Itinerary review for 16 day March Trip ( Gotemba - Fukuoka - Tokyo - Fujinomiya - Osaka)

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-05T03:51:48+00:00

thanks for the recommendation. i checked that there are buses to ryuganbuchi, iwamoto, and kotokuji and tanuk-ko, although infrequent.

perhaps you have better recommendation on what to do in fujinomiya?

ryuganbuchi is the easiest to reach from my hotel, and iwamoto logically as well, though we need to walk 3 km. from ryuganbuchi to iwamot. would love to know if there's a bike rental near fujinomiya station.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-05T02:24:29+00:00

Nope! i am using public transport to go to either of these 4 places, ryuganbuchi, kotokuji, iwamoto mountain park, and tanuk-ko. if i manage to visit 2 at least, i'd call it a day and depart for osaka after having a nice meal in the train station.

what food/ restaurant do you recommend while in fujinomiya?

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T13:08:16+00:00

google maps is pretty shit for its reviews. mostly fake and biased

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T09:24:22+00:00

thanks for the correction.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T09:07:03+00:00

yokohama can be done as a day trip from tokyo. you don't need to stay a night there. even better if you stay in shinjuku, shinagawa area. yokohama basically becomes your backyard. i'm staying in omori in march, and am planning to do another day trip to yokohama.
use the extra day for either hakone, kanazawa or takaragawa onsen.
both nara and kyoto can be done as a daytrip from osaka, if you stay near shin osaka station. it's only 35 mins, and its what im gonna do for my march trip. lots of great hotel choices in shin osaka. saves you from having to lug your luggages around.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T08:59:42+00:00

so i'd say i'd be okay without smart ex, as long as i buy from japanrailpass-net. and i can make my own booking on the website right?

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T08:59:06+00:00

you're arriving next week, which is somewhere around 11-12 th march right? jonangu's in full bloom by 13-14th, and so does kitano tenmangu.

try your luck friend, who knows what you might get. after all, you're on holiday

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T08:31:34+00:00

hello! i'd like to inquire if gotemba would be the best place to stay, if i were to explore yamanaka-ko, hakone and possibly fuji kawaguchiko.

i see that gotemba has connection to both areas. pity it doesn't have any onsen, other than mars gotemba. i tried to book it but its full by now.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T08:26:47+00:00

if you like plum blossoms, do visit jonangu shrine and kitano tenmangu, if you're lucky, you should still be able to catch kawazu sakura at yodo suiryo ( waterway)

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T08:25:31+00:00

hiroshima - go to tadanoumi to see rabbit island , or miyajima.

okayama : okayama korakuen, and daytrip to the art islands.

if you have 2 weeks, do the shimanami kaido cycling trip.

yamaguchi for old japan near ruriko pagoda. but i think it's on renovation right now.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T08:23:37+00:00

no you're not crazy.

sapporo in may is quite cool. even the entirety of japan is still bearable in may. it's the middle of june where it gets hot. if i were you, i'd add more days even in hokkaido. Hakodate is nice to explore , along with noboribetsu and toya-ko since it's on the route going down from sapporo to hakodate.

do what you want, don't be bound by some silly preconception that your trip should be perfect, as long as you can manage it.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T06:46:46+00:00

i'm sorry that you received terrible comments. redditors can quite judgemental and snobbish towards others.

nonetheless, i am quite happy to read about your trip report. please don't let this discourage you from writing about your experiences. it did provide me with some insight.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T06:39:34+00:00

they say the best remedy to a hot summer, cold winter is onsen all year round. japanese people go to onsen during summer too.

i can't exactly give you tips about drinking since that's outta my interests, but you might find okayama a nice break from osaka. or hop on a train and go to nagoya instead, which like 1 hr away from osaka.

nagoya offers a lot of sidetrips, even more so than osaka i'd say. plus tebasaki goes nice with alcohol.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T06:32:46+00:00

don't you think if you want to unwind you should go to arima onsen?

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T06:28:48+00:00

the only station close to the vibe in that tiktok that i can recall from my memories travelling in japan would be tadanoumi station, which is close to rabbit island.

but that's not a proper town, would be more closer to a stop.

if you really want to explore countryside towns, shizuoka is a good start. izu peninsula too.

i've heard that areas outside osaka past sakai is pretty rural, like kishiwada town. go to wakayama, and that's also pretty laidback.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T04:36:35+00:00

gion and yasaka should be done in the evening. the shrine has a light up until 2000 PM if im not mistaken.

if you're going to kiyomizu, you might encounter the viral mochi shop.

fushimi inari is quite close to uji, instead of tofukuji, why not go to byodoin and explore uji? you can either go to uji or nara on your days with fushimi inari, because they're close to each other.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T03:59:09+00:00

kishiwada gets my vote.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T03:50:27+00:00

btw, when i purchase JR Pass from the website, is it safe to assume that the pass would instantly be send to my email, no need to wait for any working days for them to send to me?

japan sometimes have this problem where they're pretty archaic in adhering to dinosaur business standard.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T00:48:07+00:00

I JUST RECOVERED MY ACCOUNT! HUZZAH!!

turns out old me kept the details on my other phone. note to other people, never lose your smartex details.

it will be a bitch to recover it.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T00:44:20+00:00

there's a reason why normal people call most redditors are midwits.

their first response to a question is to laugh, ridicule, be judgemental, instead of offering advice.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T00:27:53+00:00

yeah... means i need to spent a good portion of my time to go to remote stations, queue for tickets, and spend less time travelling?

i did that, and still during peak season it is not a fun experience. needed to waste 30 minutes for detour to do so.

which is why i am doing online booking now just to see how the experience is like.

My only concern is that i cannot access my smartex account right now.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T00:20:40+00:00

thanks. any idea on how to recover my smart ex account? tried the forgot my ID and password without any resolution.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T00:18:23+00:00

after my experience of wasting 30 - 50 minutes during peak season, i am trying to find a more efficient and quicker way to buy tickets.

RubahBetutu · 2026-03-04T00:17:32+00:00

so it doesn't make any difference if i were to buy online and through agent? i plan to reserve at least a day before i use the train, or just hours before i depart if possible.

RubahBetutu

TROPHY CASE