I’m staying from 30 October till 14 November in Tokyo. From 30-10/7-11 i’m staying with my mum in tokyo Asakusa and then we move to shibuya till 14-11. The only thing is my cousin and auntie are coming from 9-11/14-11. They are not the temple or nature types and more for shopping. So we will stroll around Tokyo like Meiji shrine, Kotohira gu shrine, Gotokuji temple, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukoro, Harajuku, Ginza, Diver city tokyo plaza, Sanrio theme park, Akihabara, Shinjuku etc.
But before that i will like to use the 7 days JR Pass or go to the following places:
Day 1: 30oct arrive narita exchange money, JR PASS & Icoca. Go to hotel keihan Asakusa, eat, asakusa temple night walk
Day 2: 31oct sighseeing Asakusa like Sensoji temple, Sumida river, tokyo skytree & checking Shibuya halloween
Hotel keihan Asakusa
Starting JR PASS 7 days trips
Day 3: 01nov odawara castle (JR)
hakone mt fuji (hakone freepass ¥4000)
Day 4: 02 nov nikko日光
(Tokyo to Nikko approx. 105mins by Nasuno Shinkansen & JR Nikko Line)
Day 5: 03nov Ashikage (JR)
Banna-ji Temple, Ashikage school, Ashikaga Orihime Jinjya, Ashikage flower park (the garden of illuminating flowers night show 15.30 - 21.00)
Day 6: 04-11 Nagoya castle (JR 2.5h) & Inuyama castle (maybe kyoto byodo-in 1.5h?)
Day 7: 05-11 Himeji really want to go here. I know is far around 4hrs.
Day 8: 06-11 Kobe also far
Day 9: 07-11 sighseeing Ueno temples etc
Tokyo 1-Day Ticket ¥1600
Day 10: 8-11 Chureito pagoda 忠霊塔fuji
Day 11: 9-11 Yokohama 橫濱
(Maybe Kotoku in kanagawa Buddha or back to tokyo sighseeing?) Or Naritasan shinsoji temple
Cousin&auntie arrive 18.05 in Narita
Will the above days pay off with the JR Pass? I already hear from some people that Himeji and Kobe are too far, but is kyoto, osaka or Nagoya a good option? Can someone recommend me some other places or is this a good itinerary? I’m really lost and already change this itinerary a lot…
Hi Emily. There’s a Jr Pass calculator online here Japan Rail Pass Calculator - find out whether a JR Pass pays off that can tell you whether it pays off to get the 7 day pass or not. If you go to Kobe I think it will pay off just about, and you may as well check out Osaka if you’re going to Kobe as you have to go though Shin Osaka Station anyway. That being said it’s a lot to cram into 1 day, if you can afford it I’d suggest at least a 1 night stay in either Kobe or Osaka. I personally wouldn’t do either Osaka, Kobe or Kyoto for a day trip, far to much time wasted on the trains and it would be exhausting.
Kamakura is a great day trip from Tokyo, its about 1. 5 hours away and easily doable in a single day, I rented a bike there last year and it was one of the best days I had in Japan.
The general rule is only get the Jr pass for intercity travel, not worth it if you’re staying in and around the Tokyo area.
I’m in Japan at the same time as you (29th Oct to 29th Nov) and will be going to Shibuya halloween, look out for me in a Jason Vorhees costume
Thank you very much for all the info. Especially the calculator website! I definitely will use the 7 days jr pass so i’ll go to a lot of places even if it far away i think it will be worth it if i can see a lot of beautiful places. And kamakura sounds really nice. But wow you are staying really long in japan! And i’ll definitely look around at the halloween in shibuya. I’m not sure if i’ll do some costume haha. You will be really scary with the jason vorhees costume ♂:jack_o_lantern:
Yeah Kamakura is a great place for a day trip, lots of interesting things to see and a nice beach as well. Make sure to see the giant Buddah if you go there.
It’ll be my third time to Japan so decided to go for as long as I could afford, I’m saving money by stopping in an airBnB. I’m staying just outside Tokyo in a place called Machida so is cheaper than hotels in Central Tokyo. I’m also going to Osaka for 3 nights, Kanazawa for 2 nights and Kobe for 1 night. I’m using the JR Hokuriku arch pass for the bullet trains, a bit cheaper than the full Jr pass but you can only go on certain routes.
I’ll also be in Yokohama for the Rugby World Cup Final (don’t have tickets though)
Haha yeah I made my costume months ago so keep an eye out and say hello if you spot me, I just need to buy a fake machete when I’m over there, I didn’t think it was a great idea to take one through the airports lol, I’m hoping to get one from Don Quijote (a chain store that sells almost everything in Japan, check one out if you pass one, there’s a huge one in Akihabara.) :
I set up all my visiting friends with the “Free Volunteer Tour Guide Programs”. They’re really great. Absolutely free. They just want to practice their English, make foreign friends and be good people. No tipping or anything, they even pay for their own meals and travel expense.
My wife and I made a video about it. Towards the end we recommend the top programs with Info on how to contact them. They’re all over Japan.
See our Video blog:
♂:jack_o_lantern:
