Two weeks itinerary in Japan with JR pass
 

Hello,

We will be traveling to Japan in November with 2 children (6 and 2 years old).. based on our below itinerary, should we have JR pass? If yes, 7 or 14 days pass should be considered?.. If anyone has any comments to our itinerary, please let us know.. We still have room for modifications.. Does our itinerary sound reasonable in terms of moving between cities with children using 1 stroller for our 2 years daughter. Are we giving ourselves enough time for each location or maybe more time is needed for some of the locations!!

Arrive to HND Wed 9 Nov. 10:30 PM

Nov. 9 overnight in Tokyo

Nov. 10 move to Osaka

Nov. 11 day trip to Nara

Nov. 12 day trip to Hiroshima

Nov. 13 move to Kyoto (2 nights)

Nov. 15 move to Kanazawa (2 nights)

Nov. 17 move to Takayama (stop by Shirakawago)

Nov. 18 back to Tokyo (5 nights)

Your response is highly appreciated..

Regards,
Abdul

Way too much moving around for you, especially with two small children. And you have scheduled a mere two nights in Kyoto - not nearly enough time. You should have nice fall colors (koyo) while you are there. You might want to take a look at our photos www.marlandc.com/Japan-2013

I would highly recommend that you choose perhaps 3 places to stay - you can take day trips if you would like, but don't move around so much. I'd say that Kyoto, Tokyo and Kanazawa are enough. And 5 nights would be way too much time in Tokyo for me. We spent 6 nights in Kyoto and saw a goodly amount, but would have enjoyed even more time there. We had 4 nights in Tokyo, which was fine.

Are you aware of www.japan-guide.com - the best info on the web about Japan.

<<Does our itinerary sound reasonable in terms of moving between cities with children using 1 stroller for our 2 years daughter.>>

No. Your trip plan is bloody awful. You cannot do FIVE separate temporary abodes in 15 days with two small children in tow. This is very difficult on them. It will be worse for you. Rethink.

It depends on your interests, but I wanted 6 full days to visit (just some of) the highlights of Kyoto and Nara. I thought the combination of Kanazawa and Takayama (with Shirakawago in between) really deserved 5 nights (3 in one city and 2 in the other). I think a total of 6 nights in Tokyo is a LOT.

If you haven’t already done so, please spend as much time as you can studying japan-guide.com. And look at the other planning threads on this board – there are many, and you can learn a lot from them.

Hope that helps!

Holy schmoley, what Kathie said. x 2!

There's certainly lots to do in Tokyo. Is there a reason you're proposing to stay there six nights? Without knowing more your trip certainly seems Tokyo heavy.

You will definitely want a rail pass. If you really are doing 5 nights in Tokyo you probably could get away with a 7 day pass. I'd also recommend getting the green car pass. There's more room for luggage and prams etc. (in standard there is sometimes very little room).

You would also be well-advised to explore using takuhaibin - sending your luggage through the hotel from one destination to the next. It works seamlessly and is very well priced.

We made a special effort to visit Takayama as the festival was on. I'm not sure I would make the trip otherwise - and this may be somewhere you can save a night to extend your stay in Kyoto for example.

Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, and Kyoto could be done better from a hotel near　Kyoto station. However, I do not recommend Hiroshima as a day trip. Anyway, there would be only half a day left in Nov 10.

Takayama and Shirakawago with one night means half a day each. This could be done, but there are many to see in warmer months.

Two full days each for Kyoto and Tokyo would be the minimum, though it seems many love Kyoto more in this forum.