Hi guys, long post ahead and this is my first post so I apologize if I break any rules unintentionally, I’ll be more than happy to add more information if required, thank you! To provide some context: my family of 3 adults is going to Japan for a self-guided tour in late march-april and we are departing and arriving from Osaka Kansai Airport.
This is our planned route: Osaka(0D) -> Tokyo (4D) -> Kawaguchiko(2D) -> Kyoto (4D) -> Osaka (6D)
**Navigation**
**Q1**: I see that there are many options for navigation but can’t really decide what to use, is Google Maps reliable? I am looking for something that is suitable for English users and clueless, **driving** foreigners. I prefer something similar to Google Maps because the others look very cluttered (but I’ve read online reviews saying that Maps will navigate you into bad roads, I hope that is not true)
**Car Rental**
I aim to rent a car for 48Hours and use it to travel the Kawaguchiko area near Mt. Fuji, our route is:
Pick up the car from Tokyo -> Kawaguchiko (stay 2 nights) -> Mishima dropoff (South of Fuji).
The reason for the Mishima dropoff is that we can return the car and take the nearby Shinkansen to our next destination, Kyoto.
**Q2**: I checked up on Toyota car rental and it costs me 30,000 yen for 48 hours for a small car (including excess waiver and one-way surcharge). The one-way surcharge is 9000 Yen but it seems to be worth it, considering that we are not getting JR Passes (see below) and the additional train/bus tickets for 3 people will total up to roughly the same amount. Does this plan sound good to you guys?
**Q3**: When driving, are there massive traffic jams in any of these cities and what are the peak hours that I should avoid? Some long-distance routes I’m embarking on:
Tokyo -> Kawaguchiko departing 12pm [https://goo.gl/maps/ocw2XJHuH4h5hoHz8](https://goo.gl/maps/ocw2XJHuH4h5hoHz8)
Kawaguchiko -> Mishima (to return car) departing 10am [https://goo.gl/maps/ztgbJLWx9UNzfgh89](https://goo.gl/maps/ztgbJLWx9UNzfgh89)
**Japan Public Transport**
We arrive at Osaka Kansai Airport at 1.15PM local time, we will each be holding one piece of luggage and their total dimensions exceed 160cm, we will most likely need to reserve shinkansen seats with an oversized baggage area.
**Q4**: Since I need to reserve a special seat for oversized baggage, should I anticipate my arrival time at Shin-Osaka and book the train that matches my estimated time of arrival? For example, I was thinking: Assuming that it is 2.30PM after clearing customs, collecting baggages and buying mobile data, I would reach Shin-Osaka at about 3.30PM. Allocating some buffer time, I can take the 4.30PM shinkansen to Tokyo.
**Q5**: Are the other public transport options (like subways/trains/buses) baggage-friendly? Of course, I’ll try to avoid peak hours (I suppose is 7-9am and 5-7pm), I may need to bring my luggage up to the subways/trains/buses in some instances:
Tokyo Station -> Hotel in Shinjuku
Kyoto -> Hotel in Dotonburi
Hotel in Dotonburi -> Kansai Airport
**Day Trip to Nara/Kobe**
We are aiming to visit each Nara & Kobe for a day trip, we would likely take the train (500-800 Yen per pax) since it is the cheapest/fastest option
**Q6**: How is the weekend crowd like in Osaka/Nara/Kobe? Is it wiser to visit Nara/Kobe during the weekends & stay in Osaka on weekdays? Or vice versa?
**Why I’m not getting the JR Pass**
I determined that it is not worth it to get the 14-Days JR Pass after putting my travel plans [https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/](https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/)
Kansai Airport → Tokyo 14,500-16,000 yen
Tokyo → Fujigoko Drive
Fujigoko → Mishima Drive
Mishima → Kyoto 10,500-11,000 yen
Kyoto → Osaka 500 yen
Osaka → Nara 800 yen
Nara → Osaka 800 yen
Osaka → Kobe 400 yen
Kobe → Osaka 400 yen
Osaka → Kansai Airport 1,000-2,000 yen
Total: 30,400-34,900 yen (not worth)
6 comments
google maps has been very reliable for me
1. Major car rental companies (eg. Toyota Rent-A-Car) have an option of English navigation. Toyota’s [own solution](https://www.toyota.co.jp/jpn/auto/passable_route/map/) has one of the best navigations that include current roadworks and closures. Google Maps is fairly OK, if you plan in advance.
