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If you love skiing then the powder in Hokkaido is second to none. Enjoy an onsen after a day on the slopes. Superb
For exploring the region it’s best to stay somewhere close to Shin-Osaka. HI & Suites Shin-Osaka is a new very cheap hotel (I can see some dates in February and March at £45 per night). Unless fully booked, as a IHG Platinum and Diamond you are pretty much guaranteed upgrade to the King Studio which has fully equipped kitchen/washing machine so you can travel light.
It’s 10-min walk from Shin-Osaka and you can take either normal train for £3-4 or rather take shinkansen for £16 return and be at Kyoto Station in about half an hour.
There is also Courtyard which is connected to the station, but it’s substantially more expensive.
Love Kyoto and been there a number of times and stayed there. But for visiting Osaka and travelling by train on day trips to Kanazawa, Himeji, Miyajima and Hiroshima we also stayed within 10 minutes walk of Shin-Osaka and would definitely agree it’s good to stay close by.
Personally, I would say stay near the main station (Umeda) if staying in Osaka, not Shin Osaka. Its a more interesting area with great food outlets and shopping, and an interesting 50 minute walk to Dotonbori.
The Local trains to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, and Himeji are absolutely fine, and cheaper than the Shinkansen.
As for getting to Kyoto, the Keihan line from Yodoyabashi will take you to the heart of Gion, and is much easier then the JR line. The JR line may be better for other parts of Kyoto, but you will almost certainly need to take a bus from Kyoto JR to other places of interest.
Umeda/JR Osaka are not the main stations in Osaka as they don’t host shinkasen. Shin-Osaka does plus JR lines.
JR lines whilst cheaper will take much much longer to Kobe, Himeji, etc. If you are primarily interested in Kyoto then yes you could do the half an hour on Keihan.
And of course you can expect to pay double the price if not triple the price for a hotel at Umeda.
Umeda is 4-min on Midosuji line from Shin-Osaka and Namba about 15-min where Dotonburi is.
“Ōsaka Station and Umeda Station, effectively part of the same complex, together constitute the busiest station in Western Japan, serving 2,343,727 passengers daily in 2005, and the fourth-busiest railway station in the world”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Csaka_Station
In my experience, Hotels near Umeda are good value. Certainly, far cheaper than Kyoto.
In the region I always stayed in Osaka, usually Hilton. However, following feedback from @meta and a couple of others we tried the HI & Suites mentioned above and loved it. A highlight was trying all sorts of foods from the nearby supermarket under enthusiastic guudance from hotel staff. The small kitchen made this possible and easy. We found ourselves doing some rather weird stuff like visiting a car dealer and an estate agent in the vicinity too. Everybody was friendly and accommodating and it gave us different persoectives than usual. We really love Japan, never tire of it.
“Ōsaka Station and Umeda Station, effectively part of the same complex, together constitute the busiest station in Western Japan, serving 2,343,727 passengers daily in 2005, and the fourth-busiest railway station in the world”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Csaka_Station
In my experience, Hotels near Umeda are good value. Certainly, far cheaper than Kyoto.
They are commuter hubs hence the high passenger numbers. Same as with Shinjuku/Shibuya/Ikebukuro in Tokyo. You can’t travel from Umeda to Tokyo or Kyushu without going to Shin-Osaka, etc. Hence why it is not the main.
Kyoto is the most expensive city in Japan, possibly more than Tokyo, so anywhere else will of course be cheaper.
In the region I always stayed in Osaka, usually Hilton. However, following feedback from @meta and a couple of others we tried the HI & Suites mentioned above and loved it. A highlight was trying all sorts of foods from the nearby supermarket under enthusiastic guudance from hotel staff. The small kitchen made this possible and easy. We found ourselves doing some rather weird stuff like visiting a car dealer and an estate agent in the vicinity too. Everybody was friendly and accommodating and it gave us different persoectives than usual. We really love Japan, never tire of it.
