Kyoto/Tour Club/JR Rail Pass
 

Has anyone stayed at the Budget Inn or Tour Club in Kyoto? Was it Ok? It sounds good on its website.
Also, can we use our JR Rail pass on the subway in Kyoto and Tokyo?
Thanks in anticipation.

I have also been looking into the Tour Club in Kyoto. I've emailed w/the owner, but haven't stayed there yet. The only person on this board who posted that they intended to stay there was fdken (if you put that name in the search box, his post will come up). He was going to stay there a year ago. He has his email address on his post, so you could try emailing him and asking how it was (unless you get other replies). I did see a good review of it on another site, but I can't remember what site it was.

Thank you - I will try and contact fdken.

A big plus is their free internet (2 computers). And those small baths in each private room, and the small TV's mounted on the wall in the private rooms. If you email fdken, will you report back on what he says please?Will you ask how the sleeping mats are? They look cushy on the website, but it would be nice to know how he slept. If not, I will email and ask him. I hope you get a reply.

You can use your JR Pass on rail lines in Tokyo, though there are a couple of other companies running subways that will not accept the pass.

The map at the following link shows JR lines in the greater Tokyo area.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e-info/map_a4ol.pdf

Around the center of the map you can see the Yamanote Line, the light green line that goes in a circle: Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Akihabara, Tokyo (with stops in between). I think that most things of tourist interest are inside or near that loop, so it comes down to a handful of useful lines.

At the right edge of the map, just below center, you can see the Narita Airport stations. I don't see the Narita Express line on the map, but it goes between NRT, Tokyo, and Shinjuku. It also serves Shinagawa and Yokohama stations (on a different line(s)) and I think one or two more.

At the lower left corner of the map you can see Atami station on the Tokaido line. It shows that Atami and Odawara are on the shinkansen line in addition to a regular JR line in orange.

Follow the shinkansen to the right (east) and you will see Shin Yokohama. Below that, on the orange line is Yokohama station.

West from Yokohama station, you will see Ofuna and below that the stations for North Kamakura and Kamakura.

Atami has some nice onsen and Odawara is a gateway to the Hakone-Fuji area. One day, I started in Moto-Hakone and rode the boat across the lake, the cable car, inclined train, train to Hakone Yumoto, and bus to Odawara. From there, I took JR to Kamakura and visited the Daibutsu, then JR to Atami and soaked at a nice onsen, then a Kodama shinkansen train back to Tokyo and Chuo Line to Shinjuku. It was an amazingly efficient trip all on JR (except for getting to Odawara and the streetcar in Kamakura).

You can also use the JR Pass for JR buses and ferries and for discounts at JR hotels.

mrwunrfl: wow! i should as you do plan an itineary for me.

on your one day travel, how did you plan to use all those modes of transportation. did you go to various websites to see whats available, and connection times and then organized the tour? how would i be able to plan a trip like that? it must have been a 12 hour day. and this jr pass, is that the one you buy outside of jp, or is it like a day pass you buy at the station.

I was using a JR Pass (the ones you purchase outside of Japan). I think you can do that with the other passes, like the ones we discussed on your post about the "Free Kippu" and the other pass. Don't remember if either of those included Odawara. Let me back up a bit and tell you about the whole trip.

I started in at the Odakyu Shinjuku station where I stashed my main bag in a koin rokka and took some stuff for overnight. Bought a Hakone Free Pass along with a one-way ticket on the Odakyu Romance Car. Odakyu is a different rail company from JR, so the JR Pass didn't apply. But the Odakyu train was not expensive and was more convenient than taking JR. Nothing really romantic about the Romance Car, but it is a comfortable train ride. I am pretty sure that the Odakyu train went to Odawara. I don't remember how I got to Hakone-Yumoto station, maybe Odakyu, maybe JR. From there, I started using the Hakone Free Pass. That pass covers bus travel in the area and transport on the tourist route, which I will explain.
Took the bus from H-Y station to Moto-Hakone Guest House where I spent the night.

In the morning, I walked down to Ashi-ko and took the tourist boat across the lake, the cable car up to Owakudani, more cable car I think, then an inclined train down to a rail station (musta been an Odakyu train) that went back to H-Y station. Visited a nice onsen near the H-Y station (free shuttle) and then caught the bus back to Moto Hakone.

The next morning I took the trip described earlier: a second ride across Ashi, cable car, etc. to get back to Hakone Yumoto. Basically, I did the H-Y to Lake Ashi, Owakudani circle trip twice over those two days.

I think that I got to H-Y from Shinjuku on the Odakyu train. When I went from there back to Odawara I took a bus (JR bus, I think). At Odawara station, I visited the tourist info center to the right of the entrance. There was a woman and a man there and they were not very busy. The man quickly got me set up to do the further traveling that day and escorted me to the door. At the door, I said good-bye and as I turned to leave I think I saw him start to bow. I regret that I didn't turn back and return it. From Odawara to Kamakura to Atami the trains were frequent and the connections easy to make (one connection was to cross the platform and board another train that took off after a minute or so). Had to wait 30 to 50 minutes until a northbound Kodama arrived at Atami. It was at least 12 hours and a lot of fun.

kuranosuke, if you are interested in visiting Hakone then you might want the JR version of the Kamakura pass that you were looking at since it covered two days. Maybe you can use it to get to Odawara on one day, visit Hakone with the Hakone Free Pass, then go from Odawara to Kamakura. Or overnight in/near Kamakura and zip around Hakone the second day.

emd, what was the name of the restaraunt that we were discussing some weeks (months) ago that was located near Hachioji? I can't find my bookmark for it. The JR map shows the Yokohama Line from Yokohama to Shin-Yokohama to Hashimoto to Hachioji.

