ms_barrett

Hi there

My husband and I are going to be in Tokyo for work in October and we plan to take a week off prior. We have never been and have a few questions if anyone can help.

Our plans are as follows:

Oct 3 Fly into Tokyo and spend one night. Drop bags off.

Oct5 One night in Hakone
Oct 6-8 Three nights in Kyoto
Oct 9 Takayama

We are more interested in the culture, old towns, strolling around shops. We have lived in New Zealand and Vancouver and wondered if it was worth going to Hakone. If so, for ease of transit when leaving to get to Kyoto, which town is the best to stay in and do we back track and take a bullet train from Odwarra?? There is a chance we may lose a day so would Takayama be better or Hakone or lose a day in Kyoto?

Thanks, Ms_Barrett

kathyl

ms_barrett-

Hakone would probably be a better option than Takayama given your schedule. You can do both Hakone and Takayama if you lose one day/night in Kyoto. Personally, I loved Takayama and preferred it over Kyoto--just more of the small town, quaint Japan that I imagined. Others on this board love Kyoto. SInce getting to and from Takayama is a bet time consuming (need to change to/from slower train in Nagoya) I don't think one night there is worth it. You won't be arriving in Takayama until mid-afternoon which doesn't give you a lot of time to explore before leaving again the following day.

If you do decide to go to Takayama, check out the Sumiyoshi Ryokan--great place! I can't remember the url, but just google it and something will come up.

ms_barrett

Kathy - thanks for that tip! i was suspecting that the train trip may make the trip to takayama worthwhile but I had heard so many good thing about it.

Are you able to suggest any other day / side trips from Kyoto or Tokyo if I drop Takayama?

kathyl

ms_barrett,

I would feel so bad if you dropped Takayama because of my advice! I absolutely LOVED Takayama. It really was what I thought "old Japan" would be like. And I think it's still a bit off the path of foreign tourists. We saw mostly Japanese tourists. The small streets are perfect for wandering about... However, I do believe that one day in Takayama is not enough, so I understand if you do drop it.

Kamakura and Nikko are supposed to be good day trips from Tokyo, although we didn't have time to do either on our trip. Keep in mind that there's also a lot to do and see in Tokyo--things that you may not be able to do during the working part of your trip in Tokyo. So you could spend the extra day exploring Tokyo a bit.

From Kyoto, Nara is usually the side-trip of choice. I have to admit that Nara was not my favorite either, but we were there during peak school trip season so there were A LOT of screaming teenagers, plus the deers... Just a bit to crazy for us. But others here would probably recommend it. I remember there were other possible day trips from Kyoto to some castles but I can't recall them right now. Maybe your guidebook may have some suggestions?

mrwunrfl

You would go through Odawara using your JR Pass and I wouldn't call it back tracking. Nara would be the recommended day trip from Kyoto. Another worth considering is Himeji.

So, you're spending the night of Oct 4 in Tokyo?

Here's a plan:
Oct 5: Tokyo - Kyoto in the morning, touring, night in Kyoto
Oct 6: tour Kyoto, night in Kyoto
Oct 7: tour Kyoto in the morning and leave bags at station. Tour Nara and return to Kyoto station, then 45 minute shinkansen to Nagoya, spend night near station.
Oct 8: catch 8:43 train to Takayama, arriving 10:56AM, overnight in Takayama
Oct 9: Takayama touring, last train at 6:30PM to Nagoya, bullet back to Tokyo.

Or on Oct 8, you can spend 2 hrs getting to Takayama, spend 6 hours in Takayama, 2 hrs back to Nagoya and 2 hours to Odawara. Then Oct 9 see Hakone.

ms_barrett

Thanks Kathy and mrwunrfl - great ideas. I think we may skip Hakone and try to get to Takayama. I will be in Tokyo for 8 days for business and there may be a spare day to make a day trip to Hakone.

One last question, do you know of the best way to look at up-to-date train schedules?

lcuy

I'd also vote for Takayama over Hakone. Especially in October, it should be beautiful... I'd go directly there from Kyoto instead of spending the night in nagoya though. We did this once, mostly because the TIC in Nagoya had such wonderful nagoya brochures. I hate to say they embellished, but while Nagoya is a nice enough city, the brochures and the reality did NOT match up.
Although there are lots of hotels around the station, there isn't much else of interest open there in the evenings to make it worth checking into and out of a hotel. Good little shops in the train station though if you have a layover there during the day.

mrwunrfl

Skipping Hakone will maximize your shinkansen travel since you won't have to take the Kodama "local" shinkansen to or from Odawara. There is a below for JR info. Also, go to the jreast and jrwest websites. At the JNTO site, www.jnto.go.jp, you can find some info but the thing to do is to call them and have them send you info: JR schedule, brochures, maps, etc.

http://www.world.eki-net.com/e_TrainSearch/e_Route.asp

ms_barrett

Well, thanks for the sugestions everyone. Unfortunately the dates we now were thinking of going to Takayama are fully booked because of the Autumn festival!

So now, we are looking for alternative places to visit for Oct 8-9.

One alternate is to start out trip from Tokyo to Takayama and it seems the best way to do this might be via Nagoya. I have heard some nice things about Gifu and the hot spring towns of Atami.

Any suggestions? I have mentally left off Hakone now but perhaps it is woth seeing. Thanks!