talfred

Hi FTers,

Visiting Japan for the first time in mid-January 2019 and have spent some time pulling together an itinerary - appreciate any advice you can give? things to do around the hotel? am I being over-ambitious?

Tokyo
Saturday, Day 1 – Arrive into Tokyo Narita at 4:00pm, Check into Sunroute Shinjuku Hotel via N’EX and will check out the Shinjuku area for the day.
Sunday Day 2 - Check into Hyatt Regency for 2 nights. Visit other parts of Tokyo i.e. Tsujiki Fish Market, Shibuya, Harajuku (haven't refined the details).
Monday Day 3 - Tokyo Disneyland.

Kyoto/Osaka/Nara

(PS: I did consider dropping this Kyoto/Osaka/Nara and fly into Sapporo instead... But didn’t find much attractions to do for 3 nights there? Objective is to experience snowy Japan. Also, I chose to fly instead of JR Pass as BA 9K Avios return ticket seems like great value!)

Tuesday Day 4 – Take bus into Haneda and fly into ITM. Upon arrival hop on a bus straight into ANA Crown Plaza Kyoto for 1 night - Checkout the Kyoto attractions.
Wednesday Day 5 - Continue to checkout Kyoto in the first half. In the afternoon, Take Shinkansen to Osaka and stop by Nara on the way. Check into Sheraton Miyako Osaka by evening and explore Dotonburi.
Thursday Day 6 - Full day to checkout Osaka attractions.

Tokyo
Friday Day 7 - Fly back early into Haneda. Checkout remaining Tokyo attractions OR do a day trip into Gala Yuzawa (Incase we don’t find any snow during our trip).
Saturday Day 8 - Fly out from Narita back home

Thank you all in advance

abmj-jr

Too much moving of hotels. I'll offer the same advice we usually do here - pick one location in Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka-Nara) and stay there. Those 3 places are minutes apart by train and hauling luggage around wastes your time and energy. Pick either Osaka or Kyoto, stay there and do day trips to the other places. Pick up a JR Kansai Wide Area Pass and the rail trips to/from Osaka. Nara, Himeji and so on are easy and cheap.

evergrn

Pickles

So you want to experience "snowy Japan" and are passing on Sapporo because there's nothing to do there? Snow Country in January in Japan is nothing but snow. It's all North and West from the Japan Alps upwards. Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Nagano, Ishikawa, Fukui, and large parts of Gifu are nothing but snow that part of the year. In your itinerary, not so much unless you get lucky or head into northern Kyoto town.

Or head to Kanazawa, pretty much guaranteed to see snow in a lovely town.

Gradfly

You should also take into account that El Nino is coming back this year. If you really want to want experience snowy Japan, then definitely drop anything south of the Japanese Alps. One of my previous trips to Japan was in winter a few years ago during an El Nino year. While it was earlier in Jan. I remember a lot of disappointed tourists. The winter started off warmer than usual, with ski areas around in Hakuba, in Nagano, having few or no runs open during the New Year's Holiday. I lucked out since a friend recommended Ryuoo, which was further north and at a higher elevation. Kanazawa was rainy during my visit and Hida-Takayama, in Gifu, didn't have as much snow as I had expected. If a snowy Japan is a priority, I'd heed Pickles recommendation and head further north.

AlwaysAisle

Sapporo area will have enough to keep entertain you. You can make a day trip from Sapporo to Otaru and Asahiyama Zoo at Asahikawa, also. However, if you like city setting more than nature setting then stick with Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka and forget about snow. With Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka/Nara only likely you will not see snow, may see snow in distance mountains on clear days but not where you will be standing.

allset2travel

+1. Excellent advice!
Stay in Osaka (e.g Sheraton Miyako is near a train station) and do day trips to all of the above plus Inari (near Kyoto). Your stay in Kansai will be very full, but without changing hotels! Kyoto hotels tends to cost a bit more, plus night life is no where near that of Osaka

talfred

Thanks you all for the awesome advice. I have decided to drop the "Kyoto/Osaka" trip and do a Hokkaido instead. Looks like there's great seafood not to be missed!

I guess I'd appreciate any Hokkaido tips now? Looking at spending the total 3 nights at the Crowne Plaza Sapporo, or should I do spend a night in some of the resort/villages area? (still research WIP)

ksandness

In particular, there is no need to change hotels in Tokyo, especially since both your hotels are in the Shinjuku area. Also, are you aware that the tuna auction is no longer in Tsukiji?

jib71

To add to that - The new fish market in Toyosu started trading in October and is supposed to open to the public early next year, but I don't know if it will be open when the OP visits. In any case, I believe that Sunday is a day off for the market.

At Tsukiji, I believe the outer market still operates but I have a feeling that it might be closed for business on Sunday.

Pureboy

This may not work for your timing, but if you do go to Sapporo, the Snow Festival (on my bucket list) is a few weeks later- Jan 31 (but really Feb 4)- Feb 11. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5311.html

evergrn

Forgot about the Snow Festival. That actually coincides with Chinese holiday. I'd imagine hotels in Sapporo and Otaru are going to be packed.

evergrn

Will you be driving up there? If it were me, I wouldn't. Not in mid-Jan with all the ice on the road. 3 nights is not a long time, and you should have plenty of things to do up there. ANA CP is not a bad location, although the best hotel locations are the ones where you don't really have to go outside at all to get to the underground system / train stations. From CP, I think you'll have to brave it outside for a couple minutes to get to the nearest underground walkway entrance. But it's still not a bad location. I think it's good to stay near the Sapporo station rather than down in Susukino or Odori area. I love the local bakery chain called Coron. One is in the Aka-renga Terrace building. Look for it.

Lot of people might recommend going to Otaru for 1/2 day, although I don't really find Otaru to be all that interesting. The train ride from Sapporo to Otaru, however, is quite scenic in the parts where it hugs the coastline.

You could consider spending one of your nights at a nearby hot spring town, such as Jozankei. Some hotels may run free shuttle from Sapporo.