Loads of questions 2 weeks itinerary

Hello,

me and my girlfriend are planning a 2 week trip next february/march.
Nothing is booked so our plans might change due to your suggestions but currently our itinerary looks like this:

Arriving in Osaka
1)Train to Kyoto using a 3 days jr kansai pass
2) Osaka day trip kansai pass
3) Nara kansai pass
4)-7) Kyoto on the seventh day a night bus to tokyo
8) Tokyo capsule hotel?
9) Tokyo capsule hotel?
10) Nikko
11) Hakone hakone free pass or single tickets ?
12)-14) Tokyo

We are not eager to change hotels a lot so we planned on staying the first 7 days in kyoto and the last 7 days in tokyo.

So far so good but now here the questions start to overwhelm me:
I will try to put them into an ordner so its easier to answer them.

1. would u recommend skipping hiroshima and miyajima or not? We are not particularly interested in the abomb memorial etc. so would it be such a waste to skip miyajima and hiroshima? (travelling to hiroshima and miyajima would mean that we need to buy a railpass, right?)

2. I thought aariving in kix and departing from narita is a nice opportunity to avoid another long ride on a bus or train. is that right or would your recommend starting and ending the trip in tokyo and if so, why?

3. Are there any other day trips from tokyo you would recommend? And are 5 days in tokyo to long? I dont think so but some people say yes, others say 7 days is still not enough.

4. I'm such a huge sucker for anime so what are the places to see except akihabara?

5. We would like to combine a night in a ryokan and bathing in an onsen. Is hakone the right place to do this?

6. Do you have any recommendations for nice hotels in tokyo and kyoto? We are planning on sleeping in a capsule hotel in tokyo but only for 2-3 nights. Anyone been to book and bed shinjuku? I have seen those seperated places for two persons and they looked quite comfy..

I think this is enough for my first question.
It would be such an enormous help if anybody can answer our questions since we are japan newbies.
Of course I have studied this website but I have not found any 2-week-itinerarys starting in osaka and ending in tokyo without going to hiroshima.

Thanks a lot
Henri & Milena

Hi!

I will do my best to answer your questions and I also plan to ask a few of my own. :)

Of your questions:

1) It really depends on what you and your partner enjoy. I've been to the A-Bomb Memorials and Museum but I took my then 6 year old to Miyajima to see the tori gate and just wander around. She really enjoyed Miyajima and I feel bad we didn't have time to go to the top of Mt. Misen (again, I've been, she has not.) So whether Hiroshima and Miyajima are worth it or not varies by your interests and which passes make the most sense varies by your itinerary once you have it hammered out.

2) Generally, if you can get an open jaw ticket, it is best. I too am planning to fly into Osaka and leave from Tokyo. In my case there are no direct flights from my home airport so I'm stuck changing in Narita, but if you are lucky enough to have a direct flight, go for it. The only time I would not recommend an open jaw is if it was much cheaper to fly into and out of the same airport, and in much cheaper you need to also consider travel times and not just cost.

3) How long you want to spend in Tokyo really depends on what you want to do there and your interests. Some people on this forum are not fans of big cities and some are. I personally like to shop, but not everyone does. So I would do it based on your needs and your personal interests.

4) Depends on what you mean in terms of anime. Like locations where various anime take place? Stores that sell anime merchandise? Anime events? Ikebukuro and Nakano tend to have a lot of merchandise. Ikebukuro also tends to get cosplay events. I ran across one a few trips ago by accident. Odaiba features in some anime and has anime events at Big Sight. Certain series take place in various real life locations. If you like Ghibli, a lot of people like the museum in Mitaka (you must get tickets in advance) and my daughter loves the Pokemon Center in Ikebukuro and Kyoto. Nihombashi has a Pokemon Cafe.

5) With your current itinerary Hakone or Nikko makes the most sense. If you add other places, those might make sense. Hakone is very convenient. You could actually plan to visit Hakone between Kyoto and Tokyo is you don't take the bus.

