Finalizing Itinerary for 4 weeks in Japan
Replies: 9 - Last Post: Oct 28, 2012 9:00 PM Last Post By: KenTravelAlone
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Finalizing Itinerary for 4 weeks in Japan
Hi,I had a post of my itinerary sometime ago but I have changed the itinerary quite abit e.g 4 weeks instead of 3 weeks. The link is: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=20359981#20359981
There are still some things that I'm not certain of such as rather to go to Hiroshima + Miyajima = getting the 7 day JR pass. And also how long to stay in Niseko.
I made 2 itineraries, one with hiroshima and one without
Itinerary 1: WITHOUT hiroshima
Dec 2: Fly from Busan to Osaka Kansai. (After traveling through South Korea. I'm flying to Osaka instead of Hiroshima because I want to catch the end of autumn colours in Kyoto.) On the same day take train to Kyoto.
Dec 2-10: Kyoto for 9 nights because I think I ll really like Kyoto and there's so much i want to see there! Also day trip to Hikone castle (since Himeji is under construction). i ll spend probably 5+ nights in Gion, not sure yet. what are the good neighbours to stay in Kyoto?
Dec 11-14: Osaka for 4 nights with daytrips to Nara and Kobe. Also I pretty much just want to go to Kobe for the Luminarie which is at night, so when it finishes maybe like 10:30-11pm is there still train back to Osaka? Also 14th night is Osaka Hikari Renaissance. And theres like universal studios etc that I wanna go to
Dec 15-20: Osaka fly to Sapporo and then train to Niseko and stay for 6 nights to ski in Annupuri and Hirafu.
Dec 21: right now I'm considering staying 1 Sapporo for 1 night before I fly to Tokyo OR i might just train from Niseko early in the morning and spend a few hours in Sapporo before taking the night flight to Tokyo.
Dec 22-2nd Jan: 12 nights in Tokyo. Got a friend there and got loads to see and do e.g disneyland.
Jan 3-6: 4 nights in Hakuba if I still want to ski, or i ll just stay in Tokyo till the 7th.
Jan 7: fly home
Reasons for without Hiroshima: 1. My times can become more flexible and dont need to take days off kyoto and osaka. 2. Save on not getting the JR Pass which also = I wont use my JR pass to get from Osaka to Niseko saving like a whole day of time. 3. It's winter and Miyajima wont be as nice as April and I probably cant be bothered in Winter to do too much moving around so I rather spend more time in city place e.g Kyoto. If not going then I'll go in the future in April
Itinerary 2: WITH Hiroshima
Dec 2: Fly from Busan to Osaka Kansai. (After traveling through South Korea. I'm flying to Osaka instead of Hiroshima because I want to catch the end of autumn colours in Kyoto.) On the same day take train to Kyoto.
Dec 2-8: 7 nights in kyoto
Dec 9: Kobe for luminarie 1 night
Dec 10-11: activate JR pass. train to hiroshima. 2 nights
Dec 12-14: Osaka + daytrip Nara 3 nights
Dec 15: train to Tokyo and stay the night
Dec 16-20: Train to Hakodate (6hr) stay for lunch then to Niseko. stay for 5 nights skiing
Dec 21: either night in sapporo or Tokyo
Dec 22-Jan 2: Tokyo
Jan 3-6: 4 nights in Hakuba or tokyo
Jan 7: fly out
Tell me what you think
Also I have been looking through niseko lodges/apartments and cant find one that is good with decent price. The ones I've seen are usually average and still cost like 200+ a night. The apartments are often 2-3 bedrooms and cost like 400+ a night. I'm only 1 person. I'm willing to spend a lil more for modern small apartments/lodges but I dont want to pay for all that space that I dont need e.g 2 extra bedrooms.
Also thanks to acc for all the help so far.
Edited by: KenTravelAlone
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KenTravelAlone wrote:
Itinerary 1: WITHOUT hiroshima
Dec 2: Fly from Busan to Osaka Kansai. (After traveling through South Korea. I'm flying to Osaka instead of Hiroshima because I want to catch the end of autumn colours in Kyoto.) On the same day take train to Kyoto.
Itinerary 1: WITHOUT hiroshima
Dec 2: Fly from Busan to Osaka Kansai. (After traveling through South Korea. I'm flying to Osaka instead of Hiroshima because I want to catch the end of autumn colours in Kyoto.) On the same day take train to Kyoto.
