Hello! I am spending two days in Tsuruoko and then I would like to go to Aomori, I tried searching for all sorts of routes, but it seems like without going to Tokyo it’s not possible ?
I also see overnight buses which are like 13 hours. Are they reliable ?
2 comments
I assume you mean Tsuruoka in Yamagata?
There should be buses that connects Yamagata with Sendai or Akita, you can prob just google map this to find out. Akita connects to Aomori via normal railway and Sendai connects to aomori via the bullet train. The route up the coast should be cheaper though. As for which one is faster it’s probably going to depend on what time of the day you’re leaving.
If you mean Tsuruoka, I was trying to get from Tsuruoka to Zao onsen once and found the fastest way there was highway bus to Yamagata and then bus to Zao. I expect in your case you would want bus to Yamagata and then the bus from Yamagata to Sendai, (though a direct bus to Sendai would be even better) shinkansen from Sendai to Aomori is the fastest.
The train line from Tsuruoka to Akita is single track, so unless you are timed perfectly to catch the limited express it’s a very slow trip. I can’t imagine the trip from Akita to Aomori is any faster. I believe there are very few trains on the Akita to Tsuruoka route if my memory serves. Tohoku has a lot of infrequent routes. I know there are trains from Yamagata to Sendai, but I don’t know how frequently they run.
Getting out onto the Tohoku shinkansen definitely speeds up the trip.