Quote:
Originally Posted by pat4u
JohnBraden,
Your plan seems to be very well planned.
I am planning to visit Japan to this month end and still don't know where to go, stay and travel.
Could you please share, how did you book your stay to all the places that you listed. Also, bit of info what to look for in each of these places.
It would be very much appreciated.
I also plan to land at Tokyo and then start my journey, which is not planned yet.
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My plan is not as well planned as you may think. It is because so much is dependent on train travel. I am only staying in 2 places: Tokyo and Osaka. I am using those two cities as bases to spread out. I only booked 2 hotels: Shinagawa Prince in Tokyo and Shin-Osaka Hotel in Osaka. They are both 2 minutes walking distance from the major Shinkansen stations from which I will be departing.
I only booked 6 nights in Osaka, and I may be regretting it already because I find I may not have enough time to do what's near that I want to see, thought I can extend my stay there since I booked the Shinagawa Prince all the way through. That's why, for example, I'm headed to Kyoto from Tokyo, not Osaka. But it doesn't matter to me. Seeing the countryside is a reward in itself.
From 3/06 to 3/12 I will be in Tokyo and take all those trips from there. I take the first Shinkansen available and return on the last or one of the last available.
I will travel to Osaka on the 13th in time to check in and then go to the day's sumo matches. From then to the 18th, I'll base my trips out of Shin-Osaka station.
I return to Shinagawa on the 19th to finish my days and trips in Tokyo. It is a fast-paced trip that I'm tweaking by the day. I dropped two museums on the 9th in Saitama and Mibu in favor of the JR Central museum in Nagoya, for example. I have most, if not all, of the train schedules down, so I know how much time I have in each place. I will reserve the train tickets for all Shinkansen and limited express trains I'll need as soon as I get there so as not to be left out of a particular side of train I want to see out of or passage altogether.
I'm using a 14-day JR Pass for the days I'll be traveling. The day before and after I will be doing last minute shopping and visits within Tokyo. Last time I used a pass, the JPY23,800 pass gave me JPY75,000 worth of rides. This time, the JPY45,100 pass will yield at least JPY160,000 worth of rides.
I want to see as much as I can without going crazy. I figure I can get some rest along the way and then crash at the hotel until my next departure.
My suggestion is to go to
japan-guide.com - Japan Travel and Living Guide and see all the information available. There is a forum there as well you can join and ask questions. Uji there answers almost all travel related question quickly and could be an excellent source, provided you ask specific questions. Open-ended questions are so hard to answer, since you're the only one who knows what you want out of the trip.