Itinerary Advice! - 3 weeks

Hi, I'm planning a trip to Japan to take place during December/January, and I'd like some advice on the itinerary I have planned at the moment. I'm planning things early so I can be as informed as possible to make the most of it! :)

I believe that the New Year period is the biggest holiday in Japan and as such there may be limitations during the New Year period on what I can and cant do, advice regarding the availability of my plans for these New Year holidays and whether certain days I have planned could perhaps be done in a single day to then be able to see more in the later days would be most appreciated :)

So .. on to my plan so far..

22/12/2008: Depart home (Australia) to Tokyo
23/12/2008: Akihabara
24/12/2008: Harajuku
25/12/2008: Asakusa
26/12/2008: Odaiba
27/12/2008: Imperial Palace(Kokyo)
28/12/2008: Yokohama
29/12/2008: Kamakura
30/12/2008: Hakone (might stay the night here)
31/12/2008: Travel to Osaka by train (will now be staying in Osaka)
1/01/2009: Minami (Namba)
2/01/2009: Osaka part 2
3/01/2009: Kyoto
4/01/2009: Kyoto 2 5/01/2009: Kyoto/Osaka 3
6/01/2009: Travel to Hiroshima (will stay here now)
7/01/2009: Peace Memorial Park
8/01/2009: Hiroshima & surrounding areas
9/01/2009: As per 8/1
10/01/2009: Travel back to Osaka / Tokyo for flight back home
11/01/2009: Last day
12/01/2009: Flight back to AU


Once again, greatly appreciate any help anyone can provide! :)

Especially the stay in Tokyo is very slow paced. Most people visit more than one district per day. But if you like a slow pace, that it is a fine itinerary.

As for the New Year issue, note that on January 1 quite a few stores and establishments will be closed. It might not be the best day to visit Osaka Minami, a shopping and entertainment district on that day. Instead, you could join people flocking to shrines and temples:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2276.html

Matt:
my first suggestions:
1-post "3 weeks in Japan" in the search window on this site. This will give you lots of suggestions. not all applicable but many will be.
2-in both Tokyo and Osaka it doesn't take one full day to see each neighbourhood. Unless you intend to look at all the buildings, visit every store etc. What I DO, if I have time (and you do) is to see 3 areas or 4 in one day at the beginning (easy to do as both Tokyo and Osaka heave JR loop lines that go to the main areas) THEN I go back at least once, better still twice, in a couple of places that I liked the best. That way you really become familiar with an area. by going only once you may not remember them a couple of months later.
3-when in Hiroshima spend one whole afternoon or morning on Miyajima island (ask your hotel about high tides). You will love it. It takes only 2 hrs to see the Peace Park.

Thank you both :)

I don't want to try and see too much in one day, because I don't like rushing around, I feel like I'd be taking an "express tour" of everything and not really appreciating anything in detail.

Having said that, I like the idea of seeing a few places in the one day and then allowing for some time to return to favourite places, thank you for the suggestion. :)

Regarding the New Years holidays .. I believe only New Years day (Jan 1st) is the national holiday correct? Hence going to shrines and temples on that day as Uji mentioned sounds like a good idea. But also, I've read on this website that some places are closed from Dec 29 - Jan 4, from what I have allocated in these days at the moment, would they be closed/unavailable? Or is it really only the Jan 1st day that will have limitations?

Red Frog, I've searched for a number of things already, but I wanted to get specfic reactions to the itinerary I planned at the moment, but yes I will search some more, for some additional ideas.

Without knowing your general interests (cultural, historical, shopping, nightlife, arts, nature, etc.), it is hard to make specific recommendations.

In 3 weeks, especially with a JR Rail Pass, you could see quite a bit more of Japan. The shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto only takes about 2 hours. If you plan to see a larger cross section of Japan, it is easier to move on if you don't like one particular area.

You might consider flying out of the new Kansai International Airport. This will spare you the trip back to Tokyo and will save you some time. This could could also free up a couple more days to spend in the Kansai/Inland Sea area of Japan (which tends to have a good mix of cultural, historical and natural scenery).

