Japan Itinerary
 

Made a mistake in not posting this in the Japan forum.

I did the Kyoto-Taka-Shira-Kanazawa triangle last October and had a great time. Due to the many helpful tips from fellow fodorites the trip was ten times easier. Navigating the trains and buses was easier than I thought it would be. I even had a website with daily journals and pictures that my family and friends enjoyed immensely. And KimJapan would be happy to know that I liked Kanazawa the best. The people there were the most friendly and the seafood exquisite. Had some good fugu at a place called "Murai" close by the Tokyu Excel Hotel.

I am now planning another trip this coming November and this is my itinerary so far.

Day 1 Kyoto
Day 2 Kyoto
Day 3 Kyoto
Day 4 Koyasan(Sainan-in)
Day 5 Kurashiki
Day 6 Matsuyama
Day 7 Miyajima(Momijiso)
Day 8 Beppu
Day 9 Fukuoka
Day 10-11 Hiroshima
Day 12 Back to Kyoto

I plan to take the hydrofoil from Matsuyama to Miyajima and from there to Beppu. Think I saw mrwunrfl talk about that being a good route. I'm wondering if this is too ambitious of an itinerary.

kawa -
There is no Japan forum - just the asia forum and no one answered your post of yesterday. If you click on your name, you will see all your posts. Sorry I am unable to help as I have only been to Tokyo and Kyoto on my two trips to Japan. I am hoping to branch out a bit more on my next trip so I will keep track of any replies you receive. Also, I don't know if you are already using it, but the forum at japan-guide.com is very helpful....
Enjoy!

The hydrofoil is between Matsuyama and Hiroshima. It is a great trip. It is not covered by the JR Pass but is worth doing.

There is a boat between Hiroshima and Miyajima.

The only boats going to Beppu that I've read about are car ferries and they are very slow. I don't think there is one from Miyajima.

A much better idea for getting to Beppu would be to simply take the shinkansen to Kokura and connect to a Ltd Express.

In November the Kyushu Bassho is held in Fukuoka. That is a grand sumo tournament and you absolutely must try to attend it. There are express buses between Hakata station and the arena in the Hawks Town area.

Days 4-7 are pretty busy. You need to work out the travel times and see how much time that gives you in each place.

I think that you can do the trip with a 7-day JR Pass, if you activate it on day 6 to go to Matsuyama.

Instead of the (non-JR) boat between Hiroshima and Miyajima

Instead of the (non-JR) boat between Hiroshima and Miyajima you could use your JR Pass to take the train from Hiroshima to Miyajimaguchi and to take the JR ferry to Miyajima.

Hey kawa,

I think your schedule for days 6-8 looks great. I recently went from Takayama-Beppu (night train 9000Y supplement with JR pass)-Miyajima (train/JR ferry)then superjet ferry to Matsuyama (train to Kyoto). I regretted not spending more time in Miyajima so it looks good that you are spending the night. The tourist office there is very helpful; they reserved all my ferrys for me after an email request.

There are overnight ferries from Kobe/Osaka to Beppu with stops in Matsuyama with Kaansai Kisen (http://www.kanki.co.jp/foreign/schedule.htm) (check this site http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html for a list of ferries). I did not take this ferry due to time restraints.
Super-jet and normal ferry schedules from Hiroshima can be found: http://www.hiroshima-cdas.or.jp/miya...price_1.html#9 There is also a "slow ferry" between Matsuyama and Hiroshima which the tourist agency on Miyajima sent to me.
Bon voyage!

mara - Sorry, I'm computer challenged. Yeah, I do use the japan-guide website. Great source of info.

Mrwunrfl - Thanks for your input. I guess the route from Miyajima to
Beppu would be easier on the shinkansen. So you think the 7 day rail pass would be good on 6th day in Matsuyama? I would love to see the sumo tourney in Fukuoka but I am leaving Japan on 11/13. I think that's about the time it starts.

Moxie - I read your trip report. It was great. I'm afraid I am not as meticulous a planner as you and emd. I am looking forward to that overnight stay in Miyajima.

kawa
No apology needed at all.....I am also thinking about going to Fukuoka on my next trip - I saw a short video about it after the weekly Japanese drama - Churasan - I watch here in NYC and it looked interesting. Just curious about why you are spending 3 days in Kyoto since you went there last year. Actually I just spent a week there and barely scratched the surface so I can understand doing more days there as well.....

What I meant was that you could start a 7-day JR Pass on Day 6 and use it to go to Matsuyama that day. The pass would cover all of your JR travel from that day on, including your trip from Hiroshima to Kyoto on the last day of validity of the pass (your Day 12).

Your travel from Kyoto to Koyasan to Kurashiki involves JR and non-JR trains. The JR part of the trip would cost about 7200. With the 28,300 for the 7-day pass, your cost is about 35,500. The 14-day JR Pass is 45,100. So you can save 8000 or 9000.

Japan-guide.com has good info about rail passes.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

IF APPLICABLE, the Koyasan Free Sabic or the Surutto Kansai Pass (Kansai Thru Pass) might save more money. You could actually use one of these non-JR passes to get from Kyoto to Koyasan to Himeji.

Using the non-JR train to get to Himeji gets you closer to Kurashiki, so your JR cost to/from Koyasan would be about 4100 instead of 7100.

mara - Actually, I am arriving in Kyoto from Hawaii in the afternoon of Day 1. I also may do a half day trip to Nara and maybe check out the nightlife in Osaka. I have not done too much research on Fukuoka. Got a friend that will visit there later this month so I will get a report from him.

mrwunrfnl - You are a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge about travel in Japan. You are making me think too much about the rail pass. Think I'll just buy the 14 day pass and be done with it. Ha! Ha!

Ok, that will work, of course. Now that you've mentioned that you are arriving at KIX on day 1 then that changes the math a bit if you are using the pass to get to Kyoto that day. If you can use the pass to get to the airport on day 13, then you would be close to the break even point.

Looks like you will only have to pay around 2500 extra for the travel to/from Koyasan on non-JR trains.