Japan - help!

[martha]

So I'm thinking of going to Japan in June to go to Disneyland (life goals!) - but was wondering what other places to visit and how easy it is to get from city to city. As it such a long way wanted to see other parts of Japan as well if possible. We will have two weeks.

Thank you

[brindle]

Not been myself but my daughter and friend went when they finished uni. They flew into Kansai stayed in Osaka used Airbnb for accommodation, they loved japan. They only did the universal so can’t help with the Disney. They traveled on the metro and trains seemed easy enough.they did some lovely temples but I can’t say which ones ,they loved the shopping too ,not much help sorry. Also try the cheesecake 😋they have made them occasionally at home😊

[Wordsworth]

We’ve done two trips: first one was Tokyo - Hakone - Kyoto - Miyajama (day trip to Hiroshima) - Tokyo and then two years later we did Tokyo - Osaka (day trip to Nara) - Disney - Lake Kawaguchiko - Tokyo.

We found it easy to travel around ourselves using the bullet trains and a Japan rail pass; we also had a Manaca card for both trips that worked on the metro in Tokyo, Osaka (and to get to Nara) and Kyoto. In Kyoto you can also get a day pass for the buses to get around, which we did.

For our first trip we used a travel agent and this was one of their self guided itineraries but for the second trip we came up with our own. It might take a bit of planning but it’s painless to actually do the travel IMO.

[Pumpkin Pie]

We are going in May. We plan to buy a JR pass and will be based in Tokyo and Kyoto with day trips planned from these two cities. The undernoted website is helpful.

japan-guide

[martha]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Just been looking at flights - it ain't cheap!

[martha]

Is it best to fly in and out of the same airport ie Tokyo and travel back on yourself for the return?

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by martha

Is it best to fly in and out of the same airport ie Tokyo and travel back on yourself for the return?

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We didn’t price flying in and out of two different airports. We are based in Tokyo 6 nights then taking the train down to Kyoto for 5 nights then returning and staying again in Tokyo for the last 3 nights. We will have a 14 day JR pass so it won’t cost us any extra to double back and it’s only about 2.5 hours on bullet train. At the moment we are planning to visit Nikko, Hakone, Nara, Hiroshima and Himeji/Osaka as day trips. We will also be able to use the pass on the yamanote line within Tokyo.

Edit: Yes the flights are not exactly cheap but we decided to bite the bullet as it is a long flight and not somewhere we would go on a regular basis!

[martha]

Thanks for that. Who you flying with?

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by martha

Thanks for that. Who you flying with?

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Well we booked a while ago now and because of Brexit and flight disruption rumours etc. at the time we decided to go direct via Heathrow with BA (from Edinburgh). I don’t like BA for various reasons but all the other options we were looking at had stopovers somewhere in Europe. Emirates would have been great but it had a stopover of something like 18 hours! I hope BA don’t let us down as I vowed I would never use them again!

[DisneyDaffodil]

My son and his fiancée are in Tokyo at the moment, they flew out on New Years Eve for 18 nights and are loving it at the moment.

They booked flights through Skyscanner with Lufthansa and Air Nippon, they said the flights out was outstanding. They are staying in an Airbnb in Tokyo and are catching the bullet train to Kyoto in the middle of their stay for a few days in a hotel there before returning to the Airbnb in Tokyo. They are visiting Disney Sea Park on Monday I think. They also have tickets for the Studio Ghibli museum and lots of other great plans. They have said that the trains are very easy to use. They are struggling a little ordering food as they cannot speak Japanese and very little English is spoken, but they are getting by and enjoying their trip so far