Japan trip April 2009 a few queries

My Husband and i are traveling to Japan on the 12th April for fourteen days. We are quite causal about our site seeing and tend to prefer soaking up the culture, exploring the cities and traveling to the less busy tourist sites. We are also interested in modern architecture. Here is our rough itinerary so far

12th Arrive in Tokyo

12th-14th Tokyo (central Tokyo, Ginza/ Imperial palace/ fish market etc)

14th-16th Hiroshima (Day trip to MiyaJima)

16th-20th Kyoto (day Trip to Nara)

20th-22nd Hakone (not so sure about this maybe somewhere else to relax a bit in a Ryokan)

22nd-25th Tokyo

26th Fly home

We are keen to use a 7 day JR Rail Pass to sight see outside of Tokyo, do you think this will work or do we need to amend our itinerary.

Many thanks

Japan trip April 2009 a few queries

Just count the number of consecutive days on which you plan to use your JR Pass - your itinerary at the moment is more than 7. Otherwise, a good itinerary. You might consider a short stopover at Himeji to see the castle and gardens there.

Japan trip April 2009 a few queries

You can easily cut one day from Hiroshima and one day from Hakone. Then you%26#39;ve got Tokyo-Hiroshima-Hakone, which is the most expensive part of your trip, covered by the JR Pass. Note that the gateway for Hakone is Odawara Station. With a JR Pass, you can get as far as Odawara and the rest of Hakone will be on Odakyu%26#39;s Hakonetozan Rail which is not covered by JR.

Alternatively, change your Hakone days to Takayama and Shirakawa-go. Takayama is a great cultural experience while Shirakawa-go is a UNSECO World Heritage site with unique houses. You can go to Hakone from Tokyo after your JR Pass expires. The Hakone Free Pass offers good value so you don%26#39;t lose much by not having a JR Pass.

Hakone Free Pass information:

www.odakyu.jp/english/freepass/index.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

Many thanks for your replies!

We are intending to drop into Himeji on the way to Kyoto - could we go there for a few hours or is it worth a longer stay? Also, as we will have our baggage with us, can we store it at the train station for a few hours?

As for changing Hakone for Takayama and Shirakawa-go. How long would you suggest staying there and is it easy to get to from Kyoto and then on to Tokyo? I%26#39;m worried we will end up doing too much travelling around.

Also would appreciate any accommodation recommendations for Hakone, Takayama and Shirkawa-go.

Other TA people have asked about luggage lockers at Himeji Station (e.g. ShowTopic-g298191): type luggage lockers Himeji Station into the topic search and you%26#39;ll get all the answers. One good suggestion is to get your hotel in Tokyo to forward your baggage to Hiroshima (or Hiroshima hotel to forward it to Kyoto), then you don%26#39;t have to worry about it. I haven%26#39;t used the baggage forwarding service, but TA people who have say it%26#39;s very efficient and relatively cheap.

To appreciate Takayama, you%26#39;ll need to spend 2 nights (1 full day) there.

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