Random Japan Trip Notes

I also have the benefit of visiting some friends and staying with them in Osaka.

I Arrive 30/04/16, leaving 15/05/16.

Current plan:

Tokyo - 4 nights
Osaka - 3/4 nights (visiting friends, day trip to Hiroshima, maybe USJ :) )
Kyoto - 2 nights?


The rest is TBC, suggestions welcome :)
 
tlrBeta said:
Any recommendations for hotels in Kyoto? :)
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I've booked the Almont Hotel Kyoto, looks basic but it's near the main station. So fairly central, could've got a much better deal but it was further away.

Oh yeah for my trip in May, can't wait :D
 
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tlrBeta said:
I also have the benefit of visiting some friends and staying with them in Osaka.

I Arrive 30/04/16, leaving 15/05/16.

Current plan:

Tokyo - 4 nights
Osaka - 3/4 nights (visiting friends, day trip to Hiroshima, maybe USJ :) )
Kyoto - 2 nights?


The rest is TBC, suggestions welcome :)
Click to expand...

Perhaps add another night or two in Kyoto. There's plenty to do and see around there.

You're in train distance of Otsu (for boat trip on Lake Biwa) and Nara (national park with the deer, some sizeable temples etc). And just around Kyoto you can go to the bamboo forests and mountains around Arashiyama, and there's a lovely park around the Kyoto Internation Conference Centre, just in the north of the city (get the subway to Kokusaikaikan station). These are in addition to all the sights in the "main" part of the city - take a walk down the Kamo river (Kamogawa), there's a big park just near this too which has pretty, narrow, old Japanese streets and the famous pagoda, and then you can spend an hour or so just in Kyoto Station (it's pretty big, with some great viewing areas on top), and Kyoto Tower.


In Osaka, definitely check out the Umeda Sky Building, the views are incredible. Umeda Station also has many floors to explore, and sometimes you might find some random shows on one of them.
 
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Begbie said:
Where are you going?

Where doing 3 weeks, or best part of, but going via Seoul for 4 nights :)
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Starting off in Tokyo and then off down to Fukoka to act as a base to look around Kyushu (visiting Nagasaki for instance). Then back up and spending some time in Osaka before travel up to Nagoya, spending some time there and then back to Tokyo for best part of a week (although I'm probably going to Kanazawa at one day from there).

It's my 5th time out there so I've done quite a few different places already.
 
Begbie said:
I've booked the Almont Hotel Kyoto, looks basic but it's near the main station. So fairly central, could've got a much better deal but it was further away.

Oh yeah for my trip in May, can't wait :D
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Thank you, I'll take a look


squerble said:
Perhaps add another night or two in Kyoto. There's plenty to do and see around there.

You're in train distance of Otsu (for boat trip on Lake Biwa) and Nara (national park with the deer, some sizeable temples etc). And just around Kyoto you can go to the bamboo forests and mountains around Arashiyama, and there's a lovely park around the Kyoto Internation Conference Centre, just in the north of the city (get the subway to Kokusaikaikan station). These are in addition to all the sights in the "main" part of the city - take a walk down the Kamo river (Kamogawa), there's a big park just near this too which has pretty, narrow, old Japanese streets and the famous pagoda, and then you can spend an hour or so just in Kyoto Station (it's pretty big, with some great viewing areas on top), and Kyoto Tower.


In Osaka, definitely check out the Umeda Sky Building, the views are incredible. Umeda Station also has many floors to explore, and sometimes you might find some random shows on one of them.
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Many thanks, I'll take a look into your suggestions.
 
Hi All,

I have pretty much finalised my plan though I need to know whether it's worth visiting Mt Fuji for a look? (Weather consideration).

