Which 5 cities - with JR East South Hokkaido Rail Pass...
Mar 19th, 2019, 06:03 AM
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Which 5 cities - with JR East South Hokkaido Rail Pass...
Hi guys!
I plan a trip in May, in the area between Tokyo-Sapporo, using the JR East South Hokkaido Rail Pass (6 rides / 5 cities, within 2 week period), and right now I am into choosing the 5 cities I should make a stop, and this is a bit confusing...
My idea is to choose cities which are interesting themselves, or their nearby areas, so I don't have the need for additional long - costly excursions far from them - extra tickets etc.
My initial plan includes Sapporo and Hakodate, but no clue after these!!
Maybe Fukushima (I am a bit of a science buff, and I am interested to what happens there, after the nuclear situation...)
Nikko is also a good choice, although I could do it without this rail pass, so not to miss other interesting places which the pass covers, and Nikko might be visited as a separate day-trip ex Tokyo, if this makes sense.
Would be great to hear any more suggestions from your experience, about choosing cities to visit, so I could focus my research to certain places in this vast area.
My interest would be cultural districts, natural areas, or generally nice and characteristic places of Japan, I am a bit open regarding my likes, we must not be very restrictive when we want to learn a new place...
No need to say that I love this country!!!!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Happy trips to all!!
Nikolas
I plan a trip in May, in the area between Tokyo-Sapporo, using the JR East South Hokkaido Rail Pass (6 rides / 5 cities, within 2 week period), and right now I am into choosing the 5 cities I should make a stop, and this is a bit confusing...
My idea is to choose cities which are interesting themselves, or their nearby areas, so I don't have the need for additional long - costly excursions far from them - extra tickets etc.
My initial plan includes Sapporo and Hakodate, but no clue after these!!
Maybe Fukushima (I am a bit of a science buff, and I am interested to what happens there, after the nuclear situation...)
Nikko is also a good choice, although I could do it without this rail pass, so not to miss other interesting places which the pass covers, and Nikko might be visited as a separate day-trip ex Tokyo, if this makes sense.
Would be great to hear any more suggestions from your experience, about choosing cities to visit, so I could focus my research to certain places in this vast area.
My interest would be cultural districts, natural areas, or generally nice and characteristic places of Japan, I am a bit open regarding my likes, we must not be very restrictive when we want to learn a new place...
No need to say that I love this country!!!!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Happy trips to all!!
Nikolas
Mar 19th, 2019, 06:45 AM
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Aomori / Hirosaki? Kakunodate?
Aomori: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3750.html
Hirosaki: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3701.html
Kakunodate: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3601.html
Aomori: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3750.html
Hirosaki: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3701.html
Kakunodate: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3601.html
Mar 19th, 2019, 12:14 PM
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Reading54, thanks for the good ideas, I'll check on them!!
Do you think that Aomori is also interesting in itself, or just as a base to Hirosaki?
(so I take into account for planning the length of my stay there)
Do you think that Aomori is also interesting in itself, or just as a base to Hirosaki?
(so I take into account for planning the length of my stay there)
Mar 19th, 2019, 12:26 PM
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mrwunrfl thanks for the recommendations, I'll look into them!
Just please do explain about the 6 days/6 rides, you mean I can break my journey every day of the 6 days of the pass? Convinient for shorter stops...
And regarding that ''have to average about 4300 yen per day'', I also didn't get it , sorry, you mean it's a good deal per day? (26.000/6), or that I should take more rides to make it worth?
Just please do explain about the 6 days/6 rides, you mean I can break my journey every day of the 6 days of the pass? Convinient for shorter stops...
And regarding that ''have to average about 4300 yen per day'', I also didn't get it , sorry
, you mean it's a good deal per day? (26.000/6), or that I should take more rides to make it worth?
Mar 19th, 2019, 04:10 PM
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You will find Hakodate an interesting stop. As you probably know already, it was one of the early foreign trade ports like Nagasaki and Yokohama, so has Western influences like the Motomachi district. The Russian Orthodox Church and other historic buildings there make for a nice walk. The view from Mt. Hakodate is beautiful in clear weather, especially at night. The seafood in Hakodate is quite good as well.
