7 days in Japan ..Kanazawa / Takayama / Shirokawago / Nagoya

Hi LAM,

So Kanazawa & Takayama for sightseeing and Nagoya for shopping? Sound good to me!
Let's have a look at your itinerary in a little more detail. Adding a visit to Shirakawa-go is a great plan, I visited the area last March and it was very beautiful. The light-up in the evening is especially wonderful and for this alone it is worth staying the night. If you go for a nights stay in one of the traditional houses, consider arriving the the (after) noon. Shirakawago is very beautiful but also a little small and spending a full day and night there may be too much.

I would also recommend using the bus from Kanazawa - Shirakawago and also use the bus from Shirokawago - Takayama. This way you can save yourself some travel time (instead of going back by bus to Kanazawa and then by rail to Takayama).

As for travel costs, here's a little breakdown of train ticket prices:
Kansai Airport - Kanazawa ¥ 9,540
Takayama - Nagoya ¥ 5,670
Nagoya - Kansai Airport ¥ 8,060

For a total of ¥ 23,300. This would not cover the price of a 7 day JR Pass yet (¥ 28,300). So for now I would recommend buying normal tickets. The bus to Shirakawago unfortunately is not covered by the JR Pass.

For reference if you do take the train from Kanazawa - Takayama it would add ¥ 5,440 using limited express trains.

When you are in Takayama and want to relax at an onsen, consider a visit to Okuhida or Gero Onsen. Both make for great trips!

Lastly if you want to do some last minute shopping before taking your flight back home, visit the premium outlets of Rinku town just one station away from Kansai Airport it makes for ideal last minute shopping.

I hope this helps!
Daniel

Hi Daniel san,
Thank you so much for your quick and useful advice.
I have changed my plan a bit as below:-

Option1:-
Day 1 : arrive Kansai aiport @0540 and will direct to Takayama ( understood from other website, there is a daily direct train service... can I make it ??)
Day 2 : and stay overnite at Gero onsen
Day 3 : depart to Takayama and sightseeing
Day 4 : Takayama / Okuhida (make use of the winter promotional ticket ??)
Day 5 : Takayama / depart to Nagoya
Day 6 : stay in Nagoya
Day 7 : depart to Kansai airport on 21:20 fight

Option 2:-
Day 1 : arrive Kansai aiport @0540 and will direct to Nagoya
Day 2 : depart to Gero onsen and stay overnite
Day 3 : depart to Takayama and sightseeing
Day 4 : Takayama / Okuhida (make use of the winter promotional ticket ??)
Day 5 : depart to Shirogawa-go /Takayama
Day 6 : Takayama / depart to Nagoya
Day 7 : depart to Kansai airport on 21:20 fight

Which of the above schedule is better ?
Dont want to spend much time on repeat traffic and save transport cost to have a economical trip.
As for Shirogawa / Gero onsen / Okuhida is quite flexiable , thanks to recommend the best way & relevant cost.

Appreciate your advice, as before.
Thanks again
Cheers
Daisy

Hi Daisy,

The differences are small but I think that option two makes for a little more relaxed travel as you don't have to hurry upon arrival at Kansai Airport and you should have enough time to explore Nagoya if you depart Takayama in the morning. Also if you did go for option 1 you would add extra travel time by going to Takayama first and then to Gero Onsen. This because Gero onsen is directly on the route between Nagoya - Takayama, so basically you would be back tracking by going to Gero Onsen after Takayama.

With the new additions and given that you would go with option 2, your tickets would be as follows:

Kansai Airport - Gero Onsen ¥ 12,310
Gero Onsen - Takayama ¥ 2,390
Takayama - Nagoya ¥ 6,070
Nagoya - Kansai Airport ¥ 8,460

This adds up to ¥ 29,230 or ¥ 930 in savings with the 7 day JR Pass (¥ 28,300) so right now I do think that a JR Pass would be worth considering.

I hope this helps too!
Daniel

Hi Daniel san,
Thanks for your swift reply.
So if I take option 2 :-

Day 1 : Kansai airport to Nagoya downtown (yen ??)
Day 2 : Nagoya to Gero Onsen (yen ??)
Day 3 : Gero onsen to Takayama (by local bus)
Day 4 : Takayama / Okuhida ..... (make use of the JR winter promotional ticket ?? >>>
Day 5 : Shirogawa-go to Nagoya (by bus)
Day 6 : Takayama / depart to Nagoya (by JR = yen6,070)
Day 7 : depart to Kansai airport on 21:20 fight (by JR = yen8,460)

In additional to the query of day 4 , the JR winter promotional ticket offer, what's the difference then ?
Thanks again for your kind response.
Cheers
Daisy

Hi Daisy,

Unfortunately I am not very familiar with the Takayama winter ticket and there seem to be some limitations to it, such as where it is available I can't really give any advise regarding it.

As for the other tickets
Kansai airport to Nagoya ¥ 8,460
Nagoya to Gero Onsen ¥ 4,700

Note that you can check route information, including ticket price yourself using Hyperdia.

Cheers :)
Daniel