I'll be travelling from Kyoto (route TBC), but has anyone visited Mt Fuji in May? :)

Current Plan;

Say 30th April: Tokyo - 4 nights
Wed 4th May: Osaka - 4 nights (day trip to Hiroshima)
Sun 8th May: Kyoto - 3 Nights
Wed 11th May: Mt Fuji (TBC)
Thu 12th: Tokyo - 2 Nights (Sumo event on Friday and visit anything else we missed)
Say 14th: Narita (after day in Tokyo)
Sun 15th: Fly home

Many Thanks
 
I'm currently in the early stages of planning a three week solo trip to Japan, quick question to get me started. BA and ANA are coming back as the most reasonable airlines for flight prices, is one better than the other? Also I'm thinknig of going around late Jan/early Feb. Is this a good time to go?
 
RossG said:
I'm currently in the early stages of planning a three week solo trip to Japan, quick question to get me started. BA and ANA are coming back as the most reasonable airlines for flight prices, is one better than the other? Also I'm thinknig of going around late Jan/early Feb. Is this a good time to go?
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ANA would be much higher rated.

But look into the plane types offered on the route, if BA offer the 787 I'd pick that. That being the only reason to pick BA.

Otherwise BA have some scrappy 777s with pretty worn dated interiors.

BA are mean with leg room as well, 31" vs 34" on ANA
 
Both run 777-200/300 so not much difference there. I was leaning towards ANA since they do Japanese food on board, might get me in the mood
 
I've often wondered about westerners going to onsens. As a rule, we generally don't like to get naked in public so that's a bit of a culture shock having to wander around starkers. And then there's the issue of hirsuteness. Do they let hairy blokes in? If I was them, I wouldn't want body hair muckying and clogging the waters up. :D
 
We're planning on doing the golden route for our honeymoon. Want to visit Tokyo, Fuji, Kyoto (especially the monkey mountain), Nara and Osaka. If we have time to spend a day in Kobe even better.
 
Those having been to Japan solo, how did you find it? Do you often go on solo trips? I've traveled to Ukraine alone twice but met a group once there. I'd really like to go but don't know anyone that wants to go enough to fork out the cost - even my GF isn't fussed enough to want to go.

I would love to go to Japan and if I was going would probably choose October and go to Suzuka for the F1 race. Doesn't look "too far" from Kyoto.

Odd question but is it possible to get into Fukushima? Only ask I've done Chornobyl and Pripyat a couple of times and would like to see more abandoned places.

I buy a lot of RC gear from Japan so would be cool to actually visit some of the shops that have taken so much of my hard earned :)
 
EddScott said:
Those having been to Japan solo, how did you find it?
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I went many moons ago when the Internet was only just starting to get popular and certainly before iPhones arrived and found it quite a lonely experience.

The Japanese were very shy and reluctant to strike up conversations because they don't think they speak English very well (even though a lot of them do). My Japanese was non-existent. So I spent all my evenings hanging round with a bunch of Americans and Aussies in an Australian bar in Roppongi. Not experienced much in the way of Japanese culture. Again, without the internet it was hard to know what to go and see.

But these days, you can strike up friendships easily on apps like Hello Talk and Periscope and all the youngsters want to engage in English. I want to go back and do Japan properly and this time I will be much more prepared as my Japanese is coming along quite nicely now.
 
RossG said:
Both run 777-200/300 so not much difference there. I was leaning towards ANA since they do Japanese food on board, might get me in the mood
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The 777-200's that BA now fly to Narita are older planes and have older style cabins. They fly 777-300 to Haneda which are newer and should have the most recent cabins.
 
I was going to try and get to Haneda if possible, seems closer to the centre and just easier, unless there is a compelling reason to use Narita instead?
 
RossG said:
I was going to try and get to Haneda if possible, seems closer to the centre and just easier, unless there is a compelling reason to use Narita instead?
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If you fly BA the landing time is a little early at HND. I'm flying to HND next month. Apparently it's better for jet lag to land in the evening which is only possible on the Japanese carriers.

I went with BA on price grounds. My uncle flew ANA last year and thought it was noticeably better.

HND was until fairly recently almost exclusively Japanese airlines which is why we tend to think of NRT more.
 
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