jodo

Hi Fodorites,
Well, we are planning our latest adventure in Asia, this time Shanghai and Japan....It's the Japan piece that's daunting for us. I've posted a query on the 10 days in Japan thread, but I thought I'd follow it up with a separate message. 10 days...two couples...no Japanese spoken. Some hotel points and cash to be used. Here are a few queries: Some advice as to the need of a guide to help us when we land in Narita (for transportation and translations), itinerary: know we're going to Kyoto and Hakone...what about Tokyo itself (vs. smaller quaint areas). How expensive is transportation and is it cheaper to hook onto an existing "tour".
Thanks again, in advance, Fodorites, for being the best travel guides.
Joyce and Don (jodo)

kja

Hi, Joyce and Don -

For information about Narita, see:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2027.html

For information about Tokyo, see:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

Learn a few basic words of Japanese and you should be fine!

Hope that helps.

hawaiiantraveler

Hi Joyce and Don,

How many days to you want to spend in each city?

Do you fly in and out of Narita or can you open jaw and fly into NRT and out of KIX?

No, you don't need a tour.

You can do with 10 nights

Tokyo-3 nights
Kyoto-5 nights
Hakone-1 night
Tokyo -1 night to fly home or

Tokyo- 3 nights
Hakone-2 nights
Kyoto - 5 nights(you can day trip to Nara or Himeji or Hiroshima)

and fly out of KIX if you can get a reasonable open jaw ticket. This way would also negate the need for a JR Pass.

You can use your SPG and Hilton points on hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto so you can save money there. I find using your hotel points in the larger cities of Japan to be a cost saver as the nicer 4 to 5 star hotel chains in these cities can be very expensive.

If you have any kind of gold, platinum or diamond status with Hilton or SPG, Japan is the place where your status will be honored and actually mean something, lol

Let us know more about how you want to spend your time and we can work out a better and more detailed itinerary for you

Aloha!

hawaiiantraveler

a couple of other things.

You can catch the limosine bus from Narita to Tokyo and probably right to your hotel if you stay at the right ones. The service is great and virtually door to door. You can also take the NEX train into Tokyo but I don't recommend that for the first time visitors with baggage

http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/

Here is some information on train travel in Japan

http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2016.html

rhkkmk

hopefully mrwun and kimjapan will chime in

hawaiiantraveler

yeah , where is everybody?

Anyway, no need for a translator or guide unless you really want one. Signs in Narita airport are in Japanese and English as they are in virtually all the big city train stations and hotels.

I speak virtually no Japanese and Mrs HT doesn't even try yet we get around fabulously in Japan. Lots of signage in English all over the place especially in the places you are going to so no worrys......really!

Transportation in Japan is fast,efficient, first class but not cheap.....there are ways to travel less expensively for tourists like the various rail passes and cheaper domestic flights.

Like I said before, let us know your wants and likes and I am sure others will join in with their opinions shortly

Aloha!

jodo

Thank you thank you thank you for responding ....we were "away" for the weekend. I am now going to review your thoughts. But I thought I'd give you our itinerary...plane is fixed. We fly into Narita and directly on to Shanghai and surrounding areas (need help there too)....9 days....we then fly back to Narita and have 10 full days in Japan. We arrive about 8 p.m. on a Sunday night, and have 11 nights....leave the morning of the 12th. Here comes the choices. Stay in Narita first night and begin the next morning fresh ...(been there once before)...or get ourselves into Toyko proper that night. Second choice: where from there? We'll have just come off of Shanghai...not sure what a good rhythm and intro to Japan would be. Stay in Tokyo first, or take the bullet train the next day to Kyoto? or Hakone? I hear Hakone is overloaded on the weekend, yes? By the way, if any of you remember, I have that persistent back back....we'll be doing trains ( except probably the limo bus from the airport). The idea of sending on the luggage would help, but a good moderate seemless itinerary would also be good. What do you think about adding another city (our friends are looking at Nikko) or maybe heading out from an existing city for a day trip.
We tend to like to linger a bit (I, too, was feeling 2 nights in Hakone is necessary to really get a feel of the area)
We will also need many suggestions for how not to break the bank on this trip (we are frantically saving Starwood miles...will look into other hotel choices and points as well. If anyone has a suggestion there, let us know.
Thank you, Hawaiian Traveler, and everyone elso, for all your help. All input is appreciated.
Jodo
p.s. we were in Maui at Thanksgiving...our first trip to Hawaii....lllllloved it (spent two nights in Hana, where we rented this beautiful house....if anyone needs input on a place to stay. )
Aloha!

hawaiiantraveler

Ahhhhh Hana, my favorite place on Maui and second fave in all of Hawaii....

