Myself and my partner are going to Japan from 19th April to 10th May, this trip has already been re-arranged twice so I’m hoping third time lucky! We’re super excited and want to make sure we see all the attractions that are worth it but don’t want to spend our days running around trying to see absolutely everything.
We’re interested in the culture, food, drinks, just generally taking in the different cities.
Please feel free to make any suggestions, we’re pretty open with changing our schedule.
I’ve got a couple of questions:
* Is there JR Pass worth it for our trip or should we just buy individual tickets/Area passes? I think if we did get a pass, we’d buy the 14 day pass and activate it when we’re due to leave Tokyo and travel to Nagano
* Is pocket wifi worth it? Or shall I just rent a sim card when we’re there?
* Has anyone used their Monzo card in Japan? Can you withdraw money from ATM’s? We dont really fancy exchanging money before hand.
We will be buying two IC cards on arrival at the airport.
I’m hoping we’ve left some gaps in our days schedules to explore area’s
**Day 1: Tokyo**
* Team Lab Project
* Rainbow Bridge
**Day 2: Tokyo**
* Shibuya Sky
* Explore Harajuku
* Gotokuji Temple
**Day 3: Tokyo**
* Studio Ghibli Museum (I’m a massive fan)
* Dinner & Drinks down Piss Alley/Omoide Yokochō
**Day 4: Tokyo – Nagano**
* Travel to Nagano City via Matsumoto (Really want to see the castle)
**Day 5: Nagano**
* Visit Snow Monkey Park
**Day 6: Nagano – Nagoya – Kyoto**
* Travel to Kyoto via Nagoya (Want to spend the day at Studio Ghibli Theme Park)
**Day 7: Kyoto**
* Explore Gion area (Our hotel is near this)
* Kiyomizu-dera Temple
**Day 8: Kyoto**
* The Philosopher’s Path & Nanzen-ji Temple
* Fushimi Inari Shrine (Get there early 7:30am)
**Day 9: Kyoto**
* Day trip to Nara (Deer Park)
**Day 10: Kyoto – Osaka**
* We’re going to spend some more time enjoying Kyoto before travelling to Osaka as it only takes 30 mins
* Nishiki Market
* Kamo River
**Day 11: Osaka**
* National Museum of Art
* Shinsekai
**Day 12: Osaka**
* Shinsaibashi & Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Street
* Teamlab Botanical Gardens
**Day 13: Osaka**
* Umeda Sky Building
* Dotonbori – evening
**Day 14: Osaka – Tokyo – Okinawa**
* Okinawa for four nights – we’ve not planned anything as we pretty much just want to relax on the beach, maybe go snorkling. Any suggestions welcome.
**Day 18: Okinawa – Tokyo**
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**Day 19: Tokyo**
* Open to any suggestions that we may have missed out on?
**Day 20: Tokyo – Home :(**
3 comments
Hi!
I think a JR Pass is not worth it, though you would have to do the math. Your long trips are: Tokyo to Matsumoto (limited express 6620 yen) Matsumoto to Nagano (limited express 2900 yen or local 1170 yen) Nagano to Nagoya (limited express) and Nagoya to Kyoto (shinkansen) 11,340 yen. So, I’m getting around 21,000 yen total which is considerably less than a 1 week pass.
I use my phone as is in Japan since it’s cheaper than renting pocket WiFi, but it would depend on what your phone plan is like.
Good luck!
JR Pass, I have a feeling that maybe no, but just calculate the cost of the long distance trains and compare to the cost of the pass.
Pocket wifi you can connect more than 1 person to it, but is more expensive, you have to return it and also one more device to charge. SIM card is cheaper, and you could get one for your and one for your partner and would be able to split and still both have internet access and be able to talk to each other.
Monzo card, is it a visa or mastercard, if yen, then should not be a problem.
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Day 4 and 6 for me make no sense. Just look at the map and tell me how you will move from Nagano to Nagoya… Oh yes, by using the Shinano train… that pas by Matsumoto… instead I would go to Nagano, see the monkey, next day the castle on the way to Nagoya. Ok, it would add one hotel change, but for me make more sense.
Day 14… WHY ? Fly from Osaka to Okinawa. There is 2 airport in Osaka. So considering that, I would say the JR Pass make less and less sense.
Tickets are available for purchase internationally.
Reservations for March 15th through April 30th 2023 will go on sale
January 10th 2023 at 2 p.m. (Japan standard time)
This is for Ghibli park incase you were not fully aware. If you do miss out, you should have a second chance for may if you are willing to move it in your plans.