Summer trip to Japan, three weeks, advice?
 

Hey, what's up. I'm going to Japan this summer for three weeks, just for vacation. I thought I'd ask around to see if anyone's got any advice as to what I should see or do. I thought I'd hit Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima for sure, but I don't really know what else would be cool. I'll be starting in Tokyo, but from there I haven't fixed it all up. Any lodgings advice would be cool too.

Any thoughts? I'll be going in July, if that helps.

Lots of thoughts here.

What's cool to you? What's your budget and are you a single or traveling with someone? When in the summer were you planning the three weeks? Are you flying into Narita and out of Osaka? What kind of accommodations are you looking for? What are your interests in Japan?

You have to give us a little more information about yourself and what you like for us to be of any real help to you. If you do I promise someone here will help you!

Aloha!

I'm traveling by myself, flying in and out of Narita, from early to late July (three weeks). I don't have a big budget, so I'm looking into hostels and inexpensive stays. I pretty much like everything about Japan, but I'd like to see Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima most, for modern, cultural and historical taste. I'm definitely into those three cities so I'd like to spend the most time in those areas.

I'm thinking four-five days in Tokyo, maybe 7-8 for the Kansai region (which has Kyoto/Nara/Osaka), then some time in the last few major islands in the south with at least a day in Hiroshima. Maybe a day or two in Tohoku region as well, but nothing really in Hokkaido. Those two are kinda out of the way though. Am I trying to do too much?

Hope this helps, thanks for the feedback, it sounded much better before I got your response.

I would probably travel as far south from Tokyo after leaving Tokyo and work my way back up to Tokyo for your eventual departure.

You can travel cheaply by highway bus in Japan. See here for more info

http://www.bus.or.jp/kousoku_e/index.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2366.html

Then of course there is the train network with all the various passes...not cheap but very efficient.

http://www.japanrail.com/

Not used to traveling solo but others here will chime in with their experiences.

A list of some budget and favored accommodation sites:

http://www.jyh.or.jp/

http://www.hihostels.com/

http://www.japanican.com/index.aspx

http://www.j-hotel.or.jp/en/index.html

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

http://www.kid97.co.jp/~jeh-group/jeh-group.html

http://www.jcha.or.jp/english/

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

http://www.mytrip.net/en/index.html

and really check out this site especially for the city information you are asking about in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima

http://www.japan-guide.com/

If you are interested in Tohoku, do a search for my recent trip report. Just click on my screen name and you will be able to pull up my trip reports. Hope this helps a bit!

Aloha!

A couple of specific places to stay:

Tokyo - http://www.andon.co.jp/ this is a modern Ryokan which is in a very pleasnt suburb and convenient for the Subway. The rooms are small but nicely done with shared bathrooms. Great breakfasts and great for meeting other travellers.

Nara - http://www.yougendo.com/ a VERY nice Minshuku which is in Oji, a small town just 15 mins by train (station 1 min).
from Nara. Really nice rooms. In fact the whole place is very well done and provides a real feel for the old Japan. It is very convenient as a base for visiting the whole Kansai region as it is base virtually right in th ecentre of the region.

Two websites that we used a lot for booking hostels were www.hostelworld.com and www.hostelbookers.com bothe are really efficient but check out hostels on both as sometimes the rates and availability do vary. Have fun!

It depends what your interested in but we did a 3 week trip 2 years ago & this is how we broke it up:

6nts Tokyo with day trips to Kamakura, Nikko & Hakone

1 nt Takayama

2 nts Kanazawa with a stop for a few hours in Shirakawa ago on the way.

5 nts Kyoto with day trips to Nara & Himeji

1 nt Miyajima with a visit to Hiroshima the next day before arriving in Osaka.

1nt Osaka

1 nt Mt. Koya

1 nt Osaka

3 nts Tokyo