Fall 2020 Itinerary – Second Trip to Japan

22 comments

1. That’s funny I am traveling those exact dates as well, but im a little unsure if and when I should cancel due to Covid. This would be my first time going and I really wanna go. Do you think you might still end up going this year?

2. >**Kyoto** *2.5 hours by train* (Fushimi Inar, Monkey park, Bamboo Forest – Kameyama-kōen, Sagano Scenic Railway, Yokai Street)
   >
   >**Osaka** – We would travel from Kyoto and stay overnight in Osaka, potentially rent a car so that visiting Nara is possible. (Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Osaka Museum of History, Den Den Town, Nara park)

   You aren’t doing that in two days. Don’t even think about Nara.

   >**Hakone** *35 minutes by train*

   Not sure how. It’s at least 1 hour via Shinkansen, and longer via Odakyu.

3. You don’t need a car to get to Nara. It’s easily accessible from both Kyoto and Osaka by train. Also, leave way more time to get to/from Hakone, I think it ended up taking us 3.5 hours each way because of transfer time/bus traffic.

4. [deleted]

5. Good luck to you, hope it works out. I had to cancel my April trip for obvious reasons and am now debating whether or not I want to plan a trip over New Years or not. I have the time off but just still worried about the uncertainty regarding international travel. Especially coming from the US, which appears content to just let the virus run rampant.

   I really made myself crazy with the whole “cancel or don’t cancel” stuff prior to my trip being effectively cancelled for me and am sort of thinking I’d rather wait until I know things are back in swing before booking again, but I am so anxious to get over there. Spent 6 months planning previous trip out completely and then had to throw the whole thing in the trash, I would like to use the itinerary over.

6. Is there any reason why you are staying in Tokyo and only making day trips to those other locations between Oct 29-Nov 4? Even with the JR pass, I feel like its such a waste of time to be travelling back and forth.

   I’ve stayed at the Unazuki onsen town at Kurobe Gorge last year and I really recommend staying there overnight in one of the onsen ryokans there, the food and the osens were a major part of the experience for my visit there.

7. While I’m not sure if you’ll be able to travel to Japan by then, I want to mention that Kyoto really isn’t viable as a day trip from Tokyo. The main sights there are all really far apart and just getting there will take you a few hours. If you’d like to include it on your itinerary you should do a few overnights there for sure.

   As well, the amount of day trips you have listed is going to exhaust you. Even if you’re in shape, the sheer amount of walking you’ll be doing on top of all the train travel is going to burn you out really quickly. My brother and I were in Japan last year during cherry blossom season for a month and we usually walked upwards of 25km a day. It killed our legs the first week- I couldn’t imagine trying to squeeze in so many day trips too. I recommend cutting down the amount of day trips, prioritizing a few and doing a few overnights in Kyoto.

8. I think you make the mistake of trying to use the JR Pass as much as possible. This mean that at the end, you are going so fast that you might miss a bunch of things, and it’s also a lot of train. Actually, there is many places that I think do not work so well using the JR Pass.

   Kyoto is easily 2-3 days if not more in itself.

   Osaka can be 1-2 days, but more 2 if you include Nara. Also, you can go to Nara using JR, so no need for a car.

   Hakone, to do Hakone-Gotemba-Kawaguchiko, you would be better to do that loop using the Fuji-Hakone Pass and take 2-3 days to do it. For this, appart from going to Odawara station and going back to Tokyo from Gotemba (if you really want to return to Tokyo), the JR Pass is almost useless. It can be used to cover a part of the JR Fuji Excursion train, but there is an extra to pay. Really not the best use for JR Pass. Or do Hakone using the Free pass and on a different day Kawaguchiko, going by bus is cheaper than train.

   Kurobe, quite a detour from other location you plan to visit, also the train to go into Kurobe gorge is Toyama Chiho railway, so… not JR. Also it might be 2h30 by shinkansen to Kurobe, but you will have to take a local train for at least 1 hour each way… so that mean at least 7 hours of train in a single day.

   Nikko can also be done using the Nikko pass, but not totally a bad thing to do it by JR if you go to Sendai after instead of returning to Tokyo. Returning to Tokyo between Nikko and Sendai seems to be quite a lot backtracking.

   Yokohama is so close to Tokyo that it’s a waste to use a JR Pass day for that.

   Kawagoe is also cheap, do not really a JR Pass destination and there is a Seibu discount ticket to go there.

