Help: itinary

[Raisthlin]

Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki

You could easily spend a whole two weeks in the Kyoto area.

wow your fast ! i only posted this seconds ago.

Well yeah my initial idea was to spend 2 weeks in Kyoto but after looking around i really want to explore Kyushu and Yakushima. Ill be back in Kyoto to take my flight home so i might extend my trip a little and spend the last few days in the area to cover what i missed in the first week.

Thanks for the comments

[timelesssymphony]

if your looking for a reasonably priced accommodation in tokyo I just stayed in the Juyoh Hotel for golden week, you get a single 3 tatami mat room (Japanese style) with free wifi access and computers in the lobby for 3200 a night, most of the staff speak English as well just thought I would toss that up for ya to now that I think of it. JUYOH HOTEL

[Raisthlin]

Originally Posted by timelesssymphony

if your looking for a reasonably priced accommodation in tokyo I just stayed in the Juyoh Hotel for golden week, you get a single 3 tatami mat room (Japanese style) with free wifi access and computers in the lobby for 3200 a night, most of the staff speak English as well just thought I would toss that up for ya to now that I think of it. JUYOH HOTEL

thx mate. It sure looks like a fun place if i look at the picture. For now ive book at Khaosan smiles in a 4 bed mixed dorm for 2000Y per night. Cheap enuf and the place as got good reviews on hostelworl.com. Theres also a cheap bar owned by the khaosan smiles on the 1 floor and there having a huge party while im there so i thought id be fun to check it out. 2000Y sure is cheap which means ill get to spend even more money on foods, drinks and temples/gardens/etc.

[samurai007]

Not sure you need 7 days in Kyoto itself, you may want to spend a few of those seeing Nara Park and other nearby places too. Nara has some unique sights, and you'll be close by.

Hiking in the Japan Alps - I did that too, though I was traveling the other direction (left Takayama, went hiking, arrived in Matsumoto that evening.) It is certainly possible to do in 1 day, and still get several hours of hiking in. Just be sure to check the bus schedule and be back from your hike in time for the last bus! Here's some shots of my hiking there:






Be sure to visit Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto, and the Hida Folk Village in Takayama! Both are very interesting places!

Glad you're going to Koya-san, I think you'll enjoy it!

Kanazawa has an incredible park, very different from Nara Park. (Nara's isn't very ornate, it's mostly to house the herds of deer and provide a nice setting for the historical attractions and temples, while Kanazawa's is very ornate and beautiful) It is a great contrast to the wild beauty of the Japan Alps... every little bit of Kanazawa Park is perfectly maintained, like a life-sized bonsai scene. The top 2 photos below are from Kanazawa Park, so you can see what I mean:



Since you'll only need 1 day to get from Matsumoto to Takayama, you can stop and see Miyajima as you said you wanted. It's easily doable in 1 day.

You might also want to take a half-day to see Himeji Castle on your way there, it's widely considered one of, if not the best, castles in Japan. (Though if you go to Matsumoto Castle a few days earlier, you can decide whether you want to see another, even bigger one)

Be sure to eat the famous local Hakata ramen when you're in Fukuoka!

Overall, sounds like a great trip, I think you'll have a blast!

[Raisthlin]

samurai007

Wow! im repeating myself but thanks for everything. Those pictures are so...atmospheric...you sure know how to take pictures that almost breath...your talented.

yes i will more then likely use those days in Kyoto to explore Nara. Im also planning to visit Arashiyama and the likes. But since i will only have a 21 days JRP and that ill be there for something like 30 days i think i will activate my JRP only after 4 days upon arrival in order to save some money. Ill spend those days exploring Kyoto and the surrouding within walking or bike distance.
I dont wanna get caught and have a JRP thats expired when im in Kyushu and need to go back to Kyoto. Thats the best idea i could come with to prevent that. Or i could buy another 7 days pass and activate it when the 21 days one expires but that means tossing even more $.

ahh so i can hike around Kamikochi and still reach Takayama from Matsumoto in a single day. Thats great news.

PS: by now you probably figured it out but my english isnt perfect yet. please forgive me for the spelling im from quebec and english isnt my native language.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki

You could easily spend a whole two weeks in the Kyoto area.

Two weeks in Kyoto sounds about 10 days too many. Kyoto has some beautiful shrines and temples, (and make time for monkey mountain), they start to look the same after a day or two.

You can easily make day trips to Nara and Hyogo from there, though.

