Japan Travel from 28 Jan to 4 Feb 2013

Hi there,

Welcome to the Forum!
Looking at the places you will visit, I don't think it matters that much where you go first. Personally I would go to Tokyo first and then go to Osaka, simply because you can do some shopping in Osaka without having to carry it with you all the time.

I have made a little itinerary what your travel in Japan could look like.
Day 1. Arrive in Osaka, If you have a long flight I would recommend staying here for a night to explore the city a bit and regain some energy.
Day 2. Travel to Tokyo and stay here for 3 Nights
Day 3. Tokyo
Day 4. Tokyo
Day 5. Travel to Osaka and visit Universal City.
Day 6. Day trip to Kyoto and possible Kobe as well.
Day 7. 10.30 am Flight back home.

Alternatively if you don't have to recover from any Jet Lag you could head on to Tokyo on the first day and Travel to Osaka on day 4 so you would have a separate day to visit Kobe or see more of Osaka it self.

A JR Pass is very well suited for this journey as the price is roughly the same as the Osaka - Tokyo and with all the extra traveling, you will be sure to make some nice savings! When you arrive at Kansai Airport you can exchange your pass there and use it for all the traveling that you will be doing by train!

It is quite hard to give a Hotel recommendation, I would recommend visiting a booking site such as TripAdvisor or Expedia.com and search for your own preferences and budget. Then you can read other customer reviews and be sure to book something nice!

Fortuitously I was looking at Spa Hotels myself yesterday and Royal Spa Hotel in Kyoto looked very promising, however I can't give a personal recommendation about it since I have not been there (yet).

Hope this helps you on your way.
-Daniel

If you're going to be in Osaka with a JR Pass, you could factor in a visit to Kinosaki Onsen. At around 2 hours from Osaka it's a bit of a trip, but you are rewarded with a lovely quiet onsen town. It'll need an overnight stay though, so I'm not sure how this will fit into your plans.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

We have changed our travel dates to 25 Jan-4 Feb and bought a 7-day JR pass. So my questions will be (1) for the last 3 days, is it worthwhile to get a 3-day Kansai area pass at JPY 5,000? (2) Or a Pasmo pass to cover metro travel in Tokyo and Kansai area will suffice?

Here is how our tentative itinerary looks like now. Please have a quick browse though and see if it works.

26 Jan 6.10am Arrives in Osaka Kansai
26 Jan Activates 7-day JR pass to start from 26 Jan / Travels to Tokyo by JR Tokaido Shinkansen
26-28 Jan Tokyo / Stay 3 nights in Tokyo
29 Jan Odawara Station / Stay 1 night in Hakone?
30 Jan Shin-Fuji Station (Fujikyu High Land) / Travels to Nagoya in evening / Stay 1 night in Nagoya
31 Jan Nagoya / Travels to Kyoto in evening / Stay 1 night in Kyoto
1 Feb Kyoto
1-3 Feb Osaka & day trip to Kobe & Nara / Stays 3 nights in Osaka
4 Feb 10.30am Departs Osaka Kansai

Regards,
Jazreel

Hi Jazreel,

Your itinerary looks very good and all your major traveling is now covered by the JR-Pass.

I think for your last days in Osaka it is better to just use an IC card (such as Pasmo) or buy tickets separately.
For instance a return Kobe is 780 Yen and a return Nara is 1560 Yen. So you would need to do a lot of additional travel to cover the 5000Yen price.

Hope you have a great trip in Japan!
Daniel