10 days in Osaka,Tokyo& Hokkaido itinieary

.As these are the places we really wanted to go. And reasons why we want to use our JR pass on 2nd day instead of the first day because we want to fully utilised our 7 days of the pass.

Day 1- (Landing Kansai airport 3.40pm) and Walk around either in Namba, shinsaibashi, dotonbori

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Day 2-OPEN JR PASS and Early Morning train to Tokyo 3 hours.

Take 06:51am and reach Tokyo JR station 10.40am

Check in and lunch. and Visit Asakusa Kannon Temple and visit Nakamise Shopping Street. and Walk around Shinjuku at night.

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Day 3 - Morning visit Tukiji Fish Market and then Visit Harajuku

Optional-Tokyo Tower

7pm go back hotel and take luggage to take

Take 9.15pm (Ueno) reach 12.22pm (Hakondate) using LTD. EXP AKEBONO - I check can take night train for free using JR pass for Goron to Shito seat (planning to reserve this seat immediately when I reach Osaka)

****** Or we might just take a mornng train on next day straight to Hakondate (but reaching there around 3pm- not very ideal time)

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Day 4-Reach Hakondate 12.22pm and check in hotel.

-Visit Hakondate mount for night view

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Day 5-Check out and go to Sapporo 3 hours. Take 7.04am train and reach 10.18am. Check in hotel & rest.

-Visit Odori Park

-Then take train to Otaru to visit Otaru Canal in evening (40 mins away by train)

- Optional : Visit music box museum 9AM-7PM

-Back Sapporo to sleep

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Day 6- NEED HELP HERE

Choose
1)Asayima zoo (2 hours away from sapporo) – peguin march

2)Abashiri for drift ice (5 hours away from Sapporo)-take ship out the sea to break the ice at sea

3)Steam Locomotive special winter train ,From Sapporo and reach Kushiro at 10.51am and then take 11.08 Steam locomotive train to Kawayu-onsen (reach 2.04pm) and to go Onsen for 2 hours. And leave around 4.29pm from Kawayu Onsen and reach Kushiro at 6.29pm. And then proceed back to Sapporo(4 hrs), reach 10pm. total 6hr ride each time

4) Jozankei Onsen (1.5 hr away from Sapporo)-is this nice ?


IF possible take night train from Sapporo JR to Tokyo
Departure : 10pm and reach 10.36am


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Day 7-
Tokyo – reach 10.36am from night train // Alternative take morning train and reach Tokyo 3pm

Tokyo full day

Disneyland
Disneyseas
Ghibli Studio
Free and Easy


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Day 8- Check out hotel and plan to take luggage to take morning train to Hakone-

## I read internet that there is place to coin store luggage in all JR stations, so where is the best place for me to store my big luggage considering I;m coming from Tokyo and leaving for Osaka in the evening.

KAWAGUCHIKO station (is this the right station ?) - and seriously considering Hakone Free Pass (trying to calculate cost & time - does this save us more time on travelling?)

5th station - how to check if its opened ?

Visit Lake hakone-

Gotemba Premium Outlets - is this worth visiting and whether its far from lake hakone?

Do you think by 5pm we could leave Hakone to take train back Osaka (last day of JR pass validity) and finish all activites above and what activites or sighseeing should we start to do first in sequence?

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Day 9 - Osaka - free & easy

Day 10 - Bye bye Japan

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Since this is our very budget holiday, we wont be able to take flight to Hokkaido as we wish and I know that this would be a lot of travelling on train. So if we could take night train, that would be perfect because we can sleep and would reach the next destination on the morning and have whole day to go around.

Thank you , your guys help is much needed!!!

As these are the places we really wanted to go. And reasons why we want to use our JR pass on 2nd day instead of the first day because we want to fully utilised our 7 days of the pass.

Is this your first time to Japan? What date is "Day 1"?

This is a relatively fast pace due to all of the train travel. It is not impossible or bad, but you are trying to cover a lot of ground in a short time. In general, especially for a first trip, most people would recommend not trying to cover so much ground.

