Hi, I’m going to Japan for the third time, but first time in Tokyo. This is a family trip with elderly & children. The accomodations are confirmed and can’t be change. Hope to get feedback on the itinerary. I plan to buy JR passes in Tokyo.
19 – arrive in Haneda at 2pm, buy Pasmo & JR East Tohoku pass. Travel to Sendai. Question 1: is it better to buy JR pass at Haneda or Tokyo station?
20 – Geibikei Gorge & Matshushima Bay (don’t plan to ride the cruise). Stay in Sendai. I emailed Geibikei asking to reserve lunch in boat but didn’t get any respond. Is there any other way to contact them?
21 – check out, maybe Hirosaki or Hachinohe (have not decide) but will be staying in Yamagata
22 – Zao onsen & Yamadera, stay in Yamagata
23 – first train from Yamagata to Shinjuku. (We stayed near Sasazuka st.). Maybe half day trip to Kawagoe. Buy JR Tokyo Wide Pass to use next day.
24 – Echigo Yuzawa, ski trip & snow play for the kids. Late afternoon: Pokemon Center DX & Shibuya Scramble
25 – Gotokuji Temple, Kamakura (just for the seaside view & Slamdunk intersection), Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (evening view)
26 – sunday, planning to go to Kairakuen for the ume festival. Half day. Afternoon: Asakusa
27 – we’re supposed to go to the airport today in the evening, but our flight changed, so we have one extra day. It’s not possible to cancel our existing accomodation so, it’s a check out day. I booked another hotel at Daimon station so it’s easier to get to Haneda the next day.
Nothing planned, but I think I want to go to Teamlab Planets after check in/leave luggage.
28 – morning walk to Zojoji & Tokyo Tower. Check out, flight at 3pm from Haneda. Question 2: how early should we go to the airport?
Kindly comment on my itinerary. My main concern is buying JR pass in Tokyo, how easy and how much time should I allocate to purchase them.
1 comment
Hi!
I don’t mean to be rude, but public transit doesn’t work like that. Even if on paper somewhere is only 1 hour by train away, that 1 hour can be a lot longer when trains don’t run as often and you need to connect and then there is getting from the station to where you want to go.
February 20th, I don’t think you are getting to Geibikei by lunch, unless you are going there first or eating a late lunch.
February 21st I don’t know why you would go to Hachinohoe (if it’s the morning market that is Sundays only and ends by 9:00 am!) and it is a several hour trip from Sendai. Hirosaki is even further. Both are going to be cold and possibly snowy.
To get to Yamagata from Sendai you need to either 1) take a slow local train through the mountains past Yamadera 2) go down to Fukushima and change there for a shinkansen to Yamagata. (the shinkansen that tend to stop at Fukushima are not the ones that go to Hachinohoe or Shin-Aomori, so if you do decide to go to one of those cities you will need to change multiple times) or 3) I think there are ski buses that go direct to Zao, but then you need to take an additional bus to Yamagata.
February 22 Yamadera is likely to be cold and icy. I wouldn’t want to go in February and I am not yet 70. I would not want to bring someone over 70 there in February. It’s also not that convenient to Zao and one will involve back tracking.
Why are you going to Echigo Yuzawa to ski when you were just in Zao and could have skied there?
February 26th, I think you will have a hard time doing Kairakuen and Asakusa in the same day. We didn’t spend that much time in Kairakuen, but it still takes enough time that you get back decently late in the afternoon. There are direct trains to Kairakuen itself, from Tokyo, but there is not a direct train back, you have to go to Mito.
In terms of buying a pass, it would depend on how busy the station is which no one knows until you get there.
You should be at the airport at least 2 hours before your flight so 1:00 pm.