Bonus tip: if you lose your key to a coin locker at the Odakyu station it is expensive to get an attendant to open the locker for you.

> if you lose your key to a coin locker at the Odakyu station.

Did it happen to you? If yes, how much did they charge you?

mrwunrfl: I had packed my Japan files in the car to go to the Outer Banks tomorrow, and in there is the file w/Tokyo food suggestions. I went and dug it out for you as I will not be online for a few wks., and here it is: It was Ukai Toriyama. The suggestion was made in a post started by Punky144 on 7/9/04, and the recommendation for Ukai Toriyama, was made by Mealea, who resides in Tokyo. That post also has directions to the place, which you found and posted.

mrwunrfl: thanks for your comments. i think its a great suggestion of combining hakone and kamakura using the jr 2 day pass. since i will have only three full days in jp this trip, i plan to skip kamakura, and take a day trip to nikko, and do the hakone-kamakura loop on the next trip when i plan to have more time.

i hope i can count on your assistance in planning for that trip. yoroshiku, onigai-shimasu.

fyi, i will be going to ukai toriyama in late oct. and i will let you all know how it was.

ps. any opinions on taking a tour to nikko, or should i just go there on my own.

emd, thanks for getting that info :) I appreciate that you took the trouble to dig it out. I have it bookmarked now. Enjoy the beach. Please report on the Japan books that you read. btw, I had lunch at Junipine earlier this month ((Y))((Y)).

kuranosuke, I have not visited Nikko. On such a short trip taking a tour might be more efficient logistically and easier than navigating the trains with a jetlagged brain (even then, it is not too difficult to make it to Nikko, I think, especially if you are experienced with using the trains in Japan). Maybe you should start a new thread about Nikko. I will be happy to assist with your future travels in any way I can.

Here is the JNTO guide to Nikko:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/pdf/pg-302.pdf

Thank you to all of you for responding to my query.. the advice is helpful.emd I did contact fdken and he did give the Tour Club a favourable comment.... "I thought the tour club was excellent.
It is a 5 minute walk from the Kyoto railway station which made it handy for day trips elsewhere".mrwunrfl you certainly do your research and it is much appreciated. I shall print your advice to use when we get there. By the way the site that I found most useful for working out train schedules was
http://www.hyperdia.com/. My next question..we plan to make a flying visit to Himeji on our way to Nagoya. Only problem luggage. Can we store our luggage at Himeji station? I read somehere that the luggage storage at railway stations are not that big.Have you any other suggestions? Thanks once again.

The question of luggage storage at Himeji has come up in the past. You might try searching old messages or start a new one. There are lockers at the station and at the castle just beyond the admission gate.

I did lose my key to a large locker at the Odakyu Shinjuku station. I think they charged me a week's worth of rental, maybe 10 days. At 500 or 700 yen per day (and 125 Y/$) it came out to be around US $40, if I remember correctly.

mrwunrfl; okini.

mrwunrfl: So glad you enjoyed Junipine and Oak Creek! I think only this morning's oceanfront sunrise in the OBX can compare (or maybe Fuji on a clear day, but I haven't seen that one yet).
I haven't started the books everyone suggested yet (I'm a slow reader) but I really like Fodors Exploring Japan. This is not the general Fodor's Japan travel guide, it is smaller. I got it last week, and haven't put it down. Compact and it has alot of general info on Japan's history and culture as well as history surrounding all the sites. And walking tours. Maps ok, but would need supplementing I think. How does Japan Solo that you used on your recent trip compare?

We just got back from staying at the Tour Club in Kyoto. It was fine. We had a room with a private (very small) bath. The Tour Club is very conveniently located (less than 10 minute walk from Kyoto Station). It also has a kitchen available to all guests (great for eating boxed lunches purchased at the grocery store to keep costs down - boxed lunches at the large grocery between the station and the Tour Club are half priced after 7 p.m.).

Re: Tour Club

I am not sure the internet is free, I know we paid for it while we there.

Also we didn't get a TV or a bath, though there was a shower. But Emd may be referring to the Budget Inn.

But apart from that I agree with all of the comments about the Tour club.

We did have a T.V. and a bath at the Tour Club, but we paid extra for them. The internet charge (as of last week) was 100 per 15 minutes.

Are their slepping mats ok to sleep on? They look pretty cushy on the website.

The sleeping mats were fine, we were so exhausted though we could have slept on anything.

They were quite thick.

EMD

We chose a room that would sleep 4 as we were travellign with our children.

I have a couple of photos of the room if you wish to Email me that shows the bedding.

Thanks very m,uch for the info and offer, fdken. I think I can see it alright on the website, their pics are good there. I am traveling w/a 14 yr old son, so appreciate knowing you felt good about having your kids there.

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