11 Days.. what to do?
 

Hi everyone. I have been looking over some of the trip planning threads along with reading books.

I'm arriving into NRT on the 13th of March and departing the 24th from NRT.

A brief "idea" that I came up tonight with the help of some guides, posts and abmj-jr:

13-Mar (Thursday) Arrive Tokyo, take train to Kyoto
14- Mar (Friday) Kyoto
15-Mar (Saturday) Hiroshima + Miyajima Shrine Island
16-Mar (Sunday) Nara (daytrip from Kyoto)
17-Mar (Monday) Kyoto
18-Mar (Tuesday) Finish touring Kyoto. Train to Takayama
19-Mar (Wednesday) Takayama visit/enjoy Ryokan. Train to Tokyo
20-Mar (Thursday) Tokyo
21-Mar (Friday) Tokyo
22-Mar (Saturday) Tokyo/Hakone overnight?
23-Mar (Sunday) HAKONE Overnight Hakone or Tokyo
24-Mar (Monday) FLY HOME (14:55 DL 56 NRT-ATL. Arrive MSY- 18:12pm)

All in all, I've been all over the world and like to see interesting sights both new and old. Suggestions on some "can't miss" places would be great.

I've looked over the Sunrise Tours site and don't really like them as most I have found end at either KIX or in Tokyo. I figure that, if I am going to go to Kyoto I would likely want to go down to Hiroshima after.

Also, I could really care less about clubbing at night. Not as much my scene. I'd prefer to get up at 9am, hit the
town, get home at 7pm from sight seeing and have a cheap meal near the hotel.

Thanks!

check out the master thread..there's a lot of information there. I hope you have most of your hotels booked..since your trip is next week.

A bit late on the planning eh?

Alas as a college student with a full time job, the time for planning is limited. As of now, no hotels booked.....

The master thread doesn't really address ideas and thoughts as to if I have allocated time right.

Well, you certainly don't fit my age demographic by a couple of years :o but you certainly do fit my travel style.

For eleven days, I think 3 days Tokyo + 2 days (1 night) Hiroshima/Miyajima + 4 days Kyoto/Nara/Kansai + 2 travel/airport days sounds about right. If you plan on getting a Japan Rail Pass - and you should for that much train travel - it would probably break down as:

arrive NRT - overnight Tokyo
start Rail Pass
to Hiroshima + half day visit
overnight
Hiroshima/Miyajima + travel to Kyoto
4 days Kyoto/Nara/Himeji/whatever
to Tokyo
end Rail Pass validity (7 days)
Tokyo 3 days
Depart NRT for home.

Just plan to do your major travel during the time period that the Rail Pass is valid. A mistake here could be rather expensive.

The "hot springs" would probably come out of the Kyoto stay or perhaps during the travel day back to Tokyo. I will defer to others regarding this as I stay out of them. Much prefer the deep Japanese baths at the hotels.

As for "can't miss" places, that is very subjective. You will probably be a bit early for the cherry blossoms unless we get a very early spring. Pray for unseasonably warm early spring. You might get lucky and get a few hana during the last few days of your visit. If so, plan on visiting one of the big parks in Tokyo (or whichever city is your last stop.) I like the sakura display at Hama Rikyu Detached Imperial Garden but any large park, temple or garden will be nice.

In Hiroshima, plan enough time to visit nearby Miyajima Island. There is a ferry from the Hiroshima dock which you can pay for with a JR Pass. That is worth most of a day, which is why I suggested an overnight.

Himeji is a nice half-day visit which can be done on the way back east from Hiroshima or as a day trip from Kyoto. In addition to the famous castle, Himeji is a bit smaller and less frenetic than Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto. There is an interesting shopping arcade one block over from the main street which is the route to the castle from the station. Just walk it and return through the arcade rather than back on the street. If you are looking for lunch on the way to or from the castle, there is a very good tonkatsu/katsudon place about half-way on the right facing the castle.

For Kyoto, just look through your guidebooks and pick out some spots that look interesting and plan out a skeleton itinerary. There is too much to see in such a limited time so you will have to pick and choose. I recommend Nijo Castle, Sanjsangendo Hall, the Heian Jingu shrine, Gion along the river at dusk, at least one big temple - Nishi Honganji, Kiyumizudera, Nazenji or any of a dozen others -, Kinkakuji (the golden pavillion) or Ginkakuji (the silver pavillion) or both if you have time, perhaps Ryoanji for the rock garden and beautiful park and lake, an evening walk along Pontocho alley. The Imperial Palace park and garden makes a nice spot for a picnic lunch. The Palace tour itself is strictly optional. I don't think it is worth using part of your limited time unless you just really want to see it.

If time allows, you might take the train out to Arashiyama. Start your walking tour near the monkey preserve in case the snow monkeys don't work out. Arashiyama is outside of Kyoto proper and is much more rural and rustic but has some nice sights.

Depending on time and inclination, there are several daytrips from Kyoto - you might even wish to add a day there and cut someplace else. You could take short train rides to Himeji, Nara (most of a day,) Osaka, Lake Biwa or into the surrounding hills for that onsen visit. Use that JR Pass! Get your money's worth.

