Japan Planning Thread 3

[Takoneko]

Hi!

This is a new Japan Planning Thread for when our last one is full.

Feel free to ask any questions here related to travel in Japan, regardless of budget or style of trip.

@Takoneko we will still stay in Kumomoto, and we plan to hire a car for at least one day. We particularly want to drive to the Amakusa islands.
I’m considering booking a back up hotel in Takamatsu with the option to cancel if necessary, in case Kagoshima isn’t viable.
Good luck with your preparations!

@Pusspot It is difficult to know what to do. We’re definitely still going to head to Kumamoto because I have tickets for an event on December 2nd, but we had planned to head out south of the city for at least a couple of days and it’s really hard to tell if that’s realistic. At the moment I’m just watching and waiting before booking our Kumamoto to Tokyo flight.

It’s never a bad idea to have a back up booked, especially given how generous Japanese hotels are with free cancellation. I’m just struggling to decide where my back up would even be.

@Takoneko that feels (to me) like your trip has come round really quickly!

Take your driving licences and consider hiring a car - it'll be easy down there at that time of year as it must be quiet. Or consider the bus - we only used a relatively 'normal' coach (Tokyo to Fuji) in Japan, but the intercity buses we have used in Korea have been good fun, with interesting experiences at the services...

On JR Kyushu’s website it says that repairs are ongoing and service is unlikely to resume in August. The highway bus service between Kumamoto and Kagoshima resumed on August 17 but with possible long delays. Hopefully things will get back to normal in the next month or so.

Shikoku is a great alternative. The Sanin Coast would also be a good option. It’s beautiful. Hagi, Matsue, Izumo, Kinosaki Onsen are all interesting stops.

I don’t drive but DP will have his international driving permit and licence with him. Some of the places that we planned to visit by car aren’t accessible or open now, so we’ll need to make a choice about whether we’ll still rent a car and if so for how long. It might just be easier if the Shinkansen isn’t running to take a highway bus to Kagoshima and stay there a couple of nights and fly back to Tokyo straight from there. I suppose all of this can be arranged closer to the time when we have more information.

@Remoter33 Thanks!

We’re spending a couple of nights in Matsue in March and I’m really looking forward to it.

Hi,

I've booked flights to Japan!

(I've had another thread going today about which airline to go with, I was comparing Gatwick with Air China with a Manchester flight with Qatar but the Manchester deal was over £600 more expensive. I'd read not great things about Air China plus we live up north so Gatwick is a 5 hour trek).

We had seen a tour with Exoticca which was a really good price and that's what set me off, we weren't actually planning Japan until I saw the deal.

The flights go into Tokyo and out of Osaka, 11 nights, right now we're thinking a good 1st timers intinerary is something like:
3 nights Tokyo
3 nights Kyoto
2 nights Hiroshima
2 nights Osaka

I'm thinking of doing 1 night in a ryokan in Hakone, has anyone done that?

Any suggestions very welcome, we are couple, mid 40s, like walking, would like a livelier area (bars etc on a night), want a mix of traditional and vibrant.

I'm going to go back and read this thread (and the others) properly, I am so excited :-)

Looks like a good itinerary.

I would suggest:

3 nights Tokyo
2 nights Hiroshima
5 nights Osaka/Kyoto

Going directly to Hiroshima would mean less checking in and out of hotels. It would also mean you could spend the last five nights at the same hotel. Osaka and Kyoto are close enough to do day trips easily. If you want to stay in a livelier area, I’d recommend Osaka. Kyoto can be a bit dull in the evenings.

Staying in Hakone is doable but would mean losing a night and some daytime from somewhere else. Hakone is an easy side trip between Tokyo and the west but it takes time to get up there. Bus from Mishima station or train from Odawara. You could have the ryokan experience in Kyoto Arashiyama but it probably wouldn’t be the same as Hakone. Maybe skip Hakone this time and go there on your second trip to Japan!