On first glance I would tend to stay in Narita if I arrived that late on a Sunday night. Cheaper than Tokyo and one less commute on a day that you probably have commuted for some time already.
You can get an early start to Kyoto the next morning. Here is some info for Narita:

http://www.mgnewman.com/narita/index.html

Your itinerary would look something like this:

Night 1- Narita

" 2 - train and shinkansen to Kyoto
" 3 - Kyoto
" 4 - Kyoto
" 5 - Kyoto
" 6 - Kyoto
shinkansen to
" 7 - Hakone
" 8 - Hakone
" 9 - Tokyo
" 10 - Tokyo
" 11 - Tokyo
Morning 12 - Leave

You can do a day trip to Nara or Himeji from Kyoto if you like. You can also do a day trip to Nikko from Tokyo but that is a looong day trip and Nikko is worth at least one night imho.....maybe next trip.

If you want one more night in Tokyo just take one from Kyoto. Most here would say keep the extra night in Kyoto though....up to you.

This is a very easy itinerary to do. You could use a 7 day JR pass for this trip if you leave Kyoto a day earlier and make it to Tokyo for night 8 or just leave the schedule the way it is and catch the Romance car back to Tokyo from Hakone on the Odyaku railways

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5206.html

ship your luggage between cities using the takuhaibin services so you don't have to lug stuff on the trains unless you travel lightly

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

Let us know what type of accommodations you want

Another thought, with two couples I would definitely think about renting a pair of phones just in case.....

I have had very good service from Rentafone Japan and terrible transmission service from Pupuru

http://www.rentafonejapan.com/?gclid...FRFMagodlCJsbA

Aloha!

jodo

Thanks, Hawaiian Traveler....(especially like the tip about the cell phones) Have you heard anything about Hakone on the weekends? (this itinerary puts us there at that time) I read somewhere that it's horribly crowded. Anyone else been there on the weekends?
Last, would you consider Nikko instead of Tokyo?

hawaiiantraveler

Yes, Hakone can be busy on the weekends but don't let it worry you too much. If you are staying two nights you will have enough time to avoid the crowds. You can save most of your sightseeing for the second day there and you will beat the crowds as you will already be in the area and don't have to commute in. Get an early start.

There are different areas of Hakone to stay in. I loved our stay at the Hyatt in Gora. If you have any Hyatt Gold Passport points this is the place to use them.

I would not sub Nikko for Tokyo, there is no comparison between the two cities. One is one of the biggest metros on the planet and the other is a typical small town Japanese village, complete with the requisite temples and natural beauty. If you have been to Tokyo before then maybe an overnight in Nikko and taking the bus to Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls for a day would be in order

Aloha!

hawaiiantraveler

ttt

jodo

Thanks, Hawaiian Traveler. I know we will have more questions for you, but right now we have enough to go on.....time to scramble through the guide books and count up hotel points. (one other query, however....location to stay in in Tokyo as a first time traveler with 3 nights.... lots of Starwood points....not so many Hilton)
If there are any other Fodorites out there with suggestions, please chime in.
(we will be looking at all the input on the cheap Japan thread that just appeared.
Aloha for now.
Happy Travels to all.
J and D

hawaiiantraveler

For your Starwood points in Tokyo the best place is the Westin in Ebisu for 12 to 16,000 points per night depending on the time of year.

The Sheraton Miyako Hotel is the spartan but still very adequate and located in central Tokyo at 10,000 points per night.