   My advice, add one more week, use the JR Pass to do the long distances only (stay longer in Kansai) and do the day trips from Tokyo using different pass. Or Just stay in Tokyo, do the day trips from Tokyo, remove all the long distance (Sendai, Osaka, Kyoto and Kurobe) and forget the JR Pass. Save Kansai for a next trip.

9. I saw both teamBorderless and Tokyo Motor Show last year.

   While they are close in proximity, one day is tremendously tight to visit both major venues; doing both will probably require you to speed walk through all the showings.

   One of the more famous Lantern room for the teamBorderless took us one and half hour alone to queue through, not to mention if you plan to visit the rest of the exhibits.

   Same goes for the Motor show, there is also queue or reservations to think about if you guys plan to do some test drives of the new cars.

10. > Hakone ~~*35 minutes*~~ 1.5 hours by train (Open Air Museum, Owakudani, Hakone Shrine, Gotemba Premium Outlets)

    You might be cutting it close if you plan on doing all of these in a day. Take note that Gotemba Premium Outlets is an hour bus ride away from Hakone.

    Also, you can take a Shinkansen to Odawara (which does take 35 minutes). Take note to take the Hikari or Kodama, since the Nozomi doesn’t stop at Odawara. You then take the Hakone Tozan Line to Hakone-Yumoto Station, then a bus from there to where you want to go in Hakone.

11. >**Mt. Fuji** *2 – 3 hours by train/bus depending on attractions* (Narusawa Hyoketsu ice caves, rent a car from speedway?)

    I think one of the bus passes can take you to the ice caves. You can look into this website for more info ([http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/heritage-tour/detail/id/1/](http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/heritage-tour/detail/id/1/)).

    There are also other places you can visit around the area like: Maple Corridor, Fuji-Q Highland, Chureito Pagoda, Oshino Hakkai, Iyashi no Sato Village.

    ​

    >**Nikko** *1.5 hours by train* (Rin-no-ji temple, Futarasan temple, Toshogu shrine, Kanmangafuchi Abyss)

    Too bad you’re not staying for a couple of nights here, because Nikko is a wonderful nature destination. There are places like Kinugawa Onsen, Kegon Falls, Lake Chuzenji, Yumoto Onsen, and more! And also, autumn is the best time to visit Nikko. 🙂

    ​

    >**Yokohama** *25 minutes by train* (China town, Cosmoworld, Ramen and/or Cupnoodle Museums)

    Consider Kamakura as well! It’s located below Yokohama and totally doable to visit both cities on a whole day (very tiring, but it’s possible!).

12. For some cool jdm car rentals check this place out, https://www.omoren.com/en/.

    I haven’t used them personally but hear good things.
    I’m very into cars also and been wanting to check out the initial D cafe. If you haven’t gotten the experience driving the mountains in Japan it’s a must if you’re into cars! Have fun!

13. First things first, you will probably not be totally jet lagged recovered for at least a week. I’d expect to be totally wiped out by 7 pm and slowly add an hour each day.

    **Oct 28th – T**here is so much to do in Tokyo. Are you sure you want to just do Akihabara and Borderless?

    **Kyoto** – Loose rule of thumb is that each area of Kyoto can easily be a day trip. Kyoto has a subway that connects parts of the city but you will most likely be using buses to get around. Buses are tricky since you have very little time to figure out if the bus is your bus before it leaves. Arashiyama, Monkey Park and Bamboo forest can easily take most of the day but if you do Fushimi Inari first its doable. Everything shuts down early in those parts of Kyoto so you’re gonna need to be on an evening train back to Osaka.

    **Osaka** – You cannot visit Nara and Osaka in one day. Nara is easily a full day to explore. Osaka is a huge city and even just seeing the aquarium (huge and impressive) will take a chunk out of your day. Stay in Osaka or visit Nara and go to Nara via train. Do you go back to Tokyo tonight? Might be worth staying the night in Osaka then taking the train and bus to Hakone OR stay in a hotel near the Hakone station.

    **Hakone -** It will take half a day or a morning to even get to Hakone. You need to travel by train then take a long bus ride. If you’re going to rent a car, this would be the place to do it so you can go directly to Fuji. Hakone rains a lot and many of the roads are small and windy so becareful.

    **Mt. Fuji – T**o get to Fuji you would normally go back to Tokyo via train then take an express bus. Better to rent a car. Long trip regardless.

