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A pity if you’re not including Kanazawa, a gem.
What is so great about it? it looks like I would need to add a lot more between city travels to include it.
Perhaps @yorkieflyer was thinking of Okayama, which also has a celebrated garden and is very much en route. I did like my stay at Kanazawa, but you’re right about the geography. Kenroku-en is the main attraction, but the city generally came out of WW2 intact so there’s some lovely historic areas. It would combine nicely with a trip up Gifu prefecture but you’d struggle to fit it all in unless you’ve got about three weeks to play with.
To your earlier post, you should be aware that Hiroshima airport is a fair way from the city itself. By the time you’ve kept a bit of buffer in your schedule between your international flight HNd-HIJ and got from HIJ to Hiroshima you might find that you haven’t actually saved any time compared to the train.
Thanks for the tip, I just looked you are right, with the buffer and airport distance it will take longer to fly. I am on the fence on how much I want to negotiate quite a lot of public transport after a 15 hour flight. Train may mean one night in Tokyo first then onwards the next day. I’m also not that keen to stay in an airport for 4 hours. Neither option is ideal.
Is there any arrival lounge with priority pass or BA business class so I can refresh before navigating the train?
@yonasl thanks for the quick response. Yes I saw the points plus £0 fee so it is tempting to book now.
Do you think the 2 hour transit is too short? Better to allow a 4 hour difference? In case delay etc.
Since you have to land, pick your luggage, pass customs, then change terminals (international to domestic) and then check your luggage case, pass security again, etc. … I would allow 4hrs instead of 2hrs (2hrs are ok if you are just doing a transfer).
Don’t think a train will be faster. If you land, get your stuff, then go pick up your rail pass you may find a long queue of tourists doing the same (maybe less now they it is so expensive).
A pity if you’re not including Kanazawa, a gem.
+1 for Kanazawa. I thought it was like a mini Kyoto without the tourists. I based myself near Shin Osaka. It was very easy to get by Shinkansen to Hiroshima and Kanazawa. Also enjoyed a day on Miyajima.
Kanazawa has preserved old town, gardens, market etc all in a maneagable package also direct Shinkansen to Tokyo. In my view Kyoto is a very large busy unattractive modern city with the attractions very dispersed and the famous “old”street in all the pics is a reconstructed tourist shopping arcade. Agree re Okayama a great base to allow day trips on the Shinkansen main line eg day trip to Hiroshima, quite sufficient to see the obvious and also obviously a modern city with less appeal.
Regional rail passes are another good option combined with flights to/from TokyoA pity if you’re not including Kanazawa, a gem.
What is so great about it? it looks like I would need to add a lot more between city travels to include it.
The main thing about Kanazawa is a strolling garden that is considered one of the best in Japan. There is also samurai area (basically very well preserved neighbour of older villas some of which you can visit).
The thing is, you can see some nice gardens in the Kobe area too and when I was in Kanazawa in May it was invaded by Chinese tourists that come, take over certain photo spots, are super noisy, and then leave without making much of the garden.
The city is small and has a nice night-life area with lots of restaurants. It also has a fish market with plenty of fresh and cheap sushi (best places open early and close at around 2pm so don’t plant to go there for dinner)
Because the Shinkansen doesn’t make it to Kanazawa it is still 3hrs away from Kyoto so I wouldn’t recommend it for a day trip. It is however typical to do Somehwere-Takayama-Kanazawa-Kyoto. A couple of nights there will allow you to make the most of it.
Shinkansen direct to Kanazawa from Tokyo, we did a circuit
Personally, I would stay 2 or 3 nights in Tokyo at the start of the trip. Flying on to Hiroshima the same day you arrive in Japan is going to be tiring, and you need to build in a lot of slack in case your flight to HND is delayed or retimed.
Osaka is a brilliant base for touring. Easy to get to Nara (my favourite place in Japan so far), Himeji (one of the best preserved castles in Japan) Kyoto, and Kobe for day trips on local trains. Osaka hotels are much cheaper than Kyoto. I would stay near Osaka main station.
There is a private train line, Keihan Main Line, that gets you from from Yodoyabashi Station in Gion. This is much better than the JR line, as Kyoto station is quite a trek from Gion.
Hiroshima is doable as a day trip from Kyoto on the Shinkansen. Or go on to Hiroshima at the end of your Osaka trip and fly back from Hiroshima.
I would take internal flights on JAL paying with avios. You have to spend a lot of days travelling long distances on the Shinkansen to get value from a JR pass. You can easily spend 10 nights in Osaka visiting Osaka itself (nice walkable city) and the region. The Shinkansen is fast, but not particularly comfortable (3+2 seating in standard class) with small aircraft type windows. And the private lines, which are not covered by the JR pass, are sometimes more convenient.
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