Since Jetstar are running such an insane deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/206349 I'm interested to see what everyone else is planning to do. Personally I have no idea but I'm going to be over there for 3 weeks for my wedding anniversary so I'm looking forward to having a look around and sorting out where we will be going and when.
How long have you set to have over there and what do you plan on doing?
If I was going, Id spend most of it in shikoku and kyushuu, eating, walking and sightseeing. If you require English speaking staff, stick to the beaten trail
I'm currently in Japan now from the jetstar special and fly home tomorrow night. Will have been here 12 days.
Our main stays route has been
Osaka
Imabari
Matsuyama
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Fukuoka
Tokyo
If anyone is interested then I can post more info when home as posting on phone is not fun.
Couple of things: if you have an idea of your travel plan then you may not need a jr rail pass. If you can't utilise it then it's a waste of money. We got cheaper tickets for our long leg here - hiroshina to nagasaki
Look at Couch Surfing to save money. We stayed with locals for 5 nights. Great way for to meet others.
Check to see if where you are have day travel passes. Great for not worrying about coins. But depends on your plans for the day.
Cash is king. Not unsual to carry 60000 yen around. Only time we have used a credit card so far has been at 2 supermarkets and 1 dept store.
Please do share…
We are travelling in Feb-March using this deal flying to Osaka..
I'm going in December (already planned from a sale earlier in the year, which was more expensive :|) we are doing 2 weeks. First week we will spend traveling the district's in Tokyo. Second week we will have a JR 7 day pass to take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima, then to Kyoto, then back to Tokyo to stay in an outer suburb to visit a friend for a few days.
When we went earlier in the year we travelled Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Such an amazing place. You could spend 2 weeks seeing the district's in Tokyo.
I got a little too excited and booked 33 days! I would greatly appreciate any input on how I can partition my holiday.. ie: how many days in tokyo, kyoto etc… Must see's and the destinations I could probably skip.. cheers guys
This is a really decent amount of time. Its hard to say how long to spend in each location, depends on your interests. Obviously if you like shopping the bigger cities but if you like nature a wildlife then your itinerary would be different. Also depends of the season you are going. If it's winter or rainy season you may be indoors more often. If it's summer you may catch some festivals. I would recommend Hiroshima, Kobe, Nagasaki, Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka to visit. Hokkaido snow festival is amazing but its only on a few days in Feb.
thanks heaps mate.. lots of planning to do.. We will be there April 5 to May 8th
Hey towards the end of your trip it will be super busy as it's Golden week. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2282.html Best to do all the touristy things first and spend that busy week based in one city just shopping and chilling out. During golden week you may struggle to get accommodation and a seat on the bullet train. I use to live in Japan and that week is dreaded.
I highly recommend people go try out some whale dishes in that restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo. It's only around $16 AUD for a dish complete with side dishes and rice. It's called Kujiraya.
Disneyland
Kyoto is mandatory, and if you do Kyoto you may as well do nara as it is quite close.
Hiroshima and miyajima are also a fantastic day out and are nearly as mandatory as kyoto.
Takayama is great as someone pointed out by quite a long trip on train.
Don't worry too much about Tokyo unless you really have your heart set on something.big cities tend to be alike, same with Yokohama.
Kyushu and Hokkaido have plenty, but again are quite a hike. Also, don't go to the fish market in Tokyo, they are fed up with tourists.
Hey thanks for this tips. I m not sure what will i do in Tokyo but got flight to tokyo .do you suggest I stay in Tokyo on day of arrival n departure and other 5 days somewhere like Kyoto? I'll b travelling with 3 yr old and wife.
One tip I can give you is that Narita (the town where Tokyo airport is) is worth a day in itself. There is a lovely old shopping district there and Narita temple is a nice day out.
Not sure if you have a rail pass or not. Definitely do Kyoto. Nara is great for little kids as there are deer everywhere and they are quite tame and beg for food all the time. So you could do a day there as well.
If you do Tokyo, make sure you arrange a ticket for the Ghibli museum before you go as they are quite precious with requiring a booking in advance. Worth doing as there really aren't many things for kids in Tokyo.
Nikko is quite close to Tokyo, and there are a lot of monkeys about. Not so much in winter though, when its too cold. Kids like monkeys though, but they can be a bit aggressive.
And you might as well give Tokyo bloody Disneyland a thought if you have a kid. TBH, I didnt think the rides were much better than Dreamworld etc, but its Mickey bloody Mouse, innit?
Thanks. No , i have not got JR pass or anything yet. Still trying to figure out where should i stay and what should i do. And not planning to do Disneyland. But will definitely do Nara. I'll be there in next june so i guess it'll be summer over there.
Sorry, but I don't agree with a lot of paizuri's comments.
