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Tokyo to Kyoto and/or HIroshima?


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It's easy -- they are all on bullet train (shinkansen) routes, so using a bullet train it's about 3 hours from Tokyo to Kyoto and about 2.5 hours from Kyoto to Hiroshima. You can do it with a Japan Rail pass or not. I've taken trains in Japan before, and it was pretty straightforward.

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Some additional tips, you will need to purchase the JR rail pass before you arrive in Japan and then make reservations on the Shinkansen once you get to Japan. Space for luggage is limited on the Shinkansen, you might want to consider having some of your luggage shipped to your hotel in Kyoto or Hiroshima, see another thread on shipping your luggage further down.

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Post-cruise in September we want to explore a bit. How hard/how long to get to Kyoto and/or Hiroshima? Just 2 adults, one previous visit to Japan, Osaka area about 12 years ago. Thanks in advance for any tips:)

Here is our experience last fall-hope some of it helps. We bought the week long JR pass to explore a bit pre-cruise from Tokyo. Some of our time was spent going to both Kyoto and Hiroshima with Himeji Castle on the way. We also loved visiting Miyajima while in Hiroshima. This was very easy and were highlights of our trip. We did use the Shinkansen bullet trains, but not the Nozomi. The Sakura Shinkansen do not take much longer than the Nozomi.

 

You can look on the hyperdia site to see costs and schedules. The JR pass was a much better value than buying individual tickets. We had our 7 days mapped out with JR voucher purchased before leaving home. When we exchanged the voucher for the pass in Japan, we made our seat reservations on the bullet trains, price covered by the pass.

 

Also we left our big luggage at our hotel in Tokyo, so we could travel with just a carry on. It was ideal to travel on train with little luggage. It was our first time in Japan, but we found train travel very easy and comfortable.

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  • 2 months later...

We have the 7 day JR Pass now. Everything went as explained above. We took our luggage but had to put it above the seats, no luggage space in the car we were on. Attendant told us to put it up. Very difficult. The Narita Express had a locked luggage area behind our seats. Tokyo- Kyoto was 2 hr 40 mins 3 stops on the way . jR office at Narita were so busy they would only do same day tickets. We made the rest of our weeks reservations at Tokyo Station. Signage is in English at the stations we were at. Good view of Mt. Fuji on right side of train.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Some additional tips, you will need to purchase the JR rail pass before you arrive in Japan and then make reservations on the Shinkansen once you get to Japan. Space for luggage is limited on the Shinkansen, you might want to consider having some of your luggage shipped to your hotel in Kyoto or Hiroshima, see another thread on shipping your luggage further down.

 

How limited is the luggage space on the Shinkansen? We travel light with Rick Steves rucksacks that fit in all but the smallest plane overhead compartments. How would you compare the luggage space on the train with overhead bin space on planes?

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  • 1 month later...

Cruising from Tokyo to shanghai in October. Want to squeeze as much in As possible since this is our first Andy possibly last trip to this area (we don't get out much).

We were going to add a couple of days in Tokyo prior to getting on the cruise. So can we do the bullet train to Kyoto and Hiroshima and back to Tokyo in one day or no? If I can only do one, which one would you recommend? Would love to experience the bullet train while we are there anyway.

We are traveling with our two kids.

Thanks in advance for the help

 

Some additional tips, you will need to purchase the JR rail pass before you arrive in Japan and then make reservations on the Shinkansen once you get to Japan. Space for luggage is limited on the Shinkansen, you might want to consider having some of your luggage shipped to your hotel in Kyoto or Hiroshima, see another thread on shipping your luggage further down.
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Cruising from Tokyo to shanghai in October. Want to squeeze as much in As possible since this is our first Andy possibly last trip to this area (we don't get out much).

We were going to add a couple of days in Tokyo prior to getting on the cruise. So can we do the bullet train to Kyoto and Hiroshima and back to Tokyo in one day or no? If I can only do one, which one would you recommend? Would love to experience the bullet train while we are there anyway.

We are traveling with our two kids.

Thanks in advance for the help

 

We just got back from a 3 week (land) trip to Japan and a few days in Hong Kong.

The bullet train was amazing, and it runs like clockwork.

 

However, calliopecruiser mentioned the travel times:

"...so using a bullet train it's about 3 hours from Tokyo to Kyoto and about 2.5 hours from Kyoto to Hiroshima..."

 

That's going to be a lot of travel time just to/from Kyoto. Doing it in one day to Hiroshima? I'm not sure it would make sense.

 

Kyoto was an amazing city. Perhaps you could take an overnight bag, and spend just one night there?

(The very handy luggage services, hotel to hotel, take overnight, so it wouldn't work well for a one-night stay someplace, when you could take an overnight bag.)

 

We got on the bullet train to Kyoto at Nagoya, having taken a local train to get there.

Standing on the platform waiting... then suddenly SWOOOOSH!!!

Those bullet trains are FAST.

We had several trains pass right through the Nagoya station before our train to Kyoto arrived, and we are both *very* glad that we got to see that. Starting in Tokyo, where a train "starts", one would miss that. I don't know if there are any bullet trains that don't stop in Kyoto. If there are, it would be worth arriving a bit early to see one (or more) swooooosh by :)

 

The schedules are available online, as mentioned above, and the trains were very well marked.

Even the place on the platform for each car is well marked.

Very easy!

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Tokyo to Kyoto or Hiroshima in a day is doable but I wouldn't recommend it as there's enough to see in and near Tokyo to keep you occupied for a few days pre-cruise.

 

I'd rule out Hiroshima for a day trip completely. Hiroshima is a long trip even via shinkansen. You're looking at about 4-5hrs each way. The cost and time to get there for maybe 5 hours in town isn't worth it IMO.

