travelling to japan a little help

[sim2500]

hi,

going to japan with my cousin and we are flying to tokyo and leaving from tokyo which is a mistake since we are exploring other cities in japan for 12 days.

i was thinking about buying a JR pass for 14 days costing £330 per person. i was wondering if this is cost effective as we will prolly be travelling 5 long distance journeys;

tokyo > hiroshima > kyoto > nagoya > tokyo.

the JR pass doesn't work for any city metro so we would need to buy a suica card aswell but the deposit can be claimed back (don't know how).

also how much money do i need for food, accomodation (hostels mainly but hotels for the weekend) and tourist stuff, excluding travelling costs?

looking at prices japan is really expensive even though i knew it was going to be but it was far expensive than i thought so i need advice about thing really, thanks!

[godwine]

Originally Posted by sim2500

hi,

going to japan with my cousin and we are flying to tokyo and leaving from tokyo which is a mistake since we are exploring other cities in japan for 12 days.

i was thinking about buying a JR pass for 14 days costing £330 per person. i was wondering if this is cost effective as we will prolly be travelling 5 long distance journeys;

tokyo > hiroshima > kyoto > nagoya > tokyo.

the JR pass doesn't work for any city metro so we would need to buy a suica card aswell but the deposit can be claimed back (don't know how).

also how much money do i need for food, accomodation (hostels mainly but hotels for the weekend) and tourist stuff, excluding travelling costs?

looking at prices japan is really expensive even though i knew it was going to be but it was far expensive than i thought so i need advice about thing really, thanks!

- Yes, the JR pass will be worth it, one way trip from Toyko to kyoto will cost you about 9000 Yen and 15000 yen reserved, it will cost a lot more to Hiroshima. It will also be useful in Tokyo as it is likely that you will be traveling on different JR lines

- I suggest using Hyperdia to plan out your trip before deciding on the suica pass, you may not need it..

- Business hotels can run from anywhere between 4500 yen - 12000 yen per person per night. Depending on the city and the season, you maybe able to get yourself a 4+ star hotel for similar price (I was able to find room in Royal Park Plaza for about 13000 yen per person per night around november 2009. Food I am going to say prepare for about 4000 yen - 6000 yen per day. I typically suggest people to expect to spend about 10000 - 15000 yen a day on food and hotel. Tourist stuff, that all depends on what you want to do really. Expect to pay between 300 yen - 2500 yen for entrance (Temples, theatres, museum etc), and then another 5000 yen for souvenir if you are big into that stuff

What is your schedule like? I recommend making a stop in Yokohama and or even Osaka if your schedule permits... I did something similar in 2007, but we did it in 14 days. What we did was

day 1 Arrive > Hiroshima
day 2 Miyajima and Hiroshima, Hiroshima > Osaka
Day 3 Osaka
Day 4 Osaka
Day 5 Osaka, Osaka > Kyoto
Day 6 Kyoto
Day 7 Kyoto
Day 8 Kyoto > Nagoya
Day 9 Nagoya > Yokohama
Day 10 Yokohama
Day 11 Yokohama > Tokyo
Day 12-14 Tokyo

You can easily visit as many cities in 12 days if you are an early person... we also made a brief stop at Hakone.....

[sim2500]

yeah we should of flown into hiroshima and flew out of tokoyo, it would make things much MUCH easier but tickets are un refundable but i will try and amend the ticket destinations.

unfortunatly money is kinda on a mid budget, we might change the destination from nagoya to something else as there isn't much there

[godwine]

Originally Posted by sim2500

yeah we should of flown into hiroshima and flew out of tokoyo, it would make things much MUCH easier but tickets are un refundable but i will try and amend the ticket destinations.

unfortunatly money is kinda on a mid budget, we might change the destination from nagoya to something else as there isn't much there

What time will you arrive in Tokyo on the first day?

I never flown in to anywhere else, but tokyo, yes it save sometime, but it shouldn't be too much of a difference consider flight change and waiting time and such..

For 12 days, this is what i will do

1. Land in Tokyo, Tokyo > Hiroshima
2. Miyajima, Hiroshima
3. Hiroshima > Osaka (you can stop by himeji if you want)
4. Osaka
5. Day trip to Kobe
6. Osaka > Kyoto
7. Kyoto
8. Kyoto, Kyoto > Yokohama
9. Yokohama
10 Yokokama >Tokyo
11. Tokyo
12. Tokyo

If you are not too tired on the second day, you can travel to Osaka after ou are done.. that will save you some time.. if you want to fit an onsen resort in between, give yourself 2 days and fit in between Kyoto and Yokohama. I would skip kobe, cut Kyoto to 2 days and yokohama to 1 day to accomodate that...