If you are only in Japan for 7 days, I would just stay in Tokyo rather than wasting time visiting Kyoto for the following reasons.
1. It will save you about $800 not having to buy a JR Pass.
2. It will save you from spending around 1 days worth travelling to and from Tokyo and Kyoto.
3. There is more than enough things to see in Tokyo for such a limited time.
Regarding Paizuri's other comments:
1. Again, if you only have 7 days in Tokyo, take the Narita Express or Keisei Skyliner straight to Tokyo upon arrival. Don't waste your time in Narita as there is far far better shopping and temples in Tokyo. For shopping I would recommend Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya. For temples look up Asakusa and Meiji Shrine.
2. If you do end up going to Nara (Nara is awesome btw, if you had more time), then watch your kids feeding the crackers to the deer. They get aggressive especially when you have about six trying to steal it off you at once.
3. Like paizuri mentioned, buy the Ghibli tickets before leaving. That is if you are a fan of Ghibli movies.
4. There are a lot of things for kids in Tokyo. Sunshine City in Ikebukuro has a few indoor theme parks to visit, Odaiba has a lot of kiddy playgrounds, Lego world etc etc. They can go to cat cafes, the toy shop in Harajuku. There's much more honestly cbf writing a list.
5. Dreamworld does not compare to Disneyland in anyway. lol. The rides are more thrilling but that's whats expected. You don't go to Disneyland/Disneysea for the rides.
Happy to answer anything else.
@krazed15: Thanks a lot for detailed response. No shoppings in my list as mostly on overseas trip our goal is to do sightseeing and try to avoid spending time in shopping and visiting malls. No and i m not big fan of Ghibli movies. But yes we'd like to see temples and other places. I don't know why but i would visit hiroshima if it'll be economical. How about i spend 2-3 nights in Tokyo and another 2-3 in Kyoto?
Also which part of Tokyo i should consider for accomodation. I was looking at Airbnb and found few accomodation in $100/n range.
Do you fly in and out of Narita? If you want to buy the JR Pass for 7 days, you could do 2-3 in Tokyo and Kyoto, but you will also have to head back to Tokyo to depart. You'll find yourself doing a lot of travelling on the shinkansen aswell. Hiroshima is doable but only if you are starting the day in Kyoto/Osaka, a trip from Hiroshima back to Tokyo I think is about 5-6 hours.. It's entirely up to you what you want to do. If you are only going to Kyoto to see Nara, I would definitely skip it in favour for more time around Tokyo. If you don't like Ghibli, skip it. Kyoto and Tokyo are very different, like modern and historical. If you don't like temples that much you could get away with just seeing Nikko, Asakusa and other side trips from Tokyo. There's mount Takao near Tokyo (sidetrip) that has monkeys and sights if you like that..
In terms of accommodation, just find anything in your price that's affordable. Personally haven't done AirBnB before, was going to for our trip but decided not to. For accommodation just make sure its one of the main stops on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo (which is the main loop to get around).
Going back to paizuri's comment: Kyoto is not mandatory. I never left Tokyo in my first trip to Japan for 10 days and there simply wasn't enough time to see half of what Tokyo had to offer. If you were going for say 10 days or more then I would say Kyoto is mandatory. :)
@krazed15: Thanks again for inputs.Yes i'll be flying in and out of Narita. I'll also keep in mind your suggestion about Yamanote line.
@cniminc: I'm with Paizuri on this. I had spent equal time at both and next time I will skip Tokyo. Worth spending equal time at both if this is your first trip to Japan though, see which you prefer!
Tokyo's fish market was interesting with the huge tuna but that's about it for the market.
I'm more or less following this itinerary:
www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_tokyo_11.html
Should be good for me since it's my first time to Japan.
Its a pretty good itinerary - be prepared to be templed out a little early though.. some people can't get enough of them and some feel if you've seen one you've seen them all. If you want to catch the high tide where the temple looks like it is floating on water check with your hotel when this is as its really beautiful. You will probably have to get up early but well worth it.
Will be first time to Japan for me and I'm watching this thread intently, especially for ideas for a family with 2 young kids (7 and 5).
So far all I know is that we will definitely do a couple of days in Tokyo Disneyland.
Other things which look interesting:
- Legoland
- Kidzania - sounds crazy fun!
Any other family friendly ideas?
Probably won't do too much travelling to other places due to the little legs - maybe 1 other town/city, but mainly will be centered around Tokyo.
Also looking to hire apartments via BNB instead of hotels - as I hear they are tiny and might be difficult to cram 4 of us in 1 room.
Mega Pokemon Center in Ikebukuro Sunshine City. Also in that building there's a Pokemon Cafe, Anime theme park, ice cream theme park and Namja Town.
