Hi Reddit! My boyfriend, friends, and I are planning to visit Japan (hopefully) for 3 weeks from the 3rd to 24th January 2023. While it will be my friends and I’s first time, my bf, who has grown up in Japan, will be revisiting after many years!
We are considering whether we should buy the 21-day JR Pass for our trip.
This is the itinerary we have come up with, which we haven’t finalised, but we would appreciate some advice on it 🙂 We’re interested in not only the city stuff, but also museums, history, and nature! Thank you in advance! 🙂
**Day 1 – Tue 3rd Jan \[Syd –> Osaka\]:**
* Flight from Sydney to Kansai Airport
* Travel to Osaka \[activate 21-day JR Pass\]
* *Overnight stay in Osaka*
**Day 2 – Wed 4th Jan \[Osaka\]:**
* Osaka Castle
* Dotonburi
* Kaiyukan Aquarium
* Joshin Super Kids Land
* StreetKart Osaka (go-karting) (night activity?)
* *Overnight stay in Osaka*
**Day 3 – Thu 5th Jan \[Osaka\]:**
* Universal Studios
* *Overnight stay in Osaka*
**Day 4 – Fri 6th Jan \[Hiroshima + Miyajima day trip\]:**
* Hiroshima–> Shukkei-en, Hiroshima Castle, Peace Memorial Park, Museum
* Miyajima
* *Overnight stay in Osaka*
**Day 5 – Sat 7th Jan \[Nara day trip –> Koyasan\]:**
* Nara day trip
* Koyasan (Mount Koya)
* *Overnight stay in Koya Temple*
**Day 6 – Sun 8th Jan \[Koyasan\]:**
* Koyasan
* Kongobuji Temple
* Walks (e.g. Women’s Pilgrimage walk)
* *Overnight stay in Koya Temple*
**Day 7 – Mon 9th Jan \[Koyasan –> Kyoto\]:**
* Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Arashiyama (e.g. Bamboo forest)
* Kyoto
* *Overnight stay in Kyoto*
**Day 8 – Tue 10th Jan \[Kyoto\]:**
* Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
* Kiyomizudera Temple
* *Overnight stay in Kyoto*
**Day 9 – Wed 11th Jan \[Kyoto –> Tokyo\]:**
* Gotokuji Temple (cat temple)
* TeamLab Planets
* Mameshiba Cafe
* Shibuya Crossing
* Harajuku
* Akihabara
* Shinjuku –> Robot Restaurant
* *Overnight stay in Tokyo*
**Day 10 – Thu 12th Jan \[Tokyo\]:**
* Disneyland Tokyo
* *Overnight stay in Tokyo*
**Day 11 – Fri 13th Jan \[Tokyo\]:**
* DisneySea Tokyo
* *Overnight stay in Tokyo*
**Day 12 – Sat 14th Jan \[Tokyo\]:**
* Visiting bf’s hometown/neighbourhood
* Pokemon Centre + Cafe
* Tokyo SkyTree
* *Overnight stay in Tokyo*
**Day 13 – Sun 15th Jan \[Nagano day trip\]:**
* Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park \[with 1-day pass\]
* *Overnight stay in Tokyo*
**Day 14 – Mon 16th Jan \[Tokyo –> Niseko\]:**
* Flight from Tokyo to New Chitose Airport
* Travel from New Chitose Airport to Niseko (bus or train or car rental)
* *Overnight stay in Niseko*
**Day 15 – Tue 17th Jan \[Niseko\]:**
* Niseko Ski Resort
* *Overnight stay in Niseko*
**Day 16 – Wed 18th Jan \[Niseko\]:**
* Niseko Ski Resort
* *Overnight stay in Niseko*
**Day 17 – Thu 19th Jan \[Niseko –> Tokyo –> Kawaguchiko\]:**
* Travel to New Chitose Airport, then take flight back to Tokyo
* Travel from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko
* *Overnight stay in Kawaguchiko*
**Day 18 – Fri 20th Jan \[Kawaguchiko\]:**
* Lake Kawaguchiko
* Chureito Pagoda
* Mt Fuji Ropeway
* *Overnight stay in Kawaguchiko*
**Day 19 – Sat 21st Jan \[Kawaguchiko –> Hakone\]:**
* Owakudani –> black volcanic eggs
* *Overnight stay in Hakone*
**Day 20 – Sun 22nd Jan \[Hakone –> Tokyo\]:**
* Asakusa
* *Overnight stay in Tokyo*
**Day 21 – Mon 23rd Jan \[Tokyo –> Osaka\]:**
\[*This is when the 21-day JR Pass would expire*\]
* Travel back to Osaka
* Travel to Kansai Airport –> flight back to Sydney \[**OPTION 1** \- please check point 5 below\]
**OPTION 2** \[please check point 5 below\]:
* *Overnight stay in Osaka* on Day 21, then…
**Day 22 – Tue 24th Jan \[Osaka –> Sydney\]:**
* Travel to Kansai Airport –> flight back to Sydney
***Extra notes/questions***:
(1) We wanted to know if it would be more efficient to buy certain passes for routes which aren’t covered by the JR Pass (e.g. when we travel between Kawaguchiko and Hakone).
* We are thinking of buying a 1-day pass for Jigokudani Monkey Park.
* When we travel from Kawaguchiko to Hakone, is it better for us to get the Hakone Free Pass, Fuji Hakone Pass, or neither?
(2) Is the Hiroshima + Miyajima day trip impossible to do? We made it into a day trip, rather than a 1 night stay in Hiroshima because it would be too inconvenient to have to move our luggage around frequently.
