transportation in Japan??
#1
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transportation in Japan??
Hi everyone,
im planning to go to Japan on Feb 15 - March 16.
Im super confused about the transportation as this will be my 2nd time there but my 1st time planning all the itinerary and going by public transportation.
My itinerary is as followed,
16-20 Feb - will be in Osaka and going to only local attraction in Osaka
20-28 Feb - will be in Kyoto and the detail itinerary are:
21 Feb & 23 Feb - local kyoto attraction
24 - kobe
25 - nara
26 - kanazawa
27 - kiso valley
28 - Takayama
28-16 Mar - will be in Tokyo and mostly will go for local attraction, only will go out of town to kawasaki, hakone, yokohama & fuji
When i check on Hyperdia & japan-guide, the total cost for the "out of town" trip will cost me around 104.910 yen! so definitely its worth to buy JR pass.
But since i better use the JR starting on the 24th Feb (expensive journey), should i just buy the 7day pass and use it starting from 24 feb until 2nd of March so it will cover the kyoto trip 24-28 feb, JR from kyoto to tokyo and the 1st and 2nd of March maybe ill go to Hakone and fuji, since kawasaki and yokohama is not that expensive?
and the rest in Tokyo for the local attraction, ill just use suica/pasmo?
What do you guys think?
And also how about the seishun 18 kippu that will be available during my stay in Japan, is it worth to buy?
sorry if i make u guys confused with my explanation and thank you soooo much for any reply, appreciate it!
Maria
im planning to go to Japan on Feb 15 - March 16.
Im super confused about the transportation as this will be my 2nd time there but my 1st time planning all the itinerary and going by public transportation.
My itinerary is as followed,
16-20 Feb - will be in Osaka and going to only local attraction in Osaka
20-28 Feb - will be in Kyoto and the detail itinerary are:
21 Feb & 23 Feb - local kyoto attraction
24 - kobe
25 - nara
26 - kanazawa
27 - kiso valley
28 - Takayama
28-16 Mar - will be in Tokyo and mostly will go for local attraction, only will go out of town to kawasaki, hakone, yokohama & fuji
When i check on Hyperdia & japan-guide, the total cost for the "out of town" trip will cost me around 104.910 yen! so definitely its worth to buy JR pass.
But since i better use the JR starting on the 24th Feb (expensive journey), should i just buy the 7day pass and use it starting from 24 feb until 2nd of March so it will cover the kyoto trip 24-28 feb, JR from kyoto to tokyo and the 1st and 2nd of March maybe ill go to Hakone and fuji, since kawasaki and yokohama is not that expensive?
and the rest in Tokyo for the local attraction, ill just use suica/pasmo?
What do you guys think?
And also how about the seishun 18 kippu that will be available during my stay in Japan, is it worth to buy?
sorry if i make u guys confused with my explanation and thank you soooo much for any reply, appreciate it!
Maria
#2
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Is this itinerary final? If so, I trust others will chime in on the best transportation passes.
But if this itinerary is not final, I offer a few comments for your consideration:
- IMO, you will be spending an unusually long time in Osaka
- In contrast, you are planning to spend what I would consider very little time in Kyoto and Nara.
- I sincerely regret that I gave Kanazawa only two nights -- I think it easily deserves 2 full days, if not more. Similarly, I gave Takayama only 1 full day, and regret that I didn't give it more. You might want to consider at planning for at least 5 nights for this pair of cities.
- You are planning on a LOT of time in Tokyo. I assume that's intentional, based on your interests, but mention it just in case....
Of course, it really depends on what YOU want to see and experience -- I'm just offering my thoughts...
Hope that helps!
But if this itinerary is not final, I offer a few comments for your consideration:
- IMO, you will be spending an unusually long time in Osaka
- In contrast, you are planning to spend what I would consider very little time in Kyoto and Nara.
- I sincerely regret that I gave Kanazawa only two nights -- I think it easily deserves 2 full days, if not more. Similarly, I gave Takayama only 1 full day, and regret that I didn't give it more. You might want to consider at planning for at least 5 nights for this pair of cities.
- You are planning on a LOT of time in Tokyo. I assume that's intentional, based on your interests, but mention it just in case....
