Japan anyone?

[Stumbleine]

I want to treat Dh for his 40th. Wouldn't want to do more than a week as we will be leaving youngest dc who will be only 2 .

Am thinking maybe Tokyo and then Kyoto (via bullet train). Also keen to try a night in a rural ryokan.

Is it recommended to go down the tour operator organised route? Or doable to arrange all separately myself? I feel that November would be a good month to go. How far in advance is it advisable to book?

Any tips/recommendations for any aspect of the trip would be hugely helpful as it feels very overwhelming at the moment!

I've never been so can't really advise but it's somewhere I would love to go. I'd go in April for the cherry blossoms personally.

I personally don't think a week is enough to do two cities.The time difference alone had us sleeping the first two days! There is so much in Tokyo alone I would leave it until you have a longer time to explore more. I went for a week just before the summer with my toddler. When I went the weather was perfect. November will probably be quite chilly, although it may not be too bitter at the beginning of the month. I would put your date in Skyscanner and hit the alert button so that you get weekly fare updates. There are often great deals to Japan. I was lucky to get a fare for £200.

With Google its possible to arrange everything yourself. Transport is great, so you can get the Narita express train to wherever you need to go in the city (assuming you are coming into Narita) public transport can be a little daunting in the beginning because of the language barrier. I organised a free tour guide from www.tokyofreeguide.org who came and met up with us the second night and helped us get a travel card, use the trains etc and then on a more guided tour the next day. I'd highly recommend them.

Just to add Japan was one of my favourite places yet and if I went back I'd spend at least two weeks! (With Okinawa added) If you even desire to its fantastic for kids too. We didn't even have enough time to do half the stuff I had listed on my itinerary.

Thanks. I've heard cherry blossom time can be too busy, plus we both like cooler weather, hence November.

Taking dc isn't an option hence trying to squeeze it inside a week.

November is good assuming you won't head into the far north. Assuming you're reasonable ok with asking directions or just figuring dtuff out you'all be fine. I got the train from Narita into Tokyo no problem and navigating public transport has been straightforward. Everything in Japan is incredibly well organised and Tokyo doesn't have the crazy hectic vibe of so many Asian cities. If you're a reasonably competent independent traveller I don't think you'd have any more issues gee than any other foreign country

We went this year and I think a week is plenty! Although jet lag was a bugger.

We went a few years ago. I think we had 4 nights/5 days. I usually advocate booking everything yourself but if I went back I would do some kind of tour as we kept getting hopelessly lost, struggled to find good restaurants and I found it quite stressful (on top of the jet lag!).

Oh, god, the jet lag. I was basically a zombie for five days until I finally managed to get a night's sleep. I can hardly remember the first week there (although it was only two years ago). If you're someone who suffers from jet lag, I'm not sure I'd recommend going for a week.

Just got back this am! Fab time to go as autumn leaves stunning. Off to bed now but will send more tips tomorrow

Awake due to jetlag! Japan is amazing in so many ways. My tips would be:

• buy a Japan rail pass which covers most transport including some Tokyo travel. But the pass before you leave and swap your voucher when you get there for the actual pass. It covers any "JR" trains including most bullet trains and you can hop on - we didn't bother with seat reservations
• fly into Haneda, half an hour to get into Tokyo central.
• we started in Tokyo but it's pretty hectic and overwhelming and as others have said the jet lag is a killer. If I went again I'd leave Tokyo on a train on arrival and go somewhere more relaxing first, and leave Tokyo for the end
• get enough cash. Foreign cards only accepted in some ATMs including post office and 7-11, and outside the cities you may not be able to get any cash. It's a cash based culture.
• re how easy it is to get around I think it depends on what you are used to. I live in London and am well traveled and found public transport easy - everything is in English in major cities on buses and subway etc. Stations all have helpful staff. I can see how Tokyo could be overwhelming if you're not used to thousands of people everywhere
• try to get a pocket wifi either from your hotel or Airbnb. Then you can use the trip advisor app to find restaurants where you are. Also if you pre load google maps (i.e. Open them and zoom in on where you are going) your maps will work without wifi.
• try to have a plan for Tokyo as its massive and we wasted quite a bit of time deciding what to do when jet lagged
• google "top 20 ryokans" - list just came out this week

-book quite far ahead for Kyoto as November is peak autumn leaves season and the city is full of Japanese, Chinese and other tourists. -in Kyoto many temples light up at night in November so it's a lovely time of year and not cold. We loved the Philosopher's walk and stopping at traditional tea houses for matcha and sweets