[Tsuwabuki]

Well, I was kind of talking the entire prefectural area.

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by Raisthlin

samurai007

Wow! im repeating myself but thanks for everything. Those pictures are so...atmospheric...you sure know how to take pictures that almost breath...your talented.

yes i will more then likely use those days in Kyoto to explore Nara. Im also planning to visit Arashiyama and the likes. But since i will only have a 21 days JRP and that ill be there for something like 30 days i think i will activate my JRP only after 4 days upon arrival in order to save some money. Ill spend those days exploring Kyoto and the surrouding within walking or bike distance.
I dont wanna get caught and have a JRP thats expired when im in Kyushu and need to go back to Kyoto. Thats the best idea i could come with to prevent that. Or i could buy another 7 days pass and activate it when the 21 days one expires but that means tossing even more $.

ahh so i can hike around Kamikochi and still reach Takayama from Matsumoto in a single day. Thats great news.

PS: by now you probably figured it out but my english isnt perfect yet. please forgive me for the spelling im from quebec and english isnt my native language.

Thanks! I took over 700 photos while I lived in Japan, I've only posted a small selection so far, the best of the best, you could say. So that may be part of it. Follow the link in my sig to see more of my photos.

You don't need the JRP at least until you leave the Kyoto area, so don't buy a 2nd one. In fact, you don't even need it to go to Nara and other close by places. Nara is probably only about $10 for a train ticket from Kyoto (each way). And the train that goes to Koya-san from Osaka is Nankai, not JR, so your rail pass won't work on that. (It's about $20 each way from Osaka to Koya-san and back, which includes the cable car ride from the last train station. If you do decide to activate the rail pass before then, because you have enough days, you can take a longer JR train that comes down through Nara prefecture and the beautiful Yoshino Valley, changing trains just after crossing into Wakayama prefecture in the city of Hashimoto, where I lived for 2 years teaching English! I can tell you some of my favorite restaurants within walking distance of Hashimoto station, if you stop off there!)

But if you are short of JRP time, I think you could probably wait until you are heading for Tokyo, after leaving Koya-san, to activate your rail pass. With it, you can then board the bullet train in Osaka and zip over to Tokyo in about 3-4 hours.

[godwine]

Originally Posted by samurai007

Thanks! I took over 700 photos while I lived in Japan, I've only posted a small selection so far, the best of the best, you could say. So that may be part of it. Follow the link in my sig to see more of my photos.

You don't need the JRP at least until you leave the Kyoto area, so don't buy a 2nd one. In fact, you don't even need it to go to Nara and other close by places. Nara is probably only about $10 for a train ticket from Kyoto (each way). And the train that goes to Koya-san from Osaka is Nankai, not JR, so your rail pass won't work on that. (It's about $20 each way from Osaka to Koya-san and back, which includes the cable car ride from the last train station. If you do decide to activate the rail pass before then, because you have enough days, you can take a longer JR train that comes down through Nara prefecture and the beautiful Yoshino Valley, changing trains just after crossing into Wakayama prefecture in the city of Hashimoto, where I lived for 2 years teaching English! I can tell you some of my favorite restaurants within walking distance of Hashimoto station, if you stop off there!)

But if you are short of JRP time, I think you could probably wait until you are heading for Tokyo, after leaving Koya-san, to activate your rail pass. With it, you can then board the bullet train in Osaka and zip over to Tokyo in about 3-4 hours.

Hmm, that will depends how far he travel from Kyoto no? If he make trips between Kyoto > Miyajima, he probably will make multiple trips to stop at Himeji and Kobe etc etc, that will add up;...

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by godwine

Hmm, that will depends how far he travel from Kyoto no? If he make trips between Kyoto > Miyajima, he probably will make multiple trips to stop at Himeji and Kobe etc etc, that will add up;...

Right, but that's why he should stop at Miyajima, Himeji, etc on his way to Kyushu, not as a daytrip from Kyoto... it's too far from Kyoto unless he takes the bullet train, for which he needs the JRP. Nara, Osaka, Lake Biwa, etc are close by, about 1 hour and $10 for a ticket from Kyoto. Koya-san is far enough away that I'd normally say activate it before heading there, but the most direct route involves taking a non-JR train for 2 hours, and even the indirect route (switching at Hashimoto) still requires that non-JR train for 1 hour. So, depending upon whether he has enough days on his pass, he could activate it before and take the longer route and pay about $10 extra after switching trains, or wait to activate it until after he leaves and is heading for Tokyo.