I've just been planning my own trip to Japan and thought I'd put together a similar deal. I've chosen some good rated hotels that are near stations and also included a 7 day rail pass for Japan so the majority of the train travel outside of Tokyo (for which you can use the metro) is included. This is just an example, for a longer itinerary you can include the alps, Mt Koyasan and longer in Kyoto.
This is for March 2017 and based on 2 people.
20th March
You'll leave London and fly with the Italian airline Altalia arrive in Rome later that evening. You don't leave Rome until the following afternoon so you can have an evening and morning exploring Rome. I've included the Aurelis Art Gallery Hotel as this is centrally located for metro lines and also for a quick morning of sightseeing.
21st March
Leaving Rome you'll fly to Tokyo arriving on 22nd March.
22nd-24th March
Once in Tokyo you will stay at the Shinjunku New City. It's near the JR station and the hotel also offers a free shuttle. I've picked this hotel for my October holiday as it had good reviews and is also a good price. You can easily access many places from the station but you will also return to this hotel at the end of your stay so whether it's shopping, food, or Tokyo Disneyland you'll have plenty to keep you occupied.
24th-26th March
Activating your railpass today you can head to Takayama where you will stay at the Country Hotel. Takayama is more rural and scenic and a good place to base yourself for visiting the alps, onsens, views of Fuji and getting out to the countryside.
26th-27th March
You'll head by train to Hiroshima today. With plenty of history you can visit the peace memorial and also take the ferry over to Miyajima (included with your railcard). You will stay at the highly rated Parkside Hotel which is ideal for public transport access.
27th-30th March
You'll take the short train journey to Kyoto today. This is one place I'm really excited to visit. Kyoto, with its old town, temples, geishas and if you have time a visit to the castle enroute from Hiroshima to Kyoto but you could easily spend a week in Kyoto. I've picked the Urban Hotel Kyoto as it is again centrally located and near public transport access.
30th March to 1st April
You'll return back to Tokyo for a final 2 nights at the Shinjunku New City again. You can easily move around the city or if you didn't want to stay in the same place you could choose another hotel.
You fly back to London with a short stop in Rome on 1st April.
Breakdown
Long haul flights book at Omega Flight Store £797.26 for 2
1 night in Rome Aurelis Art Gallery £58 @ hotels.com
2 nights in Shinjunku New City £173 @ hotels.com
2 nights Takayama Country Hotel £95 @ booking.com
1 night at Parkside Hotel Hiroshima £45 book via TripAdvisor/Raukuten
3 nights Urban Hotel Kyoto £211.79 book via TripAdvisor/hoteltravel.com
2 nights back in Tokyo £173 @ hotels.com
Book 2 x 7 day Japan Railpasses £434 @ jrpass.com
Total £1987.05/£993.52pp
Top comments
K0YS
22 Aug 1625#2
Tokyo is amazing. The most helpful people ever without even knowing any English.
If you're the type to complain nobody speaks English or are one to speak English loud and slowly to locals, stay at home and go to margate.
chickentikkaman
22 Aug 164#20
Rachelandgromit! very well put together! heat for effort!
archer1204
22 Aug 164#10
Personally there are so many different districts to experience but you do have to leave your hotel
bigworlds
23 Aug 163#30
Went for 12 days last september, did all the bits i wanted to see, whole vacation except tokyo was brilliant, loved Kyoto and Narita. Stayed in a airbnb in Kyoto right out by the big temple, being a private villa living among the local people was really good, way better than hotel, the houses inside are quite different from ours, i wasnt expecting it to be so basic in some respects , but very comfortable. We travelled on buses fine, a lot of instructions were in english. Saw geishas in the d
Tokyo is amazing. The most helpful people ever without even knowing any English.
If you're the type to complain nobody speaks English or are one to speak English loud and slowly to locals, stay at home and go to margate.
Website is in English and they do a similar pass to JR. Everything can be booked online too. Coaches are comparable to national express standard..
rachelandgromit
22 Aug 161#6
I am using them for part of my trip when I go to Mt Koyasan as the journey seems far simpler and cheaper than using the train.
Hyperdia is a good website for planning journeys although I sometimes found it allowed only a few minutes for changing trains when it may be a bit ambitious.
bigworlds
22 Aug 161#7
I thought tokyo overated and boring , i spent most of my time in hotel waiting for time to hurry up so i could go home!
rachelandgromit to bigworlds
22 Aug 162#8
Really? Why not head out of Tokyo then rather than waste time in your hotel? Until I've been I can't say whether it is boring or not but I'd rather have explored than spent time in a hotel wishing my holiday away!
SPRR0W to bigworlds
22 Aug 162#16
"Spent most of my time in hotel"
What did you expect then? Should've stayed home if you planned sitting around on your ass.
K0YS to bigworlds
22 Aug 163#19
you should have your passport revoked.
raeble to bigworlds
23 Aug 161#25
Wasn't a fan of Tokyo myself, it seemed to be a place you exist rather than live. Loved Kyoto on the other hand, wish that we had spent more time there than being based in Tokyo. The rail pass is valid on the Narita express, so folks should consider if they want to activate it from there and spend more time outside Tokyo at the beginning of their ten day break.
