plambers

Hi. Hoping to take daughter to Japan next year after she graduates college. Mid May-mid June. Trying to figure out if we can also include S Korea but we are willing to just visit Japan. I have tickets booked with miles into Haneda and need to figure out pretty soon where we will depart from.

Tokyo-3 or 4 night

Want to then visit Japanese alps - maybe first 2 nights Kanazawa but am open to suggestions. We want easy to moderate hikes, great views, onsen visits. Looking at Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route with the ropeway and snow corridor and hike in Kamikochi. but I can't figure out how to do this. Okuhida region looks beautiful to. We could spend 5-6 days here.

May do Hiroshima and Miyajima for 2 or 3 nights.

Kyoto a definite with a week here and day trips to Uji, Nara, Osaka.
I believe I could fly from Osaka to Seoul but we'd really only have a week here so not sure if it's worth it.

Would love feedback and logistical suggestions. Thanks

shelemm

I don't understand how many nights (on the ground) in total you have.

mrwunrfl

What shelemm said. But what I think you are saying is that your length of stay is undecided given that you have not booked a return flight yet.

The more of May (but after May 5) and the less of June the better. I would definitely add on Korea because the trip is during baseball season.

Seoul (SEL) is easy to get to with nonstops from several cities in Japan, including Osaka Kansai Airport. Use airport code SEL to get search results for flights to boith Seoul Incheon (INC) as well as Seoul Gimpo (GMP). There are nonstops to both.

Other cities in SK, Busan for sure, can be reached by nonstop flights from a few cities in Japan. There are also ferries.

plambers

Hi. We are hoping to spend a month on this trip. 2.5 weeks in Japan and 10 days S Korea. A few changes:

A bit of a change. How does this look?

3 nights Tokyo'
2 nights Kanazawa with day trip to Shirakawago
2 nights Takayama with day trip to Kamikochi for easy hikes in mountains. Will stay in onsen here hopefully or 1 night Takayama and 1 night at an onsen in Shin-Hokata and will viist ropeway.

Do I do HIroshima, Miyajima next for 3 nights before a week in Kyoto? Want to spend at least one night in Miyajima. Which night? First or last?
6 nights in Kyoto with day trips to Nara, Uji
One night in Osaka and fly to Seoul?

Is anything too rushed or in poor order? Will transportation and passes work?

Many thanks.

mrwunrfl

2 nights Kanazawa with day trip to Shirakawago
2 nights Takayama with day trip to Kamikochi for easy hikes in mountains. Will stay in onsen here hopefully or 1 night Takayama and 1 night at an onsen in Shin-Hokata and will viist ropeway.

Too rushed, imo.
You need at least two nights, one full day, just for Kanazawa. Another night would be better.
You can visit S-go on the way from Kanazawa to Takayama, but overnight in Shirakawago is worthwhile.
You need at least two nights, one full day, just for Takayama.

Takayama to Miyajima is a long trip. I have done it in the opposite direction and advise against it, but you can do it. Going from Shin-Hotaka or Kamikochi would be even worse.

You can skip the night in Osaka. You can get from Kyoto to KIX easily enough.

You could go to Kyoto before Hiroshima. Jeju Air has cheap nonstops from Hiroshima (HIJ) to Seoul ICN (it would be US $55 to fly that rout on Thursday the 13th, two days from now). Another nonstop option is from Fukuoka a short (67 min) shinkansen ride south of Hiroshima. Then a few minutes subway ride to the airport. Last option would be to go from Hiroshima to Kansai Airport (4 hours). I did not see any nonstops from Okayama.

plambers

Thanks so much for all of your help. How's this?

3 nights Tokyo'
2 nights Kanazawa. Upon departure visit Shirakawago on way to Takayama.
3 nights Takayama with day trip to Kamikochi for easy hikes in mountains. Or 2 nights Takayam and 1 night at an onsen in Shin-Hokata and will viist ropeway. But this presents travel logistics...

Kyoto 6 nights. Does this break up long trip to Hiroshima? Daughter not that excited for Hiroshima so wondering if I don't do Hiroshima and add a few more nights somewhere else to make this relaxing and varied.

Then 3 nights Hiroshima. Would love to stay one night at least Miyajima. How does this fit in? Which night in Miyajima? last?

She will want some shopping time and food tours, I am sure. Thanks so so much for any additional feedback.

plambers

also was planning on 17-18 days in Japan and 10 or so in SK.

plambers

so one more change. think we have settled on 6 days seoul so we can 18 days japan. many thanks again

shelemm

I prefer Busan to Seoul (which I like very much), so if you are going to limit your time, I would go to Busan instead. Busan is like the San Francisco of South Korea, where the hills plunge right down into the sea. Acres of traditional markets, colorful port, a rare seaside temple, a rare temple built into a cliff, the ruins of a mammoth fortress (you can ascend by cable car), dramatic coastal walks, and of course from there you can visit other sites.

plambers

so if we visited busan, how many nights? is it an easy flgiht from hiroshima? and then how far is it to seoul where we would have to fly out to?

mrwunrfl

>> Shin-Hokata and will viist ropeway. But this presents travel logistics...

That will work. Just bus down from Okuhida to JR Takayama Station and then, normally, you would take the limited express Wide View Hida train from Takayama to Nagoya and then shinkansen to Kyoto. However, there are some runs of the L'ex that go all the way from Takayama to Kyoto.