6) What's your price range?

And question from me... why are you taking a night bus from Kyoto to Tokyo? While you will save money, unless you are adept at sleeping on the bus you are going to be groggy the next day. I have some former JET friends who did it once from Kansai to Tokyo and swore never to do it again. If you don't have a rail pass you can also fly, it tends to be cheaper than the train. It's what many foreigners and Japanese who live in Japan do. Though in your case since you are considering Hakone it might make sense to still take the train since you can go directly from Kyoto to Odawara. You can take trains paying out of pocket.

I also have to ask why are you getting a 3 dar JR West Pass? You don't need it going between Kyoto and Osaka and Kyoto and Nara. You should consider the Haruka+Icoca ticket combo, if you arrive at KIX but I wouldn't get a pass to go from Kyoto to Osaka or Nara. You can take the private Kintetsu line from Kyoto Station to Kintetsu Nara Station which is much closer to all the tourist sights. And the Special Rapid from Kyoto to Osaka is just not that expensive. Once you're in Osaka you are likely to be walking or using subways.

Good luck!

rkold already answered a lot of your questions. Let me try a few additional perspectives:

3. Are there any other day trips from tokyo you would recommend? And are 5 days in tokyo to long? I dont think so but some people say yes, others say 7 days is still not enough.

- Excursions from Tokyo: Kamakura and Yokohama would spring to mind. Less frequently used, but also nice is Chichibu.

- Onsen, if you want to go to Hakone, that would be the most logical location. If you are prepared to skip Hakone then I would do it in Nikko

- Miyajima: really depends on your interest, but if you don't want to see Hiroshima, it is just a long travel to see one shrine with a nice torii. I think you could use that day better with something else in Kansai (e.g. Himeiji castle, Hikone castle...)

- About staying in capsule hotels. The one you cite seems to be different (actually it seems to be a hostel not a capsule hotel), but normally capsule hotels are gender separated. So not sure if I would like to do that if travelling with my husband. Maybe you could consider instead a love hotel, if you want a strange, Japan only experience? (But yes, that Shinjuku hostel looks nice from their web page).

- You say you don't want to change hotels so much, but yet you are dividing Tokyo in two, or am I missunderstanding something?

Enjoy planning your trip to Japan!

First of all thanks a lot for your quick answers. It helps so much !

@rkold:
1)Concerning Miyajima I have been thinking a lot about if its better to first plan which locations to visit and then choose the passes according to that plan or the other way around but I was tended to do the first since I don't want to spend a fortune getting around japan. I'd rather spend lots of money to eat everything I want :)
But if you say so I would consider setting our locations first and choose the transportation after that.

2) Since its the same price we would definitely book the open jaw ticket now. :)

3) I will double check if we need this much time in Tokyo but I think both of us like to do some shopping and exploring this massive city is one of the thing I am most eager about.

4) Generally everything about anime. I already heard about the Ghibli museum so this might be worth a visit. And thanks for the other recommendations.

5) Visiting Hakone between Kyoto and Tokyo is a great idea!
I will definitely consider this!

6) I did not think about a real price range but 2300 the whole trip including our flights for around 580 euros would be what we would spend. But if its possible to do this for less money we would definitely try it. But since its a lifetime goal to visit japan I would spend more if necessary. But only if really necessary.

Concerning the night bus I think you convinced me because I already had in mind that the next day would be really unpleasant. Moreover, if your friends say they would not do this again we should probably not take chances haha

I thought getting the Kansai pass for 3 days would be the best and cheapest option to do the travel in the Kansai region but if you say so we might consider your choice.



@LikeBike
I already thought about Yokohama so I will check out whether it seems interesting to both of us :)

Doing Himeji instead of Hiroshima seems like a nice idea since I already thought about doing so .
And that exactly what I though about Miyajima. I always only see this Gate in all of the travel reviews and did not think it was worth it travelling such a long way to see this.

