Any ideas on cost of a holiday in Japan?

[Whyisitsososohard]

It's my partner's 40th this year. I'd love to do a special holiday. We have always wanted to go to Japan so I'm thinking about this. But I'm really not sure if it's on budget.

There's 2 of us and we would be flying from a regional airport. I'd like to do 10 days to 2 weeks. Maybe Tokyo and another place.

Can anyone please help on how much they spent? Even just what's acceptable for flighta and accommodation. I've researched a bit but first hand advice would be amazing. Thanks

Small hotels (Ryokans) are cheaper. Japan rail pass gets you about. 2 islands Hokkaido and Honshu which are different climatically. Friend of mine has been a couple of times but he had someone to show him around. Maybe an organized tour? But I think you can rent guides who will take you around. Friend flew Finnair one time. Mcr to Helsinki then Tokyo. He just went for what he could afford.

There are 5 islands not 2.

It is best to book ahead with your itinerary and accommodations planned ahead with bullet train tickets etc.

Common tours are
fly into Tokyo, spend some days there and have a day trip to Mt Fuji. Then bullet train to Kyoto and spend 2/3 days there. Then go to an Onsen resort like Beppu for the outdoor springs for 1 night then back to Tokyo.

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I had my two week trip booked, but it got cancelled due to Covid. I budgeted 10k after costing everything.

We went in summer 2019 for 17 days. We flew Alitalia and our fares were very cheap - less than £450 each - but Alitalia was awful!
I booked everything and for four of us (2 adults, 2 older teens) we spent £5-6000 all in.
We bought a train pass but cost this out before you buy one as you may do it more cheaply without one depending on where you’re going. Make sure you take at least one bullet train though as they’re fab.

So probably double that cost now

I’ve visited recently. I’d look into their mask wearing requirements currently if mask wearing is an issue to you. Required to wear most places and on the flight home. Hard going when not used to it here anymore.

I had a look a few weeks ago and it was about 3.5K for 2 weeks, flights and accom. So I assume around 5k per person, all in!

Personally, I wouldn't bother with Tokyo. I'd fly to Osaka, do a bit of Kyoto, Hiroshima, Himeji. Plenty for 10 days there. Maybe get down to volcanic region Mt Aso in Kyushu. I'd go in mid April or September of you can, when the weather isn't ashumid

I went in 2017 with Inside Japan, who I highly recommend.

Was there for 2 and a half weeks, had an amazing time. I never actually added up what it cost: a lot more than my usual holiday anyhow! Probably about £6k.

Best not to think about the cost too much provided you gave the money: think of it as a one-off opportunity to go somewhere really interesting and different, and enjoy!

Wow - you did really well! We went in 2018 for 16 days (including travel - so 14 days in japan and a day each side getting there.) We travelled around a bit, stayed in hotels mostly, but also a ryokan, a buddhist monastery (loved that - highlight of the trip for me!) and in Kyoto we had a tiny rental house. Iirc we spent about 12k for 4 of us in total - including flights, accommodation, all spending momney, travel, entrances to things. So, about 3k pp for a good two weeks.

We absoultely loved it. We'd all go back. Kyoto was by far our favourite place. You can easily get from there to Nara too, which is gorgeous. And to Arashiyama where you can feed wild monkeys on a mountain top!

And it's worth exploring the countryside too. We walked a samurai trail and a pilgrim path and climbed Mount Koya to the monastery town on top. All of these were stunning walks - paddy fields, rivers with vast mossy boulders and waterwheels, cherry blossom and bamboo forests, snowy mountains.

We found food was very reasonable - just go to the cafes and cheap restaurants where working families go - we had incredible noodles and bbqs and okonomiyaki by doing this. Sounds unlikely, but 7-11 stores were great for lunch - hot chicken skewers, simple sushi, bao buns etc - very reasonable.

We rented a car and drove to Mt Fuji (going through the 'suicide forest' )
But the DC thought this was fascinating

I’m going on Saturday week :)

been planning a year and chipping away at booking things so lost count of the budget now

il come back tomorrow when I’ve looked at my spreadsheet and can give you an idea of what we’ve spent so far

I dream about 7-11 snacks! The best.

Surprised that someone said skip Tokyo. I thought it was amazing, but I love cities.

Pre Covid we spent about 12k for 2.5 weeks visiting Tokyo then bullet train to Osaka and Kyoto.
Booked a 10 day trip this summer and flights were about £1.2k each, Airbnb accommodation 2.3k. We are only doing Tokyo but visiting theme parks so budgeting for about 10k

Ds has said this was his dream holiday destination, we’d never really considered it until the last year or so!
Will be following this thread for potentially ideas for next year. How long is the flight (yes could google, I know 🫣)?