Abhugobaun
22 Aug 16#9
Be careful with omega flight store previously omega travel....i have heard lots of horror stories about last minute cancellation of flight tickets.
archer1204
22 Aug 164#10
Personally there are so many different districts to experience but you do have to leave your hotel
archer1204
22 Aug 161#11
Next time i go back i want to climb mt fuji at dawn
BraddersJ
22 Aug 161#12
Heat for effort
plunet
22 Aug 161#13
Great timing for the Sakura (Cherry Blossom) which really is a sight to behold; not only the blossom but also all the locals promenading and enjoying the blossoms, picnicking, it's a national celebration.
You need to book ahead for hotels in late March and April as they really get booked up and what is left is expensive. The prices stated are pretty good for that time of year.
Laura Palmer to plunet
22 Aug 16#24
What you mean to say is they all get drunk while pretending to admire cherry blossom :-)
rachelandgromit
22 Aug 16#14
The blossoms may be slightly later in April. Yes, hotels can sell out for the blossom season. I'm going for the Autumn colours in October and in the alps area hotels were selling out even 6 months ago for October.
lidds
22 Aug 161#15
Heat for the deal and effort. Would love to go just need to get time off work, and save up, and persuade the wife ....
carthur
22 Aug 16#17
If you can book the hotels with Expedia then you could get 12.6% through Topcashback.
rachelandgromit to carthur
22 Aug 16#18
The hotels with hotels.com should in theory be the same price with Expedia and Venere as they are all part of the same group.
chickentikkaman
22 Aug 164#20
Rachelandgromit! very well put together! heat for effort!
Laura Palmer
22 Aug 16#21
Aah the Shinjuku new city hotel. Stayed there some years ago. Always amused us how it's pronounced with a Japanese accent. Quite a contradiction really. :-)
rachelandgromit to Laura Palmer
22 Aug 161#23
:laughing: I've booked this hotel for myself, hoping it is better than the pronunciation!
fredswatchbox
22 Aug 16#22
Thank you very much for sharing with us this itinerary, the time and effort you put into this is obvious.
I may not stick to your schedule but it has motivated me to put my own trip to Japan together. :sunglasses:
anthony69
23 Aug 16#26
Wish I had the confidence to do all this with my partner.
Hadouken! to anthony69
23 Aug 162#27
You only live once for certain - no one wants to look back on their life and say 'I wish'.
Do it!
jumpinoffthbed
23 Aug 161#28
I'm going in November for 3 weeks, haven't really planned much yet so it's good to see how others do it. I'll be looking at hostels as well as hotels to keep costs down. I'll be getting the longer rail pass obviously.
MrZippo to jumpinoffthbed
23 Aug 161#29
You might want to look at airbnb, Only problem is that you would need googlemaps to find the place as sometimes the rooms can be located on the outskirts but you do get lots of value for money.
bigworlds
23 Aug 163#30
Went for 12 days last september, did all the bits i wanted to see, whole vacation except tokyo was brilliant, loved Kyoto and Narita. Stayed in a airbnb in Kyoto right out by the big temple, being a private villa living among the local people was really good, way better than hotel, the houses inside are quite different from ours, i wasnt expecting it to be so basic in some respects , but very comfortable. We travelled on buses fine, a lot of instructions were in english. Saw geishas in the d
bigworlds
23 Aug 16#31
Saw geisha in gion. Would 100% want to go back, i guess thats why i felt Tokyo was overated, its just a big city like anywhere, plus the hotel room was a postage stamp ,we were only there 1 day before catching train to airport.
sharonpaton2 to bigworlds
23 Aug 16#39
thanks
rachelandgromit
23 Aug 16#32
Check out Tokyo Inn hotels as they can represent good value too. We did look at Airbnb but actually found private rooms/apartments quite expensive in comparison to hotels as we found quite a few good deals/hotel codes and the locations of the hotels was generally better.
B1gFatCat
23 Aug 16#33
That's just made me streetview around Hiroshima again. Really enjoyed my visit there, nice atmosphere and a place I'd go back to. The short trip down the coast and across to Miyajima is worth it too.
Brade6
23 Aug 16#34
Unfortunately I doubt this will be around for the Olympics in 2020! :smirk::disappointed:
otherside27
23 Aug 162#35
Seems really expensive :/ There are plenty of amazing hostels in Japan at really decent prices with awesome staff who treat you like family so I've never bothered with a hotel as they're just too expensive. Also that flight is a little expensive - in 10 years that's the maximum I've ever paid (minimum £400ish but that was a while back and to Nagoya not Tokyo). Worth looking around if you're flexible with dates (Y) Hostels are Sakura (Asakusa), J-Hoppers (Kyoto/Takayama/Osaka/Hiroshima) and Khaosan (Fukuoka) that are all pretty good :smiley:
rachelandgromit to otherside27
23 Aug 16#40
The flight prices are under £400pp? I agree, there is cheaper if you are willing to use hostels and stay in ryokans that have shared bathrooms. Occasionally though when I put deals together with hostels or shared bathrooms people complain so I've picked good rated but cheap hotels. I'm using a mixture of hostels and hotels for my trip and some do have shared bathrooms but I know that isn't for everyone. In some cases I was getting hotels for around £60 a night when a private room with a shared bathroom on airbnb or in hostels was priced the same or more expensive! If you can get 10% off codes for hotels sometimes, but not always, you can get bargains. As always it's worth comparing once you know dates.
sharonpaton2
23 Aug 16#36
thanks
sharonpaton2
23 Aug 16#37
thanks
sharonpaton2
23 Aug 16#38
thanks for the info, you have put alot of thought into that cheers.
kwanzee
23 Aug 16#41
If this is really expensive then I must be an absolute fool , going to Japan in a month and paid £560 for flights, £330 for my 2 weeks JR pass, hotels are £600 in total. This sounds like a superb deal. Well done Rachel.
rachelandgromit
23 Aug 16#42
I'm there in October. Are you going end of September? You probably return just as I leave.
aydenthelion
23 Aug 161#43
I think its a very competative price considering the pound is weak against the yen. Its £1=130 atm as opposed to £1=180/90 last year when I went! If you take into account the almost 30% loss in the pounds value then you can see why this deal is a little pricey.
