hobscrk777

It seems to be the season - I appear to be one of many people here planning a trip to Japan in April! If you're not exhausted from reading all the other similar posts, I'd appreciate some feedback on my itinerary.

I'd like to travel for three weeks sometime from late March to early April - I can be somewhat flexible on the exact dates. I get the feeling that I might be spending too much time in Tokyo and Kyoto.What do you think? Should I add some additional nearby destinations, such as Kamakura or Takayma?

First let me share some personal details to help you better put my proposed itinerary in context.

27-year old white male US citizen Will be flying out of San Diego $2000 USD budget (Plus I've got 100,000 rewards points through my Chase Amazon visa, which at the very least I can exchange at a 1001 ratio, or I can exchange for various travel perks. Probably going to use this to buy the flight.) Is this budget at all realistic? That gives me about $100 per day. I'm fine with Ramen, Udon, okonomiyaki, etc., and I don't need a luxurious accommodations by any means, but I'd like something more than a bunk bed. Should I increase the budget to $2500? To give you an idea of my experience level, the only international travel I've done before is 5 weeks throughout Europe several years ago. My favorite things to do are visit temples/churches/shrines, visit museums, eat the local cuisine, see breathtaking vistas that can only be seen in a particular destination, and get exposed to the culture

And now for the itinerary:

Days 1 - 4: Fly from San Diego to Tokyo (leave early am on Saturday morning, arrive Sunday afternoon, so the first two days are basically travel days), spend time in and around Tokyo
Day 5: Mitaka - Ghibli museum, return to Tokyo for lodging
Day 6: Mount Fuji, return to Tokyo for lodging
Day 7: Travel from Tokyo to Nikko, return to Tokyo in pm
Day 8: Travel by train from Tokyo to Nagoya, evening in Nagoya
Day 9: Nagoya
Day 10: Travel from Nagoya to Kyoto, evening in Kyoto
Days 11-13: Kyoto (Philospher's Walk, various temples)
Day 14: Arashiyama, back to Kyoto in pm
Day 15: Nara, back to Kyoto in pm
Day 16: Yoshino, back to Kyoto in pm
Day 17: Travel to Koyasan early morning, overnight in temple
Day 18: Travel from Koyasan to Osaka via Kyoto
Day 19-20: Osaka
Day 21: Travel to Himeji Castle early morning, back to Osaka for evening
Day 22: Fly out of Osaka (leave Saturday pm, arrive in San Diego Saturday pm)


Thank you!

Thanks for your advice!

tripplanner001

For the most part, your itinerary looks reasonable. You may want to consider staying 1 or 2 nights in Hakone and experiencing Mount Fuji from there.

Not sure your purpose for including Nagoya; you could probably drop that for something like Hiroshima / Miyajima.

Regarding your budget, does $2000 include airfare? If so, and assuming airfare runs about $1000, it's not a lot of money for Japan for everything else.

Mara

I think $100 a day if it includes hotels particularly during cherry blossom season is unrealistic....

Additionally there are all the transportation costs between cities...

I don't know anything about converting points....sorry....

Have you seen japan-guide.com for tourist info and hyperdia.com to compute train fares?

Also the Ghibli needs tickets to be purchased in advance.

curiousgeo

Your itinerary sounds good considering you are traveling alone, are young and energetic. It's a nice mix of day trips with time in Tokyo and Kyoto as well.

While you will be able to manage eating quite nicely on a small daily amount in Japan, accommodations may throw your budget off. Have you already researched hotels, hostels, guest houses, etc.? Mara's point of transportation costs is a good one to consider too.

hobscrk777

Thanks for the replies everyone. The $2000 doesn't include airfare, so I can see how that might have been confusing. I probably should have said the all-in budget is $3000, potentially $3500. Ultimately I suppose it will cost what it will, since lodging and transportation will by necessity cost a certain amount in a developed country like Japan. In any case, the near future seems like the best time to go, because I can't imagine the exchange rate will become any more favorable for the USD than it already is.

The only reason I included Nagoya is because it showed up on the japan-guide.com list of attractions and the castle looked neat. After seeing your responses here, I'm going to remove it and add something like Miyajima, Hakone, or Takayama.

hobscrk777

Forgot to add - I'm also interested in visiting Hagurosan and Hirosaki....now I know those are very far to the north, which is why I didn't include them in my itinerary...but is it worth including those destinations and reducing time in other places?

kja

OK, not sure I'm keeping up with all the great advice you've already gotten or with changes you've already made to your plans, but here are some thoughts:

"Day 6: Mount Fuji, return to Tokyo for lodging"

I'm not sure how realistic that is -- my understanding is that one can never really count on seeing Fuji-san. I defer to the experts on this question, but think tripplanner001's suggestion to try to see it from Hakone is worth considering.

"Day 7: Travel from Tokyo to Nikko, return to Tokyo in pm"

Many people visit Nikko as a day trip from Tokyo. I thought it worth an overnight so I could also see Kegon-no-Taki and a bit of Lake Chuzenji. And staying overnight there might well be less expensive than another night in Tokyo....

"Day 10: Travel from Nagoya to Kyoto, evening in Kyoto
Days 11-13: Kyoto (Philospher's Walk, various temples)
Day 14: Arashiyama, back to Kyoto in pm
Day 15: Nara, back to Kyoto in pm ..."

I think you might want to add a night to the area, so you have either 6 days in Kyoto (which includes Arashiyama) or 4 days in Kyoto and 2 days in Nara. If you do the latter, consider visiting Uji and Fushimi Inari en route between the two.

"Day 17: Travel to Koyasan early morning, overnight in temple"

If possible, consider visiting Okuno-in at dusk, and possibly at dawn, too!
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4901.html

"Day 21: Travel to Himeji Castle early morning"

Depending on how your final itinerary shapes up, you might consider visiting Himeji-jo from Kyoto or en route from Kyoto to Hiroshima / Miyajima.


