hi everyone! my sister and i are going to japan for 2 weeks in october and i’m planning to lock down hotels and any tickets, reservations, etc. soon. i’m hesistant to make any commitments before getting a gut check as to whether this very high level schedule makes sense from a travel / proportioning perspective.
**the trip is 10/3 to 10/17 — TLDR the breakdown is:**
5 full days in tokyo
3 full days in kyoto
1 day trip to arashiyama
1 day trip to nara
2 full days in osaka
with 10/4 and 10/17 as travel days.
\————
**10/4 to 10/7 IN TOKYO**
\- landing in tokyo at 4pm on 10/4 (haneda airport)
\- 10/5 explore tokyo
\- 10/6 explore tokyo
\- 10/7 explore tokyo
**10/8 to 10/12** **IN KYOTO**
\- 10/8 take early train and explore kyoto
\- 10/9 explore kyoto
\- 10/10 day trip to arashiyama
\- 10/11 day trip to nara
\- 10/12 explore kyoto
**10/13 to 10/14** **IN OSAKA**
\- 10/13 take early train to osaka (unsure if you need to take a shinkansen here..?); explore osaka
\- 10/14 explore osaka
**10/15 to 10/17 BACK TO TOKYO**
\- 10/15 take early train back to tokyo; explore tokyo
\- 10/16 explore tokyo
\- 10/17 explore tokyo; flying back to the U.S at 6PM on 10/17
\————
**my questions i’d love insight on are:**
1. are we spending too much time in any city?
2. we’re wanting to stay at a ryokan at some point in kyoto — is this something we should book for the entire time we’re in kyoto or is it more of a do-it-for-a-night-or-two type deal?
3. the JR pass calculator says this itinerary is not worth buying a JR Pass for, but would love to hear thoughts on that as well.
thanks!!
6 comments
1. Don’t know what you have planned for Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka, but time-wise it looks good. It’s been a while since my last trip to Arashiyama (more than 10 years ago), so I’m not sure if it needs one whole day. Half-day might(?) be possible.
2. Why not, but ryokans can get expensive. There are simple plans (stay only, no meals). Some only take reservations through their own website, by phone, or are only listed on local hotel booking sites.
3. Sorry no clue! Though I’m pretty sure you could take a local train from Kyoto to Osaka.
Don’t think JR pass would be worth it, especially considering the prices change significantly in October.
I think you’re over-budgeting Osaka, personally. Do some research and see for yourself whether you agree. For me it’s a day trip at most (while staying in Kyoto). It’s connected to Kyoto by regional train, very short trip – sort of like going to one of Tokyo’s suburbs from city center in terms of commute time. If I were you I’d add another day in Tokyo instead, since Tokyo is orders of magnitude larger/has so much stuff to do for any kind of interest. But that’s me! Alternately you could day-trip to somewhere else as well, like Nara.
Ryokan I’d do for one night yeah.
Don’t get a JR pass
I would either day trip to Osaka from Kyoto OR don’t split Tokyo (just stay there all in tbr beginning 4-5 days) and give yourself a full 2 days in Osaka. We loved Osaka…. Just the vibe and shopping and stuff. We flew into Haneda and then the return was Osaka to Haneda and back to the USA and that went fine and I don’t think it was anymore expensive or difficult to do that. The flight from Osaka to Haneda was on United’s partner (ANA) and it was basically us and a bunch of people on business trips.
Also the non shinkansen train from Kyoto to Osaka gets you into a better central station in Osaka. And it’s a short train ride
Shinkansen between Kyoto and Osaka is often not the best option. It’s for sure the most expensive and because you are unlikely moving between Kyoto station and Shin-Osaka station, it often make the route more complicated to potentially save a couple of minutes (but maybe not)
1. Can be ok, to help you decide if it is a good split, just do a day by day itinerary, that will give you an idea if you have enough to fill that many days in each location.
2. Depends. If it’s ryokan with meal included, I would not. For one day I am fine with it, but it can get a bit redundant to eat at the same place every day and having to go back in time for the meals. If it’s a room only… does not really matter. Just check if you have a bed or futon, futon are usually relatively thin and hard, so if you do not like hard bedding, might not be the best. Then price wise, it might be more expensive than a business hotel.
3. Only buy JR Pass if it saves you money. It would save little to no money if you can leave and return to Tokyo in 7 days (right now you are at 8), might as well just not use it at all.
Try to fit Amanohasidate in your Kyoto trip and Mino-Oh Park for Osaka. I dont think you need 2 days in Osaka IMO