Alternatives to Expedia / Tokyo trip advice.

That asiarooms website is very interesting. According to that i'd be paying £75 per night at the hotel i'd chosen.

Im just looking at other hotels, that are half the price.

Can anyone here make recomendations on areas of Tokyo/Hotels?
If i can get it cheap enough, i might extend my stay over there. :p
 
Im now looking for flights, from Sep20th to Oct12th. Give or take a few days.
And then a hotel in eith Ginza or Akasaka. Although i am tempted to get a hotel in Narita purely for convienience.
 
That dialaflight is rubbish.
It tells me it has flights and the airline/price, but no details, or lists of other flights! :(
 
Unfortunatelly now. The flight prices have sky rocketed it seems.
What did cost £450, now costs £650+
:mad:
All this because the bank were taking their time!
 
If you're going to be travelling around the country quite a bit (rather than just Tokyo) I highly reccomend a "Japan Rail Card" for a set period of time gives you unlimited travel on the national networks (including the bullet train, but excluding the fastest one the "Nozomi" :( )

You'll need to get it BEFORE you go from a travel agency and exchange it at the airport when you arrive.

For lots of travel it will save you a significant amount of money (last year it cost me the same price for a weeks railcard as a return trip from Osaka to Tokyo)

If you're into drifting see if there are any events going on while you're there (I happened to stay at the Tokyo Meridian and could see them from the window and wandered down, I have to say the UK scene has a long way to go to compare) and tickets on the day aren't too expensive

If you're into electronic gadgets and the like Akihabara has one of the biggest collection of shops for this that you are ever likely to come accross (and you should be able to get tax free with your passport)

Other areas to go (where young peopl tend to hang out in Tokyo) Shibuya & Shinjuku.

The hotel Resteraunt should be the last resort as it will be far more expensive, there are quite a few smaller places around which are just as nice (food wise, not as good for decor) and cost far less (when I was there a friend took me to a few places and it's not uncommon to get a decent lunch for under £5 - btw Japanese curry is not spicy in the least, just a comment I sometimes hear)

If you're travelling I would say Kyoto's temples are breathtaking. other than that one of the blokes living in Japan will be able to give you quite a few pointers.

EDIT:There's also a lot I've missed off there, Lonely Planet do a very good guide that is an interesting read even if you can't go
 
Wyvern971 said:
If you're going to be travelling around the country quite a bit (rather than just Tokyo) I highly reccomend a "Japan Rail Card" for a set period of time gives you unlimited travel on the national networks (including the bullet train, but excluding the fastest one the "Nozomi" :( )

You'll need to get it BEFORE you go from a travel agency and exchange it at the airport when you arrive.

For lots of travel it will save you a significant amount of money (last year it cost me the same price for a weeks railcard as a return trip from Osaka to Tokyo)

If you're into drifting see if there are any events going on while you're there (I happened to stay at the Tokyo Meridian and could see them from the window and wandered down, I have to say the UK scene has a long way to go to compare) and tickets on the day aren't too expensive

If you're into electronic gadgets and the like Akihabara has one of the biggest collection of shops for this that you are ever likely to come accross (and you should be able to get tax free with your passport)

Other areas to go (where young peopl tend to hang out in Tokyo) Shibuya & Shinjuku.

The hotel Resteraunt should be the last resort as it will be far more expensive, there are quite a few smaller places around which are just as nice (food wise, not as good for decor) and cost far less (when I was there a friend took me to a few places and it's not uncommon to get a decent lunch for under £5 - btw Japanese curry is not spicy in the least, just a comment I sometimes hear)

If you're travelling I would say Kyoto's temples are breathtaking. other than that one of the blokes living in Japan will be able to give you quite a few pointers.

EDIT:There's also a lot I've missed off there, Lonely Planet do a very good guide that is an interesting read even if you can't go
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Some good advice there. :)

Just ordered the holiday. :)
28th Sep, Manchester 11:30, Tokyo 9:40. KLM
to
14th Oct, Tokyo 21:30, Manchester 08:30. AirFrance.

Can't wait.

Any and all advice like the aboves will be appriciated. :)
 
I couldn't tell you as the one I have looks like an earlier edition, the title certainly is the same, it was around 2" thick, but at the bundle price I think it may be worth you're while with the phrase book (as although most people will try their best to help you with directions etc you may find that you do have communication issues)

If you plan on spending a large amount of time in Tokyo I'd say it may be worth getting the book, best advice I can give is to pop into waterstones (or somewhere) and have a look

Another thing to be aware of (though not taboo to mention too much) is in some places you will find there are "traditional" lavatories, which I'll let you look up on your own :p
 
i recommend the AA citypack Tokyo guide, it comes with a nice fold out map with all the major tourist attractions of Tokyo. When i went, i was well prepared with a few books, but the AA citypack was the most practical and quickest to use. I dont really recommend the lonely planet guides because tbh, its mostly text, which is ok, but not very inspiring and not easy to use. The internet is far better for initial research, try www.japan-guide.com and make a few print outs.

