I'll second these suggestions. Nara is less than an hour away from Kyoto and well worth your time. The comment about the train stations and their confusing layouts reminded me of a recent adventure. My partner and I needed to store our luggage for a day. After some deliberation, we decided not to get a locker at Kyoto station because we were afraid we'd never be able to find the locker again. And we like to consider ourselves "world travelers".

We stayed at a modest ryokan in Kyoto named Watazen (the link is not working at the time I post this)and it cost about US$ 107 for the two of us, including tax, but no meals. This is a good place if you simply want to try a few nights in a Japanese-style room sleeping on the floor on a futon and soak in a Japanese bath. If you want additional “luxuries” you will have to find a different ryokan and possibly pay quite a bit more money, as described in earlier posts. After sleeping on the floor for three nights, this middle-aged body was ready for a bed. But I’m glad we had the experience.

As far as Tokyo, we used Expedia to book the Akasaka Prince Hotel. This is a 4* hotel that has a special rate of approximately US$ 135 + tax. The hotel is well-located. The beds are of standard length. The Expedia site offers other “deals” and generally had some of the best prices I could find on the web.


[This message has been edited by Flexible Flyer (edited 04-18-2003).]