[Travel] Japan - any tips?

[Igzilla]

Hi All,

We've booked our flights to Tokyo for next Easter, initial plan is to spend a few days there, then Osaka or Kyoto, maybe Hiroshima. Has anyone got any good tips or experience of places to visit, things to do, please. We plan to hire a car so we can be quite flexible.

TIA!

 

[Hamilton]

Hang around until September?

https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/fixtures

 

[Insel affe]

Hi All,

We've booked our flights to Tokyo for next Easter, initial plan is to spend a few days there, then Osaka or Kyoto, maybe Hiroshima. Has anyone got any good tips or experience of places to visit, things to do, please. We plan to hire a car so we can be quite flexible.

TIA!

Tokyo is amazing and we filled nearly two weeks in Tokyo alone, we took the bullet train to Kyoto and spent a day, to be honest we could / should have stayed over maybe one night to see more.
The trains are amazing and no need to hire a car

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?346850-Tokyo-advice-please&highlight=japan

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3029.html

We got a JR Pass amazing and great value for money, no worrying about parking etc and it is good to see the locals on the trains and tubes.

https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/tokyo-to-kyoto-and-osaka

 

[Brian Parsons]

It has been a long time since I was there. '89 in fact. The roads are amazing mostly but the big drawback then was the quantity of cars on the roads. I was there for a motor race and from our hotel to the circuit at Suzuka took for ever. I think the fastest we went was 42mph. On the downside I've only had food poisoning twice in my 72 yrs, once in the RAF and at a MacDonalds in Tokyo!!!!

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Wilko]

Hi All,

We've booked our flights to Tokyo for next Easter, initial plan is to spend a few days there, then Osaka or Kyoto, maybe Hiroshima. Has anyone got any good tips or experience of places to visit, things to do, please. We plan to hire a car so we can be quite flexible.

TIA!

Interested in this as I too am planning two weeks at the same time of year as your good self. Have you booked flights yet? If so can I ask who you booked with? Thanks.

 

[Igzilla]

Tokyo is amazing and we filled nearly two weeks in Tokyo alone, we took the bullet train to Kyoto and spent a day, to be honest we could / should have stayed over maybe one night to see more.
The trains are amazing and no need to hire a car

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?346850-Tokyo-advice-please&highlight=japan

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3029.html

We got a JR Pass amazing and great value for money, no worrying about parking etc and it is good to see the locals on the trains and tubes.

https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/tokyo-to-kyoto-and-osaka

Thanks, useful links and food for thought re trains. We're taking our (will be) 11 year old and the missus always hates lugging suitcases around on public transport, thus the car hire idea. She also wants to see more than just Tokyo, hence the idea of having a 2 or 3 base holiday as we want to sample history/culture/landscape etc etc.

 

[Igzilla]

Interested in this as I too am planning two weeks at the same time of year as your good self. Have you booked flights yet? If so can I ask who you booked with? Thanks.

We booked Aeroflot, cheapest we could find!

 

[Trufflehound]

Hi All,

We've booked our flights to Tokyo for next Easter, initial plan is to spend a few days there, then Osaka or Kyoto, maybe Hiroshima. Has anyone got any good tips or experience of places to visit, things to do, please. We plan to hire a car so we can be quite flexible.

TIA!

Given the choice between Osaka and Kyoto, I'd say go for Kyoto 100 times out of 100. Kyoto is more manageable and prettier, and packed full of amazing temples. A side trip (from Kyoto) to Nara is also worthwhile.

And definitely go to Hiroshima. The Peace Memorial Park and Museum are among those places (like the Killing Fields in Cambodia) that you can't fully appreciate just how emotional it will make you feel until you go there and experience it first-hand.

Miyajima Island near Hiroshima is lovely too. And if you're traveling between Hiroshima and Kyoto it's worth stopping off to check out Himeji Castle.

PS Spent a week in Kyoto and easily could have stayed longer without running out of things to do.

 

[daveinprague]

Bearing in mind this was the 70s. We got a train from Sasebo to Nagasaki, ended up on wrong train that seemed to go everywhere but Nagasaki, so we all got off at some village. People there were so suprised to see westerners, never mind westerners in navy uniforms in their bar, they wouldnt let us buy a drink, so we stayed there all night. Brilliant night really. Find a village is my tip

 

[Mr deez]

Yeah get the Jr pass. Check out the izakaya 'piss alleys' for some old school Tokyo bars and food. Wouldn't bother staying in a ryokan if I went again, expensive and the food is very much an acquired taste - lots of pickled stuff.
Go to a nice place for a steak.
We found an amazing skyscraper bar and watched the sunset over Tokyo.
We enjoyed Kanazawa - now on the bullet train and has a cool old town area. We went there en route to Kyoto.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Hi All,

We've booked our flights to Tokyo for next Easter, initial plan is to spend a few days there, then Osaka or Kyoto, maybe Hiroshima. Has anyone got any good tips or experience of places to visit, things to do, please.

Never been, but seeing the cherry blossoms is a big thing there at that time of year.

 

[Insel affe]

Thanks, useful links and food for thought re trains. We're taking our (will be) 11 year old and the missus always hates lugging suitcases around on public transport, thus the car hire idea. She also wants to see more than just Tokyo, hence the idea of having a 2 or 3 base holiday as we want to sample history/culture/landscape etc etc.