Hot from me! I wish I could go back :disappointed:
kwanzee
23 Aug 16#44
Awesome, I'll be there from 23rd Sept - 7th October :smiley: Tokyo until the 28th - Osaka - 1st - Kyoto - 4th - Miyajima - Hiroshima - 6th and back to Tokyo for a 1 night stay and flying back!
In terms of itinerary, I havn't planned my day to day that well, just jotted a long list of things and me and my friends will just sort of decide when we're there. If you have any suggestions then let me know :smile:
rachelandgromit
23 Aug 161#45
Oh we leave mid October so I'll be messaging you when you come back asking for tips. I'm a bit worried about the food, in China I lived on tofu and food on sticks!
We have 2 weeks too, but I'm flying into Osaka and out of Tokyo. My itinerary is Kyoto, Mt Koyasan, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Kanazawa, Takayama, Kamikochi, Kawaguchiko and Tokyo. I am however considering adding an extra night in Kyoto and cancelling Koyasan as there seems to be so much to do in Kyoto. We put in the alps as there is so much hiking and are hoping for gorgeous autumn colours and weather.
dogsballs
23 Aug 16#46
heat for the effort but tripadvisor is not as trustworthy as once was
rachelandgromit
23 Aug 161#47
You have to read a variety of websites. I tend to look on other websites too for reviews that are verified, eg that people have actually paid for their rooms and are writing reviews after their stay such as Expedia, hotels.com. In the end you have to make your own mind up though and take them all with a pinch of salt.
kwanzee
23 Aug 16#48
Thanks Rachel ! A quick google search on some of the places you'll be visiting look great, will definitely see If I can fit them into my schedule too. Tofu and food on sticks :P? Must have been rough ! I'll definitely message you with my thoughts and how the food is :smiley:
rachelandgromit
23 Aug 16#49
Well some of the food on sticks was nice, the strawberries in a sugar coating were nice yummy
otherside27
23 Aug 16#50
£60?! I've never paid more than £30/night and usually only pay £15! A hotel'll never beat that :laughing: Also I said £400 minimum not maximum as no, you'd not get a flight for under £400!
rachelandgromit
23 Aug 161#51
Accommodation can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it. Of course you can get dorm rooms, capsules and shared bathrooms much cheaper. For me, a hotel is much more cost effective for two of us in a room with a private bathroom for 2 people rather than £30pp in a hostel. For single travellers it can be much cheaper. Likewise you can pay hundreds of pounds a night. It all depends on what you want, where you want to be location wise. Same thing applies in any country. This is just an example but of course you can spend less or more to suit what you want and budget.
These flights are under £400 per person (or were at the time of posting). My flights were £170 but they were from Budapest and into Osaka and out of Tokyo.
redserpent
23 Aug 16#52
Been Japan 8 times now.
Not sure I would bother with Japan Rail passes, they are expensive. You have a small window in which to use them as your not going to be continuously catching trains they work out poor value (prices have gone up a lot). Plus you are limited on which trains you can catch.
Instead use flypeach (budget carrier) and catch internal cheap flight to far locations, its faster and cheaper. Use the money you save from the Japan railpass for a Ryokan / Hostel. This didnt use to be an option but it is now. JR passes are so last decade.
qbert20
23 Aug 16#53
This is awesome! Thanks :smiley:
GujSehambi
23 Aug 16#54
brilliant effort!! went to japan last year and absolutely LOVED IT!! i think i might try a capsule hotel next time though lol
id agree with not getting JR railpass too. the budget airline can be difficult with baggage so i tried a Willers night bus. if youre on a budget this bus runs during the night when youre asleep and so will save you on accommodation costs for that night too
JHL
23 Aug 16#55
Great price. Personally, I'd spend less time in Tokyo, more in Kyoto, and add beautiful, tranquil, Nara.
Confused
23 Aug 16#56
Remember to allow for the fares between Narita Airport and Shinjuku. There is is choice of routes and the one way fares are about:
Airport Limousine Bus: 3000 yen
JR Narita Express: 3110 yen
Keisei Sky Liner: 2670 yen
Keisei-Narita Sky Access Line: 1380 yen
Keisei Main Line: 1230 yen.
quagmireuk
23 Aug 161#57
Go to Osaka instead of Kyoto - Kyoto very unimpressive when I visited and on such a short trip Osaka I'd a better bet to experience modern vibrant Japan in my opinion.
effingandjeffing
23 Aug 16#58
i just excitedly told a collegue about this japan deal
she said: "err.. i'd never go there 'cos of all the chinese people,"
i'll show her your comments/replies tomorrow
thank you in advance
theyiddo
23 Aug 16#59
Wholeheartedly agree with you. My wife and I went there for the first part of our honeymoon. The coach from the airport dropped us nearby to our hotel in Tokyo, but we were not sure exactly where it was. We stopped a passerby and asked if they spoke any English and if they knew where the hotel might be. The man in question actually took us all the way to our hotel about a 7 or 8 min walk away.