There is a lovely hairdresser nearby, biggest Daiso in the Kansai region,…
In the region I always stayed in Osaka, usually Hilton. However, following feedback from @meta and a couple of others we tried the HI & Suites mentioned above and loved it. A highlight was trying all sorts of foods from the nearby supermarket under enthusiastic guudance from hotel staff. The small kitchen made this possible and easy. We found ourselves doing some rather weird stuff like visiting a car dealer and an estate agent in the vicinity too. Everybody was friendly and accommodating and it gave us different persoectives than usual. We really love Japan, never tire of it.
There is a lovely hairdresser nearby, biggest Daiso in the Kansai region,…
Where would we be without Daiso? All the little things you never thought you needed. Every time I go into one, I wish I’d brought a bigger suitcase with me. Was in one yesterday in Melbourne. Why haven’t they reached the UK?
In the region I always stayed in Osaka, usually Hilton. However, following feedback from @meta and a couple of others we tried the HI & Suites mentioned above and loved it. A highlight was trying all sorts of foods from the nearby supermarket under enthusiastic guudance from hotel staff. The small kitchen made this possible and easy. We found ourselves doing some rather weird stuff like visiting a car dealer and an estate agent in the vicinity too. Everybody was friendly and accommodating and it gave us different persoectives than usual. We really love Japan, never tire of it.
Sounds fantastic, @BJ! We’ve just been given Easter ’25 school holiday dates, which start in March, so might starting practising my midnight -355 techniques!
For our trip 26 dec to 5 jan, we decided against a rail pass as we won’t be using the train enough to make it good value.
We’ve been given detailed instructions on how to get from Haneda to our hotel by train from the Tokyo guide that we booked thanks to a recommendation here.
30th December we need to get the train to Kawaguchi. Then on 1st Jan from there to Kyoto. Finally on 4th jan from Kyoto back to Haneda. Is anyone able to advise whether we are better to buy the tickets for these journeys in advance or on the day? We’d like to use the bullet train once if that’s possible.
Thanks so much in advance for any help.
Our entire trip so far has been planned thanks to the HfP community!
@meta, if that’s the hairdresser just along the road we contemplated it before deciding to wait until Bangkok.
@Michael, I think this HI would work well for you with the kid, plenty of room to spread out and opportunity to prepare kid-friendly food if desired. It bats well above its cash/points rates.
@Annie, if you’re going back directly from Kyoto to Haneda I recommend you consider flying from Itami to Haneda instead of using the train. If for no other reason, just to experience the fine art of how they manage hourly or more frequent departures on wide bodies with a 30 minute check in requirenent. It’s fun and painless. Sit on A/left side of the plane for best chance of fine Fuji views. When taking train from airport to hotel take care to get on the proper train or it can all go pear-shaped quite quickly. I’ve always booked tickets on the day or a fewv days prior to departure at stations without issue but @meta may advise otherwise given your time of year.@BJ Yes, that’s the one. There is another round the corner, a minute or two from Famima on the parallel street.
@Annie I’d also recommend flying, but make sure you use luggage delivery service if taking the train. There are limitations on how much luggage you can take on the train. I always carry a lot of snacks/food back. No need to book in advance from UK (I don’t think you can if you don’t have Suica or IC Card anyway). It’s not a peak period, so no availability issues.Currently in Osaka now at Ritz Carlton, which was substantially cheaper than other Marriott’s. I highly recommend here, it’s very impressive in service and food quality. Our room is huge with magnificent views. The in room dining menu is a huge hit with my kids for late night food, and is easy on the pocket.
Google maps has been excellent for navigating public transport. It gives detailed directions, platform no, train/subway/bus times, including times for the next train if you miss the one you want. Something which happens frequently as we keep stopping for the shops!
Thank you all. I hadn’t considered flying but it makes perfect sense. Do I credit my BA account when booking with JAL?
On the trains are we ok with one medium to large suitcase each or should we use the luggage service for that?
For the luggage delivery service, can we get it collected from our Kyoto hotel and collect it at Itami later the same day ?
I can only see a telephone number, is that the only way to arrange this ?