Out of date experience but I think difficult to do on a tight budget. 7 years ago I did about 3 weeks which cost £3k excluding flights, but that was generally staying in hostels and cheap hotels. To do it in nice hotels would be very expensive; no longer a student I'd expect in the region of £10k for a couple including flights to do it to a reasonably decent standards for 2 weeks. I really liked Tokyo so I wouldn't skip it, contrary to what a previous poster suggested. Great shopping and so much to see and do. Overall a fantastic country to visit, I loved it there.

Flights to and from Japan are currently maybe double normal price because of the war in Ukraine and fuel prices.

Apart from that, Japan has a reputation for being expensive but actually can be quite cheap. I went 5 years ago and spent about £700 (was on my own) for 12 days for all food, accommodation and transport (+ flights £650 with KLM who were lousy and you wont find a flight that cheap now).

You can get OK hotels for premier inn prices and local cafes/restaurants can be really cheap and good quality eg massive bowl of ramen, rice bowl, bento, lunch set etc for less than 1000 yen (about £6), less is possible. If you want to pay for somewhere fancy, you can pay a LOT.

Public transport is cheap and excellent. A JR pass which you can only buy outside Japan can be good value if you travel around a lot but probably not worth it if you're only going to Kyoto and Tokyo. Shinkansen can be expensive but it depends and it worth the experience I think. You can get local passes too eg Kansai Thru Pass (Osaka, Kyoto, Nara etc unlimited) is about £30 IIRC for 3 days. Kyushu JR pass always used to be super cheap. Visitor attractions aren't expensive and there is lots to do free.

Don't go in summer as the heat and humidity are too much. Avoid Obon and Golden Week and some places will be expensive when the cherry blossom and red leaves are out, but they are amazing sights.

It's a great country and you should totally do it!

Flight around £500

k’s hostel is fabulous although look at Keio Plaza or Hilton in Shinjuku and you want a treat.

£500 for ten days

lots of options of nomihodai ( drink as much as you want) or tabehodai ( eat as much as you want. Great street food like curry or noodles. also great meals from 7-11 if staying at a nice hostel. Some of my favourite spots are in the station restaurant- so uncouth I know!

£50 per day food and drink but can be less than £20

you can get a Shinkansen ticket for a few days which can make travel easy.

tokyo - three nights
kyoto - three nights with trip to osaka
and day trip to Hiroshima

id say £2k with all activities however I’ve organised school trips to Japan on multiple occasions and charged ( fundraised) around £1.2k for 8 days.

but that didn’t include karaoke and sake!!!!

@Heyahun lucky git have a brilliant time

Went for three weeks in spring 2018 and same in 2019 (loved it!) Flights from regional airport via Paris/Amsterdam were about £650 return back then. Order your Japan Rail Pass (about £400 for 21 days I think?) so you don't have to faff about with booking train tickets (just be careful about making sure you're using the permitted trains) and use Airbnb and Booking.com - about £100 per night have decent places to stay but you can go cheaper in some cities. Tokyo is a must and would also recommend Kyoto and Osaka, as well as Naoshima art island (amazing hotel there as well as guest houses which are cheaper). Also rent a portable Wi-Fi router - they'll drop them off at your hotel for you and you post them back when you leave at the airport

Have a look at the Exoticca travel company website. We've booked to go to Japan with them at Easter. It's the 4th tour we've done with them and we've been very satisfied with what they have provided at a very reasonable price.

Went for 3 weeks in 2019 around £6k all in. IMO you don't need a guided tour or a package. So many resources to plan yourself and make it more personal. Get the train pass, get the pocket WiFi from the airport, we didn't have sit down meals for every meal. 7/11, lawsons, etc, do great meals/snacks for on the go. Bento boxes etc are delicious, especially the food in the big stations before getting the shinkasen.

I personally wouldn't skip Tokyo, absolutely loved it. Use it as a base for day trips to the towns/sites including Mt Fiji. Do the same for kyoto and osaka to do himeji, hiroshima etc.

Have a great trip!

Flights have gone up hugely in price since covid, so it might be more than you're imagining.

I have a holiday all costed before covid, but when I've looked at it again recently the flights were all twice as much.

Thanks all this is enormously helpful. I wss hoping to do it for 5 to 6k for 2 but I'm feeling like from the replies this might not be doable. I'd also rather not have to scrimp while I'm there. I did think the flights seemed a lot compared to other long haul I've done in the past.

We have the money for it. But I'm not sure if at this point it's sensible to spend that much day like 10k on a holiday. Especially given the cost of living crisis.

I also work in the cultural sector and do alright with my freelance work too. But it's still a precarious and low paid sector. So I do always have to keep that in mind.

It's a shame because I think it would be an amazing trip.