Your opinion on a 3 weeks trip to Japan

[YeroN]

Hi Enea,
may I ask how much it will cost it to you?

Thank you,

[godwine]

Originally Posted by YeroN

Hi Enea,
may I ask how much it will cost it to you?

Thank you,

Yeron,

Are you asking about the cost of an overall trip to Japan? That really depends on several things, like what kind of hotels you want to live at, the transportation mode you are using, whether you are using a rail pass or not and the kind of places that you will be going to

In general, this is a simple breakdown of budget that I usually work against every time I go to Japan

- Food - 1000-1500 yen per meal on an average. Though, there was a day when I lived off of convenience store food. I managed to get away with just over 900 yen on a full day on food

- drinks - this will be the killer piece for traveler, especially if you are like me who walk a lot and drinks a lot. Vending machine drinks range from 120-250 yen a bottle

- Transportation - I usually use a rail pass. But if you prefer to pay per ride, assume it will be an average of 360 yen per ride. Some can be as low as 190 yen while some can go up to 540 yen.. so average it

- Hotel - I stay at business hotels and cheap small hotels usually. These cost around 4000-6000 yen per person per night. Rarely you maybe able to find something around 2700 yen per person per night. I also stay at traditional ryokan when I am around Onsen town, these are mostly "resort", so they average at around 8000-12000 yen per peron per night

- Attractions - Most shrines and temples are around 300-500 yen for adult admittance, and for other attractions like Land Mark towner's observatory and such, those will be around 1800-2400yen per person

Again these are just rough figures. I don't have 2008 data as I didn't go to japan last year due to work issues...

[YeroN]

Seems expensive

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by godwine

Yeron,

Are you asking about the cost of an overall trip to Japan? That really depends on several things, like what kind of hotels you want to live at, the transportation mode you are using, whether you are using a rail pass or not and the kind of places that you will be going to

In general, this is a simple breakdown of budget that I usually work against every time I go to Japan

- Food - 1000-1500 yen per meal on an average. Though, there was a day when I lived off of convenience store food. I managed to get away with just over 900 yen on a full day on food

- drinks - this will be the killer piece for traveler, especially if you are like me who walk a lot and drinks a lot. Vending machine drinks range from 120-250 yen a bottle

- Transportation - I usually use a rail pass. But if you prefer to pay per ride, assume it will be an average of 360 yen per ride. Some can be as low as 190 yen while some can go up to 540 yen.. so average it

- Hotel - I stay at business hotels and cheap small hotels usually. These cost around 4000-6000 yen per person per night. Rarely you maybe able to find something around 2700 yen per person per night. I also stay at traditional ryokan when I am around Onsen town, these are mostly "resort", so they average at around 8000-12000 yen per peron per night

- Attractions - Most shrines and temples are around 300-500 yen for adult admittance, and for other attractions like Land Mark towner's observatory and such, those will be around 1800-2400yen per person

Again these are just rough figures. I don't have 2008 data as I didn't go to japan last year due to work issues...

Yep, those prices are pretty accurate, though I'd make a few alterations (though I haven't been there in many years now...)

Food: I was able to get good meals for 500-900 yen many times. Domburi, soba, zosui, ramen, even a tonkatsu or kara'age teishoku often won't be over 1000 yen if you look for a cheaper place, typically in smaller cities and towns (Tokyo will be more expensive many times, but even there you can probably find bargains...)

Drinks: Try getting a large bottle of your favorite drink at a supermarket or conbini, and just carry it in your backpack... it'll save you a lot of money instead of always buying can after can from machines. Also, never buy drinks in a restaurant, it'll be 300-600 yen per drink!

Train tickets: Those are prices for subways or short trips... it can range much higher for longer trips by train.

Hotels: I was able to find some ryokan for as little as 5000-6000 yen when I was there. Again, try to stay off the beaten tourist path, either by location or season, to find better deals.

[Troo]

Kurashiki's worth stopping by if you're in the area, but I wouldn't make a long detour to get to it. I was lucky enough to have a combination of good weather and a betrothed couple out and about having their wedding photos taken, and their family were very flattered when I asked if it would be alright if I could take a couple of shots too.

We went round so-called "samurai town" in about an hour. It's partially spoiled by the whacking great, ugly, Western art museum that's been built there, and the moment you're off the main, tourist-attraction street those overhead wires poke their ugly heads out again.



Niiiice!