Amazing people, and a beautiful country, just wish we could afford to go back there.
Chasloyal
23 Aug 16#60
I know Mrs Loyal wouldn't want to go Japan either so just leave her behind and I'll come with ya :smile: I have always fancied Japan, what with all the tech and the bullet train and the grub to name just a few things.
Heat for the effort and amazingly tempting trip OP
lidds
23 Aug 16#61
I'm sure she would be happy if I left her on a beach for a week and picked her up on the way back haha.
It does look an amazing city. I know I would come back with so much useless crap lol
K0YS
23 Aug 16#62
Same experience when looking for the Bape Ape store. Asked a random dude who turned in the opposite direction he was going and walked us straight to the store.
Chasloyal
23 Aug 16#63
Chasloyal
23 Aug 16#64
I think it's a big big dough drainer, not just being rather pricey but as you say so many things anyone who loves their 'stuff' would just want to bring loads back.
We recently sold our gaff in Austria so there's money about but we are looking at using the vast majority of it to get a place up Lincolnshire way.
Though anything spare left over is being considered for Chas's bucket list which consists of an Ashes tour down under, a nosey round New Zealand, Canada namely Toronto/Niagara way when the Leafs are at home to Montreal of course, Buenos Aries to take in the Superclásico and Japan :confused:
The only one that Mrs Loyal really wants to do is NZ and I guess she would suffer the cricket down under to a degree for the beaches, barbies and small doses of banter as she did come along to Edgbaston with me for the third day of the Pakistan test the other week and loved the atmosphere once the Hollies Stand had sunk a few beverages
silver145
23 Aug 16#65
Very nice to see japan deals and kudo's for the effort. As you have mentioned hotels are as cheap or expensive as you want it, it is clear that you want to travel at a certain standard (as would i) hence slightly more expensive night cost but that is neither here nor there. The travel ticket is also slightly below the norm price wise which is good :smiley:
rachelandgromit
23 Aug 16#66
To be honest I don't mind shared bathrooms but dorm rooms aren't for us. As a previous poster said you can get more basic accommodation cheaper and dormsrooms can be from £15-£30pp a night, but if there is two of you generally you may get a hotel for the price of two dorm beds. In some cases Airbnb can be cheaper or more expensive, it's personal preference I guess.
boboon
23 Aug 16#67
Went to Tokyo in March ( 1st time for my wife but i'd been a couple of times before about 20 years ago)
Flights thru KLM but with air France for £395 return from Edinburgh
Hotel was Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku cost around £460 for 6 nights
Spent the whole 6 days exploring Tokyo so loaded a pass for the metro/buses which worked out well for us
Ate out all the time and the most we spent on a meal inc drink was around £30 for the 2 of us apart from a night in Hard Rock which cost around £70 , even tracked down a veggie restaurant which was a little hard to find and closed fairly early but was well worth finding
Lonyo
23 Aug 16#68
I needed a locker for my bag at the train station, but it wouldn't accept the coins I had and I needed change, but lockers are quite uncommon (larger ones).
I asked a few random people if they had change (to exchange for my coin, I think I had a 500 JPY and it needed 2x100JPY or something). Unfortunately no one had any, but some guy walking past went somewhere, I presume a nearby shop, and got change for me, which was super awesome.
(The larger lockers are sufficiently rare and it was my main 20kg luggage bag, so I needed to get a locker since it was my last day)
archer1204
23 Aug 16#69
Whilst you in tokyo there are some truly amazing and scary theme restaurants also recommend going here
manapausejp
24 Aug 16#70
sigh!
although, to be fair to the inbred, when in Kyoto in April it was so full of Chinese tourists you could barely move. Interesting how it changed as when I used to live there 10 years ago it was always generally busy, but you'd never see that many Chinese...
manapausejp
24 Aug 16#71
sounds good, although I'm always sad people don't make it down to Kyushu. Fukuoka as well as having a comedy name, has amazing ramen, and is a good sized city with places like Nagasaki not far away on the train. My fave place though is the Aso region - it is stunningly beautiful, with amazing hot springs and ryokan, with the largest active volcano in Japan - the caldera circumference is 120km! Looking out from Daikanbo and imagining the whole thing 90,000 years ago is mind blowing. You can do hot mud sand baths in Oita too whilst seeing gorges and Yufuin close-by.
