What to do in Japan for 2 weeks?

neocon said:
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You might be able to do a day trip to Hakone as there are things to do besides the onsens. There is a cable car up to caldera and you can ride on a pirate ship across the lake.
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I think I've done the cable car there twice and both time the visibility was so poor (due to the weather) that you could barely make out the other side of the caldera let alone anything else.

I haven't done very well with view in Japan at all ... I've been 5 times now and I have seen My Fuji exactly once (from the train last time). I've been plenty of places where you are supposed to be able to see it but what with haze and low clouds it wasn't visible ...
 
Honestly, Osaka wasn't very exciting to me. Near Kyoto / Osaka you have the Arima Onsen town which can be hiked to - I loved that.

There's also the nakasendo way which was incredible. That's North East of Kyoto, going from Magome to Tsumago.

The best thing I ever did in Japan was the Shimanami Kaido cycling route over 2 days. Stayed at a hostel on one of the islands. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like you have room for that.
 
neocon said:
I think I might of paid 2-300 for my wife and I for the night.

Yes onsens aren't cheap, it's a lot but it's because you get dinner and breakfast included. They often serve dinner in your room and you get loads of courses.

Plus you can have an onsen bath in your room which is awesome if you get a better room. Public bath is fine though.

You might be able to do a day trip to Hakone as there are things to do besides the onsens. There is a cable car up to caldera and you can ride on a pirate ship across the lake.
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Thanks, the one I'm looking at is £450 with my own onsen, breakfast and dinner included so I guess if I take into account the 7 course dinner (or however many), it's like £350 really, plus it's an experience like no other.

I think I've "accidentally" allocated 1 more day in Kyoto, 3 nights booked so like 4 days there, might be able to pop over to Nara for half a day I think!

Overall I think I can manage to do 2 weeks accommodation under £2k.
 
exhashdotdot said:
Honestly, Osaka wasn't very exciting to me. Near Kyoto / Osaka you have the Arima Onsen town which can be hiked to - I loved that.

There's also the nakasendo way which was incredible. That's North East of Kyoto, going from Magome to Tsumago.

The best thing I ever did in Japan was the Shimanami Kaido cycling route over 2 days. Stayed at a hostel on one of the islands. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like you have room for that.
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I'm only in Osaka for 1 night, only Dotonvori, the castle and the Sky something building for the view interest me. I'm more going there for the food really.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Any recommendations for hotel in Tokyo?

I'm trying to get it under £150 per night so the Hyatt where they filmed Lost in Translation is unfortunately out of budget by a HUGE margin.
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I actually haven't been to Tokyo but I stayed in Hostels throughout Shikoku and West Honshu. Not sure if that'd be your cup of tea but if you're travelling with a partner, you can usually get a private room for two. Heck, maybe give a Ryokan a shot, it's a pretty novel experience. I think on average I paid about £10-20 a night at hostels.
 
exhashdotdot said:
I actually haven't been to Tokyo but I stayed in Hostels throughout Shikoku and West Honshu. Not sure if that'd be your cup of tea but if you're travelling with a partner, you can usually get a private room for two. Heck, maybe give a Ryokan a shot, it's a pretty novel experience. I think on average I paid about £10-20 a night at hostels.
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I am just by myself, not going to do Hostel as I have budgeted for hotels this time round, I am also travelling with relatively expensive camera equipment so I do want my own room/safe. To be honest, because I booked that internal fight, the hotels I am looking at seems to have discount applied to them when checking on Expedia compare to looking tat them not logged in. Hiroshima hotel for example I got it half price. Osaka hotel was £50. The cost of the £75 flight so far saved me £200 in hotels. Another thing I have noticed, Twin Bed rooms are generally 10% less than Double bed, so I am making savings in those areas too.

Will look into book a Ryokan in Hakone, with an Onsen with i can, that's my "treat".

p.s. I heard about that bike ride but not this time, don't have the time, next year may be. This trip is more about hitting all the regular tourist spot, next trip I will try see more real, rural Japan.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I am just by myself, not going to do Hostel as I have budgeted for hotels this time round, I am also travelling with relatively expensive camera equipment so I do want my own room/safe. To be honest, because I booked that internal fight, the hotels I am looking at seems to have discount applied to them when checking on Expedia compare to looking tat them not logged in. Hiroshima hotel for example I got it half price. Osaka hotel was £50. The cost of the £75 flight so far saved me £200 in hotels. Another thing I have noticed, Twin Bed rooms are generally 10% less than Double bed, so I am making savings in those areas too.

Will look into book a Ryokan in Hakone, with an Onsen with i can, that's my "treat".

p.s. I heard about that bike ride but not this time, don't have the time, next year may be. This trip is more about hitting all the regular tourist spot, next trip I will try see more real, rural Japan.
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In that case, I still recommend you try and get in some of the Nakasendo, I really like exploring rural areas so you could get on a bit of it as you transition out of Tokyo perhaps. Good job with the Ryokan.

Have you looked into getting a JR pass for trains? Might save you quite a lot as it gives you unlimited travel on JR lines (including the Shinkansen!)
 
I'm doing the shimanami kaido route in a couple of weeks. We've only got a day for it unfortunately because the holiday is so packed.

I've read an average person can do it in 6-7 hours but I'm worried the GF is going to lose her rag because she hasn't really ridden a lot in the past.