I would love to stay in a love hotel but I heard we could only book them when we already are in japan and that kind of scared me because we want everything to be planned ahead.
Furthermore I read that they do not have place for your luggage since they are not made for tourists
could that be a problem?
ABout the capsule hotel: We definitely want to do this and we know the fact that we might be divided for a night but that was already taken into account :)

Yes dividing tokyo was a spontaneous idea when i wrote all of this yesterday. We might now consider staying in hakone in a ryokan and staying in one, maybe two hotels in tokyo.

Thanks a lot both of you !
Any other tips anyone ??

Remember that Itsukushima will be undergoing repairs from June 2019. The timetable can be long, so there will be obstructions.

Re: Book&Bed I just stayed at their Asakusa branch last week for two nights and loved it.

My best tip for staying there would be - its best to stay before you hit the shops due to limited space :)

And for the closest capsule experience (coz it is like a more designed version of a capsule hotel really) book individual �grooms�h not the double ones. Check the photos and room plans of each branch carefully as each is unique. In the asakusa branch the double rooms are behind a curtain wall and not in the main bookshelf.

Also their online bookings only open 3 months prior to your vacation dates. I guess this is to stop being booked out too in advance.

Hi!

Personally, I prefer to plan my itinerary first and then figure out if I need a pass and if so which pass works best. Sometimes, no pass makes sense. If I am going over my budget, then I start to re-think my destinations to stay within my budget. I think it's important to be realistic with destinations, since people have a tendency to try to put too much in a trip, but it helps to figure out what you want most. Thinking about your budget honestly also is really important. It's very easy to go over.

Assuming this is still around when you go, this is what you want:
https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/icoca-haruka/

For 3600 yen you get a ticket from KIX to Kyoto on a Haruka as well as a ICOCA Card with 1500 yen on it and the 500 yen refundable deposit already paid. Getting a Kansai pass makes more sense if you're going further than Osaka or Nara from Kyoto, (Like Iga-Ueno since each way is 1100 yen or 2200 round trip or say using a special rapid to get to Himeji from Kyoto which is 2200 yen each way.) I still have my Suica card from when JR East offered a similar deal of a NEX ticket and Suica Card. I could get my 500 yen refund back, but the cards have a special design which also makes them a nice souvenir and I reuse mine. Suica/Icoca/Pasmo cards are great because they are reuseable IC cards that work for subways, trains and buses and not just a single companies' trains. (Like any JR Pass which is not going to work on subways or most buses.) So I use my Suica to take the subway in Osaka or the Kintetsu line in Kyoto. It's about 620 yen one way for a non express ticket between Kyoto Station and Kintetsu Nara Station and will save you about 15-20 minutes of walking vs. JR Nara and you can use that Icoca card to pay for it.

I liked Himeji (and Hikone Castle) Both have lovely gardens. :)

Is this 2300 Euros for 2 adults minus 580 Euros for flights or 2300 Euros for 2 adults minus 1160 Euros for flights? Having 1720 Euros for 2 weeks or 123 Euros per day for 14 days for 2 adults is very different than 81 Euros for 14 days for 2 adults. 81 Euros a day for 2 might be tight. For example for your Nara day you're looking at 2480 yen in transport at a minimum for 2 + at least 1200 yen in admissions for 2 (easily more, since that just covers admission to Todaiji) is giving me 3680 yen or 29 Euros leaving you with 52 Euros to cover food and lodging. Admission costs and transport costs are really going to limit you, and most ryokan are going to run you closer to 178 Euros or more. I've stayed in some cheaper ones but they're also generally more expensive/harder to reach.