The upper mid level choice is in the Disney resort in Maihama called the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel for 12,000 points

There is also the Sheraton in Yokohama which is a 25 minute train ride south of Tokyo at 7,000 per night

Here is a good site for ideas on cheap travel in Japan

http://www.japan-cheap-travel.com/index.html

Cheap and trusted hotel sites

http://www.tokyuhotelsjapan.com/en/index.html

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/

http://www.itcj.jp/

Aloha!

mrwunrfl

I stayed at the Sheraton in Yokohama on points plus cash. It is a Sheraton. Extremely convenient to Yokohama station - which is not particularly convenient to Tokyo (also it is not the same as the shinkansen station Shin Yokohama).

I took the airport limo bus from Narita to the YCAT (Yokohama City Air Terminal). The YCAT is on the east side of Yokohama station and the Sheraton on the west site. The bus ride in was not at all enjoyable and took longer than scheduled due to traffic. Getting from the YCAT to the Sheraton is not obvious.

But I liked the Sheraton despite all that and would stay there again (I like Yokohama for some reason - despite it being the 2nd or 3rd largest city in Japan it doesn't feel that big when staying around the station).

Also stayed at the Westin Ebisu on points plus cash. Very nice hotel. Not a great location (i.e. not close to a subway/train station. I took the limo bus from there to the airport. It stopped at the Sheraton Miyako and then a hotel in Shinagawa before heading to the airport.

What month is this trip?

It must have been a Sunday when I arrived in Hakone. I do recall seeing a long line of cars, weekend or day trippers, heading in the oposite direction. Glad I wasn't in that traffic. It was late November, after the Labor Thanksgiving Day holiday in 2001.

mrwunrfl

<i>One is one of the biggest metros on the planet and the other is a typical small town Japanese village, complete with the requisite temples and natural beauty.</i>

Good reasons to sub Nikko for Tokyo, if you ask me!

jodo

Thanks for the input. We are doing this trip mid-may...traveling to Shanghai first for 8 days and then onto Japan. (so we'll be there late May.) We are still in the process of chosing cities in Japan, and all advice is welcome.

puttakka

Hi there,

My husband and I went to Japan last year. I posted a trip report.

We found the Berlitz travel phrasebook extremely helpful. The Japanese are very polite but shy sometimes if you approach them in English. So, when you approach a Japanese person, always say &quot;sumimasen, nihongo wakarimasen&quot; which means, excuse me, I don't speak Japanese and point to your phrasebook and they should be able to help you.

jodo

As long as I'm getting &quot;worried&quot;, I might as well fess up to moeny matters. It appears that Japan is way more expensive than the Thailand give-aways we have been spoiled by. Hotels we might be ok with (thanks to points)....It's the transportation and food costs that have us stymied--is it really all that outrageous? Still sifting through the threads about cost effective traveling, but if any &quot;must know&quot; tips come to mind, I'd appreciate it.
J
p.s. thanks for the Berlitz tip...I'm going to your trip report right now.

hawaiiantraveler

a few money saving tips for tourists in Japan....

Take advantage of the &quot;Suica and NEX&quot;, the &quot;Keisei and Tokyo Metro&quot; or the &quot;Limousine Bus + free One Day Tokyo Metro ticket&quot; deals when considering your transport to and from Tokyo via Narita airport. You can usually get a least a free day on the Tokyo metro out of it....sometimes better.

http://www.japan-guide.com/ad/skyliner.html

http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/guide/faretype.html

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/

You will find a lot of inexpensive and very good food to eat all throughout Japan. Basements of large stores often have food halls with dozens of assorted take away foods at reasonable prices. Neighborhoods abound with small restaurants, ramen stands,izakaya and the like which are reasonable in price yet excellent in quality. Train stations are full of little stands and stores with bento boxes along with everything else you can think of. The amount of choices will simply amaze you.

http://www.bento.com/tokyofood.html

Japan can be done frugally,extravagantly or anywhere in between. See here for more budget saving ideas.

http://www.pleasurejapan.com/

http://www.japan-cheap-travel.com/

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-813.pdf




Aloha!

jodo

Hawaiian Traveler...
of course I lost the thread about the company that will transport your luggage around Japan for you. Can you tell us again?
Thank you!!!
j and d
(of course we're leaving in 7 weeks and all of a sudden we're worrying about these things.
p.s. a recommendation for a ryokan in Kyoto Hakone or Nara area? I'm sure you've given us this already, but I'm having a hard time negotiating this site..(a terrible sign of old age...)
Thank you!