Also, the food is amazing - so varied even by region, and if you're not a fish eater like me, there is so much good meat to choose from (unlike the stereotypes)
us_agent2012
24 Aug 16#72
This is one of the best threads I've seen on here. We will be booking up as soon as flights for June 2017 are up. Thanks for posting this deal and thanks to all the useful comments above.
redserpent
25 Aug 16#73
Ill be in Japan (Osaka) in October.. trip number 9 here I come.
raeble
26 Aug 16#74
I found the rail pass to be good value, if you buy a one week pass and use it for the Narita Express & go to Kyoto or Osaka, you save money. On the And there is also a JR line in Tokyo that you can use it on. But the JR pass might not be good value for everyone, you should research before you buy one. You can only buy the rail pass outside Japan. There are six train types, you just can't use the two fastest types. Not really a big deal, there are plenty of trains and the 3rd fastest train is still travelling at 270 - 300kmph / 170 to 190 mph
As for flying folks should also check out ANA and JAL, they also have special foriegner rates - very big discounts - for internal Japan travel. You also have to buy this outside Japan.
redserpent
29 Aug 16#75
Peach and Jetstar are still cheaper.
rachelandgromit
29 Aug 161#76
For my two week trip (flying into Kyoto and out of Tokyo) I've found that I only need the JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass to cover our time in Kyoto with side trips to Kobe, Osaka, Kinosaki, Himeji then down to Hiroshima/ferry to Miyajima. I'll buy a seperate ticket from Hiroshima to Kanazawa and then for the alps I'm purchasing bus trips with the Nohi buses as the rail passes don't cover some of this area (my route is Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Takayama, Kamikochi and Kawaguchiko). I'll then get a bus from Kawaguchiko to Tokyo (Shinjunku).
As others have said, don't just presume you need a week or two week rail pass, particularly if you are flying into one airport and out of another. There are many exclusions on fastest trains and you may find they don't cover exactly your route.
I've been learning Japanese, so far my phrases are:
Hello
Gin & Tonic
Yes
Thank you
No
We lost
(not necessarily in that order)!
us_agent2012
29 Aug 16#77
Any ideas when these kind of flights would be up for a late June journey? Currently the best prices I am finding is around £650 with one stop. Over £1,000 direct but very happy with the way these flights worked.
rachelandgromit
29 Aug 16#78
I would say it's too early yet to get decent prices. I'd hold off until at least December/January.
us_agent2012
30 Aug 16#79
Thanks! Your deals are far too tempting
pooley91
2 Sep 16#80
I stayed at The New City Hotel last year - the decor is quite dated compared to other hotels, but we didn't mind as it was clean and basically just somewhere to bed down for the night after exploring Tokyo. The shuttle bus to/from Shinjuku station is also useful if you don't fancy the 15-minute walk.
Bumpydog
21 Sep 16#81
Is the food all just Chinese take away's ?
:smiley:
jumpinoffthbed
17 Oct 16#82
How did you get on? Any recommendations/advice?
kwanzee
17 Oct 16#83
Loved it, I would have made better use of my time if I were just on my own instead of 3 other buddies. Learn at least very basic Japanese to break the ice etc, depending on your itinerary, get a rail pass (£330) transport system is fabulous. I found it easy to get around anyway. Tokyo - bustling city, tons of shopping districts. Harajuku (fashion district) very close to Meiji shrine which is alright. Visit Hama rikyu gardens - lovely scenery! Head to Shibuya crossing, Asakasa I think its called..? There's a nice temple there. Tokyo tower is great in the evening, go to Akihabara if you're into gaming, central Tokyo to go to imperial palace. Tsujuki fish market if you wanna try fresh sushi.
Kyoto - tons of temples/shrines to see here, arashiyama bamboo groves, kiyomizudera temple, sadly can't remember the other places.
Osaka - didn't do much here because of my buddies, similar to Tokyo it seemed. Went to the aquarium which was really cool.
I went off by myself to Hiroshima to visit the peace park and really enjoyed it.
jumpinoffthbed
17 Oct 16#84
Cheers, I'll have 3 weeks so will definitely check out some of those. Did you have any problems finding hotels? I've got Tokyo booked but am winging the rest as I haven't planned a definite schedule.
kwanzee
18 Oct 161#85
I booked most of mine in advance, except for 2 nights. One in which I stayed in a capsule hotel (do research beforehand, the end of my capsule only had a flimsy shutter and kept no noise out which was annoying to say the least) second night I booked a hotel a day beforehand. You should make a schedule mate, it'll make things much easier.
Are you back yet? Can we have a run down of what you got up to, suggestions etc :smiley:
rachelandgromit
29 Oct 16#87
Are you back yet? Can we have a run down of what you got up to, suggestions etc :smiley:[/quote
I'm just at airport in Tokyo ready for home! It was amazing, loved every minute. My favourite was the Alps and seeing the autumn leaves, hiked two mountains and around 25 miles in two days in Kamikochi including climbing Mt Yake, the Nohi buses for the Alps were great for getting around. Climbing Mt Fuji was out of season but we did have great sunny weather so was able to clock up some miles around the 5 lakes area. Kyoto is great and my favourite in terms of cities. I'm not a great city lover but I could people watch in Tokyo all day. Hiroshima and Miyajima already also worth visiting. We only had two days of bad weather, one yesterday in Tokyo when it rained pretty much the whole day and another when we were travelling a fair bit and spent a good half day on bullet trains and buses.
Public transport buses, metro and trains surprisingly easy and the people are the friendliest and I've ever encountered. I also found everywhere so clean. We stayed in some budget hotels and a couple of hostels with shared bathrooms but private rooms (sometimes hotels were cheaper than hostels with shared rooms). All the accommodation we stayed in Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Takayama, Kamikochi, Kawaguchio Lake and Tokyo was brilliant so if you need specific recommendations let me know.
