Noodaw1985

Hello there.

I will be in Tokyo for a business trip for 1 week before my boyfriend joins me at the end of my trip for another 10 days holiday. We will be in Tokyo and will have 10 days before we fly home from Tokyo again. We want to have a couple of days/nights in Tokyo, as well as a visit to Kyoto and most definitely the Jigokudani snow monkey park, where we would like to stay 1 night.

How many nights do we need in Kyoto?

If we spend 3 nights in Tokyo, 2 nights in Kyoto and 1 night at Jigokudani- is this all we could fit in without feeling too rushed? We would really like to visit Hiroshima and Osaka, but would we have any time to fit these in?

Could we possibly do a day trip to Hiroshima from Kyoto if we stayed 2 days in Kyoto?

What is the best place to view Mt. Fuji- would we be able to visit a place nearby?

Any recommendations on how much we can feasibly squeeze into 10 days without spending all our times on trains would be appreciated!!

I appreciate that another trip to Japan will be necessary to see everything we want to!:

Lastly- how long does each train journey take from:

Tokyo - Kyoto
Tokyo/Kyoto - Jigokudani
Tokyo- Osaka
Tokyo - Hiroshima

What is the best order to visit in do you think?

Many thanks for your advice!!!!

Zoe

Sue_xx_yy

zoe - there are two parts to travel; how long it takes to commute from A to B, and how long to spend in a destination to make it 'worthwhile.' The first is the only question that has a meaningful answer, i.e. one that can be corroborated by independent, objective sources. The second is measured mainly by fuzzy emotional criteria. When do people 'feel' rushed? No answer possible other than an opinion that will vary by as many people as answer your post.

If you were commuting between cities in the US, would you feel comfortable visiting 3 in a week? How about 4 in 9 days/nights? It would help if you have some experience with travel that gives you a benchmark allowing you to judge. By the way, hyperdia.com will tell you the commuting times between cities by train. Get used to using that site, since it will help to plan which train, and at what time of day, will best suit your plans

In 14 nights, we visited 5 places in Japan, including Tokyo and Kyoto which took up 8 of those nights. So with 10 nights, using a pace that **I** find comfortable, I would not attempt more than 3 places. Jigokudani monkey park is near Nagano; I have not visited it but the website suggests it is a bit out of the way (90 minutes by bus and on foot from Nagano Dentetsu Nagano station, which in turn must be reached using some routing from Kyoto or Tokyo. Sounds like getting there, visiting, and getting back could stretch over 1 night and the better part of 2 days, so if that is your third destination I'd be content with Tokyo, Kyoto, and Jigokudani.

Kathie

In 15 nights, we visited 4 places: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto and Hakone (the place to get great Fuji views). I think you are trying to cram too much into your limited time. I think your original idea of Tokyo, Kyoto and Jigokudani would be the most I would try to cram in. I would cut at least a day from Tokyo to add to Kyoto as there is so much to see..

kja

It depends on what you want to see and experience, but that would be WAY too rushed for me.
For answers to most of your questions, see
japan-guide.com

mrwunrfl

You say you have 10 days but you only mentioned 6 nights. So what about the other 4 nights? Or is it 3 more nights?

Jigokudani is going to cost you some travel time. It is out of the way of the other stops you are considering.

Train times: http://www.hyperdia.com/

Kavey

Ditto, for ME your timings would be far too rushed. On our first trip, we spent 6 nights in Tokyo (though 1 was after an evening arrival and one before a morning departure), and 5 nights in Kyoto (with nights in Nara, Osaka, Koya and Hiroshima as separate). And it didn't feel enough - we went back this year and spent another 5 nights in Kyoto.

Personally, with only 10 nights in total, I'd do 4 in Tokyo and 6 in Kyoto, and you could do one of those Kyoto nights elsewhere if you liked.

For my style of travel, better to give yourself enough time to properly enjoy where you do go, and consider a return trip in the future for the rest.

(I really really wanted to go and see the "snow monkeys" too but realised it just didn't fit into my first itinerary and was wrong direction for my second one too. One day...)

ovenbird

If you do go to Jigokudani you might want to set aside time for 2 visits. It's not always a given that the monkeys will be there when you are. On our first visit we had no snow and no monkeys. The second got us both.

Our first visit was the afternoon of Nov 29 and the monkeys never did show up that day. The woman in the ticket office said 2-3 days a year they just don't show up...unlucky us! So we returned the next morning before it opened up and the monkeys finally showed up after a 2 hr wait. Plus it had snowed over night so the walk through the trees to the monkey pool was gorgeous.

Reading54

Kyoto to Hiroshima by Shinkansen train is about 100-min one way. Kyoto to Osaka by Limited Express train is 28-min one way. So you can make day trips to these places if you are able to allocate more nights in Kyoto.

mrwunrfl

When is this trip?

Two nights in Kyoto is definitely not minimally sufficient. I speak from experience. You need to add a night or two there, planning to come back some day.

You can do all of what you want with 10 nights. 3 nts Tokyo, 1 nt Jigokudani area, 4 nights Kyoto, 1 night in Tokyo before your flight home. That is nine nights.

Here is access info for Jigokudani:
http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp...tml/access.htm

From Tokyo you would take JR to Nagano. That would take about 2 hours. Figuring that you would have to take a subway or train to Tokyo station (or Omiya) to tranfer to the shinkansen to Nagano. That 2 hours is based on leaving from Shinjuku, so your time would be more or less depending on where in Tokyo you stay.

At Nagano, you transfer from JR to a Dentetsu train. Figure a half hour for that. The website says it is a about 90 minutes from Dentetsu Nagano station to Jigokudani (that includes a 30-minute walk, but a taxi would shorten that.

So your trip from someplace in Tokyo to Jigokudani would be about 4 hours (based on the above link and hyperdia).

Leaving Jigokudani, first there is the 2 hours to JR Nagano station. Then it would be 4 hours from there to Kyoto.

So that would be 10 hours travel time over two days. My rule of thumb would be to add an hour to each travel day to figure "door-to-door" time. That is time to check out and get to and from the origin and destination stations and lodging.

So, metro Tokyo area- Jigokudani- Kyoto would be about 12 hours.

Compare that with Shinjuku to Kyoto in 3 hours. Add one hour for that travel day per my rule of thumb.

The difference then is 8 hours. That is what it will cost you in travel time to add Jigokudani between Tokyo and Kyoto.

At least that is how I figure things to decide if a stop is worth it.

mrwunrfl

Nagano to Hiroshima would be 6 hours (that would be after the 2 hours from Jigokudani area to JR Nagano station).

Tokyo metro area (Shinjuku) to Hiroshima would be 6 hours or less.

I've been thinking that you would overnight in the Jigokudani area but it might be better for this hit-and-run stop to stay overnight in Nagano near the station. Leave Shinjuku at 7:24 get to Nagano at 9:22, leave your stuff at a hotel by the station, make it to Jigokudani at 11:30. Then 5 or 6 hours of daylight there and return to Nagano for the night.

Next morning visit Zenkoji temple in Nagano and on to Kyoto or Hiroshima in the afternoon. Zenkoji is a must-see on your proposed itinerary.

You could, of course, drop Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka from your itinerary. You could make a very nice trip out of Jigokudani, Nagano area, Matsumoto, Nikko, Hakone (for Fuji and onsen), ..., with a good bit less travel time and using a JR East Pass.