12 Days itinerary

[ak4711]

Need some help from the more experienced. Will this itinerary be too cramped? Will be going in late October this year for the Autumn leaves.

Day 1: Flight to CTS via ICN. Check into Sapporo hotel. Explore Sapporo station, susukino, odori park.

Day 2: Nijo market, Asahi Beer Factory, Otaru.

Day 3: Activate Jr Pass, train to Hakodate. Visit Onuma Park, Red Brick Warehouse, Mt Hakodate at night. Overnight in Hakodate

Day 4: Hakodate morning Market, train to Aomori. Explore lake towada, oirase stream. Overnight in Aomori.

Day 5: Aomori morning market, Shinkansen to Tokyo. Check into hotel in shinagawa. Explore Shibuya, Harajuku, Ebisu.

Day 6: Day trip to Nikko. World Heritage Sites + Area around Lake Chuzenji. Explore Ropponggi at night.

Day 7: Day trip to Hakone. Explore Shinjuku at night.

Day 8: Tsukiji Market, Sushi Dai, Half day trip to Kamakura. Explore Ginza and Asakusa at night.

Day 9: Shinkansen to Osaka. Explore Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi. Overnight in Osaka.

Day 10: Activate Kansai Thru Pass, Day trip to Kyoto, Kinkakuji, kiyomizu-dera, Gion, Fushimi-Inari. Umeda at night.

Day 11: Half day trip to Kobe, Kobe Earthquake Museum, Kobe Steakland, Train to Nara, Todaiji, Nara Park.

Day 12: Move to KIX for flight to Gimpo.

Too rush? I was thinking putting Noboribetsu on Day 3, move Hakodate to Day 4, and take out Towada altogether. Main purpose is to see Autumn leaves.

Altogether 2 nights in Sapporo, 1 night each in Hakodate and Aomori, 4 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Osaka.

 

[evilerniex]

i dun think u need kansai thru pass for day 10. osaka to kyoto is only 540yen via JR special rapid train.

while the itinerary doesnt look too rush on the whole, i think all the travelling from one city to another is going to tire u out. u are covering quite a lot of places, a bit of a touch and go. maybe drop some of the places and spend more time on the remaininig?

 

[feryl]

comments in red.

Need some help from the more experienced. Will this itinerary be too cramped? Will be going in late October this year for the Autumn leaves.

Day 1: Flight to CTS via ICN. Check into Sapporo hotel. Explore Sapporo station, susukino, odori park.

Day 2: Nijo market, Asahi Beer Factory, Otaru.

Are you staying overnight in Otaru or only half day-trip? There are a lot of things to see there, can consider a full day.

Day 3: Activate Jr Pass, train to Hakodate. Visit Onuma Park, Red Brick Warehouse, Mt Hakodate at night. Overnight in Hakodate

Day 4: Hakodate morning Market, train to Aomori. Explore lake towada, oirase stream. Overnight in Aomori.

Day 5: Aomori morning market, Shinkansen to Tokyo. Check into hotel in shinagawa. Explore Shibuya, Harajuku, Ebisu.

Day 6: Day trip to Nikko. World Heritage Sites + Area around Lake Chuzenji. Explore Ropponggi at night.

Day 7: Day trip to Hakone. Explore Shinjuku at night.

Day 8: Tsukiji Market, Sushi Dai, Half day trip to Kamakura. Explore Ginza and Asakusa at night.

Day trips to Nikko, Hakone and Kamakura in 3 consecutive days is going to wear you out, and you won't see much. I foresee you will be rushing most of the time just to run through the 'required sights'. Have you been to Tokyo before? If not, you might consider doing major Tokyo and maybe just one day-trip. If you have already been to Tokyo before, then consider an overnight in either Nikko or Hakone. Kamakura is similar to Nikko, unless you are intending to cover Enoshima as well. You can also consider a "Tokyo - Enoshima - Kamakura - Yokohama - Tokyo" day trip, as they are all located in one direction. Lastly, Sushi-Dai has a very long queue, by the time you finish makan, you won't have good time/mood left for day-trip.

Day 9: Shinkansen to Osaka. Explore Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi. Overnight in Osaka.

Day 10: Activate Kansai Thru Pass, Day trip to Kyoto, Kinkakuji, kiyomizu-dera, Gion, Fushimi-Inari. Umeda at night.

Day 11: Half day trip to Kobe, Kobe Earthquake Museum, Kobe Steakland, Train to Nara, Todaiji, Nara Park.

Kansai thru pass is only worth it if you intend to visit further-out cities, eg wakayama, koya-san, himeji. For Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto-Nara, circuit, the train tickets are too cheap to justify using the pass. Furthermore, just one day in Osaka and one day in Kyoto, you won't get to see much, very touch and go.

Day 12: Move to KIX for flight to Gimpo.

Too rush? I was thinking putting Noboribetsu on Day 3, move Hakodate to Day 4, and take out Towada altogether. Main purpose is to see Autumn leaves.

Altogether 2 nights in Sapporo, 1 night each in Hakodate and Aomori, 4 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Osaka.

 

[samtcy]

Need some help from the more experienced. Will this itinerary be too cramped? Will be going in late October this year for the Autumn leaves.

Some days looked pretty packed to me.

Day 1: Flight to CTS via ICN. Check into Sapporo hotel. Explore Sapporo station, susukino, odori park.

Day 2: Nijo market, Asahi Beer Factory, Otaru.
You will probably need more time at Otaru...and many shops at Otaru will probably close earlier than those at Sapporo.