Icoca + Haruka
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_icoca_haruka.html
Dec 2-10: Kyoto for 9 nights because I think I ll really like Kyoto and there's so much i want to see there! Also day trip to Hikone castle (since Himeji is under construction). i ll spend probably 5+ nights in Gion, not sure yet. what are the good neighbours to stay in Kyoto?
Higashiyama district. You may also consider staying in Arashiyama or there are some cheap options in the northern part of Kyoto near Kinkakuji/Ryoanji.
Dec 11-14: Osaka for 4 nights with daytrips to Nara and Kobe. Also I pretty much just want to go to Kobe for the Luminarie which is at night, so when it finishes maybe like 10:30-11pm is there still train back to Osaka?
Yes.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3554.html?aFROM=2157_2159
Trains/timetables
http://www.hyperdia.com/
Dec 15-20: Osaka fly to Sapporo and then train to Niseko and stay for 6 nights to ski in Annupuri and Hirafu.
Seems fine.
Dec 21: right now I'm considering staying 1 Sapporo for 1 night before I fly to Tokyo OR i might just train from Niseko early in the morning and spend a few hours in Sapporo before taking the night flight to Tokyo.
Whatever suits.
Dec 22-2nd Jan: 12 nights in Tokyo. Got a friend there and got loads to see and do e.g disneyland.
Seems fine. Just buy a Suica pre-paid card to make moving around easy.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_002.html
Christmas Illuminations:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2303.html
Visiting during New Year
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2276.html
Jan 3-6: 4 nights in Hakuba if I still want to ski, or i ll just stay in Tokyo till the 7th.
Take the bus.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6090.html#jump_access
Reasons for without Hiroshima: 1. My times can become more flexible and dont need to take days off kyoto and osaka. 2. Save on not getting the JR Pass which also = I wont use my JR pass to get from Osaka to Niseko saving like a whole day of time. 3. It's winter and Miyajima wont be as nice as April and I probably cant be bothered in Winter to do too much moving around so I rather spend more time in city place e.g Kyoto. If not going then I'll go in the future in April
Seems fine to me.
Itinerary 2: WITH Hiroshima
This seems fine too.
Also I have been looking through niseko lodges/apartments and cant find one that is good with decent price.
I can't help you there unfortunately.
Also thanks to acc for all the help so far.
You are welcome!
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Hi Glenski. Yeah I'm thinking to go to Hiroshima in the future during April. And if december isnt so good in Kyoto, then where is? Where do you recommend? Maybe instead of 9 days, I might stay for 6 or 7 days because theres still quite alot I want to see in Kyoto, I'm quite into those cultural stuff and Kinkaku-ji.And Hi again acc.
Thanks for telling me about Icoca + Haruka. I wouldnt have known otherwise.
Is Gion part of the Higashiyama district? I have only found 2 hostels that are worth staying in and are relatively inexpensive. One is by the Kyoto main station(which lacks culture) but easy to get to station. The other is right in Gion near the famous Hanami-koji street. I really don't see anywhere else I want to stay besides these 2 hostels. I would prefer taking walk/bus/train to those attractions.
Also now that I'm considering not going to Hiroshima this time, I will just fly to Sapporo from Osaka and I'm not going to bother with the JR pass. Also about Suica, since it can be used in many cities such as Osaka and Tokyo, should I just get it while I'm in Osaka? And yes probably taking the bus to Hakuba is a cheaper option if I dont have JR pass and it's only 2.5hours longer than train. straight to the resorts.
Thanks again for the help acc. You're always very helpful.
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Thanks for telling me about Icoca + Haruka. I wouldnt have known otherwise.
No problem, it is only relatively new (from July 2012)
Is Gion part of the Higashiyama district?
I believe so.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3959.html
I have only found 2 hostels that are worth staying in and are relatively inexpensive. One is by the Kyoto main station(which lacks culture) but easy to get to station. The other is right in Gion near the famous Hanami-koji street.
Gojo Guest House?
I really don't see anywhere else I want to stay besides these 2 hostels. I would prefer taking walk/bus/train to those attractions.
Either is fine.
Also about Suica, since it can be used in many cities such as Osaka and Tokyo, should I just get it while I'm in Osaka?
