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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Holidays

Japan holiday of a lifetime

37 replies

TheNoseyProject · 19/05/2018 10:55

I’ve wanted to go to Japan my whole life. I’d really appreciate some advice about the following:

how long to go for? 10 days? 2 weeks?

ball park costs for family of 4?

your unmissable things!

We won’t get to go for a few years but I need to save a realistic amount of money and I want to plan and get excited and look forward to it.

Any top tips really appreciated no matter how small!

OP posts:

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Shampaincharly · 30/05/2018 08:03

3 weeks would be good. Minimum 2 .
I had terrible jet lag coming back.

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sakura06 · 30/05/2018 09:04

Going in the Easter holidays is the best time of year, as you can hopefully see the sakura. Cherry blossom season is the best.

The longer you can stay, the better.

Kyoto is beautiful, but an expensive place to stay. When we've been before, we've stayed in Kobe and used it as a base for trips to Kyoto, Hiroshima and Miyajima, Himeiji Castle, Nara.

The rail pass is fantastic-definitely get one.

I love Tokyo. It's one of my favourite places in the world. Kamakura and Nikko are great day trips from Tokyo.

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sakura06 · 30/05/2018 09:06

Meant to say there's a lot of cool stuff around Mt Fuji like the Hakone hot springs. Lots of great art museums in the area too.

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Cousinit · 30/05/2018 09:06

Following as we are going in October and I don't know where to start with planning an itinerary!

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SummerDream · 30/05/2018 20:56

visit Kyoto, I dream about Japan

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NameChanger22 · 30/05/2018 21:07

I really want to go.

If I could afford it I would go for 2 weeks and stay mainly in Tokyo with some day trips out (Mouth Fuji etc). I would spend at least half of my time shopping in Harajuku and Shinjuku. i would go with a big empty suitcase and at least 5k to spend. I'd also go to the Studio Ghibli Museum, Alice in Wonderland Restaurant, Robot cafe, Monster cafe, cat cafes, Disneyland Tokyo, Disney Sea, I'd mainly be there to shop and eat.

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kgal · 30/05/2018 22:47

I love Japan I lived there for 6yrs as a child and went back 3yrs ago with Dh, my 3 DCs, DSis and her family and also my parents. We were there for nearly 3 weeks and came back exhausted as we were so busy every day! We spent 5 nights in Tokyo visiting old haunts, having a tour round my old school and generally sight seeing. Then bullet train down to Hiroshima with a visit to the museum and a trip across the water to Miyajima. Then we spent the next week or so travelling back to Tokyo stopping off at Osaka and Kyoto and ended up back in Tokyo for a couple of nights. We were glad to get back on the plane for enforced rest!! We are hoping to go back in 2020 for the olympics but will have to start saving now I think

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Currywurstmitpommes · 30/05/2018 22:50

Travel by train
Sado-ga-Shima - island 2 hours off the cost of Nigata.
Spend some time away from the main cities - there is interesting hiking in the north, so long as you take a bell to warn the bears you are coming!
Go to the Sumo.

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TheNoseyProject · 31/05/2018 18:17

These are great suggestions! As we have small children with us, well primary age, I think going straight from Tokyo to Kyoto off the plane might be too much. But, it seems you can fly Manchester to Osaka so I could start that end and wind up in Tokyo.

I don’t think I’ll be doing lots of clothes shopping (I think I’d be too big even though I’m a uk12) but I would like to dabble in Japanese skin care!

I’m most interested in just ‘being’ there IYKWIM. I think we’ll do a lot of wandering, temples, eating, parks, temples, supermarkets etc. And less attractions (Disney sea world sounds fab but not v us and with a limited time I’d like to be out and about).

Is the coast down from Fuji good to visit? I’d love to see a Japanese seaside town.

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TheNoseyProject · 31/05/2018 18:19

Oh, in answer to previous Q, I’m anticipating staying a few nights and then moving on rather than hub and spoke the whole time.

Any tips about flying into and out of different airports? Might it be better to go in and out of the same place and get a long train back to it?

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mayhew · 31/05/2018 19:34

Flying in / out different airports works well for a linear journey. We flew in by Osaka, out Tokyo. We did a few trains, which were very efficient, including a bullet train.
We also hired a car for a week which was lovely for rural exploration on Shikoku, seeing mountains and coast. Driving was fine, same side as us! Road signs in Roman alphabet everywhere.
One of the nicest things we did was visit the Art Islands in the inland sea and explore them by bicycle.

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Spindelina · 31/05/2018 20:05

Definitely look at open jaw flights. It was much more expensive for us, so we sucked up the journey to Kyoto (well, we didn’t - I fell asleep).

Tokyo isn’t a place to just be. Cross the road at Shibuya, shop in Ginza and/or Yodobashi Camera, change trains at Shinjuku, buy a souvenir in Kappabashi, get a can of hot coffee from a vending machine. There are parks and shrines/temples (less touristy and waxwork-like than in Kyoto), but that’s not it’s USP. To get the most out of it, you need to get stuck in.

If Disney isn’t your thing: Odaiba (sort of English seaside Japanese style) and / or NHK studios might be.