Take 9.15pm (Ueno) reach 12.22pm (Hakondate) using LTD. EXP AKEBONO

****** Or we might just take a mornng train on next day straight to Hakondate (but reaching there around 3pm- not very ideal time)

Not sure where you get that idea from, but the early morning (6:30am) trains from Tokyo/Ueno arrive at Hakodate at the same time as if you use the Akebono (ie 12:22pm). For me, I'd rather get a nice sleep and spend the extra evening time in Tokyo and then catch the morning train.

Day 4-Reach Hakondate 12.22pm and check in hotel.
-Visit Hakondate mount for night view

I suggest you visit the Hakodate Tourist Office (in the station) as they will have good maps plus tips on what to see and where to eat etc.

Day 5-Check out and go to Sapporo 3 hours. Take 7.04am train and reach 10.18am. Check in hotel & rest.

Depending on your hotel you may not be able to rest/check in that early. Also I would highly recommend a visit to the morning market in Hakodate, so I'd try and leave on a slightly later train from Hakodate (even an extra hour would be nice).

Day 6- NEED HELP HERE

We had an awesome time in Abashiri, but note that it is a pretty long day trip and you will need to book the Aurora boat in advance as you can basically only use one time slot if you do the day trip. We stayed overnight in Abashiri.

I can't offer suggestions on which other option to take.

IF possible take night train from Sapporo JR to Tokyo
Departure : 10pm and reach 10.36am

As with Akebono you will need to try and book this at Kansai Airport on your first day. Depends what exact date you try and do this as to whether or not you will have any luck.

Day 7-

Tokyo full day

Disneyland
Disneyseas
Ghibli Studio
Free and Easy

Obviously you can only do one of these in a day, and maybe none if you have to use the day trains to get to Tokyo. Alternatively you may be able to get back a little quicker if you leave Sapporo on the night of day 6 and then overnight somewhere in between (even Hakodate again).

Day 8- Check out hotel and plan to take luggage to take morning train to Hakone-

## I read internet that there is place to coin store luggage in all JR stations, so where is the best place for me to store my big luggage considering I;m coming from Tokyo and leaving for Osaka in the evening.

I'd either use a luggage delivery service to send from Tokyo to Osaka, or I'd probably just store it at Odawara station and use your JR pass to get to Odawara and then purchase the Hakone Free Pass at Odawara.

KAWAGUCHIKO station (is this the right station ?) - and seriously considering Hakone Free Pass (trying to calculate cost & time - does this save us more time on travelling?)

No Kawaguchiko is not in Hakone, it is in Fuji Five Lakes.

5th station - how to check if its opened ?

There is more than one fifth station, details here:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6901.html

Visit Lake hakone-

Lake Ashi, you can take a ride on the pirate boat as part of the Hakone Free Pass.

Gotemba Premium Outlets - is this worth visiting and whether its far from lake hakone?

Depends if you like shopping or not.

Do you think by 5pm we could leave Hakone to take train back Osaka (last day of JR pass validity) and finish all activites above and what activites or sighseeing should we start to do first in sequence?

I would not try and go to the fifth station, and I'd probably skip the Gotemba outlets. You can do the whole loop in a day though and be back at Odawara in order to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka.

Since this is our very budget holiday, we wont be able to take flight to Hokkaido as we wish and I know that this would be a lot of travelling on train. So if we could take night train, that would be perfect because we can sleep and would reach the next destination on the morning and have whole day to go around.

Just bear in mind that you may not arrive fully rested, and also that there may be booking issues depending on how busy it is when you arrive. You seem to have good backup plans for day trains though.

Enjoy your trip!

When you say 'we' are you travelling with children or teenagers?

Same as GC said, is this your first time in Japan?

Exactly when are your travelling?

I personally think you are trying to travel just too far by train to see too much in such a small time, I'd be exhausted -but that's just me. More than 24hours on a train (return) to spend only ~48hours in Hokkaido! I do realise you are trying to save money on accomodation using the night trains and get the most out of your JR Pass but at what cost? - travel fatique!) Hokkaido's a great place but I think for your amount of time and travelling by train I would change the plans and concentrate on other wonderful places with a fraction of the travel.

