JAPAN MAY ITINERARY - FIRST TIME, HELP NEEDED!
 

Hello! I'm travelling to Japan for the first time and had planned to book a trip this week for cherry blossom season March/April but see that accommodation is now not looking possible so am looking to book to go from Thurs May 11 to Thurs June 1 instead - three whole weeks!

Here's the rough itinerary I've pulled together from my research. Would love some guidance on whether I've got the order right. Will be buying the JR pass to get between places and would love any accomm recs as May is also proving tricky for value accomm! Would love good value for money, just anything clean and central.

Can't wait to hear from the pros on this one, I know Japan is a fav for most, I've been just about everywhere but Japan and I know I've probably left it a bit late but I'm determined to get there next year.

THURS 11 MAY MELBOURNE > TOKYO
FRI 12 ARRIVE TOKYO 225PM
SAT 13 TOKYO
SUN 14 TOKYO
MON 15 TOKYO
TUES 16 TOYKO
WED 17 TOKYO > HAKONE
THURS 18 HAKONE > KYOTO
FRI 19 KYOTO
SAT 20 KYOTO
SUN 21 KYOTO
MON 22 KYOTO
TUES 23 KYOTO
WED 24 HIROSHIMA
THURS 25 MIYAJIMA
FRI 26 NAOSHIMA
SAT 27 OSAKA
SUN 28 OSAKA – NARA DAY TRIP
MON 29 OSAKA
TUES 30 TOKYO
WED 31 TOKYO
THURS 1 JUNE TRAVEL BACK TO MELB

any chance of another day in hakone?

I would stay in Nara rather than Osaka. That's more time than I would want in Tokyo. How about Koya-san?

All those places are firmly on the tourist trail, which is now carrying a great many Asian tourists. Going somewhere a bit less popular will considerably improve your trip.

What sites are you looking at for accommodation?

<<Here's the rough itinerary I've pulled together from my research. Would love some guidance on whether I've got the order right.>>

Your implied question is unanswerable - why are you going to Japan? What do you want to see? What are your interests? How can we tell if you "got the order right" if we don't know what you like. You could be entirely off base in every way.

There are lots of places you can go in addition to those you've chosen and there are places you can easily cut (three nights in Osaka? Central Osaka is 20 minutes by train from Kyoto - add a day to Kyoto).

Go to japan-guide.com. It's excellent.

<<Will be buying the JR pass to get between places>>

You will? Why? Based on your itinerary, you'll likely have to overspend. First, you're planning to leave Tokyo on 17 May and return there on 31 May. The 14-day JR pass won't cover that whole period - count it out, you're talking about 15 calendar days. In addition, if you're flying out of Narita, your 14 day JR pass activated on 17 May won't cover your train to the airport. A 28-day JR pass will be a big financial loss.

Second, going a la carte for Tokyo-Hakone, Hakone-Kyoto, Kyoto-Hiroshima, Hiroshima-Okayama (for Naoshima), Okayama-Osaka, Osaka-Nara RT, and Osaka-Tokyo would probably cost less than the 46,000 yen you'd have to shell out for a 14-day pass. Check hyperdia.com. If it's close, buy the JR pass because you can use it on local JR lines and will have flexibility for other trips. I'm guessing it's not that close.

<<would love any accomm recs as May is also proving tricky for value accomm! Would love good value for money, just anything clean and central.>>

That says nothing. Speak in terms of what you will spend in US dollars, yen or even your weird plastic money on a per night basis. There's a TON of inexpensive accommodations available from airbnb, vrbo, homeaway and more.

It really depends on your interests, but I would say that you are planning what seems to me to be a disproportionately large amount of time in cities (Tokyo and Osaka). But maybe that’s your preference?

Consider putting all of your time in Tokyo at the end of your trip so you don’t need to relocate more than necessary.

Consider staying in Miyajima for two nights rather than a night in Hiroshima and another in Miyajima.

Many people visit Nara as a day-trip; I was glad I gave it 2 nights and 2 full days.

If you haven’t already done so, spend a lot of time with japan-guide.com

Good luck!

I can't image what you would do with 3 nights in Osaka?? Take that time and give an extra day to Kyoto and then 2 days to Nara.

Too much time for Tokyo, unless one or two of those days includes trips to Nikko and/or Kamakura.

While I won't have personal experience with it until my own trip for Cherry Blossom 2017, with 3 weeks, you should be able to fit in 3 nights for Kanazawa, which typically gets a lot of love on this board.

rhkkmk: will certainly add another day in Hakone!

thursdaysd: The reason for picking to stay in Osaka over Nara was simply due to availability and affordability of accomm, but will investigate further into staying in Nara. Koyasan looks like a must, will add that in, looks like it's best travelled to from Osaka? I'm mainly looking across booking.com, air bnb, house trip and then going direct to hotel websites.

