Japan in a week - Recommendations please!

[angel1976]

Right, looks like everything is in place... Want to take my DH to Japan for a week in November as a surprise 30th birthday present. We have two little ones and the GPs have agreed to have them for a week (and no more! So please don't suggest extending our trip!). Have also had a word with his work to have the week off so now I just have to decide and book. Any suggestions please. The idea is that we leave on Sunday and get there on a Monday and leave that Sunday to get back Sunday. So really, we have 7 days and 6 nights. I have been to Tokyo once a while ago so can't remember much! I can't decide on what to do so ideas please!

Itinerary 1: Monday-Friday: Tokyo (4 nights), Friday-Sunday (2 nights): Hakone to stay in a Japanese ryokan (teahouse)

Itinerary 2: Monday-Thursday: Tokyo (3 nights), Osaka (2 nights), Hakone (1 nights)

DH is a real gadget geek and he will love the electronics district in Tokyo. I don't know if itinerary 2 is too busy but it does mean we get to take the shinkansen to Osaka and that will be an experience (though a friend of mine says it's a bit like the Eurostar, nothing spectacular (hence itinerary 1!). Any suggestions please? Thanks! Also, does anyone have any idea just how cheap tickets to Tokyo can get. I only want to fly direct given the limited time we have there and it seems that the cheapest I can find so far is £1500 for the both of us (airfares alone). Does that sound dear? Many thanks.

Thinking of going to Japan too.

BA were charging £1440 for two pax in November leaving on a Monday (they fly direct into Narita) so what you've been quoted is a bit dearer than that price.

Would buy all train tickets prior to travelling to Japan.

DH goes to Tokyo almost every month for 2/3 days with work and so far this year he has managed to see a huge amount of the country and absolutely raves about it. Trains are easy, efficient, internal flights the same. He recommends

Nakasaki (old Dutch trading port, there is an island museum well worth a visit.
Japanese Alps
Hakodate

Toyota world in Tokyo is fun, and the area around Narita is gorgeous: lovely temple, meadows, river and little traditional shopping street.

Have fun!

Attila Virgin Atlantic is asking for about £1440 for two if you fly midday Sunday (so you get there early Monday morning) and then flying back, you leave Sunday at around noon as well. If you leave on the later flight (which was what I was looking at), they quote about £1480 so it all swings about! So far, it seems that is the best price I can find so far if I want to do Sunday-Sunday! Thanks for the tip about the train, I knew about that but was going to do more research into where to travel once I book the air tickets first! Maybe I will see you there?

Budget I think DH would absolutely love it. Sounds like there is plenty to do in Tokyo. My friend says you have to go to Disney Sea, it's quite different apparently from the 'normal' disney. I remember going in search of a Japanese garden when I was in Tokyo a long time ago as I could not believe how 'concrete' Tokyo itself actually was.... I found a lovely garden but couldn't tell you where now! LOL! Thanks for all the tips, I think I should just bite the bullet and book the air tickets first...

Say hello to Japan for us! We have family currently living out there, and went last summer.

PS..Tokyo Sea is just a variation on a theme of Disney, not really much different at heart...

You will need a Suica card for travelling round Tokyo, it is like an Oyster card. We bought ours over there.

Internal flights are very easy, some children use them as school buses...

Yes to the Geek for the gadget district - Akihabra, DD loved Ginza for high end fashion, we just looked at stuff!

Go out to Mount Fuji - it can be seen from Tokyo if the weather conditions are right.

PPS EVERYTHING about Tokyo is dear!

NB - If you are planning to use your cash card to withdraw cash whilst out there, PHONE YOUR BANK BEFORE YOU GO, because apparently Tokyo is a hotspot for card fraud - DH had a call from his bank while we were there. His card was flagged up as soon as he got to Japan and used it.

But we heart Tokyo!!

Japan veteran here. I would say itinerary 1 rather than 2 - Osaka doesn't have that much that Tokyo doesn't - I'm sure any Kansai-dwellers will shout me down, but if you've only got a week, I wouldn't do the two biggest modern cities, and if you're going to do one, it's got to be Tokyo.

Is there any reason you're not considering Kyoto, also on the shinkansen, slightly closer than Osaka - it's much more of a contrast to Tokyo and is the centre of most Japanese traditional culture, has all the famous zen gardens etc?

