Japan next year. Help with budget please!

[squid12346]

So, family of 4 wanting to go on holiday to Japan next summer(August). Can I get some ideas on how much we will need please?

Details as follows:
Family of 4, 2 adults, children 9 and 4 (when travelling)
For 2 weeks
Flights and hotels
Want to go to a few places taking bullet train- Tokyo, Osaka, kyoto.

How much should we save for this?

And what spending money would you suggest?

Also any suggestions of things we should see/do? My son is a massive Godzilla fan so would want to see things to do with Godzilla!

Thanks for all the help ☺️

My dd has been trying to go to Japan got her honeymoon since March 2020! Flights keep getting cancelled, her flights were around £700 each. She hasn’t booked accommodation yet but was budgeting £100 a night,
If you look on YouTube there are lots of videos of different train journeys and ferry journeys that are great to watch!

Great shout thanks! I will have a look

Is your daughter going to push back until next year? We were toying with trying to go this year but Japan seems pretty closed to visitors at the moment!

We want to go with the DC next year for DHs 50th. I have been saving for a while and I think we need at least 15,000 for 2
Weeks for our family of 4 from the research I have done. I think it is possible to spend a lot more or a little less though.

@CovoidOfAllHumanity eek! Was hoping to do it with 11k. Were you planning on two rooms for accomodations or 1 room?

The Japan Travel Centre in London is your best friend. They can talk you through everything and they got us a seven day Shinkansen pass (only available to foreigners) and some internal flights for an exceptionally good rate.

It doesn’t need to be ridiculously expensive though unless you let it be. If you stay in Western hotels you can get breakfast inclusive rates, although avoid alcohol in hotel bars - £45 for four beers!!!! We ate a lot in mall type restaurants - they are round the stations. Lots of noodles and ramen etc. Had a few “fancy” meals but most of the time we were happy with Japanese fast food. But yes, it’s not a meal for less than a fiver type of place.

Thanks @zodlebud. That's a great idea. I will visit when I next go into London.

They were amazing. We even ended up with a few nights in the beach in Ishigaki-jima thanks to them. Hadn’t even crossed my mind

get a japan rail pass. will save you lots. shinkansen is amazing!

here's godzilla for your son:
tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/tokyo-godzilla-statues/

love kobe
it's got great food, lovely european architecture, good to stroll in

i love the khaosans in tokyo. budgetty inns w private rooms. you can sleep on futons on tatami

my absolute food favs
kaiten sushi (on conveyor belts)
depachika - the food courts in the department stores, esp @ closing bc there are discounts.
eat @ the chains for curry, beef bowls. ootoya serves delicious meals

more later
bon voyage

Hey! I live here in Tokyo. Are you sure about August? It's punishingly hot. Like hazard to health hot, unless you're going to stay up in the north of the main island. Most people here won't even go outside especially with young kids.

The advice you have received here is great, it's an amazing place and so much to see. Very child friendly too 🙂

I was also going to ask if you are absolutely sure you want to go in August. It really is punishingly hot and humid. Spring and autumn are so much nicer.

I agree with getting the rail passes. You can look around for cheap places to stay.

I wouldn't go to Japan in August if it was going free.
It will be desperately hot and humid.
The worst time of year to go there.

I also do not believe that Japan will be open to tourism in 2022, vaccinated or not.

I also do not believe that Japan will be open to tourism in 2022, vaccinated or not.

Well, no one can know for sure what will happen but I read that Japan will start using Covid passports. The vaccination rate is going up rapidly. I think things may be very different by next summer.

We went Oct 2019 and spent about £12 for 4. Stayed in great Airbnb places. Some traditional and others modern. One was above a sento so we had private use of the baths after hours.

Definite rail pass. Trains are fabulous. Comfy on time and organised.

We did Tokyo Kyoto Hiroshima (day trip to Miyajima ) Takayama Tokyo in 2 weeks which felt pretty full on.

@tzarine

get a japan rail pass. will save you lots. shinkansen is amazing!

here's godzilla for your son:
tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/tokyo-godzilla-statues/

love kobe
it's got great food, lovely european architecture, good to stroll in

i love the khaosans in tokyo. budgetty inns w private rooms. you can sleep on futons on tatami

my absolute food favs
kaiten sushi (on conveyor belts)
depachika - the food courts in the department stores, esp @ closing bc there are discounts.
eat @ the chains for curry, beef bowls. ootoya serves delicious meals

more later
bon voyage

Thank you 😊 I'll write all this down

@ReggaetonLente

Hey! I live here in Tokyo. Are you sure about August? It's punishingly hot. Like hazard to health hot, unless you're going to stay up in the north of the main island. Most people here won't even go outside especially with young kids.

The advice you have received here is great, it's an amazing place and so much to see. Very child friendly too 🙂

Ah ok. Wanted to pick a time in summer holidays so it doesn't interfer with kids school. Is April a better time to go? Will rethink this. Thanks.

@MoonlightWanderer

I was also going to ask if you are absolutely sure you want to go in August. It really is punishingly hot and humid. Spring and autumn are so much nicer.

I agree with getting the rail passes. You can look around for cheap places to stay.

Thanks. I will re-think august and aim for Easter instead.

Thanks all for the help. I will definitely change the date from august to April. Will definitely invest in the rail passes too.

I don't think we could afford next April so it will have to be April 2023. So I'd hope all restrictions will be over by then!

Honestly? I'd wait a little, 11 and 6 would be a better age, although still young, 4 is too little for a full on trip like Japan.

Watching this thread with interest and wondered if anyone has ever stayed in a capsule hotel in Japan?

Agree - go in October/November or April.
We went in the autumn and it was beautiful with the leaves changing but still not very cold.

It's expensive. Accommodation in particular especially if you are going in cherry blossom season.

I think we spent £6000 on 11 days there (couple with no kids). Stayed in Ryokans but nothing was under £250 a night and we managed to stay 3 nights with friends with Tokyo.

It's the most amazing place. I can't wait to go back.

Easter is a much better time to go! Japan is fab and you will have a great time. Personally, I'd do a week in Kansai using Osaka as a base and doing day trips to Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kobe, etc. and a week in Tokyo and see all the sights there including Tokyo Disneyland. Some hotels have a washitsu (Japanese tatami room) with futons so you can all share a room together. I think it's much nicer when your kids are young. A lot of restaurants in japan do lunch specials for around 1,000 yen which are great value, then you can eat a bento and buy some beers to eat/drink back at your hotel room in the evening. This would save you a lot of money, I think.

I went in June and weather was good and we were able to find accomodation for around 100 a night (standard hotel room for 2 people). Spent about 650 per person on flights. Food was good price. Cheaper than London but obviously Tokyo is a big city with a lot of fine dining so I'm sure you can spend a lot if that's your thing. But was easy to find meals under 10 per person, easier than in London. Alcohol was also much cheaper than London (i don't know if thats relevant for you). I think we spent about 4k between the 2 of us for 10 days, but we are pretty cheap when we travel.

Does the travelcard work for going all over Japan? Or just for each city?