GC3 is quite correct you cannot do DisneySea, DisneyLand and Ghibli in one day. Choose one only.

GC3:-
As these are the places we really wanted to go. And reasons why we want to use our JR pass on 2nd day instead of the first day because we want to fully utilised our 7 days of the pass.

This is my 2nd time in Japan.First was in March 2011 only able to cover Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe and cant go to Tokyo due to raditation. And this time am travelling with 5 adults (family). I do know the train journey is long but flight to Sapporo is too expensive for our budget. So am trying to do my best here.


Is this your first time to Japan? What date is "Day 1"?
- Means we would like an open JR pass on 2nd day of arrival instead of 1st day. Some ppl suggested me to go Tokyo on 1st night,but I think quite a waste of a day.

This is a relatively fast pace due to all of the train travel. It is not impossible or bad, but you are trying to cover a lot of ground in a short time. In general, especially for a first trip, most people would recommend not trying to cover so much ground.


Take 9.15pm (Ueno) reach 12.22pm (Hakondate) using LTD. EXP AKEBONO

****** Or we might just take a mornng train on next day straight to Hakondate (but reaching there around 3pm- not very ideal time)

Not sure where you get that idea from, but the early morning (6:30am) trains from Tokyo/Ueno arrive at Hakodate at the same time as if you use the Akebono (ie 12:22pm). For me, I'd rather get a nice sleep and spend the extra evening time in Tokyo and then catch the morning train.

- I think the idea is to save acomodation fee and oh i didnt realised they have such an early train to Hakondate. Thank you for the highlight. Will re-consider this.


Day 4-Reach Hakondate 12.22pm and check in hotel.
-Visit Hakondate mount for night view

I suggest you visit the Hakodate Tourist Office (in the station) as they will have good maps plus tips on what to see and where to eat etc.
-Thank you for the mentioning this, will take note


Day 5-Check out and go to Sapporo 3 hours. Take 7.04am train and reach 10.18am. Check in hotel & rest.

Depending on your hotel you may not be able to rest/check in that early. Also I would highly recommend a visit to the morning market in Hakodate, so I'd try and leave on a slightly later train from Hakodate (even an extra hour would be nice).

-Yes Toyoko inn allow check in at 4pm, so maybe I just leave my luggage at the counter. And I think maybe I could visit morning market before going taking a bit later train to Sapporo- but the only thing am worry is that I might not have enough time in Otaru. I am interested in the music box factory , walking around otaru canal in the evening.



Day 6- NEED HELP HERE

We had an awesome time in Abashiri, but note that it is a pretty long day trip and you will need to book the Aurora boat in advance as you can basically only use one time slot if you do the day trip. We stayed overnight in Abashiri.

I can't offer suggestions on which other option to take.

[-I do realised that and really hope to experience something so interesting, not sure if 1 day trip is enough?


IF possible take night train from Sapporo JR to Tokyo
Departure : 10pm and reach 10.36am

As with Akebono you will need to try and book this at Kansai Airport on your first day. Depends what exact date you try and do this as to whether or not you will have any luck.
-22/2 , Wednesday. will try luck. go to kansai airport Jr station to book right- am flying in Friday 17 feb ?

Day 7-

Tokyo full day

Disneyland
Disneyseas
Ghibli Studio
Free and Easy

Obviously you can only do one of these in a day, and maybe none if you have to use the day trains to get to Tokyo. Alternatively you may be able to get back a little quicker if you leave Sapporo on the night of day 6 and then overnight somewhere in between (even Hakodate again).
- Am just listing out options, dont know which to choose, but then again depends time we have in tokyo...


Day 8- Check out hotel and plan to take luggage to take morning train to Hakone-

## I read internet that there is place to coin store luggage in all JR stations, so where is the best place for me to store my big luggage considering I;m coming from Tokyo and leaving for Osaka in the evening.

I'd either use a luggage delivery service to send from Tokyo to Osaka, or I'd probably just store it at Odawara station and use your JR pass to get to Odawara and then purchase the Hakone Free Pass at Odawara.
how much is the deliery service ? any english website to refer? I think Odawara sounds perfect. Hakone Free Pass - more saving using this if we are going around Hakone right ?

