へ and に particles = interchangable?

Are these particles interchangeable when describing movement to some place or direction?

For example in sentence 今日は何処に行きたいか would be it be ok to use へ and what diff would it make? I checked out a few websites and the explanations they give are kinda ambiguous. I know に is more versatile and is used when asking time etc, but when dealing with locations they are both used and i can't tell when to use them correctly.

Also: when you want to so "from one location to another" - for instance

I want to go from here to there - would you use から and まで particles like you do with time?


Thx for help.

Hello there Sleepless. I haven't spoken to you before here on JREF, so I guess I should say.. Welcome to JREF!!

To answer your question:
へ is used to denote a general direction.
に is used to point to a specific place.

For example:
東京へ出発する
とうきょうへしゅっぱつする
Toukyou e syuppatu suru
To leave for Tokyo

東京に着いた
とうきょうについた
Toukyou ni tuita
I arrived in Tokyo

Hm.. Maybe it's not such a good example but I couldn't think of a better one. I guess it's a difference in nuance. You're right in observing that に can also be used for time ("I left at three"). It can also be used for things like denoting who you spoke to ("I said to Mr. A") etc. But that's a whole different subject and I don't know if you want to elaborate on that.

If you want to say "I want to go from A to B", I'd say:
ＡからＢへ行きたいです
ＡからＢへいきたいです
A kara B e ikitai desu

から and まで could be in sentences like:
ＡからＢまで列が並んでた
ＡからＢまでれつがならんでた
A kara B made retu ga narandeta
There was queue from A to B

So basically that means more like "from A to B" in sense that it expresses the limitations or borders. (God I'm bad at explaining this!!)

And again, it can also be used in time-related subjects:
１から３まで働いた
１から３まではたらいだ
1 kara 3 made hataraita
I worked from 1 to 3

Hm. I hope my explaining hasn't made matters worse for you!