You can ship luggage from Takayama to Kyoto to make your overnight stay in Okuhida easier to manage. If it is a good weather day then you check in, go up the Shin Hotaka, walk/hike down (if you are capable of it) to Kamikochi and bus back to Okuhida. Or ropeway after the overnight and then bus from Kamikochi to Takayama and on to Kyoto. Or, some other plan.
'
>> Which night in Miyajima? last?
I would advise spending the last night in Hiroshima to make traveling easier the next day. You could consider going on to Fukuoka if you have time. The Fukuoka airport is easier to get to that the one in Hiroshima and there are more nonstop flight options to Korea as well as ferries.

mrwunrfl

I think you would have to connect to fly from Hiroshima to Busan. There are nonstops from Fukuoka on Jeju Air and Air Busan. The latter is associated with Asiana.

Passenger ferry from Fukuoka to Busan takes 3 hr 40 min:
Fukuoka to Busan - 3 ways to travel via train, ferry, car ferry, and plane (rome2rio.com)

shelemm

Busan is a big city with many interesting features. In some ways, it's got everything Korean in one place. I could easily spend a lot of time there. There is a website called 91 Days in Busan by a couple of guys who travel the world staying in places 3 months at a time. They sell an ebook for $8, which is well worth it! https://busan.for91days.com/

This site shows a good tourist map of Busan you can download (it's the second one): https://www.orangesmile.com/travelgu...ution-maps.htm
I love that this map shows you how mountainous Busan is.

It's a 2:30 minute train trip from Busan to Seoul. I flew from Tokyo to Busan gong through Osaka. These are short flights with easy connections. They would probably route you through Osaka.

It all depends on what kind of vacation you prefer. Some folks like (or need) to move around a lot. I have done both, long stays and constant movement. It depends on what I am trying to accomplish. So far it sounds like you have put all your initial fact-finding efforts into Japan and very little about Korea.

plambers

This is most helpful. Honestly, my daughter just asked me to join her on this trip and it seems I am planning it so I am doing as much research as I can as quickly as I can. My Japan research is mediocre at best but we have time to get this down. My biggest issue now is where and when will I be flying home from?
I so appreciate your guidance. Would Busan and Seoul give us a small taste of SK? I saw Juju Island too but don't think we have time for that.

plambers

I saw this ferry also. I believe it leaves around 9 am. Would we want to spend time in Fukuoka or just an overnight before the ferry or plane? Many thanks

mrwunrfl

Fukuoka has its attractions: Fukuoka Travel Guide - What to do in Fukuoka City (japan-guide.com)
It is definitely worth a day or two.
It is possible to take the shinkansen from Hiroshima to Hakata and then taxi to the ferry terminal to make that 9AM ferry.

I don't see any connecting flight itineraries between Hiroshima or Okayama and SK that are less than 5 hours. Nonstops from Osaka Kansai or Fukuoka.

United has award seats for 8,800 miles with multiple available nonstop flights on Asiana on many dates in late May and early June. Probably same for Skyteam or Oneworld partners. It would be easy to get from Hiroshima to Fukuoka airport.

crellston

We spent a couple of weeks in South Korea as part of a RTW trip and loved it. We were expecting it to be a lot like Japan but it was very different. The people were a lot more open and engaging than the Japanese for one thing and the food was very different - possibly the best dumpling culture in the world!

We didn't visit that many places, Seoul, Busan plus a few days in Gyenogju. Seoul was probably our favourite place. so much to see, do and eat! Gyeogiu made a nice contrast to the two cities. We were there in blossom season so the parks and temples around Gyenogju were particularly memorable. With 10 days to play with you could easily fit in those three locations. Travelling by train was very easy. We weren't so impressed with Busan as shelemm appears to have been , though the terrible weather we had there at the time may have influences our opinions. If you have any interest in modern history, then I would highly recommend a visit to the demilitarised zone which I found fascinating.

A few photos of our time there on our blog.
https://accidentalnomads.com/category/asia/south-korea/

plambers

i can't thank you enough for all this information. a colleague has been to Fukuoka and really enjoyed it. Looks like we will head there for our last stop then. Would you recommend flying from there or Osaka? I have some United miles I need to get rid of so will look at this over the weekend. I'd like to fly to Busan and then head down to Seoul for our international flight.

When you say it will be easy to get from Hiroshima to Fukuoka, can you explain? We are now spending more time in SK so can't keep adding days in Japan. I will look at flights. We'd most likely be coming from Miyajima. Just wondering how long it would take us to get to airport so I can figure out flights.

plambers

I have really enjoyed your blob and comments here. I was afraid we'd be disappointed with SK after Japan so happy to hear this won't be the case. Daughter is so excited for both countries so glad this will work out. And yes the food-always the food! Can't wait for it! Seoul, Busan plus a few days in Gyenogj sounds like a plan and the DMZ is definitely on our list. what month were you there?

mrwunrfl

Fly from Fukuoka (FUK). Use United miles to fly to Seoul (ICN) nonstop.
(Or use some Delta miles or pay to fly somewhere else in SK.)

It is only about 90 min on the shinkansen from Hiroshima to Hakata in Fukuoka. Those trains are frequent. From Hakata Station take the subway to FUK airport where you will find the shuttle bus to the international terminal.

The benefit of using United miles vs paying for a ticket is that you can cancel for a refund of the taxes and redeposit of the miles.

I just cancelled an award ticket on the 11th for a Tokyo to Seoul one-way ticket in May. It cost 8800 miles + 27.30 USD. The miles go back in right away and the money the next day.

If you drop Hiroshima from your itinerary then this advice won't apply.