Hello !
I bought 2 lonely planet books for Tokyo (
encounter, and the bigger version) and when searching for additional information on the internet I came across this forum, which is very helpfull (
housetek amongst people-great stuff)
I still have predominantly two questions unawnsered, which I couldn`t really find an awnser to browsing trough the Japan Forum so I was hoping some of you could help me out so here goes.
Details
WHEN: 7 ~ 15 November 2008
AGE: 26
HOW: Amsterdam to Tokyo, direct flight trough KLM
INTERESTS: Nightlife, sightseeing, culture(
food), geeking out (
arcades) taking pictures with my DSLR of interesting/cool stuff/scenery.
GO OUTSIDE TOKYO?: No, I have 1 week I will focus on Tokyo.
BUDGET: 1500 Euro (2,035 USD / 207,640 Yen) with possibly +900 Euro more
IF needed.
Questions
1. I am unsure where I should stay for the duration of my vacation in Tokyo I have figured out two options.
- Stay in a hotel in Shibuya, so that I can go out at night in walking distance and do not worry about catching the last train back to another area of Tokyo where my Hotel is located.
Also saves the fuss of finding the right train when slightly drunk
- Stay at the Oak hotel in Ueno which has a JR station nearby for easy access to Narita airport.
Website of the hotel with location details:
Oak Hotel
So what do you guys reckon ?
I am used to alot of festivals/parties and sleep deprivation partially due to work hehe, but I do not reckon I will be pulling "all-niters" nightlife trips every day since doing so would only cost you "daytime" the next morning.
Waking up very late is just a waste of time.
Would it be worth staying in Shibuya still ?
Or would Ueno be a more central location to go to and from locations in Tokyo ?
Reading about things, Roppongi hills sounds like a great place for me to go out as wel.
Which comes to question number 2.
2. I wanna get a feel of the travel times to and from areas in Tokyo which is partially also dealing with staying or not in Ueno.
How long would it take to go from the below list ?
Ueno to Shibuya
Ueno to Roppongi hills
Ueno to Shinjuku
Ueno to Akihabara
Ueno to Harajuku
Also how long would it take to go from the below list ?
Shibuya to Akihabara
Shibuya to Harajuku
Shibuya to Shinjuku
Shibuya to Roppongi hills
3. I will be only going for 1 week. A JR rail pass costs me 200 Euro which is 27,491 Yen or 270 USD.
Very expensive, will this be usefull to me ?
I will not be going to Kyoto as I dont think it would be worth it to be going to Kyoto for just 1 day (i.e return the same day) and there would be extra hassle with paying for another hotel, doing something about the hotel in Tokyo for not paying double etc. etc.
Personally - I do not reckon that I will spend more then that amount of money for the JR pass on individual train / subway tickets in Tokyo since I also reckon I would mostly be walking and exploring once I hit an area a day.
Tough I do have to keep in mind going to and from Narita is a 2000 yen ticket or something right ? What do you guys reckon ?
Well thanks in advance for reading so far
I would appreciate any awnsers given as thats one step closer to completing my planning :-)