BigRuss: I meant am I on a linear path, not tracking back and forth and wasting travel time. I'll definitely reduce Osaka following everyone's feedback. I've very into culture, entertainment and food so thought I might find Osaka to be a real gem but it's probably something covered in 24 hours.
Based on what you said about the JR pass I won't depart home from Tokyo, I'll instead depart from Osaka. I'll investigate the costs of booking the routes individually vs using JR pass, thanks for that tip. There's three of us travelling together, so we're looking to spend approx 150 AUD/12000 YEN/113 USD per night.

kja: The big cities are moreso bases for many day trips - and it seems it was more affordable to base ourselves in the city and take day trips out, rather than staying in the quaint little towns. And we'll move all our Tokyo time to the first week so we don't have to backtrack! Love the tip about Miyajima as I've found a decent ryokan with availability for those two days (Momiji-so). I want to add two nights in Nara, is it best to reach Nara from Okayama > Kyoto > Nara and then travel form Nara > Osaka for the last leg?

MinnBeef: Have removed a day from Osaka! Revised itinerary below. Love your rec for Kanazawa, right up our alley!

THURS 11 MELBOURNE > TOKYO
FRI 12 ARRIVE TOKYO 225PM
SAT 13 TOKYO
SUN 14 TOKYO (Nikko day trip)
MON 15 TOKYO (Sumo Wrestling tournament)
TUES 16 TOYKO (Chichibu day trip)
WED 17 TOKYO > HAKONE
THURS 18 HAKONE
FRI 19 HAKONE > TOKYO > KANAZAWA
SAT 20 KANAZAWA
SUN 21 KANAZAWA > KYOTO
MON 22 KYOTO
TUES 23 KYOTO
WED 24 KYOTO > MIYAJIMA
THURS 25 MIYAJIMA (VISIT HIROSHIMA)
FRI 26 NAOSHIMA
SAT 27 OKAYAMA > KYOTO > NARA
SUN 28 NARA
MON 29 NARA > KYOSAN
TUES 30 KYOSAN
WED 31 KYOSAN > OSAKA
THURS 1 AUG OSAKA > MELB

Many people visit Nikko as a day trip; I was glad I spent a night there because it gave me time to see Kegon-no-Taki and a bit of Lake Chuzenji.

If you are going to make the time to go to Kanazawa, try to (a) give it at least 3 nights (2 days) and (b) add at least 2 nights for Takayama.

It looks like you have cut your time in Kyoto and Nara? While it depends on what you want to see and experience, 6 full days for the pair is not unreasonable for a first visit. I think you've cut it down to about 2.5 and 1?

Do you mean Koyasan? If so, one night is probably enough.

Momiji-so is lovely.

And a small request: Please don't use all caps! They are hard to read.

<<SAT 27 OKAYAMA > KYOTO > NARA>>

Go on Hyperdia and check the train connections. You're likely going to need two transfers - one at Shin-Osaka, and the other at either Osaka or Kyoto station.

You need to get with the use of hyperdia.com. It'll also show whether the JR pass would be beneficial (still guessing no but it's possible if you're going to do a lot of day trips).

No, you can do that trip with just one connection in Kyoto, I just did it in the opposite direction, but the Kyoto to Shin-Osaka section isn't covered by the JR West pass I was looking at. Don't know about the JR pass.

But looks like the OP has to get to Okayama from the island first.

Rachel - what room configuration are you looking for? A triple, a double and a single, three singles? For a single the Japanese business hotels, eg Toyoko Inn, are the best deal, but they don't open booking for a lot of rooms until 90 days out, and I've never looked for a triple. If you want a triple you may be better off in a Japanese style room. In fact some of your difficulty finding rooms may have to do with looking too early, although not during blossom season. However, I have found Japan quite crowded this trip, so maybe not.

Your Sat 27th is just Naoshima to Nara.

If you move Kyoto after Naoshima then you could just get a 7-day JR Pass.

Visiting Hiroshima from Miyajima doesn't make sense to me.

Here is your 7-day JR Pass itinerary
FRI 19 Hakone - Kanazawa
SAT 20 Kanazawa
SUN 21 Kanazawa
MON 22 Kanazawa - Hiroshima
TUES 23 Hiroshima - Miyajima
WED 24 Miyajima - Naoshima
THURS 25 Naoshima - Kyoto

That adds a night to Kanazawa. You can then take a night from Koyasan and add it to Kyoto.

You can travel to Koyasan from Kyoto or Nara, and you can get to Kansai Airport from any of those 3 places as well as from Osaka. I think I would prefer Osaka or maybe stay a night at an airport hotel. Depends on departure time.

