Japan Trip

I would love to go.

I was once in Osaka airport but that doesn't really count. We didn't comfirm our return flight from Bangkok to Amsterdam so KLM flew us back via Osaka. :D
 
Robi said:
@Raymond Lin I'm looking at 2-3 weeks towards the end of next year, likely October. Undecided on a route but will probably start and end in Tokyo, although I'm not against a stop in Seoul either on the way there or way back.

When would you say is the ideal time to buy flights? I appreciate you can't even buy flights yet for October but regardless, I'm honestly not sure when the best time to buy would be. When the flights are first available to buy or possibly wait for a BA sale for example?

Premium economy and direct is my preference, but if the price is right and flight times reasonable, I certainly wouldn't say no to a short stopover.

I have 50k + Avois points which could be used against the flights if BA. Not a deciding factor but something to be mindful of obviously.

What's reasonable for direct from London around that time of year?

Any help/advice would be much appreciated, thank you.
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There is no best time to book except as early as you can, although i've never booked further out than 6 months ahead of time, I generally don't for my trips, any trips usually. But as early as you can.

Flights used to be around £700 direct, it could be as long as £550 like 10 years ago but honestly, if you see it near £800....book it ASAP. For example, if I look at next February today, and Feb is low season for Japan. It's £943 direct on BA. I did an open jaw from LHR to Osaka to Seoul and back to London for similar money if not less in Feb 2020, which I booked in December 2019.

If you do something like that, I would advise flying to Busan, Korea's 2nd largest city, spend 2 days there...then take the KTX (their bullet train) up to Seoul and fly out of Seoul (a week is plenty).
 
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Reuben klang said:
I might actually do this. It’s a shame it’s going to be so far in the future for me.
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I had a moment of stupidity and didn't do that so that was written as more of "learn from my mistake" lol I flew to Seoul Icheon airport, took the train into Seoul Station in the city, where the train departs from to Busan, and then took the train down to Busan, in the process I probably wasted like 5-6hrs.

The only silver lining i can take from that is I can say "Train to Busan", like the movie....I did that :D
 
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Just booked flights. Going for 3 weeks with my partner at the end of December to Jan. Will be the first time for us both, so want to see as much as we can at a steadyish pace. We both love skiing so 3-4 days will be set aside for this.

Rough plan:
- Tokyo
- Hakuba
- Kyoto
- Osaka
- Hiroshima
- Nara
- Hakone

Undecided whether to make the trip up to Sapporo from Tokyo when we land and ski in Niseko for a few days instead of Hakuba, and then do Tokyo at the end. Still think Hakuba will allow us to experience more + have friends stopping in Hakuba when we are there.

Need to give the plan some real thought this week to build out the itinerary, however welcome any thoughts or other must do places. Another thought was carrying on south and flying from Fukuoka to Tokyo to then head home.
 
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lynchy6789 said:
Just booked flights. Going for 3 weeks with my partner at the end of December to Jan. Will be the first time for us both, so want to see as much as we can at a steadyish pace. We both love skiing so 3-4 days will be set aside for this.

Rough plan:
- Tokyo
- Hakuba
- Kyoto
- Osaka
- Hiroshima
- Nara
- Hakone

Undecided whether to make the trip up to Sapporo from Tokyo when we land and ski in Niseko for a few days instead of Hakuba, and then do Tokyo at the end. Still think Hakuba will allow us to experience more + have friends stopping in Hakuba when we are there.

Need to give the plan some real thought this week to build out the itinerary, however welcome any thoughts or other must do places. Another thought was carrying on south and flying from Fukuoka to Tokyo to then head home.
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I've been 3 times to Japan now and have covered most of the country, I'd probably advise as its your first time then 3 weeks is good for what you have planned from Tokyo towards the west and back. With Hakuba you've got the ski element covered so don't think the trip to Sapporo is worth it. Maybe something you can consider if you decide to go back to Japan and do it around February snow festival season.

Presume you are flying in/out of Haneda/Narita?

If you are into it then I'd recommend staying with the monks for one night in Mt Koyasan in between Kyoto/Osaka and Hiroshima, one of the most memorable experiences I've had.

Also a stay at Lake Kawaguchi at a nice Ryokan if you want to wander near and around Mt Fuji. Though given you are going next month I'd say the popular Ryokan on the lake are probably fully booked already (we stayed at Kozantei Ubuya a few times). If you still want to hang around the area then Hotel Mystays Fuji Onsen is a decent pick.

Another recommendation is make use of the Takkyubin service if you don't want to hoard all your luggage around all the time and can carry 1-2 days of clothing in your backpack or a smaller carry-on style case.

www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp

TA-Q-BIN | YAMATO TRANSPORT

This is the official website of YAMATO TRANSPORT―TA-Q-BIN.
www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp

Very cheap and reliable service, stick an airtag/galaxy tag in for extra peace of mind.
 
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Rough plan:
- Tokyo
- Hakuba
- Kyoto
- Osaka
- Hiroshima
- Nara
- Hakone

3 weeks huh?

If I were to allocate a time for each place without the 3 weeks time limit…

- Tokyo 1 week
- Hakuba 3 nights? I don’t ski so whatever you like on this one
- Kyoto 5 days min
- Osaka 3 days
- Hiroshima 1 day
- Nara day trip from Osaka (so make Osaka 4 days)
- Hakone 1 night. You can do this on the way to Osaka. Avoid the weekend because the locals goes there too and prices are higher.

If I were to extend days, I would extend it in Kyoto, do your itinerary for famous temples early as possible, finish by 10am and spend middle of the day for shopping or eating.

I would even consider add days to Tokyo and go to Yokohama or Kamakura or Enoshima, it’s only an hour from Tokyo. You can even do a day trip to Lake Kawaguchi.

But your itinerary will cost a LOT on trains, I would fly between Tokyo and Hokkaido. That’s so much cheaper than the train for that section.
 
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