If you get the rail pass (very highly recommended) they will give you a bunch of booklets and leaflets (in english) when you collect your pass (get it at the airport), which provide some really good places to visit, and these are much better than anything you will get in 'rough guide to japan' or Lonely planet. Basically whenever you go to a new city, such as Kyoto, Nagoya, Nara, Osaka etc, head straight for the tourist information centre and pick up a map and tourist guide..... easy & simple and saves a load of carrying of heavy books :)

take a lot of spending money, you will need it and dont forget japan is a mostly cash based society, so your credit card will be useless in a lot of places
 
Does anyone know of some decent high res, clear, maps of the Tokyo subway system?
I cant find any good ones?
 
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BoomAM said:
Does anyone know of some decent high res, clear, maps of the Tokyo subway system?
I cant find any good ones?
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i dunno about hi res ones but the ones i got for free while i was there were fine, using the subways i thought was very easy in japan... but i can understand how people get lost.

While i was in japan i used The Rough Guide to japan which was good, a lot of people had the lonely planet guide book. it was interesting reading what both said about certain places. the rough guide i found tended to be more frank about things.

for food just go to yoshinoya (big Orange sign with black text) you find them everywhere.

Timbo
 
I dont mean to take with me. I mean so i can have a look at one now and plan a few things in advance. Familierise myself with the place.
Found one anyway. :)
 
Got almost everything sorted now.
Just a few things i need to know:

Money: I plan on taking my debit & visa cards with me. Should i take some hard cash with me, or could i just withdraw it from a cash machine at the Airport?

Food: Im not overly keen on the idea of going to a fancy restaurant and sitting on my bil, so food wise, will their be the japanese equilivent of fast food places? That sell japanese type foods?

Power: What sort of power converter, & where can i get, would i need for using in Japan. I plan to take 4 devices that'll need power (laptop, phone, ipod, DSLite).

Thanks again everyone. :)
 
BoomAM said:
Got almost everything sorted now.
Just a few things i need to know:

Money: I plan on taking my debit & visa cards with me. Should i take some hard cash with me, or could i just withdraw it from a cash machine at the Airport?

Visa Cardit Cards can be used in Japan (not sure on debit card though) Definately take cash. (If you're travelling I'd say the majority of your expenditure will be in cash, smaller shops, majority of busses etc won't take credit cards, larger shops and department stores, hotels etc will take credit cards)

Food: Im not overly keen on the idea of going to a fancy restaurant and sitting on my bil, so food wise, will their be the japanese equilivent of fast food places? That sell japanese type foods?

Funnily enough the same places as here (Maccy D, KFC etc), there are a few local ones but they don't spring to mind at the moment, there are quite a lot of small resteraunts around which will be better food for marginally more.
(Shopping Centres typically contain quite a few, avoid reteraunts in Dept. Stores though as they are expensive)

Power: What sort of power converter, & where can i get, would i need for using in Japan. I plan to take 4 devices that'll need power (laptop, phone, ipod, DSLite).

Check your device voltage Power in Japan is 110v and uses a 2 pin connector (flat not round) similar to those used in the states

Thanks again everyone. :)
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From what I can remember there are different train operators which will dictate how you get around the metropolis. There is an underground railway - Tokyo Metro and there is also an overground railway - JR. I distinctly remember that to get to some places having to go underground, other places overground. The subway map is here - http://www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/rosenzu/pdf/rosen_eng.pdf
Looking at the map, I remember that the main line I used was the circular JR Yamanote line. This goes in a loop round the city and takes you to most of the interesting bits.


My favourite place to hang out was Roppongi - I made some good friends there but it tends to be a district where the Japs don't really go. It's mostly Westerners.
 
I can't wait to go back :)

Take cash, I found it a nightmare without it for a day but I guess I wasn't in Tokyo at that time.

I know a nice capsule inn in Akihabara that's £20 a night :)

Stayed at the Shiba Park Hotel for two nights which was about £75pn and flew over and back with KLM.

And to Echo Echo ( :) ) yes there are two main railways in the City, the JR overground and the Metro underground. You can get tickets like travelcards that let you go on both unlimited, but not many people seem to know where to get them or how to sell them when we asked.

Rappongi was more like the west end of Ibiza, at night I found it quite tacky and full of tourists. Shinjuku was quite cool but had it's seedy areas :P Shibuya was awesome, you HAVE to go to a club called Womb, absolutely awesome it was. Tiny place, best sound system I've ever heard. And drinks at the top of the Hyatt are a must too.

BoomAM said:
Food: Im not overly keen on the idea of going to a fancy restaurant and sitting on my bil, so food wise, will their be the japanese equilivent of fast food places? That sell japanese type foods?
Click to expand...

There's stuff everywhere so I wouldn't worry. Personally I liked Hakiniku if you can find a place, and if you get desperate there's over 3000 McDonalds in Japan compared to the 1000 or so here! Also the Irish pub above the Royal Host in Shibuya was nice for fish and chips and a well missed pint of Blackthorn.
 
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