helen63

Mrwunrfl, I could not find JR hotel near Shin-Osaka, only Granvia near Osaka station (not shin Osaka). So, I am still looking where to stay. Maybe, Osaka station area is fine, since I can not find anything reasonable (with good reviews) near Shin-Osaka. Actually, this is the plan - send luggage to Kyoto, go to Koyasan, go to Himejii (I thought of dropping luggage at Osaka hotel, but can use lockers too), and then back to Osaka hotel. Glad, you have approved it.
Shandy, I am enjoying your report - please keep it coming!
Kja, thanks for posting this. I hope we enjoy Koyasan as much as you did (we are staying at the same place). Good info about the gardens!
Thank you so very much!

mrwunrfl

Ok, it is the Granvia at Osaka station that I was thinking about. I think the Hilton is across the street or nearby and gets good reviews.

AfterDark

We had a 2 week "green" JR pass and found the extra cost well worth it for the extra room and the fact that we were always able to store our suitcases behind the last row of seats well out of the way. The "ordinary" class cars always appeared to be much more crowded. We overnighted in Kurashiki and really enjoyed it - we stayed in the Kurashiki Kokusan hotel which is right on the edge of the historical & picturesque Bikan area - can recommend Rentenchi Italian restaurant as well - you might find this page helpful - http://www.kurashiki.co.jp/bikan/index-e.html - Hope you have a great time

shandy

Helen, I am fairly sure that Rentenchi is the Italian restaurant we really enjoyed as well, so another vote for it. Good tip from After Dark.

In relation to the JR Pass, we had a "normal" pass and not once in the three weeks (and we took a lot of train trips) were we not able to put our bags behind the last row of seats. We found the amount of room available on the trains fine. With the shinkansens there was a ton of room. If the carriage was full we didn't find that a problem either, as everyone has their own seat. It is not as though you have people standing as well. May be in the unreserved section you have people standing as well but we always made a reservation whenever possible. On some of the smaller lines you can't but there was always plenty of room.

I should add the proviso that we were not travelling at a peak holiday period or anything like that.

helen63

Thank you AfterDark! Thank you Shandy!
I am sure we will be fine with the regular car. The 2 weeks regular JR pass is expensive enough

Thanks for the tip for Italian place, but I think we will go 100% Japanese on this trip...We really like Japanese (or any asian) food, so I don't think we will get tired of it in two weeks

mrwunrfl

Am not sure if your itin has changed since 10/21. But, you mentioned the 14-day pass. You could do this with a 7-day JR Pass.

Day 5 JR to Takayama
Day 6 Takayama or Shirakawago
Day 7 JR to Osaka, spa world?
Day 8 JR day trip to Himeji, spa world?
Day 9 JR day trip to Kurashiki
Day 10 JR Osaka to Miyajima
Day 11 JR Miyajima to Kyoto

Something like that. The longest travel day then would be Day 7, if you took the train from Takayama or bus from S-go to Kanazawa and then train. That wouldn't be very long, tho, and you would settle in Osaka for a few days.

Use a regional pass, or pay as you go, for Nara and Koyasan and Kansai Airport. Might save 10,000 yen pp. But this is assuming you'd take the tour, not JR, to Nikko. Otherwise the 14-day pass does make it simpler and keeps the flexibility.

helen63

Mrwunrfl,

You are right,I could save some money that way. I did not think about this first(because the guide book suggested 14 days pass for the similar route). But when you have mentioned in your previous post that I can get by with 7 days pass, I did some calculations, which proved the saving. However, I still like my original route. It is something about me wanting to see Kyoto first, and then if I feel I did not have enough time, I would have some flexibility to go back there at the end of my trip. The saving is not huge, so I think I am going to 'splurge' for 14 days path However, the frugal part in me is still thinking about your advice...

mrwunrfl

That was the frugal side of me thinking out loud. I considered not posting it because you do have a good itin.

I could not find your hotel in a web search. Where is it in Tokyo?

So you will have your 14-day pass validated for travel starting on Day 3, March 30 (emd's birthday).

Staying a night in a gassho zukuri farmhouse Shirakawago is a great idea. Your itin might be too tight to accommodate that, tho.

KimJapan

The hotel is in the chain of business hotels called Villa Fontaine http://www.hvf.jp/eng/?utm_source=AW...FRYdewod-QxhYQ Nice as far as business hotels go, but rooms are still very small.

helen63

My hotel is part of that chain as Kim is saying - Shiodome

http://www.hvf.jp/eng/shiodome.php

My itin are are still the same - validate pass on day 3, still undecided about Nikko - go on my own or take a tour. The tour is so convinient -they pick up right by hotel, but it is $135/person (there are three of us), so my frugal side, you know...wants to use the JR pass. I am keeping my day 13 kind of open - may go back to Kyoto, or Kobe with Arima onsen (this is my choice), or Kurashiki as planned originally.

helen63

Forgot to say - I decided not to overnight (Unfortunatly) in Shirakawa-go for several reasons, so booked two nights in Best Western in Takayama. I hope we have enough time to make even a day trip there. We only have a day and a half in Takayaman(and this is assuming we don't miss our trains or board train going in different directions . Looks like with the new road - the bus only takes 50 mins from Takayama to Shirakawa go, so with some discipline, we should have time.