japan itinerary advice!
 

hello,

I'm going to Japan for 2 weeks in November and am trying to make sense of all the permutations of JR rail passes..for those who might know, would it be easier to go Tokyo-Kanazawa-Kyoto or Tokyo-Kyoto-Kanazawa?

Am in Japan info overload so any advice would be great!

Thanks

There are direct trains between Tokyo and Kyoto, and between Kyoto and Kanazawa. You have to change at least once between Tokyo and Kanazawa.

You should see lovely autumn color in November. Consider a trip to a smaller town in addition to the 3 cities.

There are two routes between Tokyo and Kanazawa. Both of them take about 4 hours and both of them go around the mountains of central Japan.

The "northern" route would be a shinkansen to Echigoyuzawa connecting to a limited express to Kanazawa.

The "southern" route would be a shinkansen to Maibara and then a l'ex to Kanazawa. Maibara is only 23 minutes by shinkansen from Kyoto and there is the l'ex from Kyoto to Kanazawa that Kim referred to. So it is an efficient route.

Tokyo-Kyoto is about 2hr 45 min and Kyoto-Kanazawa about 2hr 15 min. You could go Tokyo-Kyoto-Kanazawa-Tokyo or vice versa, it just depends on how you want to arrrange the schedule. Do you want to take the 4 hour trip and then the two shorter trips?

For the 4-hour trip, I recommend going the northern route, for a change of scenery. The connection at Echigoyuzawa is easy.

When in November would you be doing this rail trip from Tokyo and how long? I would choose the route (Kanazawa first or last) depending on the timing with the fall colors.

Kim's suggestion of visiting a smaller town is an excellent one.

Thanks for your advice..I'm sort of constrained in terms of places I can visit by needing to spend a week in Tokyo at the beginning, and wanting to spend a number of days in Kyoto (and I've decided on it being the end specifically to get to Toji market on the 21st) So the (potentially unrealistic) itinerary I've drafted looks like:

8/11 - 14/11 Tokyo on business
15/11 - go to Kanazawa in morning
16/11 - full day in Kanazawa
17/11 - leave around 6am from Kanazawa to Osaka, and jump a train from Namba to Mt Koya - would get there late morning and stay overnight
18/11 - leave early for Osaka and onto Kyoto
19/11 - 21/11 Kyoto
22/11 - back to Tokyo in the morning, fly out that evening

While I'd love to see a smaller city as well, I'm bookended by the days I'm obliged to be in Tokyo and the few days I want to spend in Kyoto. I'm also really interested in Kanazawa, but now my question is do you think it's realistic to get from Kanazawa to Mt Koya and back to Osaka in 24 hours?? Or more trouble than it's worth?

Thanks again!