Depending on which anime you like you can see the actual locations where the stories take place since some are based on real locations. My child is currently watching SuperGals, so is interested in seeing the Hachiko Statue which features prominently in the anime. Nakano and Shibuya have Mandarake which sells used anime goods. The Shibuya branch is basement level and enormous. The Nakano branches are spread between 3 or 4 floors of small building so you need to search the building for your specific interests. I always go to the 4th floor because it's where used dolls are sold. Make sure you include spending money in your budget. JTB sells tickets in advance for the Ghibli Museum. They sell out fast. Here is the info: http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ticket-information/

Personally, we want to get the special Totoro cream puffs sold at a bakery. I am going to try to pre-order when we first arrive in Japan.

I hope this helps!

My advice (100% IMHO):

1. No problem at all to EXPERIENCE Japan, if you arrive and depart from the same airport assuming the air fare is reasonably cheap for you. For example, should you choose the KIX, then do not bother with Tokyo and vice versa.
2. Although the forum recommends it i have not yet found a reasonably priced ryokan in an onsen resort. By reasonable i mean for less than 200 EUR with breakfast and dinner for two persons. It seems that you almost need to double that unless you are fluent at japanese and can find deals optimized for locals. Usually every onsen resort has some public paths where the fee is between 500-3000 yen.
3. If you only plan to sleep at the hotels, then APA chain has very good features-price ratio. Some of them even have simple onsen/sento. Just be aware that the cheapest double room has usually only one bed which is 120 cm wide. So do your homework if possible :-)
4. Should you choose the KIX as an arrival and departure airport and plan to stay around 2 weeks, then for cheap transport you need:
a) ICOCA+Haruka combination tickets for airport->city transportation
b) for daytrips, a 5 day JR Kansai wide or 5 day JR Kansai Hiroshima or 7 day JR Kansai-Hokuriku railpass + 5 day Kintetsu rail pass - that bundle will cover 10 or 12 daytrips near the 200 km radius. Of course, Kintetsu rail pass requires extra money for limited express addons; however, if my calculations are correct, you still win, because the base amount is 3600 yen and it is already less than the basefare between Osaka and Toba. So basically with the Kintetsu pass you pay half the list price if you max it out i.e plan to do 5 daytrips.
c) for two weeks the additional money for minor trips (subway, non JR lines) might be around 5000 yen.
5. Should you choose the NRT-Tokyo, then you need:
a) SUICA + NEX roundtrip combination
b) for daytrips, for example JR East Nagano-Niigata and/or JR East Tokyo Wide and/or JR East Tohoku pass; that might be good enough for 8-10 daytrips. The price for two of those is similar to one JR Nationwide pass, but cover more days. Of course, from Tokyo it is possible to have daytrips which do not require (i.e although every money is money the savings are small)some kind of pass at all, for example, Enoshima, Kamakura, Chichibu, Takao etc.


Enjoy your trip!

BR,

Lauri

1) you seem to be planning on changing hotel a lot, even in the same city.
If you�fre ok with that, why not think again about your two-town hotel plan?
2) if you are going to visit Hiroshima, and you�fre human beings, then I�fd encourage you to rethink not visiting the A-Bomb museum.
It�fs only my opinion, but surely spending an hour or two considering how politics and blind national self-interests can make man do such horrific things can�ft do anything other than make the world a better and more compassionate place?

Regarding APA hotels I would stay away from them because the owner has far right views and denies Japanese atrocities in 2nd WW.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/APA_Group

There are other cheap hotel chains such as Toyoko Inn or hostels to choose from.

For ryokans you could try Jalan webpage to search, but yes ryokan are generally expensive, but also because they include normally a fancy dinner (breakfast).

Thanks again for your replies!

The budget is actually around 2300 per person minus 580 for the flight.

Only being in the Kansai area without visiting Tokyo and vice versa is not an option since we we want to see both Tokyo and Kyoto.
And the flight is just the same price so we will definitely arrive in KIX and depart from Narita.
I have figured out some prices for a flight from KIX to HND and they are actually 50 euros per person.
Since this is almost the price for a night bus we might consider this option or otherwise taking the shinkansen to Hakone, staying there in a ryokan for a night and then going on to Tokyo.
Which option would you chose?