Day 3: Activate Jr Pass, train to Hakodate. Visit Onuma Park, Red Brick Warehouse, Mt Hakodate at night. Overnight in Hakodate

Day 4: Hakodate morning Market, train to Aomori. Explore lake towada, oirase stream. Overnight in Aomori.
Remember, the train journey from Hakodate to Aomori is about 2 hours. Since you will only take the train after the morning market, so you will only arrive at Aomori at 1207hr (if you take the 1017hr train) or 1316hr (if you take the 1119hr train).
And also the bus ride from Aomori City to Lake Towada seems to take about 3hrs for 1 way. (Bus schedule which I could find: Aomori Station*|Lake Towada *¦Time schedule from September 14 to November 4. | ˜H*üƒoƒX | JRƒoƒX“Œ–k*b*‚‘¬ƒoƒX *å‘ä*|*V*h 3—ñƒV*[ƒgŽÔ3000‰~)

Therefore, lets say you take the 1017hr train from Hakodate and arrive at Aomori at 1207hr, then the next bus departure timing from Aomori is 1320hr which will then arrive at Lake Towada at 1628hr! Which is too late for you since the last bus departure from Lake Towada to Aomori will depart at 1610hr. Therefore you will not have bus back to Aomori (cuz I assume you will be staying near Aomori city?)


Day 5: Aomori morning market, Shinkansen to Tokyo. Check into hotel in shinagawa. Explore Shibuya, Harajuku, Ebisu.
Let's say you take the 1030am Shinkansen from Shin-Aomori station to Tokyo (since you wanted to go to the morning market at Aomori), you would only be able to arrive at Tokyo at 1408hr (don't forget that there's also the short train ride from Aomori to Shin-Aomori station too).

Take into consideration the extra time you would need to travel to your hotel in Tokyo and deposit bags, it would already be nearly 1500hr by the time you can start your itinerary for the day at Tokyo, and you wanted to squeeze Shibuya, Harajuku and Ebisu?

For my own trip, I started my day at 10:30am arrival at Harajuku and then proceeded to Shibuya in the afternoon...and I only barely had enough time to cover just these 2 places, and I didn't even visited Omotesando near Harajuku.


Day 6: Day trip to Nikko. World Heritage Sites + Area around Lake Chuzenji. Explore Ropponggi at night.

Day 7: Day trip to Hakone. Explore Shinjuku at night.
It would be pretty late by the time you arrive back at Tokyo. Most departmental stores (Takashimaya..etc) closes at 8pm by the way.

Day 8: Tsukiji Market, Sushi Dai, Half day trip to Kamakura. Explore Ginza and Asakusa at night.
Seems like another packed day. It's a 1hr train journey from Tokyo to Kamakura (1way) so both ways will already be 2hrs. What will you be visiting at night at Asakusa? Though the attractions there are more for daytime?

Day 9: Shinkansen to Osaka. Explore Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi. Overnight in Osaka.

Day 10: Activate Kansai Thru Pass, Day trip to Kyoto, Kinkakuji, kiyomizu-dera, Gion, Fushimi-Inari. Umeda at night.
Don't think you will need the Kansai Thru Pass.
Osaka station to Kyoto station is only 540yen via local trains, and Osaka station to Sannomiya station in Kobe is only 390yen. Osaka to Nara is 780yen, and KintetsuNara station to Sannomiya Hankyu station in Kobe is 940yen.

Use hyperdia.com to check train schedule and fares.

Day 11: Half day trip to Kobe, Kobe Earthquake Museum, Kobe Steakland, Train to Nara, Todaiji, Nara Park.
I would probably recommend that you go Nara first, then to Kobe...since the shops will open till later in Kobe than compared to Nara.

Day 12: Move to KIX for flight to Gimpo.

Too rush? I was thinking putting Noboribetsu on Day 3, move Hakodate to Day 4, and take out Towada altogether. Main purpose is to see Autumn leaves.
If I were you, I'd probably skip Aomori, so that I can have a day at Noboribetsu and stay at a ryokan.

Altogether 2 nights in Sapporo, 1 night each in Hakodate and Aomori, 4 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Osaka.

See my reply in red

 

[ak4711]

See my reply in red

Thanks a lot for the advise.

I seem to remember that there is a train leaving Hakodate for aomori at 8am, reaching aomori at 10. The bus then leaves around 11. It still leaves me with a solid 2 hours to explore oirase steam in autumn. I'm just not sure of noboribetsu would be better.

To be honest, I have been to Tokyo and Sapporo before, so I don't really need that much time in Tokyo or sapporo itself. I should maybe spend a bit more time on Otaru, maybe full day.

I'm now also torn between Hakone or Kamakura.

 

[feryl]

Thanks a lot for the advise.

I seem to remember that there is a train leaving Hakodate for aomori at 8am, reaching aomori at 10. The bus then leaves around 11. It still leaves me with a solid 2 hours to explore oirase steam in autumn. I'm just not sure of noboribetsu would be better.

To be honest, I have been to Tokyo and Sapporo before, so I don't really need that much time in Tokyo or sapporo itself. I should maybe spend a bit more time on Otaru, maybe full day.

I'm now also torn between Hakone or Kamakura.

To do justice to Hakone (and also coz it's much costlier to get there), you should spend one night there, and explore for 2 days, it's bigger than you think.

Kamakura is a smallish town, where for most ppl the biggest attraction is Daibutsu, so a day-trip is recommended.

Since you've been to Tokyo, another option/suggestion is to head straight to Nikko from Aomori, then from Nikko to Yokohama, Yokohama to Kamakura-Enoshima, then down to Odawara (Hakone); Then from Hakone to Osaka.