We thought the same, but let me re assure you that the train from the airport into Tokyo could not be easier etc, plenty of space, clean and nothing like our experiences in this country, the city is so well connected that not having a car would be easy as we found and parking from what I gather is an issue. I did not want to be lost looking at road signs which I have no idea or inclination what they are.

Here is another link, and it does warn of drivers jumping lights, which we saw numerous times

I took the bottom photo, that looked fun, just not sure of my chances with a truck, so I skipped that pleasure.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2022.html

 

[sydney]

It has been a long time since I was there. '89 in fact. The roads are amazing mostly but the big drawback then was the quantity of cars on the roads. I was there for a motor race and from our hotel to the circuit at Suzuka took for ever. I think the fastest we went was 42mph. On the downside I've only had food poisoning twice in my 72 yrs, once in the RAF and at a MacDonalds in Tokyo!!!!

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

macdonalds in tokyo...

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Given the choice between Osaka and Kyoto, I'd say go for Kyoto 100 times out of 100. Kyoto is more manageable and prettier, and packed full of amazing temples. A side trip (from Kyoto) to Nara is also worthwhile.

And definitely go to Hiroshima. The Peace Memorial Park and Museum are among those places (like the Killing Fields in Cambodia) that you can't fully appreciate just how emotional it will make you feel until you go there and experience it first-hand.

Miyajima Island near Hiroshima is lovely too. And if you're traveling between Hiroshima and Kyoto it's worth stopping off to check out Himeji Castle.

PS Spent a week in Kyoto and easily could have stayed longer without running out of things to do.

I totally agree, Kyoto is beautiful.

Tips for Tokyo are the fish market although I believe the old famous one has gone? For post war Tokyo visit Golden Gai for beers and and Memory Lane (aka piss alley) for yakitori.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

We thought the same, but let me re assure you that the train from the airport into Tokyo could not be easier etc, plenty of space, clean and nothing like our experiences in this country, the city is so well connected that not having a car would be easy as we found and parking from what I gather is an issue. I did not want to be lost looking at road signs which I have no idea or inclination what they are.

Here is another link, and it does warn of drivers jumping lights, which we saw numerous times

I took the bottom photo, that looked fun, just not sure of my chances with a truck, so I skipped that pleasure.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2022.html

Mr Freakout is speaking sense.

 

[Knock Kneed Chicken]

I have recently been to Japan a couple of times on business. Would always use the train network. So easy and always on time. From Tokyo I would suggest using Shinagawa Station. Far easier to get around than Tokyo Main Station. Use the Tokaido Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. Really quick and it takes you past Mount Fuji. While in the Kyoto area, maybe spend some time in Nagoya. Well worth visiting is Nagoya Castle.

 

[studio150]

I totally agree, Kyoto is beautiful.

Tips for Tokyo are the fish market although I believe the old famous one has gone? For post war Tokyo visit Golden Gai for beers and and Memory Lane (aka piss alley) for yakitori.

The fish market gets very busy with locals (just image a very narrow Oxford Street on the last Saturday before Christmas), worth seeing the Tuna Head just to appreciate the shear size of it. Would also recommend the baby octopus on a stick if you want to try one of the locals favourite

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Spent two weeks in Japan in January, weeks skiing in Niseko and a week in Kyoto and Sapporo. We had a choice of doing Tokyo or Kyoto and decided on Kyoto, think we made the right choice. Really nice place loaded with history, tradition and culture. Only really saw a brief glimpse of Tokyo from the bullet train,

Really liked Japan - interesting mix of modern and historic. Enjoyed the food (sushi, sashimi and shabu shabu beef - breakfasts were interesting as well with option to go native or stick with eggs and bacon), relaxing in an onsen at the end of the day, the politeness and bowing culture and the 20 different types of green tea you could get from the ever present vending machines. The other thing that struck me was the amount of staff everywhere - from hotels to department stores, always plenty of people to help. You're lucky if you can find anybody in some New York shops or hotels.

Only drawback was the 14 hour flight from NYC, not sure how long it is from London

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Oh, and go to a traditional sauna.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

The trains are excellent, clean, on time, (very) regular and perfectly working. They'll get you from either Narita or Haneda into central tokyo in no time. They'll get you around Tokyo and from Tokyo to anywhere you fancy easily too. Get the JR pass. Don't bother with the car hire. It's a long arse way from Tokyo to Kyoto by car. The train really is easier and quicker. The JR pass allows you to take any JR train.

I second most of the suggestions. You can spend the two weeks in or near Tokyo no problem and not get remotely bored. But if you're leaving Tokyo, don't bother with Osaka, go to Kyoto. From there you can do Himeji castle, Nara and Hiroshima. If you want to see another side of Japan take a domestic flight down to Okinawa. Or if that's too far you can try the Sand dunes in tottori. It's a mini desert. I've not been myself but...it's a desert in Japan, that's got to be worth seeing(at some point) surely?

I'm not sure when Easter is but if it's around late march/early april you'll be able to see the cherry blossoms. Personally I wouldn't make that a must see however. They can be really pretty but most of the popular viewing spots are rammed. There are cherry blossom trees everywhere though so if it's the season you'll be able to see some whether it's in your itinerary or not.

Also, the food is cheap and delicious.