Food wise, you can get good ramen (noodle type dishes) for the equivalent of about £5, alcohol is expensive in restaurants, I'd say London type prices but if you head to a 7/11 or a store called Lawson you can get beer for around £1 a can or less. Also, little stores like Lawson do great fresh food such as noodle type dishes they microwave for you and you can then eat back at your accommodation if you dont fancy eating out all the time and Japenese bakeries are also good value and very yummy.
My current thoughts are if you can install Japenese toilets in the UK. They are fantastic!
Seriously, it's amazing. If you can get open jaw flights into one airport like Osaka and out of Tokyo like I did that will cut out some backtracking. I also found Tokyo a little overwhelming, and that was at the end of the trip! But that's probably as I love the countryside more.
jumpinoffthbed to rachelandgromit
4 Nov 16#88
Sounds like you had a brilliant trip! I fly to Tokyo tomorrow for 3 weeks and home from fukuoka. OK here are some questions you can probably help me with..
Did you prefer kyoto to osaka and how many days do you recommend?
Where did you base yourself to go the 5 lakes/fuji?
I've got 2 nights booked in nikko did you go?
Yes hotel info on Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Takayama, Kamikochi, Kawaguchio Lake would be great. Is it easy to find these nohi buses?
I'm still fairly unsure how much time to allocate to each place as I've never rushed around a country in only 3 weeks haha.
rachelandgromit
4 Nov 16#89
If you haven't booked hotels you may find availability poor, especially in sone places as it will be peak Autumn Leaves season in some.
I didn't go to Nikko, I preferred Kyoto than Osaka, we spent 4 nights in Kyoto and it's a good base, one of these days we went to Himeji castle.
In Kyoto we stayed here it is small, bit clean and only 5 mins walk from JR station. Some good cheap eats nearby and staff lovely.
In Hiroshima we stayed here. It was 10 mins walk from the station (good for catching the train to Miyajima) and we stayed here as it was cheaper than downtown and also close by for buses. It offered a great breakfast included, 24hr hot/cold drinks Inc soup and free laundry washing and drying. It was a bargain compared to hostels as we had a 15% Ebookers/Venere code.
In Kanazawa we stayed here as it was the cheapest we could find and it had a free shuttle from the station to the hotel, typical business hotel but clean and well located, free breakfast too.
In Takayama we struggled to find anything and this was the cheapest option and I was a bit nervous about it here as we knew our private room would be divided with others with just a curtain for the door and the room division walls didn't go straight to the ceiling, eg there were gaps. There was also shared bathrooms. It was actually perfect, immaculate clean and some of the most friendly staff and kitchen facilities were also perfect. Close to bus station for highland buses too. My only criticism was the beds, the hardest and most uncomfortable in the whole of Japan, it was like a small piece of foam on a rock had slab.
Kamikochi is expensive, like very expensive and it may not even be open when you go now. The autumn leaves will be out in force in many other areas though.
For the Fuji area we based ourselves in Kawaguchio as I'd read this was one of the best places for views of Mt Fuji.
We stayed here and I loved it. Imagine our surprise when I opened the blind to find Mt Fuji right in front of my eyes from the window, I'll try and find a couple of pics now. Shared bathrooms but perfect and the owner was lovely, gave us some Mt Fuji postcards when we left.
Buses very easy, everyone will help you, the Japanese were so friendly and accommodating.
rachelandgromit
4 Nov 16#90
Here are some, third pic is Mt Fuji as we were walking around the Lakes area, first one is Arashiyama nr Kyoto. The rest are from the amazing Alps and Kamikochi.
rachelandgromit
4 Nov 16#91
First pic is view from Kawaguchio Station Inn at about 6:55am (you can see the clouds lingering at the bottom of Mt Fuji), then the Alps again, last two are Mijajima. Catch the ferry from Hiroshima, with the JR pass. Lovely day, hike to Mt Misen if you can, without taking the cable car (it was quite tough), watch your rail pass and maps as the wild deer will eat anything!
jumpinoffthbed
4 Nov 16#92
Thanks for the info, looks beautiful I hope the weather is as good for me.
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Opening post
This is for March 2017 and based on 2 people.
20th March
You'll leave London and fly with the Italian airline Altalia arrive in Rome later that evening. You don't leave Rome until the following afternoon so you can have an evening and morning exploring Rome. I've included the Aurelis Art Gallery Hotel as this is centrally located for metro lines and also for a quick morning of sightseeing.
21st March
Leaving Rome you'll fly to Tokyo arriving on 22nd March.
22nd-24th March
Once in Tokyo you will stay at the Shinjunku New City. It's near the JR station and the hotel also offers a free shuttle. I've picked this hotel for my October holiday as it had good reviews and is also a good price. You can easily access many places from the station but you will also return to this hotel at the end of your stay so whether it's shopping, food, or Tokyo Disneyland you'll have plenty to keep you occupied.
24th-26th March
Activating your railpass today you can head to Takayama where you will stay at the Country Hotel. Takayama is more rural and scenic and a good place to base yourself for visiting the alps, onsens, views of Fuji and getting out to the countryside.
26th-27th March
You'll head by train to Hiroshima today. With plenty of history you can visit the peace memorial and also take the ferry over to Miyajima (included with your railcard). You will stay at the highly rated Parkside Hotel which is ideal for public transport access.