(3) We haven’t yet looked at exact accommodation, but we would like to stay in a ryokan in Kawaguchiko and Hakone, preferably with private onsen.
(4) When travelling between New Chitose Airport and Niseko, is it better/cheaper/more efficient to go by transport (e.g. bus or train), or is it better to rent a car?
(5) I think it may be cheaper to do a round-trip between Sydney and Kansai, rather than a multi-city trip (e.g. land in Kansai but fly out from Tokyo), PLUS I estimate that the 21-day JR Pass would pay off, value-wise, if we travel from Tokyo back to Kyoto via Shinkansen, and then fly out from Kansai (hence, a round-trip).
(6) We have 2 options for how to end the trip, which we aren’t sure which to do:
* Fly to Sydney on Day 21, with the JR Pass covering the \~1 hr long 1,200 yen trip from Osaka to Kansai Airport, but this means that our last day would be filled with 3+ hours of long travel from Tokyo to Kansai Airport, which may be stressful if we want to make our flight back to Sydney on the same day.
* Fly to Sydney on Day 22, so we’d get an extra day in Osaka before we fly out – BUT, this would be a day after the JR Pass expires, so the \~1,200 yen trip from Osaka to Kansai Airport would be paid out of pocket.
7 comments
I wouldn’t try to travel back from Tokyo and fly out on the same day. You certainly could, it’s not impossible by any means, but I’d rather take the less stressful option and fly a day later.
Day nine looks a bit too much for one day. Also I hear team labs are closing down soon. It’s very difficult to get your moneys worth from the Jr Pass.
I am pretty sure you do not need 21 days JR Pass and there in general, the order does not make sense to me, I’ll come back to it later.
4 – doing Miyajima followed by Hiroshima peace museum/park, in that order is realistic, will be a full dans long day (you should start the day early) but it is possible. Adding the garden and castle is a bit unrealistic.
5 : Mount Koya is not exactly easy to access from Nara, so I would consider only doing the daytrip to Nara on that day and only do one night in Mout Koya.
7 : I would already not recommend Fushimi Inari-taisha and Arashiyama as they are on opposite side of Kyoto, adding the distance from Mount Koya, it is unrealistic.
8 : Kinkaku-ji is actually a better match with Arashiyama (but would be a full day in my opinion) while Kiyomizu-dera and Fushimi Inari work better together.
9 : You are have a couple of hours to do in the train then you want to do 4+ neighborhoods of Tokyo ? this is just madness, you need minimum 2 days for that. Also Robot Restaurant is closed and no idea if it will even re-open.
20 : can do Skytree and Asakusa on the same day.
JR Pass 7 days could be good if you can re-organise to do Hiroshima day trip, Kyoto-Tokyo and Nagano day trip all within 7 days. 21 days pass is a waste, you kind of justify it by unnecessary travel.
Do not return to Tokyo after the ski, just do the whole Tokyo part in one shot then fly from Hokkaido back to Osaka, that is if the multi-city ticket is really not a good value compared to individual tickets.
For pass other than JR Pass, you check to do Fuji-Hakone pass, you would need to pay the bus to Kawaguchiko separately (it is cheaper than the train), then it would cover moving between Kawaguchiko and Hakone and return to Tokyo. I think it would make more sense than the Hakone Free pass as you can use it all the way. However, it might not be worth if you do not do the whole loop around Hakone.
Yes Hiroshima Miyajima is possible in a single day, but you will want to wake up early, get to Miyajima first, no time to Hike Mount Misen, maybe you can do it on the ropeway. Get lunch, move to Hiroshima, peace park/museum, get okonomiyaki in more central area and go back to Osaka. Possible, but will be a full day. If you want to do it in 2 days and not bring your luggage, then leave the bulk of it in Osaka and only bring a day bag with one change of cloth, you can ask hotel to keep your luggage or put it in a coin locker.
It is possible to do ryokan with onsen in both Hakone and Kawaguchiko, just search a bit. But private bath in the room will be more expensive, you can always check to go to a place that have a “family onsen” that you can rent for an hour and use privately (even if not in your room).
My guess it the easiest to Niseko is the bus as you do not have to go all the way to Sapporo on the train, I would avoid car rental unless you have experience driving in the snow.
You can get a discount ticket to KIX, it’s the Icoca + Haruka discoun ticket.
Also I heard the Go karts have stopped operations as well but I could be wrong.
1. I think Hiroshima and Miyajima is too much for a day trip, unless you really want to be rushed the whole day.
3. Niseko – Unless you are comfortable driving in very heavy snow, take the bus.
Have you considered just skiing in Nagano? Nozawa Onsen and Hakuba are fantastic and you could go over to the monkey park from either place.
Three things to keep in mind when planning:
* similar to Australia, winter in japan got VERY limited daylight – 9am to maybe about 4pm-ish or even earlier in Hokkaido. And some more “rural” area like Koyasan and similar will have their local bus transport running very sparingly and service would end early (when daylight ends).
* triple check opening hours – many places do not open until 10am or 11am
* driving in Hokkaido is not recommended unless you have fair amount of experience driving in heavy snow (both falling as well as sleet on the road) – the snowfall in Hokkaido has been quite severe in recent years (pre-covid) and even the JR will suspend service due to snowfall and snow on track. Plan for buffer time.
I’ve been to Japan four times for a total of ten weeks. Honestly, itineraries like this make me nauseated lol. I’ve never planned outside of the first few days in Tokyo. I rarely decide where I’m going until a day or two before while in Japan. Way more flexibility and freedom then