plambers

Hi again. Playing around with dates again to try to better use weekends.

May 17-fly to Japan
May 18-21 Tokyo 3 nights
May 21-24 Takayama-willl try for onsen here. 3 nights
May 24-31 week in Kyoto week
May 31-June 1 Hiroshima 1 night
June 1-3 2 nights Miyajima. Train to Fukuoka for 3pm flight to Seoul or 8 pm flight to Busan. 2 nights Miyajima
June 3-10 South Korea for a week then home

This way it looks like I will be out of office 3 weeks rather than closer to 4 using weekends. Daughter really wants SK so that's decided.

I'd love advice on which passes to use now that the JR pass will be so expensive. This is my biggest struggle and really appreciate your help. Also, if you have any additional feedback on above itinerary, I'd appreciate it before I book return SK flight. I was able to use miles to Japan but will have to pay for flight back from SK.

curiousgeo

Japanese pro baseball is such a fun experience, chants, singing, props, super enthusiastic fans. In summer the “kawaii” beer girls are wonderful. An ice cold beer with yakisoba in the outfield stands during the game are a great memory.

mrwunrfl

Your itin looks good.
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Am fairly certain that none of the passes would do you any good. The long Kyoto stay splits the trip into two parts. The Nara/Osaka day trips cost much, so I ignored them below.

Part 1
Tokyo → Takayama 14,000-14,500 yen
Takayama → Kyoto 9,000-9,500 yen

Part 2
Kyoto → Himeji 2,500-5,000 yen
Himeji → Hiroshima 8,000 yen
Hiroshima → Miyajima 600 yen
Miyajima → Fukuoka 9,100-9,600 yen

That is from Japan Rail Pass Calculator - find out whether a JR Pass pays off (japan-guide.com)
just to get the fares.

Passes are descfribed at the link below. Maybe one of the Kansai passes would be useful if you were to visit Himeji as a day trip from Kyoto (which I think you don't want to do for good reason).
Rail Passes in Japan (japan-guide.com)

plambers

iS THERE A WAY I COULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOME PASSES? I THOUGHT THERE WAS A 5 DAY PASS I COULD GET IN KYOTO THAT WOULD GET ME TO HIROSHIMA. AND HIMEJI.

mrwunrfl

>> I THOUGHT THESE WERE INEXPENSIVE TRIPS?
Yes, Nara/Osaka are inexpensive. That is why I excluded them.

>> WHAT IS THAT REASON? TIME?
Well, yes. You said you would have liked more time for Kyoto. A day trip to Himeji would take time away from Kyoto.And it might just be that it is the cost of the return trip to Kyoto is what makes the Kansai pass worthwhile.

Instead, you can stop in Himeji on the way to Hiroshima which is why I gave those fares. Himeji on 31st, Hiroshima PP&M on the 1st and over to Miyajima late that afternoon.

>> iS THERE A WAY I COULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOME PASSES? ...
I just answered that question (no) and gave you some links that you might use to prove me wrong or see that I am correct. Yesterday, I re-reviewed the passes before I posted even though I was sure I knew what the answer would be.

Yes, there is a 5-day pass. You can find it at the rail pass link I gave. Do the math with the fares I showed above. Consider those to be ballpark-ish fares.

You can find fares yourself. Go to google and just enter "AAA to BBB train" and you will find what you need.

You can use this website for fares and routes: Route Search - Japan Transit Planner | Norikae Annai (jorudan.co.jp)

That site shows Kyoto->Himeji fares range from 2310 to 5370, slightly different at both ends of the range that japan-guide gave.