2. Considering the pain of driving from Tokyo and additional tolls – you may consider just taking shinkansen to Mishima to skip some of the most painful traffic/tolls in the country.
3. Tokyo is notorious for not being nice to drive in. Fuji Five Lakes can be busy during certain holiday/festival periods.
4. Luggage in public transport: you just have to manage and avoid peak morning rush hour. Note that taking oversized luggage is generally a bad idea – sticking to 160cm (normal-sized checked luggage) and carry-on/backpack makes much more sense.
5. Nara is better visited on weekdays. Kobe does not really mattere, as unless you judge by Chinese/Indian scale – it still a major city.
I wanted to also mention, you will most likely need to get an international driving license if you plan on renting a car. I would say to just go with the shinkansen, buses, subway, metro, etc. to make travel easier. I would also recommend not bringing anything larger than a medium size luggage and a backpack, there are restrictions on how many pieces of luggage and also the size for all trains and buses in Japan.
Google Maps is great, rarely failed me in thousands of kilometers through Japan. I always bring a phone stand for easy navigation with my phone.
As mentioned, central Tokyo traffic (and especially the road network complexity) is not fun if it’s your first time driving in Japan. I will offer another alternative of getting a car in the vicinity of Hachioji or Machida, which is in the right direction and won’t have you breaking the bank for a Shinkansen ticket. I did that a few times when going to Mount Fuji from Tokyo, very relaxing.
This way, without wasting too much time, you can even avoid toll roads completely, which would require you to get a rental with ETC, or pay cash at all the toll booths (no fun).
Traffic is normally fine at those times.
Btw, the price you quote seems a bit high. I always have been renting cars at Niconico for 3740 yen per 24 hours (unfortunately they don’t accept foreign licenses). Even with extra insurance and an additional “tourist” fee, 15000 per day seems steep for a small car.
Hi!
Have you looked at other rental car companies outside of Toyota? I am a huge fan of Orix, I’ve used them multiple times and have gotten comfy cars with English GPS, the 3x I used them. In general, I use the GPS on the car, because it’s easier than using Google Maps. However, my last car rental was a Budget rental car and it was Japanese GPS only and it couldn’t find the rental car shop (which had recently moved.) Unfortunately, Google wasn’t sure either, but was at least able to get me back on the right street. I also had a hard time findiing my hotel, because the entrance to the hotel’s private road was a sharp right turn and the GPS did a bad job of alerting me my first time past it. My other rental car trips have all been in Tohoku and have been much more pleasant.
For large bags I takQbin between hotels and just bring a small overnight bag on public transport. The only exception I’ve made to that is when I have switched hotels within Tokyo and the first hotel was near Shimbashi and the second at Tokyo Station and when I went from Shimbashi to Hamamatsucho to catch the mono rail to Haneda. In both cases I was only spend 4-6 minutes on the Yamanote.
I just spent in December 11,935 yen to rent a car from 12/27 at 10:00 am to 12/28 at 5:00 pm. I was late to get the car and I returned it early but I didn’t get a discount for that. I did pay for extra coverage. I didn’t pay for a ETC because I was not going on an expressway. It was a K car, which was fine for local driving and easily fit me and my tween and there would have been enough room with another adult too. We had two carry on sized wheelies, a violin, 2 backpacks and a canvas bag with us.
I paid 6215 with Orix inclusive of ETC rental, a rental car assistance package, and Collision Damage waiver. I picked up the car again around 10:00 am and returned it early but had it until 5. This car also included snow tires, just in case and was a compact and I did go on the expressway. (about 1000 yen each direction.)
In your case, I don’t know why you wouldn’t just go to Mishima from Kansai Airport, pick up the rental car there and then return it to Mishima post your trip to Kawaguchiko. You’re unlikely to get a lot done in Tokyo if all you are doing is going part of one day and honestly, I like Tokyo but if you’re going there to shop, you can find a lot of the same store in Kansai.
another thing that could save you some money is take the train to Oyama in Shizuoka or Gotemba in Shizuoka and rent your car from there, since then Mishima will be in the same prefecture and the additional drop-off fee should be much lower.
You can use JR Haruka direct to shin Osaka and you can buy tickets at the airport. I would get some buffer time as you are likely not used to move around a station. They will know at what time the train get to shin Osaka. Even if your luggage is not oversized, you would likely want to use the oversized baggage space unless you only have a carry on luggage (that I would actually recommend)