Hi everybody!
I’d like to request an Itinerary check. This is my second time in Japan but last time I came here, I visited major cities. This time I’m bouncing around a lot of smaller towns so I figured I should run this by those more experienced and see if anything needs changing.
25/4 Into Tokyo at 5pm and immediately charge up to Iwaki, aiming to get here and into my hotel before midnight.
26/4 Fukushima Nuclear Plant tour. Requires I arrive at 9am which is the reason for the crazy pace on Day 1. Tour ends 4pm and I’ll hang around a bit to sightsee before returning to Iwaki.
27/4 – 28/4 Back down to Tokyo to attend Evo. This’ll eat up 2 days.
29/4 Hitting up Tokyo Arcades
30/4 Akihabara shopping
1/5 Umihotaru and the Cup Noodle museum in Yokohama.
2/5 is a rest day.
3/5 Reitaisai. Just nerding it up before back to hotel.
4/5 – 5/5 Sendai. I’ll be spending two days here seeing various 2011 Tsunami/Earthquake museums and sites. Earthquake Heritage Arahama Elementary School, Tohoku History Museum, whatever else.
6/5 – 7/5 These two days will be spent transiting over to Ishinomaki to do more of the same. (I considered just staying in Ishinomaki but opted to just stay in one hotel rather than move so often). Kadonowaki Elementary School, Okawa elementary School and whatever else.
8/5 Heading off early to go to Ofunato for next hotel. The actual place I’ll be going is Rikuzentakata to see the Tsunami memorial and Miracle Pine.
9/5 Kesennuma to see City memorial museum and Rias Ark museum.
10/5 Lots of travel. I’ll be heading up north on the coastal train route to Hachinohe. I’ll be stopping at Taro to see the remnants of the hotel there and Fudai to see the sluice gate. Once done, I’ll continue to Hachinohe and conk out.
11/5 I’m aiming to do a one night stay at a Ryokan with a Private Onsen. It’s quite a lot of money even for one night but I talked myself into it. Pretty sure future me will heavily appreciate being able to sit in a room and do nothing all day other than soak in it. I haven’t actually found one yet but it’ll be located in or near Sapporo.
12/5 – 13/5 Ferry down from Hokkaido to Nagoya. Ferry leaves at 19:00 so I’ll probably bum around Sapporo a bit sightseeing before boarding time. After that, it’s two nights and a day to myself.
14/5 Nagoya. Ferry arrives at 10am. Head to hotel, dump bags and do Toyota Factory and Nagoya Castle.
15/5 Train Museum in the morning. Then do some quick souvenir shopping before hopping on the Shinkansen and racing back to Haneda airport because my planes leaves at 7pm.
The primary concerns are to do with timing. I know public transport in Japan is fantastic and Google is telling me I can totally make everything in time but can I really rely on those regional trains? E.g. Google is telling me that there’s a 3 hour block in the middle of the 10th of May where there’s NO trains because apparently everyone is out to lunch?
Also, how do I acquire train tickets in these little towns? Should I just hold onto the ticket I already purchased or what? And is a JR Pass going to be of any use? The big one is too expensive but would a JR East pass or similar be of any benefit?
by kazosk