• Hiroshima is amazing and a fun modern city as well as having the atomic bomb museum and peace park. Highly recommended
• we organised everything ourselves and found it easy. You can find ryokan or hotels on booking.com that have free cancellation. We stayed in Airbnb in Tokyo and Kyoto and found that to be a really wonderful experience, but a hotel may be easier as they are often more centrally located and have staff on hand to help with any questions
• you'll love it. So jealous! Everyone is super polite and it's an amazing experience to be somewhere so different from our culture

We booked with inside Japan who do 'self guided adventures' for our honeymoon. It was such a fantastic experience and took and potential stress out of it for us, it was so well organised.

Nightmanager - thank you, what a hugely helpful post!

rolypolydoll - do you mind me asking what you paid going down that route?

It was 8 years ago now so I can't remember, although from my minimal research at the time I think it was pretty reasonable and not that much more than booking everything individually. Worth a look at their website as they have some examples of different packages- some good inspiration too. We stayed in some stunning traditional accommodation in the mountains.

Japan is fantastic. But not just for one week, there must be good places to go nearer by for that amount of time. The jet lag knocked us both out for 3 days, for a start. Plus the air fare is ££££s, I wouldn't want to spend that much and go for such a short period.
We had 3 weeks , which was fine. The rail pass is useful, but you might not be making enough use of it to make it worthwhile. Everything is so well organized that it's easy to make your own way around, but what you have to do is book your accommodation in advance as Japan isn't geared up for people booking on the day (as we found to our cost)

Lucydogz - I have chosen Japan as it will be a birthday surprise for dh and it is somewhere he has always wanted to visit.

And thanks for the tips

I just got back on Saturday from a 2 week business trip - Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, Matsumoto, Tokyo. Kyoto was amazing, but on my one sightseeing evening there was a 2 hour queue to go in one shrine (Saturday evening, but busy for the autumn foliage).
It was incredibly easy to get around by public transport, but I do think I'd use some organised tours to get the most out of things, esp on a short trip like you are planning

We didn't have massive jet lag problems. Try and do 4 nights in each. The Hotel Mume in Kyoto is brilliant. We used an agent but if you are only doing 2 cities, no need. Just book the hotels. Get the Lonely Planet guide and you are away. Kyoto will be busy. Getting a hotel and making restaurant reservations might be problematic. Start now!

I am amazed you can get a flight to Japan for £200. We used Avios. You must fly direct to get the most out of your time. We stayed at a Ryokan in Tsumago but there are plenty in Kyoto.

It really is a fantastic place to visit. Kyoto is right up there for me. Nara is also worth a trip. We had a Japan rail pass. Bullet train has virtually no luggage compartment but you can get luggage sent ahead the evening before you travel if you like. It is also
possible that the Geiko and Maiko 'dance' shows are on in November.
Fantastic. Just wander around Kyoto at about 5 in the right streets and you can see the ladies rushing to their tea houses in full gear - beautiful.
Just writing this - I want to go back!

DD was studying in Tokyo last year and we've finally cracked the dreaded jetlag by flying into Haneda. The first time was by accident because I couldn't get flights into Narita on the dates I needed but we went back for 4 days during October half-term and didn't have any problems. We stay up the night before and sleep most of the way there. The flights arrive very early in the morning so we started our hotel booking a day earlier and told them we'd be arriving the next morning (on other trips we've never been able to get into our room until 2 or 3pm). We were in our room before 9am, had 2 hours sleep a shower and headed out for the day and lasted until 10pm before starting to flag but there was no jetlag the next day - on previous visits we've lost 3-4 days when 1 of us has been wiped out.

For the return journey we booked a night flight, slept all the way and arrived back in the UK at 7am and I was back in work the following day without any jetlag in fact DD went straight to uni from the airport and had lectures until 7pm.

Free wifi is becoming more available but we always rent a pocket wifi and pick it up at the airport. We find the line app works better than whatsapp and use it to keep in touch with the UK as well.

Before going out for the day put your destination into hyperdia and it tells you which train line to take and where to change. We've never got lost and I even managed to get to the Metropolitan Building in Shinjuku by myself without getting lost in the station and then met DD in Shibuya after her classes finished. We got lost in the station on our very first visit years ago and its the one place she still avoids. She was impressed to see me sat in the Starbucks overlooking the scramble

I've still not made it to Kyoto as DD's a natural Tokyoite but there's more than enough to see and do in there to keep you busy for a week.