EDIT: DATE is around November 14 to November 28… with JR Pass activating 11/16 or close.
Couple’s first time going to Japan with no Japanese. We are planning on staying for 2 weeks, starting at Tokyo and ending at Tokyo… with some stay at Kawaguchiko. I am trying to see whether the 7 days pass is enough and worth it for the following itinerary. I have only accounted for a 7 day pass but since we have 7 or so more days left in Tokyo, maybe we can extend to a 14 day and go somewhere else further off the regular Golden Route. All suggestion appreciated. TIA.
Day 1: Arrival early from Tokyo:
\- Kiyomizu-dera Temple and work my way towards Gion.
\- Sannenzaka and Ninnenzaka
\- Hokanji Temple view for photo.
\- Kodaiji Temple
\- Yasaka Shrine
\- Hanamikoji Street and cross Kamo River
\- Pontocho Alley dinner… or Kichi Kichi Omurice
Day 2: Arashiyama Morning:
\- Train from Kyoto Station to Saga Arashiyama Station
\- Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (open time for early arrival)
\- Tenryu-ji Temple
\- Cross Togetsu-kyo bridge
\- Iwatayama Monkey Park
o If you want hike Senkoji Temple
\- Evening plans?
Day 3: Fushimi Inari Taisha Morning:
\- Fushimi Inari Taisha – early morning for less people
\- Higashi Hongan-ji stopover
\- \[Take train to Uji for Byodo-in Temple and tea stuff?\]
\- Kyoto Station at night (for lights) and head to Hiroshima. (1h41m?)
\- Okonomimura for dinner?
Additionals in Kyoto:
\- Nanzen-Ji Temple (aqueduct and rock garden)
\- Eikan-do Temple
\- Philosopher’s Path
\- Kyoto Imperial Palace
\- Ginkakuji
\- Kinkakuji
\- Ryoanji
Day 4: Hiroshima and Miyajima Island
\- Take train Hiroden-Miyajimaguchi Station then Miyajima Ferry
\- Itsukishima Shrine
\- Back to Hiroshima Dome
\- Peace Park
\- Train to Osaka.
Day 5: Osaka – Or split to two half days with the day trips.
\- Osaka Castle
\- Shinsekai neighborhood
\- Kaiyukan Aquarium
\- Dinner at Dotonbori
o Hozenji Yokocho
\- Don Quijote wheel
Day 6: Daytrip to Osaka to Nara
\- Osaka-Namba Station to Kintetsu-Nara Station
\- Nakatanidou Mochi
\- Nara Deer Park
\- Todai-ji Temple
\- Isui-en Garden
\- Train back to Osaka for dinner.
Day7: Himeji day trip? I feel like this could have been put somewhere else like on the way back from Hiroshima or something.
\- Himeji Castle
Additionals in Osaka:
\- Denden Town
\- Minoh Park – salamander/fireflies and waterfall
I have read that a day trip to Nara or Himeji is just short and can be done before the afternoon so I am just doing those as half day and returning back to Osaka to eat at the kitchen of Japan for dinner or something.
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Also, if there’s any trips from Tokyo that WILL be covered by the pass for 14 day, we might consider.
6 comments
You didn’t include the dates of your trip. It makes a huge difference if you’re getting the pass before or after Sep 28th.
Here is the [JR Pass calculator](https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/) input your trips in here and it’ll show you the cost of the each individual JR trip and if it’s worth getting a pass be it with the current or new price AND that includes all passes, 7 / 14 / 21 days.
Before increase yes 7 days, after no. If after increase, get Kansai Hiroshima Area pass and two individual tickets to/from Tokyo. No pass would also mean more flexibility to stay longer. Well, the small disadvantage of the Kansai Hiroshima pass is that it does not cover the shinkansen form Kyoto to Shin-Osaka, so you can take the rapid train to save money (but take more time) or buy a non-reserved seat for Kyoto to Shin-Osaka and stay in the seat all the way to Hiroshima with the pass.
Himeji could be done on the way to Hiroshima, but you be better if you add a day for Kyoto and do Himeji in the morning you go to Hiroshima.
You’re traveling from Kyoto to Hiroshima and want to include Miyajima also in one day? Kyoto to Hiroshima is minimum 2 hours ride. 2 hours back to Osaka again. This seems way to rushed. If you have the chance, I would suggest to stay one night in Miyajima in a traditional ryokan. It’s really beautiful when the crowds are gone in the evening. My suggestion would be then spend half a day at Himeji the next following day.
In kyoto i would include nijo castle somewhere. Was one of my favorite parts of the kyoto easily
tokyo – osaka/kyoto
osaka/kyoto – hiroshima
hiroshima – osaka/kyoto
osaka/kyoto – tokyo
that should be well worth a 7 day jr pass. order the pass soon before the price increase, if you do so on a foreign travel agency you get a voucher valid for 3 months
the details of your day to day itinerary in kyoto or osaka or hiroshima is not relevant for the jr pass, its a separate discussion so I ignore it for now
with 7 days you go tokyo-kyoto-hiroshima-osaka
when do you intend to go back to tokyo? day 1 is the leg to kyoto, day 7 is the daytrip to himeji – you should get back to tokyo on day 7 or else you will need to pay for that out of pcoket or you need the 14 day jr pass
The specific number of days at each place do matter. The 7-day pass is for 7 consecutive days, with Day 1 being the day of first usage. So, if you use it on Nov. 14, your last travel day is Nov. 20.
Don’t factor in travel within a city. JR does not offer public transit outside of Tokyo except for Osaka where it is minimal. It’s not worth it to get a JR pass for Tokyo public transit. There are other public transit services offered by other companies and it’s pretty cheap.
If you want to go at a more leisurely pace or your itinerary can’t be packed into 7 days, consider ending up on Day 7 in the city closest to Tokyo (such as Kyoto instead of Hiroshima). You could either buy a single ticket back to Tokyo or the 14-day pass depending on which is cheaper.
Day trips from Tokyo using JR include Kamakura and Yokohama. You can add these into the fare calculator to see whether it’s worth it for a 14-day pass.