Of course, if we visit Hiroshima we would definitely visit the Abomb museum as well but we thought visiting Hiroshima almost always just consists of the a bomb museum and memoriaI.
And for our first Japan vacation we both don't have to see this.
Furthermore if the istukushima Shrine is being repaired the main attraction of miyajima drops out as well so we will focus on Kansai and Tokyo.

OK awesome, 2300 euros minus 580 for 1720 Euros per person or ~123 Euros per day per PERSON is a great budget and you can do a lot with it! I was afraid it was the 82 Euros for 2 which is possible but much much tighter and will really constrain your activities.

I mean I book everything in USD because I'm from the USA but I don't know what Lauri is talking about. Last year I paid $200 for Nakanoyu right outside Kamikochi. I could have stayed there cheaper but I paid additional for my private in room toilet. The price included dinner and breakfast and included one way transit from Matsumoto to Nakanoyu and transit to Kamikochi. This trip I am paying ~$200 for a ryokan in Hanamaki onsen and I'm paying $125 for the second night at a larger more hotel-like ryokan at slightly different location at Hanamaki onsen. There are free shuttles between both lodgings and Hanamaki Station, though I do plan to rent a car. I can't remember what I paid when I stayed in Oyu onsen, but my friend was on a tighter budget than me so I doubt we paid more than $200 total. The baths were lovely there. Matsumoto looked like it had several ryokan around 15-20 minutes from the train station that would easily fit the $200 a night budget. I'm pretty sure I also saw some places in Toba for around ~$200.

If you raise it to 200 Euros, you will find additional places. It is harder to find places at a lower price in places like Hakone or Kawaguchiko because they're hugely popular tourist destinations. I do think I found some places in Kinugawa Onsen near Nikko and I thought I saw some places near Higashiyama onsen outside Aizu-Wakamatsu.

I'm personally rather fond of the Mitsui chain of hotels. I stayed in the Tokyo Otemachi one last trip and the room was larger than I expected. I spent the other two nights in Tokyo at the luxury Tokyo Station Hotel, but felt for the money paid Otemachi (about $150 a night when I booked) was a better deal. This trip I am trying the one near Mitsukoshimae. (A little over $200 a night) It has a pretend onsen which is enough for me in Tokyo. I expect the new Mitsui near Kyoto Station will have special rates on offer right now because it is new and not opening until the Fall. I also have enjoyed my stays at the Royal Park chain. I've stayed at the one near Shiodome and one of the Sanjo branch in Kyoto. I need an elevator so I'm not tried the RC Yaska in Kyoto, but I like its modern looking decor. I debated 22 Pieces in Kyoto, closer to $150 USD a night. I loved the Hana Touro Gion, closer to $175 a night. The location was great and I loved having a terrace. We're probably going to do a split stay in Kyoto this upcoming trip between the Royal Park Shijo and the new Vischio by Granvia, as I can book 2 nights for under $100 each night. Someone else on this Forum loved the Anteroom in Kyoto for its funky and artistic decor. I stayed at the Intergate in Kyoto last trip. The location was nice but I found the bed rock hard and the hotel doesn't have real windows. This is a thing in Japan and doesn't bother everyone, but I need real windows even if the view is boring.

To be fair, even with money no object I'm not personally a Hakone fan, but my daughter did enjoy parts of it. I would read up on any place you are considering and try to figure out what it is about the place that appeals to you. So if for example you are going to Hakone to see Mt. Fuji, be prepared it might happen... it might not. I've been to Hakone 4 or 5 times and have never seen Mt Fuji there. I regularly see Mt. Fuji from Tokyo though which is less common so.... Kawaguchiko on the other hand I hear you are very very likely to see Mt. Fuji, but outside Fuji Q Highland, the area looks boring to me and I wouldn't want to travel 2 hours one way just to see Mt. Fuji super close.