Mar 19th, 2019, 05:20 PM
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I would use Aomori as a base to see Hirosaki.
Is this your rail pass https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_southhokkaido.html ?
If yes, it is not 6 rides / 5 cities. It is ANY 6 days within a 14-day period, and the 14-day starts counting on the day you purchased the pass or exchanged a voucher into a pass.
The pass will come with 6 blank spots for date stamps. Each new day when you use the pass to ride a train, a rail station platform's gate keeper will stamp a date stamp onto one of the blank spots. Say, today is 3/20/2019 and the gate keeper just stamped 3/20/2019 on your pass, then you may ride as many trains as you want on that day as long as the trains are valid for this pass holder.
When you reserve seats on a Shinkansen, the reservation agent will only give you tickets for seats assignment, he/she will not stamp a date on your pass. It is only when you enter a platform area where only ticket holders can enter, that is when a gate keeper will look at your pass to see if today's date has already been stamped on your pass.)
Is this your rail pass https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_southhokkaido.html ?
If yes, it is not 6 rides / 5 cities. It is ANY 6 days within a 14-day period, and the 14-day starts counting on the day you purchased the pass or exchanged a voucher into a pass.
The pass will come with 6 blank spots for date stamps. Each new day when you use the pass to ride a train, a rail station platform's gate keeper will stamp a date stamp onto one of the blank spots. Say, today is 3/20/2019 and the gate keeper just stamped 3/20/2019 on your pass, then you may ride as many trains as you want on that day as long as the trains are valid for this pass holder.
When you reserve seats on a Shinkansen, the reservation agent will only give you tickets for seats assignment, he/she will not stamp a date on your pass. It is only when you enter a platform area where only ticket holders can enter, that is when a gate keeper will look at your pass to see if today's date has already been stamped on your pass.)
Last edited by Reading54; Mar 19th, 2019 at 05:24 PM.
Mar 20th, 2019, 12:41 AM
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Thanks for your additional info to all!
Well, about the 5 cities: The pass covers 6 day-rides within a 14 day period, so , except the departure city (Tokyo), you are left with 5 more cities to use as destination of each ride/day.
I assume that on each of the 6 days you can make brief stops on the way, if you arrange it somehow when reserving the seats.
Reading54 says about the seat asignment (the link of the pass webpage is just right as you say!), but if I undestand JR system correctly, they give you for each trip you want to reserve a seat, a print with all the connections and changes of trains, in order to reach your destination, so I guess that if you want to make a stop on the way, you better say it in advance, when reserving the seats.
Although maybe also, even if you make a stop without prior arrangements via seats reservation, they still might re-arrange your reservation at the intermediate station, but you will have to face a new maybe surprising schedule, and maybe not find seats for the trains you want last minute. Or you might need to wait for connections with not obligatory seat reservation , but this could be a slow and a bit unpredictable way of travel...
So I am afraid that you should reserve the day / ride, fully at all legs , before starting for each day, so you have guaranted reservations and exact schedule with all train changes, for each leg of that day, to ensure you will arrive to the stopover stations and to your final destination when you really need to - except if you enjoy the adventure of such surprises, which i don't, in the case of Japan at least
I'll look more into it, but if anybody has done such rides with intermediate stops on a similar pass, please do give any helpfull tips!
many many thanks again to all!!!!!
Well, about the 5 cities: The pass covers 6 day-rides within a 14 day period, so , except the departure city (Tokyo), you are left with 5 more cities to use as destination of each ride/day.
I assume that on each of the 6 days you can make brief stops on the way, if you arrange it somehow when reserving the seats.
Reading54 says about the seat asignment (the link of the pass webpage is just right as you say!), but if I undestand JR system correctly, they give you for each trip you want to reserve a seat, a print with all the connections and changes of trains, in order to reach your destination, so I guess that if you want to make a stop on the way, you better say it in advance, when reserving the seats.