FRI 26 Kyoto
SAT 27 Kyoto
SUN 28 Kyoto
MON 29 Kyoto - Koyasan
TUES 30 Koyasan - Nara
WED 31 Nara
THURS 1 AUG OSAKA > MEL

You can use the Tobu train for Nikko, but consider a JR Tokyo Wide Area Pass. Am not sure if that pass completely cover the Narita Express. I think it does. The website says a reserved seat ticket is required, but that might just be a tip that you can't just show up and that the pass covers the reserved seat (otherwise, paying the reserved seat fee is not a big deal unless you have to also pay the surcharge). www.jreast.co.jp/e/tokyowidepass/

Take the Odakyu train to get to Hakone.

Kansai regional passes to consider:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_03.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_012.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_005.html

<<No, you can do that trip with just one connection in Kyoto, I just did it in the opposite direction, >>

She needs to get conversant with the various Tokkaido Shinkansen train schedules - especially the Nozomi/Sakura/Hikari distinctions and especially for their differences west of Osaka.

Can she do the Okayama to Kyoto on a Nozomi if she doesn't get the JR pass? I didn't get that option.

Can you do it on a Sakura? No.

Can you do it on a Hikari? Yes, but it'll add a lot of time to the trip because Hikari shinkansens run local west of Osaka.

I put a random date in February into Hyperdia. Of the five options starting at 08:49 I got three direct routings Okayama to Kyoto. All three were on Nozomi.

The Hikari takes 87 minutes, the Nozomi takes 63 minutes. Hardly a massive difference if you are not trying to make a plane or a business meeting.

I just rode a Nozomi from Hiroshima to Hakata and thought it overrated. The seats on the limited express on Shikoku are much nicer. I like to watch the scenery when I ride trains, and you don't get a lot of that on a shinkasen - too many tunnels and too fast.

Appreciate everyone's recs, have gone through Hyperdia and all the suggested routes from you all and come up with this:

THURS 11 Melbourne > Tokyo
FRI 12 Arrive Tokyo 225pm
SAT 13 Tokyo (Chichibu day trip)
SUN 14 Tokyo (Nikko day trip)
MON 15 Tokyo (Sumo Wrestling tournament)
TUES 16 Tokyo (Kamakura day trip)
WED 17 Tokyo - Hakone
THURS 18 Hakone
FRI 19 Hakone - Kanazawa
SAT 20 Kanazawa
SUN 21 Kanazawa - Hiroshima
MON 22 Hiroshima - Miyajima
TUES 23 Miyajima - Naoshima
WED 24 Naoshima – Kyoto
THURS 25 Kyoto
FRI 26 Kyoto
SAT 27 Kyoto
SUN 28 Kyoto
MON 29 Kyoto > Nara
TUES 30 Nara > Koyosan
WED 31 Koyosan > Osaka
THURS 1 AUG Osaka > Melb

Much better, IMO!

I still think you are shortchanging Kanazawa -- I gave it just 2.5 days, and truly regretted that decision -- not enough time!

I'm no expert on routing, but you might want to look at going from Kanazawa to either Kyoto or Nara and then onward, rather than trying to go all the way on to Hiroshima on one day.

If you can re-route so that you reach Hiroshima before 10 or 11 a.m., you should be able to visit the A-Bomb Dome, Peace Park, and Peace Museum before heading to Miyajima, and still reach Miyajima in time for your late-afternoon check-in at Momiji-so. At least, that worked for me, and I took all the time I wanted at those sites in Hiroshima.

Another consideration for re-routing: Depending on the time of your flight, staying in Kyoto the night before your flight could work as well as saying in Osaka.

Just some things to consider....

Very good. Moving Kyoto after Hiroshima means the OP can use a 7-day JR Pass. Won't have to leave Kanazawa until later in the afternoon. Wake up next day in Hiroshima and have an easy day to visit the Peace Park, etc, before going to Miyajima.

Rachel, with your new plan you will only need the pass for 6 days, from the 19th thru the 24th.

That is a fine plan and you have some options:

- another night in Kanazawa, as I suggested earlier
- travel Hakone to Nikko in the morning and spend the night in Nikko before heading to Kanazawa
- visit Kamakura on the way to Kanazawa instead of the day trip from Tokyo. Go to Hakone on the 16th to do this
- another night on Miyajima or Naoshima or another point on the way between Hiroshima and Kyoto

or you could use the JR Pass on the 25th to visit Himeji Castle.

I agree that 2 nights is very short for Kanazawa, you're going to be travelling a lot and seeing a little...

Personally (though I realise it depends on one's interests) I'd drop Naoshima for an extra night in Kanazawa or drop Kanazawa, keep Naoshima and give extra time to Tokyo and Kyoto. While the number of days you'd given Tokyo initially seemed high, if you're planning that many day trips, I'm not sure you'll have any time left to see Tokyo itself? And Kyoto - there's no such thing as too much time in Kyoto IMHO! ;-)

There are airport limousine buses between Nara and KIX, so you could put Nara last and visit Osaka as a day trip - less moving hotels (but check the times, they aren't as frequent). You have too many one nighters in a row for me, I agree with stashing your luggage in a station locker and seeing Hiroshima on the way to Miyajima.