Hakone is good for views of Mount Fuji, the lake etc, and it's nice to stay in a ryokan and try soaking in one of the hot springs. You can also go to Hakone on the shinkansen, but it's a very short trip, not on the fastest kind, and you have to change trains to get to the resort. There are also some interesting museums, sculpture gardens etc there.

If you're not going to do Kyoto, it might be worth considering a day trip to Kamakura from Tokyo to see some of the temples, big buddha etc.

Akihabara is a definite must-do - if your DH is a geekish type I would recommend he does lots of online research in advance about which shops he wants to go to as it's huge and confusing.

The other must-do I'd say is to spend a couple of hours in a branch of Tokyu Hands (I think the Shinjuku one attached to Takashimaya Times Square is best). This is what hardware/stationery/department stores should be like....

I wouldn't bother with DisneySea without children unless you are real Disney fans - yes, it has different attractions and rides from DisneyLand next door, but it seems a bit odd to go all the way to Japan for a week and spend one day in a little slice of America...

If you do plan to go to Kyoto or Osaka, it might be worth getting a Japan rail pass for a week, which gives you unlimited use of JR trains (includes some overground lines in Tokyo, but not subway) - it usually costs slightly less than the price of return shinkansen tickets to Kyoto. You can only buy them outside Japan.

Yes to letting your bank/credit card company know you are going - my credit card got blocked last time I was there. You can use overseas debit/credit cards to withdraw cash in atms inside 7-Eleven convenience stores and at Citibank atms, but other bank atms often won't take foreign cards. Post office ones used to, but I had trouble with them this year.

If you haven't found it already, I'd recommend the japan-guide website for lots of useful trip planning stuff, and a good forum for asking lots of questions.

oops that was rather long.... just wanted to add that the other place I love in Tokyo is Kagurazaka - it's a quirky and more human-scale area, really fun to wander round with lots of good restaurants.

I went to Japan for a four-day holiday ten or so years ago and was amazed by how much I packed in. It's not a relaxing place per se so it doesn't feel so mad to do loads.

The trains are fantastic and fascinating for people watching. I got a train pass and remember it being way cheaper. I worked in travel at the time and the Japan Tourist Office were great, they did me a whole itinerary. I would drop them an e-mail and ask their advice.

I flew to Narita and validated by train pass and booked all my trains at the airport railway station. Then I made no further arrangements as it was all done, everything went on time etc.

Spent the first night in Tokyo (which is very concrete - fascinating, but I think four nights is too long), then got the train to Matsumoto in the Japanese Highlands. I stayed in a ryokan and there was an onsen. Spent a day there visiting the castle and hiking. I would definitely recommend that.

Then I spent a night in Kyoto which I loved, had planned to go to Nara but focused on Kyoto instead. Then went down to Hiroshima and saw the peace memorial and some amazing temple on an island (can't remember the name, but it was great), went shopping in the supermarket. I also saw Mount Fuji from the train a couple of times, very beautiful.

Then got the train back to Tokyo and flew back the next day. Writing this, it sounds mad but it really was do-able.

Japan is very expensive, like being a tourist in central London the whole time. In the underground shopping centres at railway stations, there are restaurants with models of each dish outside. These were cheap and I would drag the waitress out and point at what I wanted.

No-one speaks English but they are so helpful and kind, it's very safe so I was happy wandering around strange cities in the middle of the night. Practice your bowing!

I too seem to have written an epic post, must be something about Japan.

By the way, food doesn't have to be expensive - you can easily find conveyor-belt sushi places at Y100 a plate (about 70p? not sure of current exchange rates) and lots of places do fixed price lunches for under Y1,000, eg there's a basic tempura chain called Tenya which does tempura on rice with miso soup and free tea for Y590. Dinners can be more expensive - you just have to choose your place a bit more carefully, round stations is often a good bet for cheap eating.

Thank you all! I just booked the air tickets tonight. I'm feeling quite nervous about it all as DH has no idea we are going and I really hope he likes the surprise!

Kyoto sounds like a good idea... I am so confused now. Can maybe one of you help me suggest an alternative itinerary? 3 nights in Tokyo? 2 in Kyoto and 1 in Hakone?

Thank you for all your tips though. I am so going to save this thread! Still have quite a few more months to plan. Any recommendations for hotels in Tokyo? It looks like £150+ a night for a 4 and about £100 for a 3. I would love to splurge but it depends on how long we are there for I guess.

Gosh, I don't even know where to start!

Just to say, hope you have a fab time. I would LOVE to go to Japan, and maybe when DD is older, we will go. Am very