Hello lovely people and Japan enthusiasts,
My SO and I want to travel this summer to Japan. Unfortunately the only time frame we can travel is May 22 to June 8, we will travel from Europe. Our plan is to explore each day a different district but we want to keep it flexible as we don’t want to rush through a strict plan. That‘s why we just listed our highlights we want to see.
Travel route: Flight to Tokyo, train ride from Tokyo to Kyoto, train ride from Kyoto to Nachi Katsuura, train ride from Nachi Katsuura to Tokyo, one day trip from Tokyo to Kamakura, return flight from Tokyo
We drafted a rough Itinerary:
* 22.05 Flight with arrival in Handel – Train to Tokyo, check-in
* 23.05 Arrival in Tokio – Shibuya Sky viewing platform, yamanote line round trip
* 24.05 Tokyo – Shibuya (Center Gai, Shibuya Crossing, Hachiko, Shibuya 109)
* 25.05 Tokyo – Akihabara (chuou street, Kanda Myōjin), Pokemon Cafe
* 26.05 Tokyo – train to Kyoto (pontocho, gion shirakawa, gion tatsumi bridge, shinbashi dori)
* 27.05 Kyoto – (Manga Museum, Rilakkuma Cafe, Eikan-do, shisen-do)
* 28.05 Kyoto – Kibune (Kifune shrine & Yuki-Jinja shrine)
* 29.05 Kyoto – Hokan-ji temple, daigoji temple, traditional starbucks
* 30.05 Kyoto – Train to Nachi-Katsuura
* 31.05 Nachi-Katsuura – Seiganto-ji/Nachi Falls in the morning, Onsen in the evening
* 01.06 Nachi-Katsuura – train to Tokyo
* 02.06 Tokio – Shinjuku (Shinjuku Gyoen, Shinjuku Alley, Shinjuku Joenji Tempel, Cross Shinjuku Vision, Shinjuku Godzilla statue, suga shrine)
* 03.06 Tokio – Ikebukuro Sunshine City & Roppongi Hills nights out
* 04.06 Tokio – Gotokuji Lucky Cat Temple & Meguro (Meguro River, Onibus Cafe)
* 05.06 Day trip to Kamakura – Buddha Statue, Goryo Shrine, Cape Inamuragasaki, Hokokuji Temple, Bamboo Forest
* 06.06 Tokio – Day trip to Hakone (Fuji viewing platform 大観山 展望台, hakone shrine, Kuzuryū Shrine Hongū, Yoshiike Ryokan Onsen) 07.06 Tokio – Yanaka (sorinji shrine, nezu shrine)
* 08.06 Tokio – Flight back home
Some questions we have:
1. Would you recommend to travel in this period (is there anything we miss like public holidays or festivals)?
2. Would you recommend to use rather hotels, AirBnb or a mix of both?
3. How full/busy will Tokyo will be end of May / start of June?
4. Is the 7 day Rail Pass worth for our route?
5. We would like to visit the Ghibli Museum, is there any way to get tickets for a foreigner?
6. Is 3000 € enough / realistic for the whole trip per person (without flight tickets)?
7. We want to have mobile internet access while traveling, is there a provider you can recommend?
We would love some feedback from you guys, tricks and tipps are always welcome 😉 Thank you all, love reading all the posts here <3
Best regards,
B&D
2 comments
1. There are no public holidays or major festivals that should affect your schedule.
2. Hotels vs AirBnBs – it’s a debate of convenience and facilities – only you can decide which factors are more important to you – having more room, not having to deal with Japanese recycling system etc.
3. Average season.
4. Technically yes. Note that on-board surcharge would be required for Limited Express Nanki (for the part where it passes over private railway tracks). Also note that it’s over 6 hours from Kii-Katsuura to Tokyo via Nagoya using Hikari.
5. Currently none.
6. Note that it will amount to €170 per day after excluding long-distance travel costs. It’s a doable budget, but considering that you are looking at an onsen stay, nights out – you would probably want to somewhat raise that.
7. Without knowing data usage or your devices, and whether you are planning to split up during the trip – it’s difficult to make recommendations (and I’m sure that there will be plenty of promos between now and your trips).
> Would you recommend to travel in this period
I think this is an okay time to visit still. It will definitely be warm, but not too hot. Its also around the time rainy season starts so I’d be sure to bring some shoes that can handle rain.
> Would you recommend to use rather hotels, AirBnb or a mix of both?
I think this is down to personal preference. I personally like coming back to a cleaned room so I will always choose a hotel. Other people would rather feel like they are coming to a lived in space so its up to you.
> How full/busy will Tokyo will be end of May / start of June?
Tokyo is always busy. I’d expect tourist levels to be lower compared with prepandemic, but it will still be quite busy in popular areas.
> Is the 7 day Rail Pass worth for our route?
You’ll want to use a calculator to check this. You are at the edge of savings by just eyeballing it.
> Is 3000 € enough / realistic for the whole trip per person (without flight tickets)?
If the yen remains weak vs the euro then it should be okay, but by just going with places you plan on visiting it’s a little difficult to determine if the budget is enough. If you plan on spending a lot of accommodations then, or eat a bunch of fancy restaurants you may have a hard time with it.
> We would like to visit the Ghibli Museum, is there any way to get tickets for a foreigner?
The only way to get tickets right now is to be in Japan. However, things can possibly change by the time you plan on arriving. I’d probably keep an eye out on their website to see if the policies have changed. If nothing has changed you’ll need to goto a Lawsons ticket kiosk when you arrive and try to buy them there. I’d recommend trying aim for a weekday as those are generally the last to sell out.