Though leisurely exploring the side streets of many neighborhoods can be fun in itself, this might seem redundant in Tokyo, unless you have specific sites in mind, or are really interested in Tokyo. First, getting a quick sense of neighborhoods, like the previous poster suggested is a good idea.

Yeah, I'm pretty flexible, I'm planning to book from home my first hotel in Tokyo, but I'm not planning to book hotels for the later parts of my trip. This way I can more easily move on to other areas if I wish.

Speaking of that, this brings forth another question. Is it possible to do what I said above? i.e. just stay in whatever place I can find as I head down to Osaka, Hiroshima etc.. or will I need to reserve/book in my stay at these places in advance?

If I am forced to book in advance then that forces me to get to specfic places at certain times, hence why I'd prefer not to book in advance for my the later parts of my trip to maintain flexibility.

Regarding my interests they range from, videogames/technology/pop culture (cities, shopping etc) historical (musems), cultural (shrines etc), as well as a bit of nature. So I'd like to see a variety of things if I can, but at the same time I dont want to feel like I'm having an "express tour" of Japan, I'd prefer to stop and smell the roses as it where, if it means a bit of a slower pace and seeing less, I dont mind too much, this is my first trip to Japan and I can always return in the future.

In a nutshell though, I would like to see a variety of things that cover the interests I mentioned.

Thank you to all once again for all the help, it has been very informative! :)

Hi everyone,

just another question I had.

Regarding Hotels, is it better to book everything in advance at home before I head to Japan? Or could I just check in at places as I go when I get there?

When I saw better I'm talking about cost savings, and availability of rooms ... thanks for the help :)

Don't know about hotels, but hostels are pretty flexible at this. The only (obvious) catch is: there is always a possibility that the hotel/hostel is fully booked. Unless you get there during a japanese holiday it should be no problem to find an alternative then. With a good hotelguide (lonely planet should do) you should be able to find a place to sleep.

There are pros and cons of not booking hotels in advance. Yes, if you get bored with one location you can move on to somewhere else. But, by not booking ahead, you have the problem of turning up in a city you do not know and having to find a hotel. You will be wasting time either walking the streets to find a hotel or finding a tourist office that might be able to find you a room.

In some cases (if there is a convention or festival), you may not find a room at all. I once had to stay overnight in Sendai and asked my hotel to book me a room at their Sendai location. Due to a language problem she only confirmed that, at the time she called, there was a room available. She didn't actually reserve the room for me. When I arrived in Sendai, I found that every hotel was full and I wasted hours trying to find somewhere without luck. Now, all my hotels are booked in advance.

The other thing is, when you book in advance, you know the cost and can budget for accommodation. The better value places will likely go first, leaving poorer value locations for on the day bookings.

One thing you could do, a friend had all his rooms booked in advance at Toyoko Inn, but didn't like one of the cities he was in for 2 nights. He used the free internet access in the hotel lobby to check if a room was free at another city and then booked online. He then canceled the room at the hotel he was staying. With Toyoko Inn you can cancel up to 16.00 on the day of arrival, if you were already staying in the hotel, you would have to cancel and vacate the room by 10.00.

Thank you Rob, that was especially helpful.

I think to be on the safe side I'll book in advance, you made a good point of wasting hours looking for a hotel when you get to your destination, not something I want to do.

Thanks again :)

Hi everyone,

based on the adivce provided thus far I've been making some adjustments to my itinerary, but in doing so I now have a new question!

At the moment my plan is to travel from Tokyo to Osaka by the bullet train on the 1st of January. As this is New Years day, do the trains still run? Are there special circumstances or conditions that that need to be considered?

Thanks :)

Uji supplied a link in his original answer, above. It answers the question about transportation. Here is the link again:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2276.html

Ah yes, that's right! Thank you for that.

From the looks of it, the transport system is very busy during that time, but it will still be possible to make the trip to Osaka on Jan 1st.