KAWAGUCHIKO station (is this the right station ?) - and seriously considering Hakone Free Pass (trying to calculate cost & time - does this save us more time on travelling?)

No Kawaguchiko is not in Hakone, it is in Fuji Five Lakes. - oh okay, so Odawara is the one

5th station - how to check if its opened ?

There is more than one fifth station, details here:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6901.html

Visit Lake hakone-

Lake Ashi, you can take a ride on the pirate boat as part of the Hakone Free Pass.

Gotemba Premium Outlets - is this worth visiting and whether its far from lake hakone?

Depends if you like shopping or not.


Do you think by 5pm we could leave Hakone to take train back Osaka (last day of JR pass validity) and finish all activites above and what activites or sighseeing should we start to do first in sequence?

I would not try and go to the fifth station, and I'd probably skip the Gotemba outlets. You can do the whole loop in a day though and be back at Odawara in order to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka.
actually is there any different in terms of views from fuji five lakes and 5th station, i thought it would be clearer from 5th station..

Since this is our very budget holiday, we wont be able to take flight to Hokkaido as we wish and I know that this would be a lot of travelling on train. So if we could take night train, that would be perfect because we can sleep and would reach the next destination on the morning and have whole day to go around.

Just bear in mind that you may not arrive fully rested, and also that there may be booking issues depending on how busy it is when you arrive. You seem to have good backup plans for day trains though.
actually i have like 4 backup plans in my hands with different routes, but think this would be the better one. For us coming Japan, is an expensive holiday and everyone trying to squeeze every moment in Japan to fully utised it. How I wish to be in Japan for a few months to discover city to city ... (dreaming mode)


Enjoy your trip! - THANKS :) your comments is really helpful and if you ever come to Malaysia, do drop me a comment :D


Stewy63
I will be travelling this 17 Feb ( another 2 days away!!) and last year for a week I visitied Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe so thought this year would go for Hokkaido since I stay 10 days . I know I'm ambitious, but Hokkaido is like one of my dream place to go.

This is my 2nd time in Japan.First was in March 2011 only able to cover Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe and cant go to Tokyo due to raditation. And this time am travelling with 5 adults (family). I do know the train journey is long but flight to Sapporo is too expensive for our budget. So am trying to do my best here.

No worries, your journey would be fine for me and as you have been to Japan before it won't be bad at all.

- Means we would like an open JR pass on 2nd day of arrival instead of 1st day. Some ppl suggested me to go Tokyo on 1st night,but I think quite a waste of a day.

I agree, set the activation date as the 2nd day, just note that you can book your trips as soon as you exchange your voucher for the actual JR Pass (at Kansai Airport JR Office), so try and book your trips straight away.


- I think the idea is to save acomodation fee and oh i didnt realised they have such an early train to Hakondate. Thank you for the highlight. Will re-consider this.

Understood.

-Thank you for the mentioning this, will take note

Also if you are interested in eating the king crab in the Hakodate morning markets a few of the stands will be cooking king crabs, I think a leg will be around 1000 yen or so, but fresh and tasty. Also there is an area in the middle of one of the undercover halls where you can catch your own squid and then they serve you fresh squid sashimi, can be a fun experience even just to watch.

-Yes Toyoko inn allow check in at 4pm, so maybe I just leave my luggage at the counter. And I think maybe I could visit morning market before going taking a bit later train to Sapporo- but the only thing am worry is that I might not have enough time in Otaru. I am interested in the music box factory , walking around otaru canal in the evening.

Understood, I guess you just have to decide which you prefer.

I do realised that and really hope to experience something so interesting, not sure if 1 day trip is enough?

I think an overnight stay in Abashiri would be "better" but it is possible as a day trip. There was a recent discussion about it here:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+87635

Note the information about online booking. Also someone recently phoned them to book and their English was ok so that may be an option if you decide to go to Abashiri. It was one of the highlights of our trip and certainly something you wouldn't see in Malaysia!

-22/2 , Wednesday. will try luck. go to kansai airport Jr station to book right- am flying in Friday 17 feb ?