 

Kyoto is more realistically done within a daytrip but Kyoto and the Kansai region really deserve a separate trip. Kyoto is a very walkable city. While there are a number of interesting sites in a core part of the city: Nishiki Market, Gion distict, Kamo River, Teramachi Dori, etc, some of the more interesting sites are spread out towards the edges of the city (bamboo forest, Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine with a 1000 torii gates, philosopher's walk, etc) and somewhat more of an effort (in terms of time, figuring out the bus, etc). If you end up going to these further out sites and even sites around the city like Nijo Castle or the Imperial Palace you're going to spend a lot of time in transit.

If you can squeeze in an overnight in Kyoto (ie leave the next morning) like GeerzerCouple suggested, that might work out better if you really want to do it. Kyoto at night is also really interesting. You might spot a maiko rushing to a gig in Gion district, people are out and about along the banks of the Kamo, etc.

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  • 1 month later...

Here's a good one-day temples and shrines itinerary for Kyoto:

 

http://www.insidekyoto.com/must-see-kyoto-1-day-itinerary

 

The author recommends spreading it out across two days if possible. That's what my wife and I are doing; taking an early train from Tokyo to Kyoto, staying overnight, then taking a late train back to Tokyo.

 

Don't think I'd personally try to do Kyoto *and* Hiroshima in a day. But if it's your heart's burning desire to try, I won't tell you not to. Just know the logistics would make it ultra-tight. Some naysayers would say not to attempt either in a day. I'm not here to tell you that. This may be all the time you have, and perhaps you'll never return to Japan. I like experiencing places, even if for a short time, to see if they blow my mind enough that I'd want to return for a longer visit.

 

Hope this helps and good luck.

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We did a three day tour of Kyoto and nearby Nara from Tokyo. Our trip included the bullet train. It was excellent. You can see a lot of Kyoto in two days.

 

I would advise against trying to cram in another city.

 

Our tour was booked on Viator.

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Random observation: I believe Expedia owns Viator. And JTB tours is perhaps the local provider?

Yes, JTB was the local tour and we took several with them. They were excellent.

 

I used Viator because my internet search did not come up with JTB.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Lots of discussion here about the bullet train (which is an amazing experience). But don't overlook flying. Both ANA and JAL have a program for foreigners that costs a little over $100US per flight. We did it earlier this year, going from Haneda to Fukui. If I remember correctly, you have to book and pay prior to entering Japan, and I think you can book up to 5 flights per person. For our purposes, it was faster and cheaper than the Shinkansen. Google discount domestic Japan airfare for foreigners.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Hi calliopecruiser - From what I see the JR Pass doesn't include the Nozomi Shinkansen. Any idea on the RTprice to Hiroshima from Tokyo? Also, can you buy individual tickets for Nozomi Shinkansen in advance online?

You can use the following website to find schedules and fares for trains and subways throughout Japan:

 

www.hyperdia.com/en/

The current price for a one way SHINKANSEN NOZOM trip from Tokyo to Hiroshima is 11,660 JPY or about 107 USD per person. I do not know if there is a discount for a round trip.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the info posted here.

We are in Japan for 2 weeks next year and just want to confirm about the JR pass system.

 

We are planning :

Tokyo - Kobe,

Kobe - Takamatsu,

Takamatsu - Kyoto,

Kyoto - Tokyo.

 

This is over a 10 day period.

 

Is it still best to price the individual trips and then decide whether to get a pass ?

 

We are in Japan later this year (no train required).

Anything we should do to make our next year's travel easier during this time.

 

If we get a pass I understand we have to purchase from overseas, and then exchange the voucher for a pass on arrival. Is that correct ?

 

Many thanks

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Use the Hyperdia site mentioned above to price your individual trips and compare them to the JR Pass. A JR pass will not pay off for a Tokyo-Kyoto/Kobe round trip; you need to go further, like Hiroshima. The problem with the prohibition on using Nozomi with the JR pass is not just that the other trains are slower but that they are much less frequent.

 

For Tokyo-Kyoto, a decent discount train deal is that offered by JTB:

http://www.japanican.com/en/tour/list/?kw=E-Voucher or, with hotel included http://www.japanican.com/en/special/tours/shinkansen/index.aspx

 

As of a few weeks ago, you can buy the JR pass in Japan, it just costs more. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

 

There are dozens of other rail passes in Japan:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

Edited by someotherguy
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You can use the following website to find schedules and fares for trains and subways throughout Japan:

 

www.hyperdia.com/en/

The current price for a one way SHINKANSEN NOZOM trip from Tokyo to Hiroshima is 11,660 JPY or about 107 USD per person. I do not know if there is a discount for a round trip.

 

The fare is actually 19,080 JPY. The seat fare is not optional (it's like the way airlines break fares into base fare and fuel surcharge): the number that matters is the one Hyperdia labels as "total". You do have a choice of reserved or unreserved seat (they use different cars) and can save 1,040 JPY by getting unreserved. Seat reservations are usually free if you have a pass, but you cannot use a Nozomi with a JR Pass. There are dozens of different passes.

 

Internal flights are cheap in Japan (use the Japanese web sites, in English, not the international ones) so HND-HIJ will be only $100 or so, You cannot book more than about 3 months in advance.

 

Hiroshima and anywhere West of there is closer to Seoul than Tokyo and it is often more convenient and much cheaper to route your international flights that way.

Edited by someotherguy
Reserved vs unreserved.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Partly due to poor weather predictions in Kyoto and partly due to not wanting to exhaust me and my wife, we skipped Kyoto in favor of another night in Tokyo. I'm relieved in retrospect about the poor weather predictions, as Tokyo was plenty for the time we'd allotted. We'll be saving Kyoto for a future trip; one with multiple nights dedicated to Kyoto.

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