We've got about 10 hours allotted to it and I'm trying to work out the best points on the route to give up if it comes to that.
 
exhashdotdot said:
In that case, I still recommend you try and get in some of the Nakasendo, I really like exploring rural areas so you could get on a bit of it as you transition out of Tokyo perhaps. Good job with the Ryokan.

Have you looked into getting a JR pass for trains? Might save you quite a lot as it gives you unlimited travel on JR lines (including the Shinkansen!)
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I have, but it is only valid for 3 months after purchase before exchange for the Pass.

As I am going in 3 months' time, i am waiting for a bit closer before purchasing. Already bought 2 x 4G sim cards at £20 each, 30G limit but each have a 8 day time limit.

Once I bought the JR Pass, book a Ryokan and hotel in Tokyo (looking into using some Avios points) then I am all set and really plan my itinerary in detail.
 
I stayed at Tokyu Stay Shibuya, it wasn't a great hotel. But it was a 10minute walk to Shibuya station, so the location was really good.

I mean it was OK, but I would probably up my budget a little. We wanted separate rooms, and this was a good mix of cost:location. I can't say it was amazing, but it had a washing machine in the room which came in very handy by this point.
 
Begbie said:
I stayed at Tokyu Stay Shibuya, it wasn't a great hotel. But it was a 10minute walk to Shibuya station, so the location was really good.

I mean it was OK, but I would probably up my budget a little. We wanted separate rooms, and this was a good mix of cost:location. I can't say it was amazing, but it had a washing machine in the room which came in very handy by this point.
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Booked the following now, partly due to great view, being the hotel starts on the 25th floor and also less than a mile from the Tsukiji Fish Market, keeping my options open if I need to get there at 3am for the auction when there are no subway running.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel...okyo-Minato_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

Hakone Onsen hotel also booked….all done, now to plan itinerary in detailed!
 
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Places I stay in Tokyo are over your budget unfortunately. I do know people who have stayed at the Washington, Shinjuku which seams to be in your budget.

Raymond Lin said:
I have, but it is only valid for 3 months after purchase before exchange for the Pass.

As I am going in 3 months' time, i am waiting for a bit closer before purchasing. Already bought 2 x 4G sim cards at £20 each, 30G limit but each have a 8 day time limit.

Once I bought the JR Pass, book a Ryokan and hotel in Tokyo (looking into using some Avios points) then I am all set and really plan my itinerary in detail.
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What 4G cards are you using? Last time I was out there i just used the various wi-fi networks as my airline gave me free access to two of them.
 
memyselfandi said:
Places I stay in Tokyo are over your budget unfortunately. I do know people who have stayed at the Washington, Shinjuku which seams to be in your budget.



What 4G cards are you using? Last time I was out there i just used the various wi-fi networks as my airline gave me free access to two of them.
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Erm I ordered it online, picking it up at Narita when I land, along with the JR pass (still to order).

Almost everything is in place now, all the accommodation booked, includes a stupid price for 1 night in Hakon, my own hot spring bath overlooking the mountains. Hoping for clear weather so I can see things!

What airline you flew with?
 
I meant which particular 4G offering ... theres several available and I'm considering options for my next trip. One of my colleagues was over there in March and rented one of the 4G Wifi routers but that works out expensive fro 3 weeks.

We normally fly JAL, with their direct flights from them not the ones which are actually BA. We normally fly premium economy as that gives you a lot more comfortable seat. Their flight times are at reasonable times too
 
memyselfandi said:
I meant which particular 4G offering ... theres several available and I'm considering options for my next trip. One of my colleagues was over there in March and rented one of the 4G Wifi routers but that works out expensive fro 3 weeks.

We normally fly JAL, with their direct flights from them not the ones which are actually BA. We normally fly premium economy as that gives you a lot more comfortable seat. Their flight times are at reasonable times too
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I got 2 of these sim cards.

https://www.jrpass.co.uk/en/SIM_Card_30GB

Hiring a wifi router is £56. This way works out cheaper and I don't have to power another gadget. It would be impressive if I can use 30G in 8 days seeing it would be mostly Google maps and Google Translate that I will be using and all the hotel I am staying at have wifi.

I booked with BA, flying with BA, Prem Eco too, mostly because I have Avois points to upgrade, landing at 10:30am which I think is quite reasonable and actually works out great with my plan now. Have 3 hours at the airport to customs, collect JR Pass and then go through security again.
 
I normally get the evening JAL flight which takes off at ~19:15 and gets to Japan around 15:00-16:00. I stay awake on the flight watching films which means that we get to the hotel ~18:00, freshen up ... nip out and get something to eat and recharge the Suica card (and nip to BookOff) and then be ready for bed by 21:00 .... crash out and be awake at a normal sort of time the next morning and avoid jet lag.
 
memyselfandi said:
I normally get the evening JAL flight which takes off at ~19:15 and gets to Japan around 15:00-16:00. I stay awake on the flight watching films which means that we get to the hotel ~18:00, freshen up ... nip out and get something to eat and recharge the Suica card (and nip to BookOff) and then be ready for bed by 21:00 .... crash out and be awake at a normal sort of time the next morning and avoid jet lag.
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That's normally my routine when i got to Hong Kong, do pretty much exactly what you said, 1st night is like a write off, nothing more than check in, find a local meal by the hotel and to go sleep.

I am making a list of things to eat at the moment, starting with Osaka, only there for 24 hours but I want to eat Takoyako, Kushikatsu, Yakiniku and Okonomiyaki. I am going to be soon full !

What do you think are must eats, not found anywhere else in each of the places?
 
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