@Curlybrunette we flew in to Tokyo and out of Osaka last year (Cathay). It worked well for us, as we didn’t lose time travelling back to Haneda at the end of the trip.
I would add an extra night in Tokyo, so you could have a full day to Kamakura/Enoshima. It’s an easy trip from Tokyo, and you might get a glimpse of Fuji from Enoshima. I haven’t visited Hakone but as @Remoter33said, it’s a lengthy journey to get there.
Four days at the end of the trip in Osaka should be plenty, and it’s a very short train journey to Kyoto from there. Day trips to places like Nara, Uji and Fushimi Inari are easy from Osaka (these three could be combined into one day).
My thoughts are Tokyo 4, Hiroshima 2, and Osaka 4.

@Curlybrunette How exciting!

That’s not a bad plan logistically if you definitely want to stay in both Osaka and Kyoto rather than day tripping between them.

I’ve been to Japan 4 times and I’ve still never stayed in Hakone. For a first timer with only 11 nights, I think realistically you can do Hakone or Hiroshima, but not both. Hakone would add a lot of extra travel time.

In Tokyo, Ueno and Shimbashi are livelier areas with plenty of little drinking alleys. Ikebukuro is bright lights lively. Shibuya and Shinjuku are the classic nightlife choices but if you’re on a budget then accomodation there is a lot more expensive than most other places. We stayed in Asakusa last time and found it had plenty of bars open late. In Osaka Shinsaibashi is hard to beat. Loads of hotels, excellent transport links from a manageably sized station and walking distance to Dotonbori.

@Curlybrunette One more thing… although June is still quite a while away I recommend getting hotel bookings in early with free cancellation and then checking back periodically in case there’s a better deal.

For our next trip we found a better deal for Hiroshima (far nicer hotel for the same money) a few months later, but the hotel that we booked in Kyoto (booked end of May for next March) for £50 per night is now £110 per night for the same dates. Our Tokyo hotel in January is now £170 per night and we only paid £120.

Thinking about this, I agree with @Pusspot on spending more time in Tokyo.

Actually, if a friend asked me the same question about a Japan itinerary, this is what I would tell them. I am biased though!

I’d say skip Hiroshima and focus on Tokyo. If you like Japan and decide to come again, go to Hiroshima then. And perhaps only spend a few nights in Kyoto or Osaka.

Tokyo and the surrounding area offer as much as Kansai (Kyoto and Osaka) with less of the hassle. Basically, Tokyo itself has everything you need. Lots of history and lots of modern. And from Tokyo you can visit Kamakura (temples and shrines), Nikko (mountains, temples and shrines), Enoshima (the sea and shrines), Mt. Takao (mountains and hiking), Matsumoto (best castle in Japan). Even Hakone is a (long) day trip from Tokyo.

Kyoto is great but it’s also extremely crowded nowadays. Buses are the most convenient way to get around but they get packed and the traffic can be awful. Domestic tourists are avoiding Kyoto because of the overcrowding. I much prefer Nara just to the south of Kyoto. Wonderful temples and everything is within walking distance. It’s still very crowded though.

Osaka is fun. There’s nothing really special to see there, but it has a real energy especially after dark.

I would never say don’t bother with Kansai (Kyoto and Osaka), but I would say spend more time in Kanto (Tokyo and surrounding area).

@Curlybrunette if you want to stay in a ryokan, and don’t want to go to Hakone, then it will be nicer to do in/near Kyoto.

We always have a ryokan stay of some sort because they are so relaxing and different to accommodation anywhere else.

Yes, Kyoto is busy, but it’s also beautiful, and getting up early mitigates much of the stress.

Nara has some really affordable ryokan too. Most people do it as a day trip so the hotels and ryokan there are surprisingly affordable. That could be another good option if you wanted a one night ryokan stay without adding much travel time. We’ve got a ryokan booked there for next year.

Thanks so much you've given me lots to think about. I love the planning stage of an adventure!