Traveling Japan

[mimicarey]

Hi everyone

I do need lots of advice and help on my planning to my upcoming tour

I am planning to land in Osaka and visit Japan.

Duration of stay is about 11 days.

Now. in my mind, I thought to make the best of it. I am thinking I wanna go to Tokyo too, as well as Kobe, Kyoto and perhaps Hiroshima.

Now tell me, if I have sufficient time to do all that?

How would you plan the itinerary?

How much wud it cost for
- Universal Studio?
- Tokyo Disneyland?
- Bullet train ticket?

Anyone has any good recommendation of cheap affordable hotels in the city area for those mentioned? Price?

Hope to gather as much information as possible, in the soonest time.

Arigato~

[JohnBraden]

How much research have you done? Have you looked up any websites, such as the USJ or Tokyo Disneyland sites to see what the admittance fee is?

Now. in my mind, I thought to make the best of it. I am thinking I wanna go to Tokyo too, as well as Kobe, Kyoto and perhaps Hiroshima.

Now tell me, if I have sufficient time to do all that?

It all depends on how much time you want to spend in each place and what you want to see.

I've been to a few spots, so I can hit what I want to see again. My fourth trip to Japan will be 18d/17n and will be as follows:

3/06 Land
3/07 Tokyo
3/08 Nagoya
3/09 Nagano and Matsumoto
3/10 Kyoto
3/11 Ishinomaki, Matsushima, Sendai and Fukushima
3/12 Nikko
3/13 Train to Osaka, Sumo tournament
3/14 Osaka
3/15 Iga and Kobe
3/16 Okayama, Takahashi and Fukuoka
3/17 Kanazawa
3/18 Hiroshima and Miyajima
3/19 Train back to Tokyo
3/20 Yokohama
3/21 Kamakura
3/22 Tokyo
3/23 Leave

Now, I love train travel and I'm going to have to in order to accommodate all that travel. I will be using a 14-day JR Pass, since the 45,100 yen price will definitely be worth the over 150,000 yen worth of rides I will be using.

As far as hotels go, it all depends on what you want in one. Price? Amenities? Location?

When are you going? Please give us some more details and perhaps we can steer you where you want to go.

[mimicarey]

well planning sometime in May

will probably go for 10-12 days and gonna move around different places to make the best of it, but without getting too stressful or anything
hotel choice is not a big issue as long as affordable, clean and convenient to move around.

[mimicarey]

and of course, thoughts are all over the place and nothing concrete in mind, which is what I hate because I just don't have much idea about places and all...

[JohnTerry123]

Hello Mimicarey,
According to my travel experience, Japan is one of the best and most affordable place for traveling. I have already gone two times to japan in my last travel tour and I never faced any problem their because the Japanese are very helpful and they always co-operate with the travelers. Also, there are lots of travel guilds are available to help new travelers.

[samokan]

Originally Posted by mimicarey

well planning sometime in May

will probably go for 10-12 days and gonna move around different places to make the best of it, but without getting too stressful or anything
hotel choice is not a big issue as long as affordable, clean and convenient to move around.

hmm that is around golden week here in Japan, theme parks and Hotel will be packed at that time, so try to booked early ...

[pat4u]

JohnBraden,

Your plan seems to be very well planned.

I am planning to visit Japan to this month end and still don't know where to go, stay and travel.

Could you please share, how did you book your stay to all the places that you listed. Also, bit of info what to look for in each of these places.

It would be very much appreciated.

I also plan to land at Tokyo and then start my journey, which is not planned yet.

[JohnBraden]

Originally Posted by pat4u

JohnBraden,

Your plan seems to be very well planned.

I am planning to visit Japan to this month end and still don't know where to go, stay and travel.

Could you please share, how did you book your stay to all the places that you listed. Also, bit of info what to look for in each of these places.

It would be very much appreciated.

I also plan to land at Tokyo and then start my journey, which is not planned yet.

My plan is not as well planned as you may think. It is because so much is dependent on train travel. I am only staying in 2 places: Tokyo and Osaka. I am using those two cities as bases to spread out. I only booked 2 hotels: Shinagawa Prince in Tokyo and Shin-Osaka Hotel in Osaka. They are both 2 minutes walking distance from the major Shinkansen stations from which I will be departing.

I only booked 6 nights in Osaka, and I may be regretting it already because I find I may not have enough time to do what's near that I want to see, thought I can extend my stay there since I booked the Shinagawa Prince all the way through. That's why, for example, I'm headed to Kyoto from Tokyo, not Osaka. But it doesn't matter to me. Seeing the countryside is a reward in itself.

From 3/06 to 3/12 I will be in Tokyo and take all those trips from there. I take the first Shinkansen available and return on the last or one of the last available.

I will travel to Osaka on the 13th in time to check in and then go to the day's sumo matches. From then to the 18th, I'll base my trips out of Shin-Osaka station.

I return to Shinagawa on the 19th to finish my days and trips in Tokyo. It is a fast-paced trip that I'm tweaking by the day. I dropped two museums on the 9th in Saitama and Mibu in favor of the JR Central museum in Nagoya, for example. I have most, if not all, of the train schedules down, so I know how much time I have in each place. I will reserve the train tickets for all Shinkansen and limited express trains I'll need as soon as I get there so as not to be left out of a particular side of train I want to see out of or passage altogether.

I'm using a 14-day JR Pass for the days I'll be traveling. The day before and after I will be doing last minute shopping and visits within Tokyo. Last time I used a pass, the JPY23,800 pass gave me JPY75,000 worth of rides. This time, the JPY45,100 pass will yield at least JPY160,000 worth of rides.

I want to see as much as I can without going crazy. I figure I can get some rest along the way and then crash at the hotel until my next departure.

My suggestion is to go to japan-guide.com - Japan Travel and Living Guide and see all the information available. There is a forum there as well you can join and ask questions. Uji there answers almost all travel related question quickly and could be an excellent source, provided you ask specific questions. Open-ended questions are so hard to answer, since you're the only one who knows what you want out of the trip.