We went to Kyoto, Takayama, and Osaka Japan. These are what we did. – Part 3

We spent 9 days at Kansai area and Takayama Japan. Here is the sharing of our trip.

See Part 2 here.

Day 5: Universal Studios Japan (USJ) 1 day trip

On day 5, we spent the whole day in Universal Studios Japan. It is located in Osaka. The train ticket from Kyoto to USJ is included in our Takayama-Hokuriku area tourist pass. Thanks to the Hyperdia app, we managed to reach USJ without any issue. Even before the theme park was open, we already arrived at the main entrance, queueing to enter the park. When you see the long queue, you will understand why pre-purchase the tickets (and possibly the express passes) and go early are so important.

When the gate was open, we directly “ran” to the Harry Potter section without hesitation. It is the hottest spot in the whole USJ. When we reached the Harry Potter section there was already long queue. Thanks to the express passes we purchased, we were able to skip so queue and enjoy the 4D ride earlier. We also enjoyed Hippogriff ride very well. We spent a lot of time taking a lot of photos in the Harry Potter section.

We also enjoyed other rides and shows in Universal Studio Japan. One problem with the shows there is the presenters speak Japanese, which we do not understand at all.

After sunset, we revisited Harry Potter section to have a different view at night.

Day 6: Kyoto to Takayama (via Kanazawa)

This day we travelled a long way from Kyoto to Takayama. The train and bus tickets are all included in the Takayama-Hokuriku tourist pass. First, we took JR express train from Kyoto to Kanazawa. You may want to reserve the seats in advance, but it is not necessary to do so. After Kanazawa, we took bus from Kanazawa to Takayama, via Shirakawa-go. The reservation is necessary, but free of charge. Before departure from Kyoto, we asked the hotel staff in Kyoto for help to call and do the reservation.

When we arrived at Takayama, it was already after 3pm. We have reserved two-night stay in Futarishizuka Hakuun. It is on the hilly side of the town. We used the public phone near the Takayama station to make a call to the hotel. The hotel staff was friendly and could speak fluent English. He sent a van to pick us up from the bus station. After checked-in, we walked to the town area and have dinner there. We also went to the Boss supermarket to buy some snacks.

Day 7: Takayama + Shirakawa-go

We spent the morning at the town area. There are two morning markets around the area. Both are within walking distance. You could buy some souvenirs from the market, and enjoy the view around the town. We passed by a post office while walking around the town area. We sent a few postcards from the post office.

After lunch, we took bus from Takayama to Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO world heritage site. The view there was magnificent. There is a observatory deck at the top of the hill. You could choose to either walk or take bus to the observatory deck. The bus fair is 200 yen per person.

After back from Shirakawa-go, we took a bus from Takayama bus station to the Teddy bear museum nearby. The bus ticket was included in the tourist pass too. Unfortunately we were a bit late, it was already the last bus. So we have to walked from the museum back to the hotel.

Day 8: Takayama to Osaka

It was another long bus + train ride from Takayama to Osaka. Once we reached Osaka, we spent a few hours walking around Osaka. At night, we checked-in at Kanku Joytel Hotel, which is not far from Kansai airport.

It seems that Takayama is closer to Nagoya airport than Kansai airport. In future, tourists can consider arrive at and return from different airport. For example, Osaka – Nagoya make a good pair.

Day 9: Kansai airport

We took a free ride from Kanku Joytel hotel to Kansai airport, and this day marked the end of our Japan trip.