ThanksThank you all. I hadn’t considered flying but it makes perfect sense. Do I credit my BA account when booking with JAL?
On the trains are we ok with one medium to large suitcase each or should we use the luggage service for that?
1. Yes, or you can book a reward flight with £1 or 0.50p taxes, though the Avios prices have gone up. You can also upgrade to business for 10k yen or 20k for first on the day if there is availability. You need to ask at the check-in desk and if you’ve done online check in it won’t be available (sometimes they send an email the day before for online upgrade, though I haven’t seen that in the last year much). You’ll also get higher TPs if flying business or first.
2. There is an extra charge for carrying larger suitcases (think ¥1000) and it has to be pre-booked in advance with a valid ticket can’t be on the same day. There are specific measurments for what is acceptable.
For the luggage delivery service, can we get it collected from our Kyoto hotel and collect it at Itami later the same day ?
I can only see a telephone number, is that the only way to arrange this ?
ThanksBest to organise this with the concierge/reception. Sometimes it’s possible on the same day, sometimes it needs to be a day before. They will measure it for you, help you fill in the forms in Japanese. Some good hotels will just ask you to leave the luggage and tell them where to deliver. They’ll take care of everything else and invoice you on the final folio. Always good to confirm the price though as it can vary slightly between places.
I know we advised to go by plane, but you could also go completely luggage free and send your suitcases to Haneda/Narita directly and pick them there then take the train. Depends really on the timings.
@PeteM thanks for the tip about Teamlabs. We visited this morning and loved it.
We avoided researching in advance, as per your instructions, and found it to be absolutely delightful.Any pointers on a hotel to stay in the night before a 9.45am flight from Haneda termal 3? I looked at the Haneda Excel Hotel, which is at the airport, but its at a different terminal and the shuttle busses don’t seem to run early.
I’m staying at The Knot in Shinjuku for a couple of nights before that, but with the flight home being relately early on a Sunday morning, I wondered whether an airport hotel or somewhere easy to get to the airport from is easier?
The Royal Park hotel is in T3. Very pleasant.
Thanks @Annie it didn’t show up earlier as seemed to be sold out in most places, but managed to find it on Agoda!
I have 9 nights planned in Japan for Sept/Oct…flying into Osaka and out of Tokyo. My draft itinerary using train travel by default is:
2n – Osaka (inc half-day drip to Nara)
1n – Hiroshima
2n – Kyoto
1n – Hakone
3n – TokyoAm I trying to squeeze too much in? Is 1n in Hiroshima worth it or is it better to just add another night in Osaka and then maybe do it as a day trip? Or maybe forget trying to get to Hiroshima altogether? Any thoughts welcome.
Personally, I would stay 5 nights in Osaka and 4 nights in Tokyo.
Kyoto, Nara, and Hiroshima can all be done in day trips by train from Osaka. I would add Himeji to that itinerary. It has one of the best preserved castles in Japan.
Osaka hotels are cheaper than Kyoto. You will have flexibility to spend more or less time visiting each place, and you won’t be schlepping your luggage around all the time. Hiroshima is interesting from the historical perspective. If you wanted to go to Miyajima Island, you would probably need an overnight stay. I would prefer to spend more time in Nara.
I’ve not done it myself, but you can also do Hakone as a day trip from Tokyo. (Check YouTube for reviews from people who do it by train.)
Also look at flying from Osaka to Tokyo. £62 on JAL as an overseas visitor. https://www.jal.co.jp/ukl/en/world/japan_explorer_pass/lp/
You don’t need to schlep your luggage anywhere in Japan as there is luggage delivery service. I personally add extra £100 to the budget for that. It’s very convenient and it’s really great moving around with just a backpack.
Although from 1 April, there are changes to luggage delivery services which will mean it will take longer for Tokyo-Osaka deliveries. This is mandated by law which will reduce the number of hours for drivers.
Regarding itinerary, personally I feel it’s rushed. I’d skip Hakone too as 4 nights in Tokyo doesn’t leave much room for day trips. It’s over-hyped.
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