£10,000 for a month in Japan for a family of four?

[PandaButt]

Hello all,

I'm looking to go away for a month as I have the opportunity basically and I have £10k to spend.

I have a 2 and 4 year old plus a 33 year old husband and I was thinking of going to Japan (Tokyo area).

The flights and air bnb are around £4800 which leaves £5200 for spending money for food, transport and activities.

Is that going to be enough?

Thank you

I’d say yes if you didn’t eat expensive 3 x a day, breakfast in the air b&b etc however, I personally wouldn’t do a month in Tokyo, whilst it’s amazing and can visit places on a day trip such as Hakone / Nikko, go other places, maybe chose 3. If you go Kyoto that’s doable into Osaka and you’ve got Nara to visit too, there’s so much to Japan and Tokyo would narrow that is my opinion.

For £10k though you could visit Sri Lanka or Bali and travel and get a private Villa with chef etc

I agree with the PP. that sort of spending money will be fine. I’d definitely not spend a whole month in Tokyo though. There’s so much else to see in Japan and it’s a big country. You can’t see it just in day trips from Tokyo.

What sorts of things are you interested in?

I am amazed flights and accommodation are less than 5k. Going against the grain i think it might be a bit tight.

Going with the grain... a month in toyko is wayyy too long/not a good use of hols.

I spent a working week & 2 weekends in tokyo on a business trip(ie was not sight seeing all day) and still felt I'd seen/done most of it

I'd investigate skiing /snowboarding in the North also some of the more rural parts. I'm desperate to go back i loved Japan

We spent more than than for a 2 week trip
As a family of 5 .....

Wouldn't pick Tokyo personally. Kyoto would be far more interesting. Japan isn't as expensive as UK so your money will.go further but 10k might be a bit tight

You should watch the first episode of race across the world, they started in Hokkaido and travelled to Nara. Pay attention to the prices. I think it's doable on that budget. As others have said use a few different bases. Train fares are high, say Tokyo to Osaka is about £80 each by bullet train, I believe the kids would be free as they are under 6. I don't think you would get value for money from a Japan Rail pass though. The temples only have a nominal entry fee, like 500 yen (£2.50) or are free. Museums are also pretty cheap, observation decks like the one in Roppongi tower, likely cost more. You'd just need to keep an eye on your food spending/cook in the air bnb. Western food is pretty expensive, even in the supermarkets.

Following for ideas, Japan is a bucket list item for me, and I don't have 10k. Cherry blossom season and akita Statue/ Museum would be on my list.

I was looking at spending way more than that on a 16 day break to japan. Even cheap flights were £3,300 going via China then I was looking at not getting JR passes as despite travelling all over it wasn't worth it. I was just buying train tickets directly.

I was looking at Tokyo 5 days (inc disney sea) Hakone 2, Kyoto 4, Hiroshima 2 Inc mirajima, day trips to Nara and Kobe and universal from rest of stay in Osaka.

I hear food is very affordable and the fx rate good but definitely wouldn't stay in Tokyo for a month. Total waste.

My sister and her partner wanted to go and it was £18k just for the two of them. The flights cost the most.

Presumably the compromise is the price of an air bnb in one location as opposed to a more expensive option of multiple bases. If I was going for a month I wouldn't stay in a single location

Get a JR pass and get out of Tokyo for a bit. (It covers your metro journeys in Tokyo too I think)

Go to Naoshima and stay in a yurt and see the pumpkin and swim in the sea. When we were there we saw some amazing butterflies the size of our hands!

Tokyo Disney is not as expensive as the American or French ones (and is amazing!)

Go to Nara and bow at some deer.

Climb Fuji overnight and watch the sunrise from the top. (Well, maybe not with a 2&4 yr old...)

We spent less than £2000 including flights* and accommodation, but we didn't have DC and were staying in hostels (which were actually totally lovely).

*Aeroflot -never again!

@User478 Aeroflot?? You have some guts!

Our two week honeymoon to Japan in 2019 was £5k all in and that was with premium economy seats.

It's utterly depressing how much the cost of flights have increased since then.

That's not the norm!

I spent over 5k for a week for 1 adult and 2 teenagers and our accommodation was on the more reasonable side for Tokyo. I think spending you will be fine but really quite surprised that you can get both flights and accommodation so cheap. Are you staying in a ryokan rather than a traditional Airbnb?

I was thinking maybe staying in a central location would be easier with kids but maybe I should look at moving around - I know I want to take them to Disney for sure so that's why I think that's why I decided on Tokyo area.

I know people have spent more in like a week or two but I guess that's possible anywhere really I was just wondering if the amount we have would be possible for a month which I think it might be obviously we won't be eating wagu beef every night haha.

I'll keep looking - I was thinking Thailand but it's like 35 degrees at that time of year and I don't think my kids will cope so any other ideas would be welcome.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/33407171?adults=2&children=2&infants=0&pets=0&wishlistitemmid=11003430316851&checkin=2025-02-22&checkkout=2025-03-22&sourceimpressionnid=p31713080596611xJGKoliml05Yv7&previouspageesectionname=1000

This is the airBNB I found - when checking it's about 40mins away from Tokyo on the train - I don't know if that's good or not.

Agree that if going for a month you need to be travelling around - you could see so much!

have you considered Australia? Or west coast Canada? We did 3 weeks with kids the same age and it was amazing. Not the cheapest place but accommodation could be found relatively cheap but nice

also depends on your attitude to risk wrt access to healthcare etc

what month are you planning to go?

Do you need a 3 bed? I don’t know Japan but with kids that age I would be taking advantage of the fact they can easily share a hotel room so you can move between places and get airbnb as well sometimes.

I would look on some of the package holiday websites for their month long itineries and see what you like the look of doing and what’s possible in that time. It’s massive country with so much to see

Looks like you might have decided against it anyway, but I was going to say no. I thought the 10k was for the month not including the flights and accommodation and I was thinking that might be just about ok, but definitely not including. It does all depend on what you want to do. If you want to eat cheaply and look for free/low cost things to do then it might be fine. Anything a bit fancier though, and you might struggle. I’ve lived all over Asia and though it’s not as expensive as Singapore and Hong Kong, it is still quite spendy.
What about The Philippines? Also missed what time of year you’re going?

We'd be going from end of Feb to end of March.

When we went to Japan we stayed in ryoken - Japanese inns rather than hotels in order to save money. They felt really nice and traditional. My husband had basic Japanese language skills though so that helped when booking them.

@PandaButt Yes, that seems extremely reasonable but I can see it's for a 5 bed so wondering if you will be sharing if someone else books the other rooms? It's probably why it's on the cheaper side.

I've checked that and it's an entire house for whoever books it because I thought the same thing apparently it's a monthly discount which is why it's so cheap.

I'd say that's not enough. I haven't been to Japan, but DH and I spent just shy of £13k for just the two of us for 3.5 weeks in Australia without being profligate. Isn't Japan even pricier than Australia?

Is it? Bloody hell I didn't know that. I'd love to go to Australia but know I definitely don't have enough for that.