Even the apartments through Airbnb are tiny! We had trouble fitting two of us. Haha good luck
Cat Cafes, Akihabara, Kyoto on the Shinkansen, sushi, hopefully Ghibli Museum
so excited!!!!!!!!
My holiday in mid-November to December is now fully booked and sorted including accommodation. I'm very excited about going back as I love everything Japan.
Took me almost 16 hours to do up my itinerary and book everything but I'm kind of overly thorough when it comes to stuff like that :).
what's your itinerary like?? looking for ideas to start planning mine
I'll link it when I get home as it's in a spreadsheet calendar format.
Here's my itinerary.
http://i.imgur.com/3BX5y4G.jpg
A lot of the big lists are just ideas on what to do, not what i can actually do as i wont have enough time. Since this is the second time i've been over there, there are a few missing places of note, mainly Nara (from Kyoto), Nikko (from Tokyo), overnight in Kawaguchiko (from Tokyo) of which i'd say are must do locations.
I've starred things on my google maps that i'd like to go to as it will be handy to access from my phone/tablet whilst over there. Goodluck with organising your trip.
Toyota plant tour and kaikan museum. The tour was excellent though the journey getting there is a real drag.
Http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/facility/toyota_kaik…
Aah when you're big in Japan-tonight
Big in Japan-be-tight
Big in Japan ooh the eastern sea's so blue
Big in Japan-alright
Pay! - Then I'll sleep by your side
Things are easy when you're big in Japan
Oh when you're big in Japan
This small summary of our trip we had recently to Japan
Osaka
Stayed 2 nights at Hiro's Guest house in Korea town. 15 minute walk from nearest station but was the most reasonably priced place. Owner was fantastic , the room great and there was the hussle and bussle of weekend markets there on weekends.
Whilst in Osaka we checked out the area around Umeda Tower, Bamboo forests and Temples at Arawashi, Golden Temple and Gio at Kyoto, Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park, and Tsurumi Park. Also got to go to a Mexican festival - yummy food and beer.
At the end of the 3rd day we caught a ferry overnight to Imabari so that we didnt have to pay for a nights accommodation plus travel (its included in the ferry trip)
Imabari
We couch surfed for two nights with a local (free accommodation) who was retired. We travelled around and visited Rabit Island, Matsuyama Castle and surround, Imabari castle, heaps of local view points.
Hiroshima
An early morning ferry trip and we arrived in Horishima where we stayed at the World Friendship Center. The location was very close to transport and only a 10 minute walk to the World Peace Centre. Very reasonably priced and included breakfast. Through them we were able to have a one on one talk with the daughter of a bombinb survivor (free), and a guided tour of the World Peace Centre (free).
Saw Kagura at the local theatre which is well recommended. They only perform once a week and on a wednesday night.
Did a day trip to Miyajima island and found it very worthwhile. Great to wander to the streets and surround hills, then a climb to the top of Mt Misen.
Very easy to get around on foot and rail cars.
Nagasaki
Caught the Shinkenson as we were travelling a long way and stayed at APA hotel which we got a great deal via Japanican website. Location was down near the harbour and close to transport, shopping center and what appears to be a central area. It also included breakfast.
First day we managed to get on a trip to Battleship Island (it was used in Skyfall, Jame Bond) which goes for over 4 hours. We snagged a last minute space on one of the tours but I recommend booking if you want to do this as 3 other companies we checked and called were full.
Visited the usual temples, shrines, Bombing World Peace Centre and Museum, and the Dutch District. In the evening we got a free bus to the top of local mountain which has an Onsen that overlooks the city. The Onsen has baths both inside and out. It also had an all you can eat buffet for only 1800yen.
Fukuoka
Accommodation was couch surfing.
Got to see a baseball game which was fantastic. I know nothing but the atmosphere was fun and exciting. Lots of colour and noise.
Hired bikes for the day and cycled all over the city to see local markets, the local castle ruins, beach front, and as you do in Japan go to an Oktober Festival.
One full day was spent travelling and visiting Dazaifu.
Tokyo
Early morning flight from Fukuoka so we got almost full day before our 8.30 flight. We spent the day around Shibuya as that is where it was all hussle and bussle. Plenty of side street of things to see and do, close to the park for the temple where we saw 3 weddings, and Harajuku.
To save time we caught the fast train into Tokyo from Narita as it only took 36 minutes in comparison to 90 minutes on the slow and cheap alternative.
Just reread what I wrote and some was waffle. Oops. Hopefully this is of use.
Just make sure you lookout for Nato.
?
My bad it's spelt Natto. it's fermented beans and has been described as vomit many times by those who have tried it, including Japanese locals I know lol
Rainy but better than the summer heat in August!