Koi japan trip (march 19 - march 31 2015)

[koicafex]

Day 1 - KIX to Hiroshima > drop off luggage at hiroshima station > proceed to bomb site, castle, hondori

Day 2 - Miyajima, stay there till 4pm~ > head to hondori/okonomiyaki mura

Day 3 - Head for kiyomizu gojo station (Kyoto) in the morning to leave luggage at my hotel > head off to golden pavilion > nishiki market (walking distance to my hotel/gion, so can go either way depending on the time)

Day 4 - Take bus to silver pavilion > walk down philisopher's path > take bus to kiyomizu dera > take bus or walk to gion

Day 5 - Arashiyama > Fushimi Inari > Gion/Nishiki market

Day 6 - Head for Honmachi (Osaka) to leave luggage > Head out to Himeji > Arima > Kobe

Day 7 - Day trip to Tokyo

Day 8 - USJ > Dotonbori for dinner

Day 9 - Head to Akameguchi station to take bus to akame 48 waterfall entrance > Osaka aquarium > Umeda/Dotonbori for dinner

Day 10 - Nara

Day 11 - Osaka castle > Sakuranomiya > Dinner reserved at Dotonbori

Day 12 - Umeda shopping day

Day 13 - Head for airport in the morning, morning flight T_T

 

[[M]aiev]

Nagoya is really nothing much... I rather go from Nagoya to Chubu which is better choice...

Sent from GAGT Android App

 

[koicafex]

cos on the way to tokyo ma
so figured might as well go there walk walk also

 

[koicafex]

edited with a question
Planning to go straight to tokyo after landing then slowly work my way down to kyoto, osaka, can visit kobe/himeji also
But not sure if I should buy 14 days JR pass or 7 days JR pass and 6 days region pass, can save about $40 since I'll be in that region after the first 7 days...but I'm not sure about the restriction, such as the line etc...

 

[evilerniex]

it is unlikely that u will need the 14-day JR pass

JR pass is to cover expensive trips on Shinkansen and Limited Express trains. for ur trip, u will only need to take Shinkansen for the trip from Osaka/Kyoto to Tokyo and back. thus, a 7-day JR pass shld suffice.

which 6 day region pass u referring to?

 

[koicafex]

it is unlikely that u will need the 14-day JR pass

JR pass is to cover expensive trips on Shinkansen and Limited Express trains. for ur trip, u will only need to take Shinkansen for the trip from Osaka/Kyoto to Tokyo and back. thus, a 7-day JR pass shld suffice.

which 6 day region pass u referring to?

the kansai regional pass from JR pass website
is 2 seperate 3 days pass
Since I'll be going to tokyo for 5 days max, then come back kyoto
And since the regional pass can go to himeji and kobe, it kinda works well for me
but if wan go other places in the region like akame, just buy the pass on the spot? cos dun have JR line

 

[evilerniex]

the kansai regional pass from JR pass website
is 2 seperate 3 days pass
Since I'll be going to tokyo for 5 days max, then come back kyoto
And since the regional pass can go to himeji and kobe, it kinda works well for me
but if wan go other places in the region like akame, just buy the pass on the spot? cos dun have JR line

dun be too fixated with train passes. u need to calculate whether the pass is worth it for the places u are visiting. for example, it is only 410yen from osaka to kobe, and 560yen from osaka to kyoto, so it is not worth the JR West Kansai area pass, which on avg cost about 1575yen per day even if u get the 4-day pass. it is worth it for Himeji though, so u may want to get the 1-day version to cover Himeji

u dun need a pass for Akame either. just get single trip tickets

 

[evilerniex]

if u are into hiking, u may want to take a look at Lonely Planet's Hiking in Japan book. it is available from the library
Hiking in Japan - Richard Ryall, Craig McLachlan, David Jollands - Google Books

can take a look at this too:
Best Hiking Destinations in Japan

for waterfall, there is also a "48 waterfall of Takihata" in Osaka.

 

[koicafex]

Oooo thanks for the train tips
and that's a nice waterfall

 

[koicafex]

updated the list abit
not sure how long I will take at each location though
So many things to do in Osaka

 

[MajiMax]

Can consider go Miyajima in Hiroshima if you have valid JR pass.

Almost similar going period as TS.

Places I will be going, Kyoto, Matsumoto, Tokyo, Nikko, Himeji, Kobe and Miyajima.

Been to Nara and Osaka from previous trip, not gonna go back.

 

[koicafex]

Can consider go Miyajima in Hiroshima if you have valid JR pass.

Almost similar going period as TS.

Places I will be going, Kyoto, Matsumoto, Tokyo, Nikko, Himeji, Kobe and Miyajima.

Been to Nara and Osaka from previous trip, not gonna go back.

oh that's the deer island place...
haha wanted go to the bunny island too but it was way out like miyajima
hmm seems like can travel and travel back within the same day

 

[MajiMax]

oh that's the deer island place...
haha wanted go to the bunny island too but it was way out like miyajima
hmm seems like can travel and travel back within the same day

You can check with [M]aiev regarding rabbit island, He was there 2weeks back.

 

[evilerniex]

updated the list abit
not sure how long I will take at each location though
So many things to do in Osaka

from the look of ur list, i think u can just stick to kansai for this trip and leave Tokyo for another trip. Kansai and Tokyo are quite far apart anyway, and it is expensive and time consuming to have them both in a trip

 

[evilerniex]

Can consider go Miyajima in Hiroshima if you have valid JR pass.

Almost similar going period as TS.

Places I will be going, Kyoto, Matsumoto, Tokyo, Nikko, Himeji, Kobe and Miyajima.

Been to Nara and Osaka from previous trip, not gonna go back.

wow.. that is a lot of places and across 4 regions in japan! how many days are u going?

 

[MajiMax]

wow.. that is a lot of places and across 4 regions in japan! how many days are u going?

8

Alot of places in Tokyo / Kyoto I been too liao so no need to go again, just gonna visit friend there.

 

[evilerniex]

oh that's the deer island place...
haha wanted go to the bunny island too but it was way out like miyajima
hmm seems like can travel and travel back within the same day

yup, miyajima has many deers. but the main attraction is not the deers, it is the Torii gate in the sea, one of the three most scenic spot in japan.

but i suggest u focus on just a few places and not be too ambitious and try to cover to many places. have more time to explore and appreciate the places u are visiting, instead of rushing through in a touch-and-go manner

 

[evilerniex]

8

Alot of places in Tokyo / Kyoto I been too liao so no need to go again, just gonna visit friend there.

wah.. that is like 1 day for each place. u are going to be spending a lot of time on the train!

 

[MajiMax]

wah.. that is like 1 day for each place. u are going to be spending a lot of time on the train!

Wake up early lo, take first train.

 

[koicafex]

cos my partner wanted to go to disneysea, but changed to USJ
so is can remove tokyo from the trip la
but then i wan go bungy jumping lol

hmmm also good bah, spend $600+ for 2 person JR pass just for bungy jumping and nth much
travel to miyajima better