Thanks a lot
Will make my booking later

hi guys, need advice on which arrangement below make more sense for my upcoming 20-27Oct trip:
- arrive KIX 8AM-Thursday (20th)
- leaving KIX 11AM-Thursday (27th)

plan A (3d2n kyoto, 4d3n osaka)
1. arrive KIX, goto Kyoto straight, put down luggage, have brunch, roam around waiting for checkin
2. next day Friday start early and travel to Arashiyama for the bamboo thing and hike Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Pilgrimage Circuit for 2-3 hours. roam around kyoto for other attraction
3. check out Saturday and go to Osaka, eat, shopping, aquarium until Wednesday night.

plan B (2d2n osaka, 2d2n kyoto, 3d2n osaka)
1. arrive KIX, goto Osaka, put down luggage, have brunch, roam around waiting for checkin
2. roam around Osaka until Saturday then travel to Kyoto at lunch time.
3. Sunday morning travel to Arashiyama and do the hiking Fushimi-Inari route.
4. Monday back to Osaka around late noon, checkin osaka hotel, eat shop until wednesday night.

this is true... i went there on weekend not special day sumore and it also full of ppl. cant imagine if public holiday. give extra a bit for fast pass is good idea. go holiday must enjoy. dont let super long queue kill ur holiday mood. money can earn back d...

I believe you cant pay for fastpass
Get a strategy guide to get the best of tokyo disney.

ops... sorry i thought fast pass is like those express ticket...

http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/help/tdl_fastpass.html

Ok, your plan A doesnt work well. Plan B looks much better than plan A. Its damn far between fushimi inari taisha and arashiyama

For plan A,
Since day 1, will be mainly on flight, check in and travel to kyoto and finding food, so I dont think you can spend any time on going around. But if you are happened to stay around gion shijo, you can walk around the hanami koji and pontocho. Nice bar and food over there. Pontocho would be better for cheaper food.

D2
spend half day at arashiyama, if you have time, then go for ryoanji on your way back. Then around 4-6pm, go to kamogawa, you will find a lot of street singers, enjoy the wind breeze, and chill around. Best with a hot can of coffee or corn soup.

D3
if you are holding light luggage, then straight go to fushimi inari taisha while on your way to Osaka. You can put your luggage on locker room in the station. Whole climbing experience tooks around 3 hours. If you stop by the rest station, yotsutsuji (yes, there is a rest station after an hour of climbing or so), then you can decide whether want to continue or not.

TIPS : there is a small trail after the shirataki shrine. Walk along the shrine, and you will be able to view the whole city view of kyoto.

Then continue your journey to Kyoto.

I wont comment much on your Osaka side, since you are not providing any proper itinerary for Osaka. But I would suggest that 3 days is not enough for Kyoto itself. You have missed out some of the famous places, such as yasaka jinja, kiyomizu dera, kyoto tower (and the ramen road), the shopping street in sendocho, omg i love chilling around there. Even better when you just spend 1.5k yen, renting a bicycle and just cycle around the city and chill.

Here is some my experience in traveling time. I mean for a couch potato like myself.
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Climbing to the yotsutsuji point takes around 1 hour. Climbing to the peak point of the mountain itself takes around 2 hours. Going back down is faster, so it takes around 30-40 minutes for me to reach yotsutsuji point.

The train from gion shijo to arashiyama takes around 30-40 minutes. You have to check expedia for that one. My advice, plus extra 5 minutes. Since couch potato walking speed is much slower than japanese walking speed.

Osaka to Kyoto
around 40 - 50 minutes as well if you take limited/limited express. usually around 500 yen

This post has been edited by look416: Sep 1 2016, 03:02 PM

I like this Fushimi Inari Map.
It going to be Page 1 Info Board

IMO...it's better to be:
3d2n osaka, 4d3n kyoto

reason being kyoto has more attractions...i may be wrong

No one got any recommendation regarding hotel nearby Hakone station?

I think you can just post a few choices first before you want other to recommend you.
With those, then other can recommend you based on your budget and style that you want. Recommendations can vary from cheap to expensive (although there is no cheap hotel in Japan).

Important Notice

Due to volcanic gases, the walking and hiking trails around Owakudani are currently closed to tourists. The Hakone Ropeway is operating along its entire length. The shops and restaurants around the ropeway station and the access road and parking lot are open. However, people with respiratory problems should avoid the area due to the volcanic gases.

--> Read more here http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5203.html

Plan A - put more day in kyoto

KIX is very busy airport(especially morning), cannot use malaysia airport rule,
unless you taking business class/first class, no need to queue for luggage check in/security check

you can try ichinoyu
http://www.ichinoyu.co.jp/index.php

This post has been edited by cloudwan0: Sep 1 2016, 06:14 PM

Hi , here with some idea for your advise

1. Choose the hotel which is near to OSAKA STATION / UMEDA STATION so that is easier for you to travel within OSAKA, KYOTO, NARA
2. If you have 2 days extra , plan a short trip to KOBE and HIMEJI too.
3. Most of the train station are operate until 11.50pm, but you don't need to worry as most of the shop operation hours is until 8pm only.

Things to do / Attractions :

OSAKA : Dotonbury , Umeda Sky Building , OSAKA castle
KYOTO : Fushimi inari, Kiyomizu dera , Arashiyama ( Bamboo forest , Otagi nenbutsugi ) , Nishiki Market
KOBE : Arima Onsen
HIMEJI : HIMEJI Castle ( Top 3 Castle in Japan )
NARA : NARA Park , Todaiji Temple

One of my favorite hotel is Grand-Fine / Fine-Garden , you may take a look on it.
I hope it would help you on the idea for your itinerary , i am traveling to Osaka on 29th October ,

If you have a plan to travel to HAKONE , find hotel near to GORA STATION or HAKONE YUMOTO STATION

These station is very convenience for you to go to HAKONE SHRINE , and easier for you to return to TOKYO / OSAKA.
The best is if you can spend 3 days to FUJI and HAKONE , you can buy FUJIHAKONE Pass for 3 days unlimited in Shinjuku station Tokyo ,and you can travel around from Fujikawaguchiko for Fuji Mountain, Lake Yamanakako , Gotemba Premium outlet for branded goods and Hakone.

I hope it help for your travel itinerary.

Please quote all post you want to reply and post under one reply. Like this way.

Noted with thanks , sorry i am new here

Thank you for the advice and tips guys!

I really appreciate your feedback/input.
so my wife want more shopping like clothes/ladies accessories and we are under the impression Osaka has more of this shopping especially shinsaibashi. enlighten me please
- we both love an ez 1-2hour hike with nice scenic view, cool air.
- I certainly love those building, temple architecture, but wife don't appreciate as much as I do, so need to strike a balance here
- any nice cool library in Osaka, Kyoto worth pay a visit?
- for Osaka, plan to stay either in Grandvia hotel (right on the Umeda stop) OR best western which is near to Shinsaibashi.
- for Kyoto, plan to stay in Dormy Inn Premium Kyoto Ekimae (opposite Kyoto station, the hotel has got free onsen in house )

need your kind input again. thanks!

Going with woman. Sure have to put more days on Shopping.
Your schedule are quite tight too...I don't recomemded you waste time on Library.
Osaka part can stay at Dormy Inn Premium Namba Natural Hot Spring
Kyoto side Dormy Inn Premium Kyoto Ekimae

Dormy Inn breakfast and house onsen are one of best in Japan. You will never forget.
I Guarantee you with my 620 times to Japan experience.



This post has been edited by RegentCid: Sep 2 2016, 11:10 AM