27th-30th March
You'll take the short train journey to Kyoto today. This is one place I'm really excited to visit. Kyoto, with its old town, temples, geishas and if you have time a visit to the castle enroute from Hiroshima to Kyoto but you could easily spend a week in Kyoto. I've picked the Urban Hotel Kyoto as it is again centrally located and near public transport access.
30th March to 1st April
You'll return back to Tokyo for a final 2 nights at the Shinjunku New City again. You can easily move around the city or if you didn't want to stay in the same place you could choose another hotel.
You fly back to London with a short stop in Rome on 1st April.
Breakdown
Long haul flights book at Omega Flight Store £797.26 for 2
1 night in Rome Aurelis Art Gallery £58 @ hotels.com
2 nights in Shinjunku New City £173 @ hotels.com
2 nights Takayama Country Hotel £95 @ booking.com
1 night at Parkside Hotel Hiroshima £45 book via TripAdvisor/Raukuten
3 nights Urban Hotel Kyoto £211.79 book via TripAdvisor/hoteltravel.com
2 nights back in Tokyo £173 @ hotels.com
Book 2 x 7 day Japan Railpasses £434 @ jrpass.com
Total £1987.05/£993.52pp
Top comments
If you're the type to complain nobody speaks English or are one to speak English loud and slowly to locals, stay at home and go to margate.
All comments (92)
If you're the type to complain nobody speaks English or are one to speak English loud and slowly to locals, stay at home and go to margate.
http://willerexpress.com/st/3/en/mb/bus/
Website is in English and they do a similar pass to JR. Everything can be booked online too. Coaches are comparable to national express standard..
Hyperdia is a good website for planning journeys although I sometimes found it allowed only a few minutes for changing trains when it may be a bit ambitious.
What did you expect then? Should've stayed home if you planned sitting around on your ass.
You need to book ahead for hotels in late March and April as they really get booked up and what is left is expensive. The prices stated are pretty good for that time of year.
I may not stick to your schedule but it has motivated me to put my own trip to Japan together. :sunglasses:
Do it!
Hot from me! I wish I could go back :disappointed:
In terms of itinerary, I havn't planned my day to day that well, just jotted a long list of things and me and my friends will just sort of decide when we're there. If you have any suggestions then let me know :smile:
We have 2 weeks too, but I'm flying into Osaka and out of Tokyo. My itinerary is Kyoto, Mt Koyasan, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Kanazawa, Takayama, Kamikochi, Kawaguchiko and Tokyo. I am however considering adding an extra night in Kyoto and cancelling Koyasan as there seems to be so much to do in Kyoto. We put in the alps as there is so much hiking and are hoping for gorgeous autumn colours and weather.
These flights are under £400 per person (or were at the time of posting). My flights were £170 but they were from Budapest and into Osaka and out of Tokyo.
Not sure I would bother with Japan Rail passes, they are expensive. You have a small window in which to use them as your not going to be continuously catching trains they work out poor value (prices have gone up a lot). Plus you are limited on which trains you can catch.
Instead use flypeach (budget carrier) and catch internal cheap flight to far locations, its faster and cheaper. Use the money you save from the Japan railpass for a Ryokan / Hostel. This didnt use to be an option but it is now. JR passes are so last decade.
id agree with not getting JR railpass too. the budget airline can be difficult with baggage so i tried a Willers night bus. if youre on a budget this bus runs during the night when youre asleep and so will save you on accommodation costs for that night too
Airport Limousine Bus: 3000 yen
JR Narita Express: 3110 yen
Keisei Sky Liner: 2670 yen
Keisei-Narita Sky Access Line: 1380 yen
Keisei Main Line: 1230 yen.
she said: "err.. i'd never go there 'cos of all the chinese people,"
i'll show her your comments/replies tomorrow
thank you in advance
Amazing people, and a beautiful country, just wish we could afford to go back there.
Heat for the effort and amazingly tempting trip OP
It does look an amazing city. I know I would come back with so much useless crap lol
We recently sold our gaff in Austria so there's money about but we are looking at using the vast majority of it to get a place up Lincolnshire way.
Though anything spare left over is being considered for Chas's bucket list which consists of an Ashes tour down under, a nosey round New Zealand, Canada namely Toronto/Niagara way when the Leafs are at home to Montreal of course, Buenos Aries to take in the Superclásico and Japan :confused:
The only one that Mrs Loyal really wants to do is NZ and I guess she would suffer the cricket down under to a degree for the beaches, barbies and small doses of banter as she did come along to Edgbaston with me for the third day of the Pakistan test the other week and loved the atmosphere once the Hollies Stand had sunk a few beverages
Flights thru KLM but with air France for £395 return from Edinburgh
Hotel was Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku cost around £460 for 6 nights
Spent the whole 6 days exploring Tokyo so loaded a pass for the metro/buses which worked out well for us
Ate out all the time and the most we spent on a meal inc drink was around £30 for the 2 of us apart from a night in Hard Rock which cost around £70 , even tracked down a veggie restaurant which was a little hard to find and closed fairly early but was well worth finding
I asked a few random people if they had change (to exchange for my coin, I think I had a 500 JPY and it needed 2x100JPY or something). Unfortunately no one had any, but some guy walking past went somewhere, I presume a nearby shop, and got change for me, which was super awesome.