I go in the Summer so some rates do tend to be lower in June than other times of year, though I get hammered with airfare.

I hope this helps!

Rkold,

I made some test reservations using the booking.com for ryokan hotels when i planned my accommodation for the 2017 and 2018 trip. Maybe my memory is rusty, but prices for nights in April in Kinosaki Onsen, Shirahama, Manza Onsen etc. were all around 200 EUR for two persons. Those which were around 100-150 were either far away or at least on photos did not look as fancy as i hoped. And all the good ones (based on photos) were even around 300-400 EUR. For comparison, 2018 april the price for the APA Hotel Shiomi in Tokyo for 2 adults and 1 6 year old child with breakfast in a twin room was around 90 EUR and 2017 april Smile Hotel in Namba for 2 adults with breakfast with 120cm bed was about 75 EUR.
I chose the APA for Tokyo, because it had onsen-sento, price was affordable and was close to the JR station which had direct connection to Tokyo Station. Yes, after some days i started to little bit hate the transfer from the Keiyo tracks to other tracks :-) so the hotels around Keiyo line are not for those, who use the car to pick up newspaper from the mailbox.
When starting a reservation process, then at first Mitsui and other chains offered also prices in similar range, but then i found out, that the base price includes only a single 120cm bed and twin rooms were around 120-150 EUR.

You're either going during sakura season or Golden Week. Golden Week is when the Japanese have off, so of course prices will be higher because you are competing against lots of internal tourists as well. It's like I know for June, hotel prices tend to be low, but airfare tends to be high since all the Japanese Ex-Pats go home for the Summer. Many tourists will stay away in June because it's hot and rainy.

I honestly have no idea which specific places you were looking at and what you considered a level of luxury you wanted. But you started by saying there were no ryokan you can book for under 200 Euros and I posted with places I booked that were under 200 euros. Maybe they don't meet your luxury standards, I've no idea. I think the baths, even at the giant onsen hotel, look amazing at all the places in Hanamaki, so I'm happy. I don't remember where I stayed in Zao, but it was super cheap as I did it without meals (which Japanese Rakuten was helpful for since the English one wouldn't allow single occupancy and no meals.) but all the baths in Zao rocked.

I personally won't stay in APAs anymore because they deny Japanese atrocities during World War II and there are plenty of other chains to stay in.

I have no idea when you were booking and how far out. But I've found plenty of rooms with actual double beds or two twins for ~$100-150 in Kyoto in June. I've also found prices can vary a lot. My hotel ryokan in Hanamaki was over $300 a night when I first checked 7 or 8 months out, but closer to 4-5 dropped to $125 on Rakuten. Perhaps you were also coming up against the fact that in some hotels in Japan you were a party of 3 adults and when children are considered free, hotels think of them as "infants." Unlike OP and myself you were traveling as a party of 3. Which is going to affect your ryokan and your hotel prices. OP is a party of two. I am also a party of two as my spouse doesn't travel to Japan with me, it's just me and my child (aka the second adult in many situation.) If you're going to travel as a party with children it behooves you to read all the different policies of the different hotels in regards to children. At some Mitsuis my child is free (Nagoya) and some she is an adult (the one near Mitsukoshimae.) The same holds true for Royal parks or any other chain. Most Dormy Hotels allow children, the one in Nagano doesn't for some reason. Booking is mostly great (I love that it includes taxes) but it doesn't do as good job of sorting through child policies. You really have to do that yourself if you want the best deal. I find most accommodation in Osaka overpriced and prefer to visit it as a day tripper.

Hotel prices at new or soon to open hotels do tend to be lower. So for example the Karaksa Ginza Premier Hotel is new and has not opened yet. It might be an awful hotel, but I'm willing to give it a try since it's only 17,600 yen a night.

Good luck to OP. I would recommend to lower prices at the ryokan, don't stay on a Friday or Saturday night. :)