    **Nikko** – It is possible to do a day trip but it will be long and exhausting. Make sure you time your expressway tickets and buy them early. I think they come every hour. I went via local trains and it was a little over 2 hours. Nikko gets COLD. SUPER COLD. So bring winter clothing. I froze my ass off walking around there since it also has gnarly wind chill. The town alone will take you an entire day so decide which temples you want to see. You won’t be able to see the ropeway, lake, waterfalls and the town in one day unless you sprint. There is a cute brewery there and the owner will take a picture of foreigners and put it on the wall. His beer is also made with local yuzu fruit. Very cool.

    **Yokohama** – Yokohama is super chill at night and I guess the ramen or cup noodle museum. But I would go to Kamakura nearby for the day and the night in Yokohama. Yokohama is pretty much what a pier in the US like. Ferris wheel, arcade, shopping. Lots of import stores and american restaurants if you’re feeling homesick.

    **Nov 5th** – Free day in Tokyo, maybe do some shopping, play at arcades, find places to do sampuru and/or wagashi making.

    **Nov 6th** – If you time it right, you can spend the morning doing some shopping in Yokohama station. Its impressive and the station connects to train line that takes you directly to Haneda or you can take a bus to the airport. Haneda itself is supposed to be huge and very impressive.

    So far your trips are long and exhausting, especially with jet lag. I’d recommend spending the night in the city end up in so you’re not sick and tired of riding on trains. I didn’t do that while studying abroad when I was 20 and it left me defeated a lot of the times. My home base was Yokohama. I enjoyed it but it took the wind out of me and that was being fully adjusted.

    Halloween is super fun. You should go to Shibuya to see a bunch of people dressed up. Shibuya is where a lot of bars are and where the famous crosswalk is. I had a lot of fun drinking beer and people watching.

14. I scheduled to visit Japan in the same time. But withdraw it because of covid-19

15. >Oct 29th – Nov 4th – Activate JR pass and visit most of these places as major day trips:

    >Kyoto 2.5 hours by train (Fushimi Inar, Monkey park, Bamboo Forest – Kameyama-kōen, Sagano Scenic Railway, Yokai Street)

    >Osaka – We would travel from Kyoto and stay overnight in Osaka, potentially rent a car so that visiting Nara is possible. (Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Osaka Museum of History, Den Den Town, Nara park)

    >Hakone 35 minutes 1.5 hours by train (Open Air Museum, Owakudani, Hakone Shrine, Gotemba Premium Outlets)

    >Mt. Fuji 2 – 3 hours by train/bus depending on attractions (Narusawa Hyoketsu ice caves, rent a car from speedway?)

    >Kurobe 2.5 hours by train (Kurobe Gorge and sightseeing train, potentially hiking in the gorge, any suggestions for stops along the way via Hokuriku Shinkansen?)

    >Nikko 1.5 hours by train (Rin-no-ji temple, Futarasan temple, Toshogu shrine, Kanmangafuchi Abyss)

    >Sendai 1.5 hours by train (Zuihoden temple, Asaichi Market, AER observation deck, Sendai Daikannon)

    >Smaller trips:

    >Yokohama 25 minutes by train (China town, Cosmoworld, Ramen and/or Cupnoodle Museums)

    >Kawagoe 1 hour by train (Kashiya Yokocho / Candy Alley, explore the older city)

    ***This is insane.*** There is easily enough crammed in here to fill 2 full weeks or more. Kansai alone (Kyoto/Osaka/Nara) could easily take a full week by itself. I usually recommend around ***5-7 full days*** just as a starting as starting point for the highlights of Kansai, and I’d actually argue that there’s more to see/do there than there is in/around Tokyo.

    >We will be staying in Tokyo for the whole trip renting an Airbnb; we will rent one additional night in Osaka so that we can do Kyoto and Osaka more efficiently.

    I’ll be straight with you: ***This is a profoundly dumb idea.*** You’ll spend more of your trip just running back and forth between places than you will ever seeing anything. If you’ve done Tokyo on a past trip and you want to see things outside of Tokyo, do not stay there for more than a couple of nights. Period. Maybe do 1-2 nights at the end for shopping and seeing a few things you missed on the last trip–that’s it. As for general itinerary planning–pick 1-2 regions and stick around them. Your current itinerary has you covering 5 regions in about 9 full days. It’s nuts.

    >The itinerary isn’t planned day-by-day yet but since the JR pass is for 7 days straight I’d like to use it as much as possible.

    This is a mistake. ***Plan first, then decide which (if any) pass to buy.*** You may find in your final itinerary that you would have been better off with a 14 day pass, or one of the regional passes, or with no pass at all. And do not try to “use [the pass] as much as possible.” The pass is a means to save money–that’s it. It’s not an excuse to spend your entire trip riding running all over the country without leaving any time to actually do anything.

