Hi!! I hope this post finds you all well (it’s my first post on Reddit)! I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to this incredible community for being an invaluable resource in planning this trip.
My bf and I (Late 20s) are planning to visit Japan for the *first* time in Jan/Feb. I have an outline of our journey planned and would be incredibly grateful for any insights, suggestions, or recommendations you might have. 😇
We plan to use local train / shinkansen to go everywhere in the plan and are looking for a culturally rich/traditional experience.
**Primary questions:**
* Will it be feasible to travel only using trains outside Tokyo? *(we don’t have IDPs)*
* We have a $150 per night hotel budget, is that enough? Any recommendations when looking for places to stay for a Japanese modern/traditional experience? (tatami/futons are comfortable! \^\^)
* If our hotel is far away ( > 1km from train station), do hotel’s generally offer pick up service? Or are there any alternate mode of transport other than just walking to the hotel with our baggage?
* Is there a cut-off time (example \~11pm etc..) to get back to hotel we should consider for safety reasons since we will be walking primarily when not on the train? (sorry if this is a dumb question)
Day 0 – Tokyo
* Complete things to do after
* Get to Hotel
* Dinner
Day 1 – Tokyo
* Sensō-ji temple
* Asakusa- Tokyo Skytree (opt)
* Kanda Shrine, Akihabara
* Explore Akihabara Cafe
* Tokyo National Museum (opt)
Day 2 – Tokyo
* Scramble crossing
* Shibuya Sky
* Takeshita Street
* Meiji jingu
* TeamLab Planets
Day 3 – Mt Fuji
* Chureito Pagoda
* Lake Kawaguchiko
Day 4 – Kyoto
* Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen
* Get to hotel and drop off bag
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
* Arashiyama Monkey Park
* Check Into Hotel
* Dinner/Walk around
Day 5 – Kyoto
* Kinkakuji Temple
* Nijo Castle
* Nishiki Market
* Fushimi Inari Taisha
Day 6 – Nara
* Isuien Garden
* Nara Park: Todaiji temple, Kasuga Taisha
* Naramachi Merchant District
Day 7 – Osaka
* Get to hotel and drop off bag
* Osaka Castle
* Dotonbori Area
Day 8 – Hiroshima
* Peace Memorial
* Miyajima Island
Day 9 – Tokyo
* Hiroshima to Tokyo Shinkansen
* Check into hotel
* Explore Nearby Parks/Walk around
Day 10 – Tokyo – Fly Back
​
Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such an incredible community of fellow travelers!
3 comments
Yes for all the places you are going you can use trains bar Kyoto and Hiroshima but the bus and the tram respectively are easy enough to do.
$150 a night is plenty you will be just fine!
There are many taxis about, I can’t imagine many hotels where you are going being over a km from a station.
I personally have never worried about being out of a night in Japan at any time whatsoever (bar Kabukicho which is a unenjoyable, not unsafe just unenjoyable due to being pestered to go into bars. Just ignore them.) so in my opinion no.
Hi!
I thin k you can find hotels most places for $150 or less a night, but it’s harder to find a ryokan with both dinner and breakfast included for $150 a night if that makes sense? It is generally easy to find hotels within 1 km of a train station. Especially since in the case of Tokyo there are a lot of train and subway stations, it just varies by what you want and where you want to be.
Some futons are comfortable some are not? They vary. A lot of more modern places have beds though. Sometimes they are quite hard, sometimes they are not, it depends on the hotel.
I’m not sure you know about this, but be aware that the prices of nearly all rail pass go up on 10/1/23. You might want to see if you can fly Hiroshima to Tokyo to your home airport or Osaka to your home airport, or Osaka to TYO to your home airport.
Some hotels do have a curfew. It’s not super common, but I have seen it. It is a lot more prevalent in a lot of ryokan where you are expected by a certain time for dinner and a lot are in areas where there are limited things to do at night outside of using facilities at the ryokan (like the onsen.) But I have shown up at plenty of hotels at or after 11:00 pm at night. Any hotels with a curfew tend to do it for staffing reasons not safety reasons. You need to pay someone to be there at the front desk!
Outside of natural disasters (and a few roads that scared the crap out of me) Japan is incredibly safe unless you do something risky, like follow a tout or some other person you’ve just met, or go to someone’s home you don’t know. These are the sorts of things that are more than likely risky where you live too. I’ve done all night karaoke a few times and been out late or early in the morning while it is still dark. Do be aware though public transit stops running around 12:30/1ish and having to get back to your hotel from somewhere further away will involve hefty taxi fees.
If you want to go to Mt. Fuji from Tokyo, I would look into taking an expressway bus, since it is cheaper than the train and just as fast.
Primary questions:
No, it will not be possible to travel ONLY using train outside of Tokyo. You will likely want to also use bus, subway, tram, ferry and even rental bike. But nothing you listed require a car rental.
Yes your accommodation budget should be fine. Recommend looking for a place that is close to a convenient train station.
I do not think that hotel usually offer pick up service unless it’s an expensive place and that it’s far away from the station… like 4-5km, 1 km is pretty close (trust me, you will walk a LOT). Alternate mode of transportation is take a taxi. Or select a hotel at a better location.
No, you can go back as late as you want. Japan is safe, so unless you follow a tout in a shady bar, that is a really really bad idea. Actually you should be aware of the last train back to your hotel (usually around midnight) otherwise you will be stuck waiting for first train around 5am, or take a taxi back. But if you want to go to bars and your hotel in in the area, then no problem to go back in the middle of the night if you want, will not be dangerous unless you follow touts or if you really are looking for trouble.
I mentioned taxi more than once, but actually have only used taxi… twice.. over 7 trips in Japan.
Day 2, start by Meiji-Jingu as it open much earlier than the rest. Not sure if Planets will still be open, it is supposed to be open at least until the end of the year, but by then, Borderless should re-open in it’s new location.