Mara has given you some invaluable advice on web-sites, costs, and the need for advance reservations -- heed each and every one of her words!

"In any case, the near future seems like the best time to go"

Perhaps, but going during high season may NOT be the best time! If you have any latitude in timing your vacation, try to go a bit later, once the high season associated with Japan's cherry blossom season has ended.

"The only reason I included Nagoya is because it showed up on the japan-guide.com list of attractions and the castle looked neat. After seeing your responses here, I'm going to remove it and add something like Miyajima, Hakone, or Takayama."

I think skipping Nagoya makes sense. For a castle, keep your plan to see Himeji-jo -- and be sure to fit it in logically with a revised itinerary.

I, personally, would not add Takayama unless you free up 5 nights and include Kanazawa. JMO.

Adding a night or two for Miyajima and Hiroshima is, IMO, well worth considering.

Lots of options!

"I'm also interested in visiting Hagurosan and Hirosaki....now I know those are very far to the north, which is why I didn't include them in my itinerary...but is it worth including those destinations and reducing time in other places?"

Your trip, your call. I don't think you have time to add them in to this trip, which is already rather jam-packed....

Hope that helps!

LuisJp

"Travel from Koyasan to Osaka via Kyoto"
Do not go back to Kyoto. Koyasan is nearer to Osaka than Kyoto.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Koyasan/Kyoto/Osaka/

From my point of view, too many day trips, especially for a young solo! There is no gain in a return trip in such day trips. Use the time for new experiences. Repeating is a part of the casual life. I would stay there, if it would take more than 1-2 hours in the transportation. It should not take such a time in check-out / check-in.

D3-5: Tokyo + Mitaka
D6-7: Nikko
D8-9: Mount Fuji (Hakone or Kawaguchiko)
D10-13: Kyoto + Arashiyama
D14-15: Nara
D16: Yoshino
D17: Koyasan
D18: Himeji
D19-20: Miyajima
D21-22: Osaka

The above is an example in the case of Nagoya out / Miyajima in. If you want Hirosaki / Hagurosan, do that. Keep your color. Do not do as the others do. However, the both could still be covered by snow. In addition, consider to avoid busy seasons (pink in this calendar):
http://www.rosenzu.com/kikaku/cal2016.pdf

I believe the most common price range for accommodations is around 5000-10000 yen and meals 500-1000 yen. For transportation, buses and others could be more economical:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2028.html

Kavey

On our first trip (in 2012), when the Yen was much stronger against both £ and $ than it is now, I found that food was cheaper than we expected (before I started actually reading up in detail and booking stuff) but that accommodations were more - certainly more than budget end when travelling in Europe.

That said, if you look into minshuku (like bed and breakfast where you're taking a room in someone's home, most commonly), small simple ryokan (traditional Japanese inns) and budget western hotels, you can keep it down as much as possible.

I suggest using booking.com both to get a feel for locations and different kinds of lodging available, and prices, and also to book some of them, though it's best for hotels and mid to upper end ryokans, I don't think it really lists minshuku. Someone else may be able to suggest some websites for minshuku.

I don't think you have too much time in Tokyo or Kyoto given your plans to do so many day trips, so suggest not reducing those. But unless you have a strong preference to only stay in a few bases, you could look at doing a few one nighters rather than always doing day trips and returning to a fixed base... I imagine you'll travel fairly lightly on the luggage front (I did when I was in my twenties!) and one nighters shouldn't be too tiring...

Regarding timing, you've picked one of the high season periods to travel, so if budget is a consideration, and you are able to do so, you may want to look at a different time of year.

If not, at the very least, do avoid Golden Week when the entirety of Japan is on holiday and hotels will be on peak rates, and very booked up.

Japan-Guide, already recommended, is the BEST resource for planning, for working out your itinerary and learning about the many sights, and also for understanding everything from train tickets (look at JR Pass and other regional passes and use Hyperdia.com to see if you'll save with a pass or not), to credit cards, phones, and all kinds of other practical stuff.

I wouldn't try to squeeze too much more in, I think you have a decent itinerary as it is, especially once Nagoya is dropped.

hobscrk777

Excellent advice from kja, LuisJp, and Kavey! A minshuku sounds extremely appealing! Can anyone recommend a good website that lists them, if such a website exists? Maybe I'll take the advice from Kavey and LuisJp and extend my day trips into one-night stays in various destinations, that way I get out of the city centers a little bit more.

kja

"Maybe I'll take the advice from Kavey and LuisJp and extend my day trips into one-night stays in various destinations"

I'm a great fan of one-night stays! I love seeing places in differing lights and I HATE backtracking if I can avoid doing so. Consult your maps and hyperdia and see what might work for you.

Kavey

Kja, agreed -- I always feel I've seen more of a place if we've enjoyed an overnight!

Hobs
I think http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/ may be able to help - they are essentially a service that help foreign travellers book Japanese traditional accommodations, especially helpful when booking smaller places that don't have an English-language website and/ or an English-language speaker on hand for phone or email bookings. If you give them your criteria (location, minimum room specs, whether you're OK to share bathrooms) they can advise on what properties fit your budget and requirements and then make the bookings. If you have questions for the properties before booking, they handle that too.

Booking.com does have some minshuku but just not many. When you do a search, on the left you can filter by property type, it looks like most are under Guest Houses, but some are under Inns I think. What I'd do is simply plug your destination and dates into booking.com and use the filter to limit to properties within the lowest two price bands and see what you get. You can then filter further for property type/ more specific location as you like.

Also found this link which is a great guide: http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/whe...ation-options/