Yes you can book on the 17th when you arrive.

how much is the deliery service ? any english website to refer? I think Odawara sounds perfect.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html
Usually your hotel can organise the delivery service when you check out.

I'd just store them at Odawara.


Hakone Free Pass - more saving using this if we are going around Hakone right ?

Yes, assuming you do the loop, just purchase at Odawara station.


actually is there any different in terms of views from fuji five lakes and 5th station, i thought it would be clearer from 5th station.

I have not been to fifth station but I think the overall view will be nice from Hakone, assuming you get a clear day. Not much you can do with your tight schedule.

actually i have like 4 backup plans in my hands with different routes, but think this would be the better one. For us coming Japan, is an expensive holiday and everyone trying to squeeze every moment in Japan to fully utised it. How I wish to be in Japan for a few months to discover city to city ... (dreaming mode)

The trains will be fine and I think you will really enjoy your holiday especially with all the snow!

We did Osaka - Tokyo - Hakodate - Sapporo - Otaru - Abashiri - Furano - Tokyo - Kyoto - home in 14 days, and also did Osaka - Tokyo - Hakodate - Okayama - Onomichi - Matsuyama - Takamatsu - Kyoto - Home in 10 days so I also like a fast pace and long train rides! I'd be pretty happy doing your itinerary.

THANKS :) your comments is really helpful and if you ever come to Malaysia, do drop me a comment :D

Thank you for your kind offer, I'm sure you are very excited considering you leave in two days time!

Any outdoor onsen to recommend in Sapporo or even Hakondate for a day visit if possible ? I want to have outdoor type , to see winter scenary while soaking...

I'm actually going to Hakodate on the 26th this month myself and am in the middle of planning my trip.

I plan on going to the Yunokawa Onsen station (30 min from Hakodate station by tram), then hang out near my friend's place, and up Mt. Hakodate for the night view (really very nice).

http://stay.hakonavi.ne.jp/yunokawa/ (japanese-only)

Near Hakodate station is the Asaichi market (open until noon), and next to it is the Yokocho Donburi Ichiba where you can get seafood dishes or ramen.

I'm looking at getting the tram day pass (600 yen), or the tram/bus pass (1000 yen). A 2-day pass is also available.

I need to find out if the bus going to Mt. Hakodate is still running, since it's included in the day pass.

Day 6:

Out of those options, I'd probably pick Asayima Zoo. But it seems like you are spending a LOT of your time in Japan just traveling places. I would reccomend trying to slow down and spend more time seeing and doing and less time sitting in a train or bus. Sapporo is a big city with lots of things to see. I'd reccomend checking out the TV tower for a great view of Odori Park or riding the Ferris wheel on top of on the building in Sapporo. Eat some famous ramen or even go shopping. We were just there for the snow festial and caught a performance of the Lion King Musical, which was amazing!


Day 7:
I recently visited both Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea, and I would reccomend seeing Disney Sea over Disneyland. Disneyland is great but it's nearly the same as the one in California and Florida and probaly Paris, but I haven't been to that one. So if you've been to it before, there's not much new to see. But Disney Sea is only in Japan and has so many amazing new things to see and do if you like Disney or themeparks. Here are some pics from our trip to Disney Sea: http://intotheringoffire.blogspot.com/2012/01/tokyo-holiday-disney-sea...

Disney Sea is definetly a full day excursion, and even then you won't see everything. So if you don't have a full day or maybe need some rest, then check out the Studio Ghibli Musuem.

I just came back yesterday night, it was great trip thanks to all the advice and info here :)

I went to Noboribetsu instead, and it was great, the bear park was good and interesting!!

When I came back from Sapporo by night train to Tokyo, i went to Hakone straight and stay a night in a ryokan with Onsen and next morning managed to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Mt Fuji !!!!

thanks to u guys :)

Hi Jessying

Glad to know you have a great trip. I was following the thread, as I am planning a trip myself. I am going there mid-May.

Was surprised to read you enjoy your trip to see the bear. This is actually the first post that I read of someone enjoying the 'bear trip'. Anyway, is there any other money/time worthy places in Nobo that you can recommend.

thanks.