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11 days in Japan- is it worth getting a JR pass

elly
elly
about 11 years ago
2 answers

Dear all,
We/couple will travel to Nagoya Airport, Japan from 29Jan - 8 Feb ( arrive Nagoya at 7pm and departure at 9.30 am). So in total we have 9 full-days in Nagoya, Kyoto and Takayama. After went thru some research, I’ve drafted my itinerary as follow:.

Day 1 Arrive at Chubu International Airport at 7pm. Stay near Nagoya station. Osu shopping area in the evening,
Day 2 Visit Nagoya sites. Nagoya Castle, Inuyama Castle. One of the Toyota Museums. Fushimi Shopping. Back hotel
Day 3 Check out hotel > head to Kyoto station> leave bags at hotel and visit Kyoto.
Visit Kyoto: Arashiyama and Iwatayama Monkey Park). After noon:Nijo Castle Day 4 Morning: Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizudera, Gion
Late afternoon: Osaka Namba and Dotombori. Back hotel Day 5 Kobe from Kyoto. Back hotel
Day 6 Morning Hida train from Kyoto to Gero Onsen town. Stay in Gero Onsen
Day 7 Morning: visit Gero Onsen
Gero Onsen to Takayama. See Takayama sites. Stay in Takayama. Day 8 Takayama Skiing. Hida Takayama Ski Ground, Hounoki-daira Ski Ground, Hida Funayama Arkopia, etc.

Day 9 Takayama-Shirakawago -Kanazawa. Bring bags along. Visit Shirakawago
Stay in Kanazawa or one of the nearby onsen towns.

Day 10 See Kanazawa sites. Kanazawa-Nagoya.
Day 11 To airport

here is question:
1.what kind of train pass shall we buy?is it worth getting a JR pass or single ticket would better?
2. with such arrangement, any recommendation for hotel/ryokan around 40usd/day?
3. is there any locker at Shirakawago? if yes, how much does it cost?
4. we would like do some shopping (buy winter clothes local cheap brand.), please recommend we should we go?

Thanks

Elly

avatar
Daniel-san
18919 posts
about 11 years ago
Expert

Hi Elly!

I love the plan that you are making, going up to Kanazawa and Shirakawago really is one of the best parts in Japan. In addition Kyoto is a very good choice too! Going to your questions, I think that you will be best off buying normal tickets, this for two reasons. The first is that some travel which you will do (such as to Shirakawa-go) is not covered by the JR Pass. The 2nd is that you would have to change your plans in such a way that you could be back in Nagoya before the JR Pass expires (now it's 8 days counted from the day that you depart for Kyoto).

2.) For hotel booking, I would recommend using websites that focus mainly on Japan, as opposed to global websites such as Expedia and the like. A couple of good examples are Rakuten travel and Japanican. These companies offer a greater range of accommodations and usually for better prices too.

3.) Yes I can confirm that there are lockers available at Shirakawago. You can find them at the bus office / tourist information station and start at 300/yen for the day and go up for bigger sized luggage.

4.) For Shopping, I would recommend making a visit to Kawaramachi / Shichijou in Kyoto and possibly a side trip to Osaka and visit the shopping arcade of Shinsaibashi. You can also score some nice bargains in Nagoya if you visit the shopping streets around Otshudori and Sakae.

I hope this helps!
Daniel

Useful!1
elly
elly
2 posts
about 11 years ago

Hi Daniel
thank so much for your feedback and useful information.

  1. For hotel booking. I have Japanese Yen (cash) in hand, and wish to book a hotel which is able to pay by cash on arrival
    Beside Booking.com, is there any other website that offer this kind of service?

Thanks

Useful!0
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