Two weeks in Japan

In Steve Kramer writes:

Bob Myers wrote:
"abcd" wrote in message
m...


I'm flying into Narita because that's what I was instructed to do.
Erroneously apparently... Anyway the flight is confirmed and payed for
by now so there's not much I can do.


It still might not be too late to change; you may wish to
check with whoever is arranging your travel. Especially
if you're starting your work in Kyoto immediately upon
arrival - I certainly wouldn't want to have to show up
to a meeting or whatever after just arriving in Narita and
THEN following that up with the train trip you'll need to
get to Kyoto. Yes, Narita really IS that inconvenient
if Kyoto is your destination; KIX is greatly preferable.

Actually, I think you'll find that you can get from Narita to Kyoto via
the Shinkansen faster than you can get from KIX via either the bus or
the combination of trains, depending on the time of day, even though the
distance is double. Getting to and from KIX is a real pain!

Nonsense. Haruka from KIX to JR Kyoto is 80 minutes, every half hour.
Narita to Kyoto via the best connection and fastest Nozomi is probably
4 hours. But if he wants to see Tokyo, it makes sense to fly in there,
and the train trip has its own attractions.

Steve Kramer
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com

David

In "necoandjeff" writes:

"IIJIMA Hiromitsu" wrote in message
...
Yes, Narita really IS that inconvenient
if Kyoto is your destination; KIX is greatly preferable.

Actually, I think you'll find that you can get from Narita to Kyoto via
the Shinkansen faster than you can get from KIX via either the bus or
the combination of trains, depending on the time of day, even though the
distance is double. Getting to and from KIX is a real pain!

Not always so.
When you get to KIX, then you'll just ride JR's express "Haruka" going to
Shin-Osaka and Kyoto directly. The express just takes 75 minutes to Kyoto.

Plus it's about one hour from Narita before you can even get on the
Shinkansen.

75 minutes, most of the time.

David

"David Kinny" wrote in message
...
....
BTW, if you do go to Kanazawa (to see the Kenrokuen garden!) spend a night
at Yamanaka onsen about 20? miles south ... book in to just about any
onsen
hotel there and they'll collect you by car from the station .... again a
pretty tour guide would be a real advantage here.

.....

yes, kenrokuen indeed! and the original samurai settlement just behind the
kohribo shopping centre in downtown kanazawa. from kanazawa can return
to tokyo via nagano (winter olympics '98), very scenic route - sea of japan
coastline and the japanese alps in one go.

+++

"David" wrote in message
...
....
looking up from my book and ... Wow! Himeji castle and Miyajima temple
(on an island near Hiroshima) are must sees, you could do both in a day
from Kyoto if you get up early. Advertise for a pretty Japanese from
....

yes, i thoroughly recommend these two spots - himeji (midway between kyoto
and hiroshima, castle is just 15min straight north from train station), and
miyajima (45 min west from hiroshima: train from hiroshima-miyajimaguchi,
then short ferry ride to miyajima island - the floating shrine awaits you).
and of course, do spend at least half a day at the hiroshima a-bomb memorial
park, which has a splendid museum.

+++

David wrote:

In (abcd)
writes:

Thanks very much everyone for your answers.

I'm flying into Narita because that's what I was instructed to do.
Erroneously apparently... Anyway the flight is confirmed and payed for
by now so there's not much I can do. My working days in Kyoto will be
full-time, so I'll have no time for anything else. But I'll spend some
additional days there after the meetings.

Narita express is 75 minutes to downtown, Skyliner is a bit slower but
cheaper, best choice probably depends on where you're staying in Tokyo.

Kyoto.... The Skyliner ends up in an out-of-the-way station at Ueno.

Digicams in Akihabara are probably cheaper than Europe, especially if you
shop around and haggle. Make sure you get one that has English menus,
and TV out that matches your TV system.

So far as I know, major digicam manufacturers include English as a
choice in the menus, and have at least PAL/NTSC choices. They also have
the English manuals available, either behind the counter at the store or
by download (well, Canon does, so I assume others would too).