Of course, it really depends on what YOU want to see and experience -- I'm just offering my thoughts...
Hope that helps!
#3
Join Date: Jan 2003
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Before you debate the pros and cons of a JR pass, you need to have a final itinerary. I agree with kja above - you don't have enough time in Kyoto, too much time in Tokyo, and you have a whole series of destinations without any travel time considered (from the 24th through the 28th). Take a look at that and re-plan it, taking transport time into consideration.
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I don't really understand how you've said that you will be based in Kyoto from 20-28 Feb but are then listing Kanazawa, Kiso and Takayama within those dates. These are not really best visited as day trips from Kyoto!!
I agree that your itinerary has an unusually long time for Osaka and Tokyo, is there a reason you are tied to long stays in these places? Visiting friends, attending some kind of training course or work event? If not, perhaps you can tell us your personal interests and we could help you assess whether you really want to spend so long in these two places, especially Osaka.
Kanazawa and Takayama I'd say need 5 nights between the two of them.
Kyoto deserves 5 nights or more if you can, plus an additional night for Nara if you have it.
I agree that your itinerary has an unusually long time for Osaka and Tokyo, is there a reason you are tied to long stays in these places? Visiting friends, attending some kind of training course or work event? If not, perhaps you can tell us your personal interests and we could help you assess whether you really want to spend so long in these two places, especially Osaka.
Kanazawa and Takayama I'd say need 5 nights between the two of them.
Kyoto deserves 5 nights or more if you can, plus an additional night for Nara if you have it.
#5
There's a good bit wrong with this plan.
>>16-20 Feb - will be in Osaka
Ok, that makes sense if you are visiting/staying with family/friend in Osaka. Or maybe you actually have a plan for spending 3 or 4 full days in Osaka. Do you have a plan?
>>will cost me around 104.910 yen
I don't believe that. That is about the cost of 8 one-way trips between Kyoto and Tokyo on the shinkansen.
>>20-28 Feb - will be in Kyoto
So your plan is to stay in Kyoto for 7 nights and make day trips from Kyoto to those other locations from the 24th thru 28th? Nara and Kobe are are day trips from Kyoto. Day trip to Kanazawa is a bit much but doable (actually, I could call it a bad idea). Day trips to Takayama and to Kiso-dani is nuts.
Or is it your plan is to stay the night in those locations 24th - 28th.
The Seishun 18 Kippu is low priced because it exclude travel on limited express and shinkansen trains. But you are going to pay in travel time.
Kyoto to Kanazawa on a limited express:
Take time: 134 Minutes
Total
#165; 6,900
no change of trains
Kyoto to Kanazawa using ordinary JR trains:
Take time: 295 Minutes
Total
#165; 4,000
two changes of trains
So a day trip to Kanazawa from Kyoto using a Seishun 18 ticket would involve 10 hours of travel.
Am guessing that you have free lodging in Kyoto with friends/family. Is that what is driving your plan?
>>16-20 Feb - will be in Osaka
Ok, that makes sense if you are visiting/staying with family/friend in Osaka. Or maybe you actually have a plan for spending 3 or 4 full days in Osaka. Do you have a plan?
>>will cost me around 104.910 yen
I don't believe that. That is about the cost of 8 one-way trips between Kyoto and Tokyo on the shinkansen.
>>20-28 Feb - will be in Kyoto
So your plan is to stay in Kyoto for 7 nights and make day trips from Kyoto to those other locations from the 24th thru 28th? Nara and Kobe are are day trips from Kyoto. Day trip to Kanazawa is a bit much but doable (actually, I could call it a bad idea). Day trips to Takayama and to Kiso-dani is nuts.
Or is it your plan is to stay the night in those locations 24th - 28th.
The Seishun 18 Kippu is low priced because it exclude travel on limited express and shinkansen trains. But you are going to pay in travel time.
Kyoto to Kanazawa on a limited express:
Take time: 134 Minutes
Total

no change of trains
Kyoto to Kanazawa using ordinary JR trains:
Take time: 295 Minutes
Total

two changes of trains
So a day trip to Kanazawa from Kyoto using a Seishun 18 ticket would involve 10 hours of travel.
Am guessing that you have free lodging in Kyoto with friends/family. Is that what is driving your plan?