In Osaka they use ICOCA which comes as part of your ICOCA + Haruka package. You can't buy a Suica in Osaka. ICOCA can currently be used in place of Suica in Tokyo but only on the JR train lines, not the various subway company lines. Depending on where you stay and go in Tokyo this may be fine as the JR Lines access a lot of the usual Tokyo tourist districts (eg. Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Ueno, Akihabara, etc.) and you could just pay for individual tickets if you have to use the subway (eg. to get to Asakusa). If you find you use the subway more often just buy a Suica in Tokyo.
Thanks again for the help acc. You're always very helpful.
No problem!
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Ok everything sounds good to me. Also I thought about what Glenski said and good thing he did say something because now I discover alot more interesting places to visit around Kyoto! I'm going to take a daytrip to Koka and a half day to trip to Iga. Koka and Iga are famous as being the two main areas in Japan that the ninjas lived and there are afew ninja museums there. I say daytrip to Koka is because I also want to visit the Miho museum which is designed by I.M.Pei (I'm really big on culture and architecture). They are to the east of Kyoto and takes less than an hour by train, about 30mins.Then I'm also going to visit Ohara for daytrip which is to the north of Kyoto and it's pretty much the countryside but it looks like a very relaxing and beautiful place. (they have good autumn colours too..if they still have it by dec). Another place that I'm considering is Kanazawa which is also just like Kyoto with lots of cultural sites to see and less touristy than Kyoto. Kanazawa is to the north of Kyoto and I guess it's a little far, almost Nagano but it's on route with Hikone. So I'm thinking train to Hikone, see the castle then to Fukui to see Eiheiji temple (if i have time) then train to Kanazawa by night time. Stay 2 nights (might have to minus 1 nights from Kyoto and Osaka) see the place and then back to Kyoto.
ok so. this is a MAYBE itinerary
Dec 2: Osaka to Kyoto
Dec 3: Kyoto
Dec 4: day trip Koka
Dec 5: Kyoto
Dec 6: Iga-half day
Dec 7: Kyoto
Dec 8: Ohara- day trip
Dec 9: Kyoto
Dec 10: Hikone + Fukui - Kanazawa
Dec 11: Kanazawa
Dec 12: Kanazawa to Osaka
Dec 13: Osaka and then at night Kobe for Luminarie
Dec 14: Osaka for hikari
Dec 15: daytrip Nara
Dec 16: push everything back a day
hmm now it looks like Kanazawa might not be such a good idea with all these daytrips added on....
what do you think?
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Kanazawa is nice, you just have to balance what interests you. Maybe start listing what you want to see in Kyoto and work it into a daily itinerary to make sure you have enough time there.7
I think I shouldn't be too greedy on my first trip to Japan and trying to see everything. I ll just stick to the touristy cities/towns this time e.g kyoto. Next time I ll go to Kanazawa then into Hakuba since they are so close. This time I cant because it's too early for skiing in Hakuba in early December. So this time I will just stick to Kyoto and do daytrips to Iga, Koka and Ohara. that's already 3 days not in Kyoto. And since I arrive in Kyoto in the evening I really only have 4 days to see everything.but yes good idea acc. I will do that. Besides, if theres just so much I want to see in Kyoto then I could always take off 1 or 2 daytrips when I'm there.
Is there anything else from the Itinerary without Hiroshima that I should change? I booking hostels when they are set
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Oh yes I forgot about Hikone. and ah koyasan looks interesting. Do most people get there by bus from Osaka? how long does it take?And ok I ll do a lil research and do a revised full itinerary soon
oh and I forgot about Hakone from Tokyo. How many nights do you think is good? and you can see Mt fuji from there?
Edited by: KenTravelAlone
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Maybe the Kansai Thru Pass would be better considering the amount of travelling I do around the Kansai area.http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_005.html Does 3 day pass = unlimited traveling within the 3 days or can you choose what ones you want it used? Because if it's just continuous 3 days then probably not that worth considering i stay the nights = less travel.
If I get that pass I probably wont be getting the world heritage pass. if I do... It says 'The ticket is valid on two consecutive days' So that means only 1 night in Koyasan. 1st day get there with the pass and the next day out with the pass = 2 consec days right?
Also the Limited Express Version (from Namba or Shin-Imamiya) is more expensive. Do you think that's more worth it?