(The larger lockers are sufficiently rare and it was my main 20kg luggage bag, so I needed to get a locker since it was my last day)
although, to be fair to the inbred, when in Kyoto in April it was so full of Chinese tourists you could barely move. Interesting how it changed as when I used to live there 10 years ago it was always generally busy, but you'd never see that many Chinese...
Also, the food is amazing - so varied even by region, and if you're not a fish eater like me, there is so much good meat to choose from (unlike the stereotypes)
As for flying folks should also check out ANA and JAL, they also have special foriegner rates - very big discounts - for internal Japan travel. You also have to buy this outside Japan.
As others have said, don't just presume you need a week or two week rail pass, particularly if you are flying into one airport and out of another. There are many exclusions on fastest trains and you may find they don't cover exactly your route.
I've been learning Japanese, so far my phrases are:
Hello
Gin & Tonic
Yes
Thank you
No
We lost
(not necessarily in that order)!
:smiley:
Kyoto - tons of temples/shrines to see here, arashiyama bamboo groves, kiyomizudera temple, sadly can't remember the other places.
Osaka - didn't do much here because of my buddies, similar to Tokyo it seemed. Went to the aquarium which was really cool.
I went off by myself to Hiroshima to visit the peace park and really enjoyed it.
http://www.timeout.com/tokyo
https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/japan/tokyo/
http://www.japan-guide.com/
Bottom link in particular is extremely useful.
I'm just at airport in Tokyo ready for home! It was amazing, loved every minute. My favourite was the Alps and seeing the autumn leaves, hiked two mountains and around 25 miles in two days in Kamikochi including climbing Mt Yake, the Nohi buses for the Alps were great for getting around. Climbing Mt Fuji was out of season but we did have great sunny weather so was able to clock up some miles around the 5 lakes area. Kyoto is great and my favourite in terms of cities. I'm not a great city lover but I could people watch in Tokyo all day. Hiroshima and Miyajima already also worth visiting. We only had two days of bad weather, one yesterday in Tokyo when it rained pretty much the whole day and another when we were travelling a fair bit and spent a good half day on bullet trains and buses.
Public transport buses, metro and trains surprisingly easy and the people are the friendliest and I've ever encountered. I also found everywhere so clean. We stayed in some budget hotels and a couple of hostels with shared bathrooms but private rooms (sometimes hotels were cheaper than hostels with shared rooms). All the accommodation we stayed in Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Takayama, Kamikochi, Kawaguchio Lake and Tokyo was brilliant so if you need specific recommendations let me know.
Food wise, you can get good ramen (noodle type dishes) for the equivalent of about £5, alcohol is expensive in restaurants, I'd say London type prices but if you head to a 7/11 or a store called Lawson you can get beer for around £1 a can or less. Also, little stores like Lawson do great fresh food such as noodle type dishes they microwave for you and you can then eat back at your accommodation if you dont fancy eating out all the time and Japenese bakeries are also good value and very yummy.
My current thoughts are if you can install Japenese toilets in the UK. They are fantastic!
Seriously, it's amazing. If you can get open jaw flights into one airport like Osaka and out of Tokyo like I did that will cut out some backtracking. I also found Tokyo a little overwhelming, and that was at the end of the trip! But that's probably as I love the countryside more.
Did you prefer kyoto to osaka and how many days do you recommend?
Where did you base yourself to go the 5 lakes/fuji?
I've got 2 nights booked in nikko did you go?
Yes hotel info on Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Takayama, Kamikochi, Kawaguchio Lake would be great. Is it easy to find these nohi buses?
I'm still fairly unsure how much time to allocate to each place as I've never rushed around a country in only 3 weeks haha.
I didn't go to Nikko, I preferred Kyoto than Osaka, we spent 4 nights in Kyoto and it's a good base, one of these days we went to Himeji castle.
In Kyoto we stayed here it is small, bit clean and only 5 mins walk from JR station. Some good cheap eats nearby and staff lovely.
In Hiroshima we stayed here. It was 10 mins walk from the station (good for catching the train to Miyajima) and we stayed here as it was cheaper than downtown and also close by for buses. It offered a great breakfast included, 24hr hot/cold drinks Inc soup and free laundry washing and drying. It was a bargain compared to hostels as we had a 15% Ebookers/Venere code.
In Kanazawa we stayed here as it was the cheapest we could find and it had a free shuttle from the station to the hotel, typical business hotel but clean and well located, free breakfast too.
In Takayama we struggled to find anything and this was the cheapest option and I was a bit nervous about it here as we knew our private room would be divided with others with just a curtain for the door and the room division walls didn't go straight to the ceiling, eg there were gaps. There was also shared bathrooms. It was actually perfect, immaculate clean and some of the most friendly staff and kitchen facilities were also perfect. Close to bus station for highland buses too. My only criticism was the beds, the hardest and most uncomfortable in the whole of Japan, it was like a small piece of foam on a rock had slab.
Kamikochi is expensive, like very expensive and it may not even be open when you go now. The autumn leaves will be out in force in many other areas though.
For the Fuji area we based ourselves in Kawaguchio as I'd read this was one of the best places for views of Mt Fuji.
We stayed here and I loved it. Imagine our surprise when I opened the blind to find Mt Fuji right in front of my eyes from the window, I'll try and find a couple of pics now. Shared bathrooms but perfect and the owner was lovely, gave us some Mt Fuji postcards when we left.
Buses very easy, everyone will help you, the Japanese were so friendly and accommodating.