Itinerary check for March/April 2012 trip

Hey all,

We're 5 friends in our 20's visiting Japan for the first time next March/April time.

Our itinerary is below and we'd love to hear your feedback on it. There are so many regions/places to visit but we just thought it would be good to start off with the basics first.

We're also on a budget, which means we're looking at purchashing the 7 day rail pass instead of the 14 as we don't think we'll need it apart going between Tokyo-Kyoto. We'll validate it from 2nd-9th April and will use buses/local rail services for day trips etc. otherwise.

Thursday 29th March FLY from UK
Friday 30th March Tokyo
Saturday 31st March Kamakua - Local Train
Sunday 1st April Tokyo
Monday 2nd April Kyoto - Train to Kyoto
Tuesday 3rd April Kyoto
Wednesday 4th April Kyoto
Thursday 5th April Kyoto
Friday 6th April Kyoto
Saturday 7th April Nara - Bus/Train to Nara
Sunday 8th April Nara/Kyoto/Tokyo - Train from Nara to Kyoto then train onto Tokyo
Monday 9th April Tokyo
Tuesday 10th April Five Lakes - Local Train
Wednesday 11th April Tokyo
Thursday 12th April FLY back to UK

Your feedback/opinions are very much appreciated!

Thanks :)

It looks like a very good plan.

Visiting Five Lakes in earrly-mid April sounds chilly a bit. You can take an higheay bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko for 1700 yen. Takes about two hours. You better leave Tokyo early if it is to view Mt. Fuji. In the afternoon, the top could be covered by rapid clouds.

Up until April 8th, the shools are in spring holidays, so everywhere may be filled with whole bunch of people. Avoid weekends to visit busy places unless you enjoy bumping and dribbling your soccor ball in the crowd.

Enjoy the Sakura season anyway. It will be in the height season.

Just a technicality, but you can only use the JR Pass for 7 days, so the dates should read 4/2-4/8.

If you are lucky and it is an early blooming year, you can see the cherry blossoms in combination with Mount Fuji in the Fujigoko Region, although in the average year April 10 is just a few days too early:
http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/sakura10/100414_fujigoko.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/sakura/090416_fujigoko.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/sakura11/110420_fujigoko.html