How does this itinerary look...any suggestions?

[atan64]

Hi everyone, I am really excited...why? because I just booked my airline ticket to Tokyo from Vancouver, Canada.

I have been to Japan before, it was 1976 and I was 12 years old with my Mom and sister. I remembered it well, we stayed with relatives mostly in the Wakayama Ken prefecture.

So now my sister and I and our spouses and our parents will be travelling together. The six of us will be staying a total of 15 nights in Japan and we had roughly put an itinery together and I wanted to see what others think about it. Any suggestions also would be much appreciated. We will stay for 5 nights in Tokyo before heading west. We are going to get a 14 day rail pass as well.

Oct 16th - Arrive at Narita Airport and take the train into Tokyo. We should be in Tokyo in the early evening...haven't decided quite yet which area to stay in. At the moment, I am thinking to stay close to the Shinjuku Station.

Oct 17th - Explore Shibuya and Harajuku district and Meiji Shrine.

Oct 18th - Another day of exploring Tokyo. Not decided what to see yet.

Oct 19th - Day trip to Kamakura and return in the evening.

Oct 20th - Day trip to Yokohama and return in the evening.

Oct 21st - Take the Shinkansen in the morning to Hiroshima, however
Make a stop at Himeji and see the famous Castle. How much
time would we need to allocate to see the castle? We would
spend one night in Hiroshima and then see the A-Bomb site
the next morning. We were thinking of taking a short trip over
Miyajima before taking the train in the late afternoon or early
evening to Kyoto, where we would stay for 7 nights. We are
allocating 4 days to explore Kyoto and 3 days of day trips ie.
Osaka, Nara, Kobe? We for sure want to see Osaka and Nara,
Not too sure about Kobe...any suggestions?

Oct 29th - take the train from Kyoto back to Tokyo and spend two more
nights before heading back home to Canada. This will give us
about 3.5 days in Tokyo in total to explore.

Oct 31st - Depart Narita Airport.

Once we have the itinerary setup, then I can start booking hotels. Thanks in advance for your assistance...Cheers!

[MMM]

Why stay in Shinjuku, it can be loud and expensive. GO a little further down the Yamanote line to Ueno which has many nice hotels and is more quiet.

[atan64]

Originally Posted by MMM

Why stay in Shinjuku, it can be loud and expensive. GO a little further down the Yamanote line to Ueno which has many nice hotels and is more quiet.

Thanks MMM for your reply. I figured Shinjuku Station area because we were going to spend some time there and Shibuya area. But I do like the idea of getting more bang per buck (or should I say yen) for a nice hotel. I think as long as we have good access to see other parts of the city and to be able to have some nice walks near the hotel would be great. I will look into that area, as a matter of fact my father wanted to check out the Ueno Zoo.

[allhailhata]

Himeji 2.5hours.

Exploring Shibuya and Harajuku district with your parents?
Oct 17th　is Sunday...
Take care of them!
Google
Google

[Sashimister]

You may want to read my thread about the Himeji Castle's major renovation.

Renovation of Himeji Castle

[atan64]

Originally Posted by allhailhata

Himeji 2.5hours.

Exploring Shibuya and Harajuku district with your parents?
Oct 17th　is Sunday...
Take care of them!
Google
Google

Thanks allhailhata, I knew that sunday would be the time to see Harajuku district. My parents said they would like to see it as well..they are open to it.

[atan64]

Originally Posted by Sashimister

You may want to read my thread about the Himeji Castle's major renovation.

Renovation of Himeji Castle

Thanks for the heads up Sashimister, I did not know about the renovation project. Looks like there will still be limited viewing...not sure if it will be worth seeing if it is under a canopy.

[allhailhata]

Originally Posted by atan64

Thanks allhailhata, I knew that sunday would be the time to see Harajuku district. My parents said they would like to see it as well..they are open to it.

No offence, I'm happy to hear your parents are healthy enough to explore Harajyuku and Shibuya on Sunday.My mother can't in her sixties now.
Fell free to ask more questions!

[Wagamama]

Hey man i like ur plan it has alot of good spots in it.But personally i feel ur being a tad too ambitious with it ,ur pretty much spending lot of time traveling which is something i 'd hate,Plus ur travelin in such a big group it could be abit taxing while doing so.Just my 2cents i think its very reasonable to do Tokyo + Kyoto + Osaka within ur time,even still transport is still gonna be costly.u could hit himeji when ur staying in kyoto/osaka its not that that far.Doable.
hope this helps=).Kobe isn't a must go now because its not nicely decorated like it always is during december.Nara is a nice place for the family especially for the kids(deer feeding)

[Blitzwing85]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Obviously a lot of travelling involved but i just did a similar thing in Egypt last week and although tiring, it didn't spoil the holiday.

I'm not sure how long it takes to Japan from BC, but i live in the UK and it takes about 20 hours, plus a 9 hour time difference meaning i lose an entire day.
So i'm looking at going for 3 weeks and spending some time with a Japanese family in Kyoto.
Obviously in my case it'll just be myself and my partner and i've never been and have no relatives there so i feel it's the best way for me to experience the culture.

Hotels seem reasonable to be honest. I expected them to be more expensive. I usually stay in 5* accomodation, and the 4* and 4.5* hotels in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka seem very reasonably priced. On par with Las Vegas, which i visit frequently and find luxury accomodation is cheap. (compared to the Uk at least).

Anyway, i'm jelous...i wish i was going. But i've just got back from holiday, and have Vegas in June. So it'll be 2011, maybe even 2012 before i visit Japan!!