Hello,

I am planning my first trip to Japan and hoping for some advice. The trip is 2 weeks long and we are going to buy the rail pass. Do you think this is a good mix? Thanks!

Day 1 – arrive KIX, shuttle to Kyoto (our flight lands at 4pm. Is this too aggressive?)
Day 2, 3, 4 – Kyoto (one or two day trips. Definitely Nara)
Day 5 – Kurashiki
Day 8 – Nagoya (Toyota Plant)
Day 7,8 – Takayama, Ogimachi
Day 9, 10 - Hakone
Day 11, 12, 13 - Tokyo
Day 14 - Leave

You could repost this with the title "Japan itinerary help!". That would help us help you.

Day 1 - no not aggressive at all. It's only an hour and a half by train.

Day 2,3,4 - recommend changing that to zero or one day trip.

The trip on Day 6 is a bit much. You'll be able to use Kurashiki station OR Shin Kurashiki. Your trip would probably involve a change of trains at Okayama. Then a change at Shin Osaka. Then in Nagoya you would get a Meitetsu train out to Toyota. The link on your other post gives access info for the Toyota plant, but just getting to Nagoya station will be 2.5 hours.

You could go to Kurashiki on Day 1 and spend two nights. Go to Kyoto early on Day 2 and spend three nights. Then Day 6 getting to Nagoya would be really easy.

Forgot to mention that you could use a 14-day JR Pass for this itinerary. You could use it to get from KIX to Kyoto and from Tokyo to NRT. If you chose not to use the JR Pass on Day 1 to get to Kyoto (or Kurashiki) then you would be a bit under break even on a 14-day pass. If you also chose not to use the JR Pass to get from Tokyo to NRT then you could just get a 7-day JR Pass for days 5-11 of your orig itin.

mrwunfrl - thanks so much for your advice. I will repost my itinerary with your suggested changes under "japan itinerary help." Just to confirm, you think we would be okay getting from kix to kurashiki on day one even though we get in so late? Is the kurashiki area worth it? I have read some posts that say it was a favorite in their trip...but seems like a lot of people dont go at all. thanks again

I think the itinerary is way too ambitious -- too much travel and not enough time to really experience Japan. Kyoto is worth two weeks alone and I would strongly urge you to spend at least 6 -7 days there (especially since it's at the beginning of the trip when you will be jet lagged). If you do that you can take a day trip to Nara and another day trip or two to some of the other fabulous places near Kyoto. But equally important you will be able to spend some time in a truly fabulous city.