Planning a trip this year either for early July/end of August. The aim is to fly outbound on a Saturday and inbound on a Friday, giving us 12 nights. We’ll be based in the Tokyo region with the outliers being a trip to Hachijojima as well as Mt. Fuji for a climb.
The main thing to get advice on is the order of places to visit based on ease of transport and cost, and whether any passes are worth purchasing. Finally, if there are any major festivals happening around this period as well, that would be really great to know.
EDIT: I’ve had more time to look at the routes and have updated the itinerary below. Still flexible to changes 🙂
* Day 1: London to Tokyo flight
* Day 2 (night 1): Land in Tokyo, fight the jetlag
* Day 3: Full day in Tokyo city
* Day 4: Shinjuku to Mt Fuji for ascent and overnight stay
* Day 5: Mt. Fuji descent and onwards to Kawaguchiko
* Day 6: Full day in Kawaguchiko
* Day 7: Kawaguchiko to Haneda to Hachijojima
* Day 8: Full day in Hachijojima
* Day 9: Hachijojima to Haneda to Nikko
* Day 10: Full day Nikko
* Day 11: Nikko to Tokyo
* Day 12: Full day Tokyo
* Day 13: Full day Tokyo
* Day 14: Flight home
Really appreciate the help, thanks all 🙂
7 comments
try to go in the middle of April to catch some cherry blossoms.
Descending Mt. Fuji and then getting all the way up to Nikko seems like a whole lot to do in one day – they are pretty far apart.
Also, Japan hasn’t been open to tourists for ~2 years thanks to COVID. With the way things are going, I kind of doubt they will be allowing tourists in this July/August.
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Fuji Rock Festival is Asia’s largest music festival but it’s in between the time periods you’re looking at, being held at the end of July. Whether or not Japan is open then is anyone’s guess but if it’s something you’re into, I try to gather a group to go every year. You can see more info at /r/fujirock. Hoping to make it this year but we’ll see.
You’ll probably be pretty sore after Mt. Fuji (unless you’re in really great shape) so consider how much walking and what type of walking you’ll be doing after the climb.
As others have mentioned- the Fuji -> Nikko day deserves a closer look, for several reasons.
One is simply that it is going to be a long day- bus back to Tokyo, Shinkansen to Utsunomiya, Nikko Line up to Nikko, all of that after hiking back down Fuji. Not only will that be a long day, but you’ll have not showered, you’ll be in the clothes you wore up the mountain and you’ll be hungry. I remember driving home after my Fuji climb and it is not one of my fondest memories. All of that is to say- it is not impossible. But it is going to suck.
I would recommend forwarding your main bags on Day 7 to Nikko. This way you just have what you need on the mountain on Day 8 and 9. It will help a lot.
If you decide that that long day is just too long and difficult, ways you could fix it include-
Just do Nikko as a day trip from Tokyo. This is how I’ve done it myself 3 or 4 times. With an early start you can definitely see the main Temples and Shrines and maybe even the Imperial Villa that’s up there. If you are VERY efficient in your sightseeing you might even squeeze in Kegon Falls.
My personal recommendation for climbing fuji is to base yourself in Tokyo, and to keep your room for the night of the climb. If you are in a cheap hotel in Shinjuku you can take the direct bus from there to the 5th station- climb, come down and head right back to Shinjuku for a shower, a big old bowl of ramen and you gear. This also gives you a back up in case the weather is poor. Yeah, it costs more to double book- but having climbed Mount Fuji in a Typhoon I can unequivocally state that IT WAS AWFUL. Being stuck on the side of a mountain at 3 AM in blowing wind and cold rain is not a great vacation. So having a back up in place just in case is a great idea.
And that actually comes to the final bit- tbh Fuji kinda sucks. Its a pain to get to logistically, and it takes at least two full days and one full night out of the itinerary. I say at least because even with a hut you wont sleep well- you are going to be TIRED on day 9, and probably still pretty wiped out on day 10. If climbing Fuji is a bucket list sort of thing- go for it. But know that its wiping two to three days out of a 14 day trip.
Anyway, thats my 50 yen on Fuji. 😉
>Planning a trip this year either for early July/end of August
Would firstly recommend you getting travel insurance on the flights/hotels should the very real possibility that borders are not yet open for tourists happen.
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>Day 4: Shinjuku to Mt Fuji for ascent and overnight stay
Day 5: Mt. Fuji descent and onwards to Kawaguchiko
I’ve not done this myself but I would warn that you may not be over the jetlag 100% to be climbing Fuji (~~in what is likely to be extreme head and humidity during this time of year – though I’ve not done Fuji so maybe this is ideal and I’m overreacting here…~~ Cheers /u/bettinafairchild for chiming in! Makes sense as to why it would be mild and get colder as you go up! Wasn’t sure if there was any struggle towards the bottom but sounds like they’ll be okay!). ~~From what I’ve seen from people who~~ *~~have~~* ~~done this – however – is that you don’t leave in the morning to climb Fuji. The typical thing is to stay nearby Fuji the night before.~~ (Leaving this here vs. removing it in case anybody who has done it themselves wants to chime in on their thoughts, but already one person has advised they were good to do it in one day). Hopefully somebody who has more first-hand knowledge can chime in. Just something to consider.
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Just out of curiosity based on what you’ve picked as your itinerary – have you been to Japan before?
Day 1: Arival in Tokyo
Day 2-13: Quarantine
Day 14: Flight back home
#thankscovid 🤣