Here's the model I think you want at Yodobashi (huge camera store) for
Y40,300, you can probably do better than that.

http://www.yodobashi.com/enjoy/more/i/22576688.html

If the OP doesn't want to take the 15% points at Yodobashi (he'd have to
wait until the next day to use them) and feels like living dangerously,
this might be more useful:

http://tinyurl.com/3zty5

Or:
http://www.kakaku.com/prdsearch/deta...MakerCD=58&Pro
duct=COOLPIX+5200#ShopRanking

__________________________________________________ ______________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!

"David" wrote in message ...
In "necoandjeff" writes:

"IIJIMA Hiromitsu" wrote in message
...
Yes, Narita really IS that inconvenient
if Kyoto is your destination; KIX is greatly preferable.

Actually, I think you'll find that you can get from Narita to Kyoto via
the Shinkansen faster than you can get from KIX via either the bus or
the combination of trains, depending on the time of day, even though the
distance is double. Getting to and from KIX is a real pain!

Not always so.
When you get to KIX, then you'll just ride JR's express "Haruka" going to
Shin-Osaka and Kyoto directly. The express just takes 75 minutes to Kyoto.

Plus it's about one hour from Narita before you can even get on the
Shinkansen.

75 minutes, most of the time.

Plus transfer time, and depending on the time your flight arrives it
could be a major pain and will contribute to your jet lag considerably
if you take a three hour nap on the shinkansen (or more, if you sleep
through your stop!).

John W.
"Jet Lag Master"

Steve Kramer wrote in message ...
IIJIMA Hiromitsu wrote:
Yes, Narita really IS that inconvenient
if Kyoto is your destination; KIX is greatly preferable.

Actually, I think you'll find that you can get from Narita to Kyoto via
the Shinkansen faster than you can get from KIX via either the bus or
the combination of trains, depending on the time of day, even though the
distance is double. Getting to and from KIX is a real pain!


Not always so.

Correct. Not always so. Which is why I didn't say it was 'always so.'
That is why I added the phrase "depending on the time of day." I should
have also added 'depending on the part of Osaka or Kyoto that you wish
to get to or start from, but I didn't think that a lawyer would be
responding.

When you get to KIX, then you'll just ride JR's express "Haruka" going to
Shin-Osaka and Kyoto directly. The express just takes 75 minutes to Kyoto.

That's wonderful if you are going to kita Osaka or downtown Kyoto. But
not if you are going to Sakai, Uji, or Yawata. Kyoto isn't just Kyoto
Station either. All these areas are very large, and there are many ways
to travel that work well for one area but not as well for another. But
then, you know that.

I can't imagine any situation where flying into Narita to travel to
Kyoto is preferred over KIX. The time to get to Kyoto station from KIX
is about the same as going from Narita to Tokyo, where you then have
to lug your bags to a new train and take a three hour or so ride to
get to Kyoto station. If you're going to any part of the Kyoto
Hinterlands you'll probably be taking a local line from Kyoto Station
regardless.

But he might want to see Tokyo as well, which makes flying into/out of
Narita a good idea. My concern would be falling asleep on that long
train ride and getting terrible jet lag.

John W.

"Steve Kramer" wrote in message

When you get to KIX, then you'll just ride JR's express "Haruka" going
to
Shin-Osaka and Kyoto directly. The express just takes 75 minutes to
Kyoto.

That's wonderful if you are going to kita Osaka or downtown Kyoto. But
not if you are going to Sakai,

Well, if you go to Sakai from KIX. Take a bus to Itami airport, from there a
plane to Narita,
then take the taxi to Tokyo, the Shinkansen to Kyoto and from there the
Haruka direction....KIX.


CC

That's wonderful if you are going to kita Osaka or downtown Kyoto.
But not if you are going to Sakai,

For Sakai, take Nankai's express instead of JR. No exchange needed.
For Uji, take Haruka and change trains at Kyoto.

================================================== ======================
(Mr.) IIJIMA Hiromitsu,
aka Delmonta http://www.ht.sakura.ne.jp/~delmonta/

That's wonderful if you are going to kita Osaka or downtown Kyoto.
But not if you are going to Sakai,

For Sakai, take Nankai's express instead of JR. No exchange needed.
For Uji, take Haruka and change trains at Kyoto.

================================================== ======================
(Mr.) IIJIMA Hiromitsu,
aka Delmonta http://www.ht.sakura.ne.jp/~delmonta/