Although maybe also, even if you make a stop without prior arrangements via seats reservation, they still might re-arrange your reservation at the intermediate station, but you will have to face a new maybe surprising schedule, and maybe not find seats for the trains you want last minute. Or you might need to wait for connections with not obligatory seat reservation , but this could be a slow and a bit unpredictable way of travel...
So I am afraid that you should reserve the day / ride, fully at all legs , before starting for each day, so you have guaranted reservations and exact schedule with all train changes, for each leg of that day, to ensure you will arrive to the stopover stations and to your final destination when you really need to - except if you enjoy the adventure of such surprises, which i don't, in the case of Japan at least
I'll look more into it, but if anybody has done such rides with intermediate stops on a similar pass, please do give any helpfull tips!
many many thanks again to all!!!!!
Last edited by nikosk; Mar 20th, 2019 at 12:59 AM.
Mar 20th, 2019, 08:27 AM
#11
My yen/day comment was misleading.
Is your plan to travel from Sapporo to Tokyo with stops along the way? If so then the cost of that trip, straight through with no stops, is slightly more than the cost of the pass. So, you are going to save money no matter how many stops or days that you travel. You don't need to plan your trip based on the numbers of cities to visit or days that you can travel. Use of your pass does not have to dictate your trip.
You don't need to add enroute same-day stops just because they are "free". Those stops come with some time overhead - the getting from the station to your point of interest and back and then waiting for the train. You would need to plan those out and may come up short with the amount of time that you need at the stop. I traveled from Noboribetsu Onsen to Date (by bus) and made a stop there on the way to Hakodate. When I got there I realized that I could have spent more time, overnight, there. But, I decided to just go on to Hakodate even though I didn't have a hotel reservation or reserved seat.
I don't think you are going to have any trouble getting reserved seats on your trip.
You should use HyperDia | ???? ???? ??? ???? ??? ??????? to plan your travel.
Is your plan to travel from Sapporo to Tokyo with stops along the way? If so then the cost of that trip, straight through with no stops, is slightly more than the cost of the pass. So, you are going to save money no matter how many stops or days that you travel. You don't need to plan your trip based on the numbers of cities to visit or days that you can travel. Use of your pass does not have to dictate your trip.
You don't need to add enroute same-day stops just because they are "free". Those stops come with some time overhead - the getting from the station to your point of interest and back and then waiting for the train. You would need to plan those out and may come up short with the amount of time that you need at the stop. I traveled from Noboribetsu Onsen to Date (by bus) and made a stop there on the way to Hakodate. When I got there I realized that I could have spent more time, overnight, there. But, I decided to just go on to Hakodate even though I didn't have a hotel reservation or reserved seat.
I don't think you are going to have any trouble getting reserved seats on your trip.
You should use HyperDia | ???? ???? ??? ???? ??? ??????? to plan your travel.
Mar 21st, 2019, 01:31 PM
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mrwunrfl thanks for the extra tips! It's all clear
Definately the pass is a mean to help us, not to enslave us
Although, I should confess that some (many?) times I can't help it and become greedy absorbing more and more images from the new places, so become 'slave' to travel action all day long...
Other days just relax , and get even...
Very encouraging if seat reservations will not be a problem, I really do need to be free to try some last minute changes
Hyperdia is really superb!! I'm exploring it to know in advance what to expect, and will also be very helpfull on the ground. And it's not only in japanese, that's a blessing... !!!!!!
Thanks again, all the best travels to come!!!!!!
Definately the pass is a mean to help us, not to enslave us
Although, I should confess that some (many?) times I can't help it and become greedy absorbing more and more images from the new places, so become 'slave' to travel action all day long...
Other days just relax , and get even...
Very encouraging if seat reservations will not be a problem, I really do need to be free to try some last minute changes
Hyperdia is really superb!! I'm exploring it to know in advance what to expect, and will also be very helpfull on the ground. And it's not only in japanese, that's a blessing...
!!!!!!Thanks again, all the best travels to come!!!!!!
Last edited by nikosk; Mar 21st, 2019 at 01:34 PM.
