Travel to Japan in 2-3 week of July 2018

I want to travel to Japan in 2-3 week of July 2018 in a group of six senior citizens. We will be travelling from Mumbai and landing at Tokyo and will be returning back from Tokyo. Our tentative stay will be or 12-14 days. We want to cover from west side i.e. somewhere Nagasaki and towards Kyoto, Tokyo and very famous and important must see places towards west - north Hokkaido.
Whether 12-14 days will be sufficient?
what would be efficient travel route so that I can cover best places in optimum travel
What will be ideal and economical mode of transport
Can I stay at some center point and cover places around with transport suggested above
what will temperature around the above period
The above will help us in planning our trip with minimum or no pain to us.

Thanks and regards

Nagasaki Kyoto Tokyo and Hokkaido is not realistic for 12-14 days.

Hi,

I would recommend that you study a map of Japan and check google maps to get an idea about distance and time needed to travel between the cities you mentioned. Like stated above your plan is so unrealistic... you can't cover the length of Japan from South to North in 2 weeks, and with a group of 6 seniors how fit and fast are they? Do you want to spend most of your time in Japan commuting from one place to another or sightseeing and enjoying what you experiences?

For two weeks I would suggest to stick to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima . You can spend 5 days in Tokyo with day trips to Kamakura and/or Hakone and/or Nikko, 2 days in Hiroshima to explore it and the nearby Miyajima Island and 5 days in Kyoto with day trips to Nara and possibly Osaka. There is more than enough to do in these cities in this timeframe and you will still feel that you haven't even scratched the surface.

Are there any particular activities that you or your group want to do, special experiences, certain must visit places, etc...?

I would also suggest that you speak at length with your group after you have all studied a map of Japan thoroughly with distance, travel time and cost, to decide what you exactly want.

Perhaps visiting a travel agent won't hurt and will help you figure out a realistic itinerary.

Use the trip suggestions on this website!!

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400.html

In 14 days you CAN see some places which are quite far apart.

You could go to Nagasaki, or you could go to Hokkaido. You could go to both. BUT you'd have to do some planning and would almost certainly have to use some internal flights, AND it would be preferable if you were able to fly in and/or out of somewhere other than Tokyo.

If you can only fly in/out of Tokyo, and assuming that you want to spend time in Tokyo itself, then I would suggest:

- try to fly to/from Japan on either JAL or ANA.

- look at the deals they have for flights to other cities in Japan (i.e. you take off from e.g. Mumbai, your ticket is booked through to e.g. Fukuoka, but you change planes in Tokyo because there isn't a direct Mumbai - Fukuoka flight). These deals can be really good value, and the great thing is that if your whole trip is with one carrier then it's their problem if something goes wrong and you miss the connection. You might be lucky and have your bags checked all the way through to your final destination - but you'd need to check about that.

- since you spend at least part of your arrival day travelling in any case, the act of adding on an internal flight can be really time-efficient

- you can then do a journey back to Tokyo as a straight line, rather than a loop, which saves you time and allows you to go to more places

With 14 days, I would say that you could spend time in 3 or 4 areas, with 3 or 4 days in each, without being too rushed. It won't leave much time for resting, and will be a reasonably fast pace, but it's the sort of pace that we typically travel at - with a smallish child - so it's definitely possible.

Thanks. If you can give me citiwise places as per last mail that will be helpful.

If we decide to drop Hokkaido and cover places from fukuoka, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Kansai, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo and around places will it possible in 12-14 days. If so what could be my centre point of stay and commute daily by train or bus. Requested to guide. Regards.

With the time you have available, you'll probably be able to complete something which is called the Golden Route which is basically Tokyo - Kyoto (with Nara side trip) - Hiroshima for their first visit. This will of course include trips to places such as Hakone or Nikko for Tokyo and Miyajima near Hiroshima.

As mentioned in my previous post, click on the 12 night trip suggestion. I've included the direct link here: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_tokyo_11.html

The people on this forum are an absolute wealth of knowledge in helping provide you with knowledge, but please use the "Plan A Trip Section" which includes links to websites that tell you basically all of the general information you are asking. It's possible to cover the locations you have mentioned in the time given (12-14 days), but I would compare it to visiting 6 countries in Europe in 14 days. It's possible, but not recommended.

Happy planning!!