Golden week travelling in Shikoku - Advice

Hi there, I'm new in this forum but was really impressed with the contents.

Anyway, I'm seeking some advice whether its a good idea to travel to Shikoku from Osaka during the Golden week period. Currently, I'm planning on leaving on the 2nd May and to travel back on the 5th/6th May. I'm not sure where's the best place to stop in Shikoku. Do you think stopping in Tokushima is a good idea?:?

Besides that, can you advice on the travel routes for the few days? At the moment, I have yet to make any bookings (bus nor hostel). I would appreciate if any of you could provide with some advice.

Thanks.

Regards,
uranus999

Just make sure you have reservations at where you're planning to stay. It shouldn't be too difficult to get a train seat. But, again, you may want to make reservations as early as you can. I was in Japan once during Golden Week and I had no problems.

Thanks for the reply. May I ask which train did you use to go to Shikoku and which of Shikoku did you stop at? Did you purchase the ticket online and how much does it cost? I'm not very sure but I heard that travelling by bus is also convenient, is that true?

So, which part of Shikoku did you travel to last time?

I've never been to Shikoku, but I've taken the Hikari Shinkansen to Kyushu and the line (the name escapes me right now) to Sendai during Golden Week. I generally will get my train reservations at Narita Airport's JR office when I exchange my Rail Pass voucher when I arrive in Japan.

I haven't taken any bus trips outside of chartered ones in Japan, so I can't help you there.

For a seven-day Rail Pass, with fees added in it generally costs me about $260. Hope this helps!

Oic, thanks a lot. I'll try checking it out. I think that Shikoku is not very far, only 3-4 hours bus ride from Osaka. That's the reason I was thinking of using the bus and not the shinkansen.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the information.

I just got back from my first trip to Shikoku this weekend. We drove down from Tajima and did a day in Tokushima and a day in Kagawa. I can't offer much help on the routes, but I did find Tokushima to be a nice city. We hit four of the 88 temples from the Shikoku Pilgrammage, had some excellent ramen at a place called Toudai (apparently famous), hit a couple of bars and went to a club. Lovely folks, good food, and beautiful weather.

Kagawa was a little less eventful, but they're famous for their udon so we had to try that. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between regular udon and the udon we had in Kagawa, but wheat do I know? Beautiful scenery, though, especially going over the bridges that connect Shikoku to Honshu.

Thank you for the reply. Well, its confirmed, I'll be going there for 3days, stopping by Tokushima and ending with Matsuyama. I'm definitely looking forward to the place, especially Tokushima and Iya Valley. The places look very nice from the pictures.

Unfortunately, I won't be driving. Most likely will make use of the bus or train service there then. Any other advice or tips are very welcomed