Hi there! Recently was told I have the okay (by my wallet and my job) to plan my trip for next year! I’m only able to go the last 2 weeks of March and a bit into April.
I’m wondering,
1:
I will need to start booking hotels and fun things right now, correct?
2:
Help smoothing out some planning bumps with Kyoto to hashima.
3:
What things do I need to book well ahead of time for and what things am I too late for? (This can be from your own experience and wants, right now I only have a handful of activities selected)
Tickets will be bought before December and each city we will be in for minimum of 5 days.
We (my partner and I) want to fly into Osaka, go to universal, explore the castles, shrines, shopping, aquariums and of course food.
Then a day trip to Nara for deer and head into Kyoto for the evening.
Basically the same business in Kyoto, sight seeing, shopping, but we will be taking another day trip from Kyoto to hashima to forge our own knifes.
My partner has been into blacksmithing for a few years now with no access to a forge and this is the only activity they added so this will be a must! (Hopefully as they come to realize this IS happening they’ll add some more things)
Any tips for making this run smoothly since it is farther away?
Then from Kyoto we will take the bullet to Tokyo where we will enjoy many different things. Tokyo team labs, maybe Disney sea, pokemon cafe. Would love to see the Ghibli museum or anything Ghibli, but I know those tickets can be hard to get…
We will fly out from Tokyo.
I also plan to ship all of my shopping from the trip (clothes, souvenirs). What was your experience if you did this?
Will this need to be more descriptive for help?
2 comments
It’s probably cheaper to just add an extra bag/luggage to your return flight rather than pay for shipping!
Watch prices for that month. It tends to be expensive for March/April. When you see a good price on flights and hotels, go ahead and book it.
I recommend using Osaka as a base and travel to kyoto, Nara, or Kobe from there.
Don’t jam too many things in a day, or you’ll feel rushed to do things or have that checklist feeling. Have like two things a day to really enjoy your time.
For example, you can spend time around Sensoji Temple before checking out Tokyo Skytree since they are near each other. Plan activities that are in the close vicinity so you don’t have to spend much time traveling from one thing to another.
If you plan on doing Pokemon Cafe, I recommend the one in Osaka. The Tokyo one is always full. Pokemon Cafe, let’s you reserve within a 30-day block. So if you go in March, you plan to go on March 30, you can see openings from Feb 29 to Mar 30.
You could buy another carry-on or checked bag to put your souvenirs in if your flight allows extra luggage. Could be cheaper than international shipping.