Hi all,
Just had a few questions regarding my first solo backpacking trip in March/April 2023.
I am a photographer who enjoys exploring new cities so I understand I am spending a long time in certain locations, accounting for the cherry blossom bloom as well.
Questions:
1. Is a budget of around **$6,000AUD** ( 565,200 JPY / $4975 USD) in total for the below trip realistic, or should I expect this to quickly blow out? I have found that a night in a hostel/capsule hotel is around **$40AUD** per night and have stuck with these;
2. Is a budget of **$15AUD/day (\~1,450JPY)** enough for food? I only eat 2 meals a day and am happy with 7-11/FamilyMart items other than a few sushi train/ramen etc;
3. Throughout my research I cannot really decide on wether to head to Kanazawa or Toyama, any opinions on one or the other would be really useful, both look quite appealing;
4. Are Japanese hostels generally quite well secured (ie: locker for backpack and day bag, etc)? Although itll rarely leave my sight, I am a bit weary of bringing more gear than a camera with 1x lens for a long stay at hostels – especially when showering; and
5. Just confirming that the 7-day JRPass will be correct for my below itinerary? From my research I understand that if activated on x day, it will expire on midnight of the 7th day (ie: 1 July activation at 3pm; expires at midnight on 7 July)
6. Any other comments or suggestions on good photo spots for my below itinerary is much appreciated 🙂
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|DATES|LOCATION/Nights|NOTES|
|:-|:-|:-|
|20/3 – 28/3|Tokyo (8 nights)|Day trip to Kawaguchiko & Chureito Pagoda|
|28/3 – 30/3|Hakone (2 nights)|\- 3-Day Hakone Pass from Shinjuku Station|
|30/3 – 2/4|Nagano (3 nights)|\- Activate 7-Day JRPass on 30/3 to travel from Odawara -> Nagano) – Snow Monkey Pass to visit Jigokudani Monkey Park – Day trip to Matsumoto using JRPass|
|2/4 – 5/4|*Kanazawa or Toyama* (3 nights)|*- Looking for opinions on this stop, and choosing between Kanazawa and Toyama.*|
|5/4 – 8/4|Nagoya (3 nights)|\- JRPass expires midnight of 5/4.|
|8/4 – 14/4|Kyoto (6 nights)|\- Day trip to Miyajima|
|14/4 – 21/4|Osaka (7 nights)|\- Day trips to: Kobe, Nara & Himeji|
|21/4 – 23/4|Hiroshima (2 nights)||
|23/4 – 25/4|Fukuoka (2 nights)|\- Ferry to Busan, South Korea (Hopefully will be running again by April 2023)|
2 comments
>Is a budget of $15AUD/day (~1,450JPY) enough for food? I only eat 2 meals a day and am happy with 7-11/FamilyMart items other than a few sushi train/ramen etc;
Yes, you can get 2 light meals from 7-11/FamilyMart for this but not much else. Not sure how much fun this will be so maybe consider shortening your trip so you have a bit more to spend?
For the range of days you are doing a JRPass I am not sure it will be worth it think you can probably just omit it and have some extra money in your budget to increase daily spend.