This is the transit route of the search result from Kyoto to Himeji - Japan Transit Planner | Norikae Annai (jorudan.co.jp)

plambers

i added a day to Kyoto so now have a week there. so let me figure out if its worth it to do a day trip to Himeji. thanks again

mrwunrfl

1 USD = 141.76 JPY today. Could be 125 or 130 (or lower) by May depending on what BOJ does, among other things, so it would be better if these results were in JPY
kyoto to hiroshima train - Google Search
tokyo to takayama train - Google Search

plambers

flight from fukuoka to busan is an 11 am. wondering if i should cut a night from kyoto and spend last night in fukuoka from miyajima. is it easy to get from fukuoka center to airport?

mrwunrfl

fukuoka to fukuoka airport - Google Search

plambers

thanks. wondering if we should tour hiroshima and then head to fukuoka the night before. or would we want to spend an additional night there (and I could cut kyoto to 6 nights?)

mrwunrfl

>> would we want
If you did some research on Fukuoka then you might find that you would want to spend more time there. You likely would but then you would have to balance that with your interests elsewhere. If you don't research Fukuoka then the answer to your question would be 'no' simply because you wojuld not know what your would be missing.

>> I'd want to add more days to Kyoto!
That was your reply to my suggestion of cutting from Kyoto. I sh/could have asked you why you would want to add to 6/7 days in Kyoto.

>> I could cut kyoto to 6 nights
Yes, you could. You could cut Kyoto to 3 nights. I am not a Kyoto fan.

plambers

Hi. I know you aren't a Kyoto fan from your posts! We won't see shrines in Tokyo and will save for Kyoto. From Kyoto, we might do 2 or 3 day trips - Nara, Osaka and Himeji (if we don't do on way to Hiroshima).

I have looked a bit into Fukuoka and know they have fantastic ramen, which is reason enough. We could stay 2 night here but is that totally short changing Fukuoka? We would only have the day after we arrive from Hiroshima.

mrwunrfl

Two nights in Fukuoka is better than one night.

plambers

so if i cut a night from kyoto and a night from miyajima, i could do 2 in fukuoka. so trip would now look like this:

Tokyo-3 nights
Takayama - 3 nights with day trips to hida and a half day hida e bikt tour, full day in takayama
kyoto - 6 nights with daytrips to nara, osaka and maybe himeji
1 night miyajima (would love 2 nights here but its a weekend so assume prices will be high) may visit himeji on way if not a day trip from kyoto
1 night hiroshima
2 nights fukuoka
fly to Busan for week in S Korean split 3 nights Busan, 4 Seoul.

Do any passes work with this? Does this work well?

mrwunrfl

..>> a weekend so assume prices will be high
That is not necessarily a valid assumption. You could find a place you want to stay and look for availability and prices for October/November to see if there is a difference between weekdays and weekends. You could figure out about a pass using the info in this thread.

waqarmirwaqarmir6864

This is quite beneficial. Since my daughter just requested me to go on the trip with her, I'm trying to get as much information as I can as quickly as I can. Even though my research on Japan is only fair, we still have time to finish this. My main concern right now is where and when I'll be travelling home.
I really value your advice. Would Seoul and Busan give us a taste of South Korea? Although I also saw Juju Island, I don't believe we have time for that.

plambers

OH how lucky for you. We just added anohter night in Seoul bc we want to do a trip to the DMZ. A friend of mine just got back and said she wished she had more time in Seoul. We will do 3 nights Busan and 5 in Seoul.

plambers

we are over to japan with miles but found a very well priced business class seat from Seoul back to the states.

shelemm

Korea is a highly mountainous peninsula, so anywhere you have the mountains and the sea will give you an excellent taste of Korea. That describes Busan perfectly. Seoul has mountains too, but not the sea. Not necessary to go to Jeju (correct spelling) Island.

plambers

so I am rethinking our 3 nights in Takayama. It will take a long time to get there for a short visit.
Wondering if I should add an extra night to Tokyo, eliminate Takayama (so we'd go from Tokyo to Kyoto directly.)
Week in Kyoto with visits to Himeji, Nara and Osaka
Train to Hiroshima for 2 or 3 nights
Then train to Fukuoka where we could have 3-4 nights Fukuoka or surrounds before our early morning flight to Busan.
Thoughts on eliminating Takayama? Adding more time in Fukuoka? It would be late May very early June (we fly to Busan June 3) so weather should be ok...