Thanks for all the help everyone, it is much appreciated! :D

Hey guys, based on advice provided in this forum, I've made some changes to my itinerary plans, any opinions anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated :)

---------
Tokyo Stay
----------
22/12/2008: Depart Aus Arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport
23/12/2008: Akihabara - (I love gaming so I need a full day here :D)
24/12/2008: Harajuku, Shibuya popular young district, Odaiba
25/12/2008: Imperial Palace(Kokyo), Asakusa, Imperial East Gardens
26/12/2008: Shinjuku
27/12/2008: Nikko
28/12/2008: Kamakura
29/12/2008: / 30/12/2008: Travel back to Favourite Places in Tokyo
--------------
Tokyo stay ends
--------------

31/12/2008: Hakone. Overnight stay, probably in Ryokan

-----------
Osaka stay
-----------
1/01/2009: Travel to Osaka by train
2/01/2009: Minami (Namba)
3/01/2009: Osaka part 2
4/01/2009 - 6/01/2009: Kyoto / Osaka visits

--------------
Osaka stay ends
---------------

--------------
Hiroshima stay
--------------
7/01/2009: Travel to Hiroshima, Peace Memorial Park 8/01/2009: Hiroshima Day 2 9/01/2009: Miyajima Island

-------------------
Hiroshima stay ends
-------------------

10/01/2009: Travel back to Osaka OR Tokyo
11/01/2009: Relax/revist day
12/01/2009: Flight back to AU


Thanks again :)

Sorry, I forgot to mention this in my previous post.

If someone could recommend some hotels to stay at during each designated stay, i.e. Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima, prefer to be close to a train station using a JR Rail Pass that would be great :D

Also some recommendations for a Ryokan in Hakone would be excellent :)

Thank you :D

about hotels: reading Lonely Planet give me a list of hotels to avoid as many foreign tourist are likely to go there hence the places will be booked solid. I like www.japanhotel.net. good range of prices, they post normal price and special, have photos etc. For reasons too long to mention I can't book hotels in advance and so far so good, though a couple of times I had to change plans at the last minute(I call from the airport after landing) and go to town #3 instead of #1 then go to #1 later. Of course I can't travel during public holidays either..so I have more chance to get hotels at the last minute. Your plan to book in advance for Tokyo then see how it work out for later is good (you can ask your hotel in Tokyo to help you book an hotel in the next town etc.)

Hi everyone,

I have an updated Itinerary from what I have previously planned, I'm still open for suggestions, so any advice/opinions that anyone could provide from the following new plans I have, would be much appreciated! :)

22/12/2008: Depart AU - Arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport

23/12/2008: Akihabara

24/12/2008: Harajuku (Meiji Shrine), Shibuya, Odaiba.

25/12/2008: Imperial Palace (Kokyo), Asakusa, Imperial East Gardens (Tokyo Metro Govt Bldg)

26/12/2008: Shinjuku

27/12/2008: Nikko

28/12/2008: Kamakura

29/12/2008 - 30/12/2008: Revist favourite areas of Tokyo ... perhaps see things that I've missed.

31/12/2008: Travel to Kyoto by Shinkansen - check in new Hotel now based in Kyoto.

1/01/2009: New Years Day festivities - (Fushimi Inari Shrine)

2/01/2009: Himeji Castle

3/01/2009: More Kyoto sightseeing, -- Kinkakuji.

4/01/2009: Gion

5/01/2009: Osaka - Minami (Namba)

6/01/2009: Nara (Todaiji temple)

7/01/2009: Travel to Hiroshima - check in new hotel, based in Hiroshima. See the Peace Memorial Park

8/01/2009: Miyajima Island

9/01/2009: Hiroshima Castle , other sightseeing

10/01/2009: Travel back to Kyoto or maybe Osaka.

11/01/2009: Last day in Japan

12/01/2009: Flight back to AU


Opinions? Specfically, is what I have planned possible to do? Also I plan to travel using the JR Rail Pass, can the pass get me to all the places I have in the schedule?