Japan - Tour or Independent?

[hattie43]

Hi all . I am an over 50 solo traveler and looking to go on holiday to Japan next year for a couple of weeks . I have been looking at organised tours which look great but hugely expensive and I was wondering about arranging things independently. I have a budget of about £6k and would like to get the most from it . Has anyone traveled around Japan , is English widely spoken , any must sees , any safety concerns . Thankyou .

In major tourist areas (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone and others) you will have no problem with english.
It is a safe country that many people visit solo. I think you can do it without a guide.

Thankyou , good to know , I've not been before so hearing from others is great .

I lived there for years. You will be fine traveling alone - it is very safe overall. You will be fine getting by in English as well...a lot of Japanese people lack confidence with the spoken language but it is universally taught in schools and you will always find people who can help in the main places that you're likely to visit as a tourist.

It's a fantastic country. Enjoy!

Is it your first time traveling to Japan? If yes, getting a tour guide is an advantage for you. While your concern is the cost, a tour guide will make your tour worry-free. You can explore the country without being anxious.

Thankyou both. Yes it would be my first time in Japan . I have travelled solo once before but it was more of a beach holiday than a sight seeing holiday.

@hattie43 We did not find English was widely spoken at all. We got by and the Japanese are unfailingly helpful. I think you are best doing a bespoke tour. You get a JR ticket and have the itinerary worked out with tours added in if you need them. This gave us lots of flexibility and was very enjoyable within a framework of train journeys. You should just about be ok in your budget but it’s not getting any cheaper!

You can definitely do it without booking a tour guide. It's actually far easier than I thought. The majority of signs are in English and Japanese and as others have said lots of Japanese speak English. We found everyone incredibly helpful. You can always hire a guide for a day if you want to (eg: for specific tours in places like Kyoto). We didn't - we just used guide books and the internet (book a pocket wifi - that's really key as wifi's patchy without one. You pre-book and can pick it up at the airport.) As others have said, it's a really safe country so as a woman alone you'll be fine. I did a fair bit by myself - I was travelling with teens who went off and did their own thing some of the time. I had no problems walking around solo. Planning it all by yourself is obviously a lot more work. I'd suggest taking your time so you're not just constantly researching how to get to the next place. Maybe choose less stops but spend more time at each. You see so much more if you just allow a bit of time to meander. Have a brilliant time!

We did a self guided tour with InsideJapanTours, kinda the best of both worlds. They will do all the accommodation and travel booking, but you are free to explore when you get there! I really rate them.

It's possible to do a mixture- some tour days, some independent days. That's what I will probably do, although I am waiting to book tour days last minute on days where I'm tired and want to be led around 😁 . And by tours, I mean small local groups or local guides who offer all kinds of experiences.

I feel that a lot of large tours maybe skip from destination to destination too quickly to savour the ridiculous levels of things to do in each area, though. Shorter trips to Fujikawaguchiko from Tokyo seem to be popular, or Hakone. Nikko? Nara from Kyoto? Food tours in Osaka etc. Plus short pre-booked things like tea ceremonies, food tours, classes in making traditional items etc. if you decided against the full tour option. The benefit of a full tour would be that they shepherd you and organise it all, no confusion or being lost, but beware of being rushed or attracting hangers-on who want to walk around with you and be over involved in your holiday just because you're part of the same group (although you might like that potential accompaniment, but it's not for me).

Look on TripAdvisor or Klook to book tours. I've used KKDay app to book the Ghibli park & hotel, otherwise it's nigh on impossible to get tickets abroad. Also, download some translation apps (or Google translate) and Google maps, which will literally show you where to stand on the platform/how full the train is, plus the usual details of what trains to catch, exits to take and so on.

Other helpful solo info is to use luggage forwarding services (takkubin) to avoid taking luggage on public transport. Hotel with 24hr reception, they can book restaurants and help with anything. Staying near the Yamanote line in Tokyo means you'd never be far from a station, following the loop to get around. Look into a JR pass, SUICA card for trains. Carry cash! They use cards much less than some countries. And depending on what time you go, it can be HOT and desperately humid.. Eg right now. Sept is typhoon season. Oct or Nov are good, crisp and sunny.

I've read that hostels can be good for meeting people to go places with, or a night out, but honestly that's my idea of hell 😂 if I was solo, I'd be going full plush hotels/ryokans.

It's possible to look at the itineraries used by travel companies and then tailor it to your own trip (cheaper, more time to savour places). We are doing the usual tourist trail with a few offshoots to other places (the main is Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, back to Tokyo) but for a first time, that's more than enough!

Also, Reddit is amazing for reading people's itineraries and trip reports although I've had to step back a bit because its giving me too many ideas and we won't manage to fit them all in..

We travelled around Japan by train for two weeks in 2008 with our two children (then just 5 and 6). We booked it all independently. It was very easy to do and enough people spoke English for us to manage fine. We just went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hakone, Nikko...Without small kids we would have gone further.

If you are someone who is happy to travel by themselves generally then I certainly wouldn't worry about Japan. You can always pay for guided tours of specific places if that interests you.

Someone mentioned hostels. They can be stunning in Japan. Beautifully designed with great facilities.

Inside Japan are a brilliant company based in Bristol - they do a mix of guided tours and help you organise independent trips too. They helped us book hotels, hire cars etc suggested an itinerary and organised a guide for the first day to show us the ropes with things like the subway and some amazing shops hidden away. Then we were essentially on our own for a fortnight but they were always at the end of the phone (and helped us out in the middle of the night when we got in a jam!)

The companies that organise it all for for you are brilliant - I've heard lots of praise for 'Inside Japan' in particular and I'd have loved to have used them. If you're on a budget though, you can literally save thousands by sorting it all yourself.

We did bespoke with Audley and they have great service too. You pay more for these companies to organise things for you but it takes stress away. If you venture away from tourist areas, English is not spoken everywhere at all. We didn’t struggle but small ryokans and local restaurants are not flush with English speakers. I’ve also heard Inside Japan is good. We pre booked a guide and various experiences and it worked well. It was also great being met at the airport and our JR card sorted for us plus every train departure we were doing! Then —- relax. Except we could not find the hotel. It started on the 26th floor.

Thankyou everyone . I have found a tour I like and for my first visit would feel supported .

Glad to know you already found a tour. Enjoy your travel! :)

I did a 3 week trip through Japan for my 30th (many years ago 😂) it was super easy travel, lots of English speaking locals who were friendly.

Very very different to a trip I did in china, where we had a tour booked but arrived early and spent 10 days trying to get around ourselves- that was the most difficult trip I ever did.

I suggest planning your trip and doing all your research of where you go and what you want to see beforehand and writing up your itinerary so there's less stress while there.

It's a beautiful and fascinating country.