helen,

I didn't go to Mt Koya so can't give you any help there as to whether consider dropping it or not.

Of course this is only my personal opinion, but in relation to Kanazawa it was up there among my favourite destinations. I can't really specify why I enjoyed it more than some of the other places. I suppose I just liked the "vibe" better. The old area was very good and both my friend and I bought several souvenirs/gifts there. They seemed to have a lot more in the way of "artisan" shops rather than mass produced items which we had seen everywhere (although they are around too).

As mentioned we did enjoy Kurashiki. The area along the canal was delightful but we found one afternoon/night was more than sufficient to cover what we wanted to see. Kanazawa gives you a lot more choice of things to go see. Loved visiting the authentic geisha house (I'm not aware that you can even do that in Kyoto), the Ninja Castle, the samurai area not to mention the garden. There are also a bundle of museums if you are interested in that as well.

As you will be travelling in April you will have to factor in weather of course - perhaps it will be too cold. We took the bus from Kanazawa to Shirakawa (stopped over for about 8 hours there) and then took the bus to Takayama. As a lot of the bus trip is through tunnels I suppose this runs all year around but you would need to check.

Another alternative of course is to skip Kurashiki/Okayama and go to Kinosaki instead. This may well be a good option. From the sounds of it, Kinosaki has rather a nice canal so might be rather similar to Kurashiki anyway, with the onsens included to boot.

It is always hard when planning a trip to work out what to include and what to leave out. We made several major changes to our original itinerary before we settled on what we were going to do, so best of luck.

Shandy, thank you again for sharing your thoughts and opinions. I'll do more thinking! :).

I think there is a JR Hotel at Shin Osaka. You could get a discount with the JR Pass (unless you can get a better rate).

You might be able to rearrange this so that you would only need a 7-day JR Pass (moving Kyoto and Nara towards the end).

When I first saw your original post I considered suggesting that you drop Koya, but it is a World Heritage Site. And you are only traveling from Kyoto and then on to Osaka. You could send luggage from Kyoto to Osaka, go to Koyasan, then go directly to Himeji the next day. Leave your overnight bag in a locker at Shin Osaka or Himeji station and pick it up when you head to your Osaka hotel.

As mrwunrfl says, if you go with a JR hotel make sure you check out the price both with and without the JR Pass. I actually got a much better deal at the Granvia in Kyoto by taking a 3+ night option as compared to using the JR discount and it sounds like you will likely have several nights at Osaka.

Incidentally I have just started a trip report if you want to check it out.

Hi again, helen63 -

You are right that it is a bit of effort to get to Mt. Koya - but IMO it is definitely worth it! I stayed at Shojoshin-in, and loved it - it was really a very special experience. And do be sure to visit Okunoin at dusk or dawn.

I must admit that I preferred Kenrokuen in Kanazawa to Korakuen in Okayama, but you'll have the chance to see many other lovely gardens. Kokoen - the garden next to Himeji-jo - is quite lovely, as is the small garden on the grounds of Kurashiki's Ohara Museum. And there are lovely gardens in Kyoto - I especially liked the one at the Heian Shrine.

Hope that helps!