    >Kyoto 2.5 hours by train (Fushimi Inar, Monkey park, Bamboo Forest – Kameyama-kōen, Sagano Scenic Railway, Yokai Street)

    It’s around 2 hours and 40 minutes from Tokyo/Shinagawa Station to Kyoto Station, but nothing in Kyoto is near Kyoto Station and if you’re coming from anywhere in Tokyo that isn’t Tokyo Station or Shinagawa, you’ll be spending extra time on that end too. Budget more like 3.5 to 4 hours. I usually recommend at least 3 full days just for the highlights of Kyoto, but you could easily spend more–you’re giving it basically half a day. Even if you get an early start in Tokyo, the stuff you have in Arashiyama alone will easily take up the rest of the day, and you’re basically skipping everything else in the city–including all of Higashiyama and downtown.

    You’re quite early for fall foliage in Kyoto, but places at higher elevations like Kurama/Kibune, Takao, Mt. Hiei, or perhaps Ohara might have some good color.

    >Osaka – We would travel from Kyoto and stay overnight in Osaka, potentially rent a car so that visiting Nara is possible. (Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Osaka Museum of History, Den Den Town, Nara park)

    You absolutely do not need a car to visit Nara–at all. It will just make things more complicated unless you’re planning to really go out to the countryside/mountains–but if you’re planning on doing that, you should budget even more time than I’m already recommending. Nara alone could easily take most or all of a full day, and Osaka is a city the size of New York with attractions to match. Major Osaka highlights like Dotonbori/Namba, Shinsekai, and Kuromon Market are also conspicuously absent for your itinerary.

    I also generally recommend that everyone going as far as Kyoto/Osaka make time for Himeji as well (or if not that, then Hikone). It’s the Japan’s largest and most iconic original castle, and its garden’s (Koko-en) are among the best in the country.

    Between Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara, you’re trying to do what I would ordinarily recommend giving a minimum of 5-6 full days in about 2 half days (once you factor in the time you spend on the train just getting there and back).

    >Hakone 35 minutes 1.5 hours by train (Open Air Museum, Owakudani, Hakone Shrine, Gotemba Premium Outlets)

    Why as a day trip? It’s a resort town, and it’s more or less on the way to Kansai. Why not just do it on the way and spend the night?

    >Mt. Fuji 2 – 3 hours by train/bus depending on attractions (Narusawa Hyoketsu ice caves, rent a car from speedway?)

    Why as a day trip? Kawaguchiko is also a resort town, and it’s on the opposite side of the mountain from Hakone. If you’re going to do it then actually do it properly. Stop running back to Tokyo for no reason.

    >Kurobe 2.5 hours by train (Kurobe Gorge and sightseeing train, potentially hiking in the gorge, any suggestions for stops along the way via Hokuriku Shinkansen?)

    This is nowhere near anything else and makes absolutely no sense on this itinerary. If you want to focus on Hokuriku/Chubu, that’s cool, but plan to spend at least several days doing it. This is not a day trip from Tokyo.

    >Nikko 1.5 hours by train (Rin-no-ji temple, Futarasan temple, Toshogu shrine, Kanmangafuchi Abyss)

    This is probably the most reasonable day trip from Tokyo (although I still like to spend the night, and you’ll definitely want to spend a night or more if you’re planning to do the National Park too).

    >Sendai 1.5 hours by train (Zuihoden temple, Asaichi Market, AER observation deck, Sendai Daikannon)

    This is yet another random location, yet more time and energy wasted in transit, and IMO none of these things is particularly worth the trip. Cut it. You could spend this entire day in Kyoto doing things that are at least as interesting that are all within walking distance of each other.

    >Yokohama 25 minutes by train (China town, Cosmoworld, Ramen and/or Cupnoodle Museums)

    Yokohama is, IMO among the most boring cities in Japan. More than any other city in the country (except perhaps Sapporo) it feels like just a medium-large American city. If you replaced the Japanese people with Americans you could be forgiven for thinking you were walking around downtown Cleveland or something. I would waste absolutely no time here. If you’re looking for another manageable day trip from Tokyo, Kamakura is right next to Yokohama and far more interesting.

    >Kawagoe 1 hour by train (Kashiya Yokocho / Candy Alley, explore the older city)

    Not worth the time at all. It’s like if someone took a little slice of a shopping street in Kyoto/Kamakura/Nara and transplanted it into a relatively boring suburb of Tokyo. It’s fine if you’re a Tokyo resident looking for a nice day out, or if you have tons of time spend on exploration, but it’s absolutely not worth rushing other things (e.g. Kansai) to fit in.

    >I would drop or change any of these places if they aren’t worth the trip from Tokyo.

    Then you should drop basically all of them. Almost all of the things you have listed are too far and/or too big to be day trips–especially Kansai.

    Given that you’ve already been to Tokyo once (or maybe even if you hadn’t been) I would chop this down to 6-7 days in Kansai, maybe 2 days in Hakone and either Kawaguchiko or Kamakura, and whatever’s left in Tokyo. That’s it. That would be a very full trip.

    Edit:

    >Oct 27th – Nov 6th 2020. I’m aware that there’s a chance things may not be back to normal by this time, if so, it’ll likely be pushed to the same timing in 2021 since we want to visit in autumn.

    Keep in mind that the fall foliage times vary greatly depending on latitude and elevation. October may be good for some of the more mountainous areas in central Japan like Nikko, but for the majority of Kansai and Kanto you’ll really want to be there from mid-late November and and even into early December.

16. Yamanaka onsen area has a car museum. It is literally 3 floors packed with lots of old cars. Your husband might like it.

17. I have been to every place on your list except for Kurobe. I think they are all well worth the time!

    I do think that others are correct when they say your schedule is a little too busy. They seem to know more about the logistics than I do though.

    Hope you enjoy your trip!

18. It’s way too cramped and rushed. I can repeat what everyone else said, but if you want an alternate suggestion:

    You might want to consider the Hokuriku Arch Pass (valid for 7 consecutive days). The pass is valid in Kyoto and Osaka’s JR Lines as well, making it far more useful than a 7-day JR Pass for its price. [Japan Guide Article](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_arch.html)

    With the above suggestion I would do:

    – Activate Hokuriku Arch Pass, visit Takasaki (known for Daruma), stay a night near Kurobe Unazuki Onsen Station.

    – Visit Kurobe Gorge, spend a night in Kanazawa

    – Spend a day in Kanazawa, continue to Kyoto.

    Spend 4-5 days in the Kansai Area (so a day in Nara, at least a day in Osaka, at least 2-3 days in Kyoto) – visit Osaka and Nara while your Arch Pass is valid.

    Then maybe do Hakone, rent-a-car trip around Mt. Fuji, on the way back to Tokyo.

    If you are visiting Kyoto, a daytrip from Tokyo to Kawagoe is quite unneccesary. It’s a smaller scale Edo-style town to stroll around. Kamakura is great although it’s another temple/shrine haven like Kyoto with a beach nearby. I love the Enoden train with its ocean view, but I wouldn’t priortize it. With this schedule, I would drop Sendai and Yokohama (unless you want to spend an evening there on the way back to Tokyo from Kamakura).

19. If you’re into cars, have a look out for the D1 series drift comps. I attended one in Odaiba years ago and it’s was a fun day out. I’m not sure how covid has affected the schedule though.

20. MT takao is a fun short climb with a nice view of tokyo.

21. I’m late to this as just scrolling but wanted to add other things that weren’t suggested

    If you are dead set for Kansai you could use Osaka as a base and Tokyo, or either Tokyo/Osaka.

    Twice I’ve done a week Osaka and a week Tokyo.

    First time in Osaka visited Hiroshima & Miyajima (long trip but spectacular), Kyoto 2 days, Nara then rest in Osaka. Had also travelled as farth north as Morioka and Sendai (which I would have cut tbh).

    Second time in Osaka had the baby with me and visited Osaka Mino Falls (sp?) – nice walk & atmosphere. Noodle cup museum is great if you like kitsch and if you like drawing! But also, Kobe is so underrated! Quick to get to, the herb garden is great and a nice walk down and back into town. Also did 2 Kyoto days the second time too

    Travel time definitely adds up though and it’s easy to make the mistake of overplanning rather than enjoying the moment! If you’ve already paid for a full Tokyo stay I’d sack Kansai completely and either travel a bit north and around Hakone and/or stay in Tokyo or figure a way to split it

22. Car stuff – definitely get to the Nissan heritage museum. It’s in Zama and absolutely worth it. You have to reserve in advance – it is free. If he’s a Nissan GT-R guy then definitely get to the Omori factory too. It’s a little challenging to get to but very cool. I think the Nissan HQ also has a display in their building lobby. We weren’t able to get to it.