Tokyo is much more dependant on your tastes. I recommend a mix of the traditional - a visit to Sensoji and Asakusa or Yanaka/Nezu/Ueno, the Hama Rikyu garden - and the ultra-modern -Ginza, Akihabara, Shinjuku or Harajuku. If you want a museum, I recommend the Edo-Tokyo Museum which has the advantage of being next door to the sumo museum - a two-fer.

Hotels may be a problem on such short notice. You don't mention budget or style preferences but for a college student, you may wish to look at hostels or "business" hotels, which range from pretty basic to quite nice. If you will let us know what you might be looking for, I'm sure we can help find some resources. Lap Lap seems to have a whole list of recommendations for all price ranges. :p Do start looking for hotels right away as time IS running out. For such short lead-time, you will need to jump on the Rail Pass issue also, unless you are in a large city with an authorized seller at a local travel agency where you can just walk in.

I applaud your desire to just catch dinner at someplace near the hotels. Look in the small side streets for local places for great food at good prices. To save money, consider making the midday meal your large meal of the day. You can often find the same food that will be on the dinner menu for half the price at lunch. I like to scout the places that the locals use for lunch - look for crowds - and then come back after 1:00 pm to miss the lunch crowds. Plan to try some of the standard fare - ramen (have to have Japanese ramen,) udon or soba, tempura, curry rice, some sort of donburi (I really like katsudon) and several others. Look at the plastic or photo food displays and just try whatever looks good or interesting. It is all good. Try some street stall food at the temples. Around Sensoji in Tokyo, you can find almost anything. It will be safe, cheap, fresh and hot. I dare you to try takoyaki. If all else fails, the fresh choices available at convenience stores is 1000x better that what you get here and you can find *Bux and McD's everywhere (yuck.)

Whew! Firm up some ideas and preferences and we can probably give you some specific ideas.

JR

I tried to respond to your PM but you have not enabled an e-mail address to receive them. I wanted to point out that I had added some new info to my original post and you might want to skim through it again to pick up the additions.

Looking at your admended first post, I only see one potential problem. You have scheduled major train travel on 8 days, 9 if you count Hakone-Tokyo. That is not a problem if you are paying out-of-pocket for trains but is a problem if you will be using the 7-day Japan Rail Pass. With the distances you have planned, the Pass would save a lot of money.

I don't think Hakone is worth a day but others do. YMMV.

JR

Thanks for all of the help.

On the issue of $$, I am hoping to spend under $100 p/p per day for Hotels. I have saved a bit for this trip (and cashed in some miles so the J seats are free). I am thinking about a traditional Hotel in Hakome and will make that reservation tonight.

Hotels.com may be my friend (unless y'all have any other suggestions).

Preference wise, I am willing to be open to different foods and wanted to go the traditional way in hotels. I would be willing to spend more $$ for a GOOD hotel (4* etc...). In many ways I am a blank canvas and will do whatever seems interesting :-)

For upper range hotels, I will leave you with some of our other regulars.

For under-$100 range, try:

http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/

and my old stand-by: http://www.japanhotel.net/

JR

Being a college student myself...i feel your pain;). Hotels in japan are quite pricey that's why i asked you.

Here is a link to a hotel in Tokyo- Tokyo Inn

http://www.tokyo-inn.co.jp/en/.. it's nothing special a budget hotel but the rates are pretty good. under your budget of $100. In Tokyo, as you probably know, everything is expensive especially hotels...so finding something under 100 is hard to do. IM not saying that it's impossible, but just hard to find.

There are stories about exhorbitant prices in Tokyo that just won't go away - despite the reality that this city is quite reasonable by international standards.

Hotels:
There are dozens of hotels with rooms well under 10,000yen
At some backpacker hotels you can stay for as little as 2,500yen
Apart from a couple of peak periods these rates are easy to find.
(College exam season can be a tough time).

Food:
It's very easy to find an excellent lunch for less than 800yen

You tell 'em, brother!

I do not think I have ever paid as much as 10,000 yen/night for a single or 12,000 for a double - usually much less - and I do NOT stay at backpacker hostels. At least not since passing 40. :p

The Juyoh Hotel has welcomed me five times and I love it. ^ A single room is just 3,200Yen/night.

Here is a thread from the Budget Forum:

Inexpensive, clean accommodations in Tokyo?

In Tokyo, check out the Sakura Hotel in Jinbocho. Easy access to Metro and a favorite among int'l collge students. Prices are well within your range (assuming the USD doesn't crater any further) and include hostel rates if you're into the group-sleeping thing.

Most of the advice there is for people travelling together.

As the OP wants a single room this thread might be better:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=536176

This hotel is pretty much unknown amongst English speaking visitors, so probably won't have been targeted by visiting students
Hotel Park Inn http://www.hotel-parkinn.com/
Review: http://www.flyertalk.com/reviews/rev...?review_id=174
You'll need to email them with the dates you want to stay (keep your English basic) and you'll be expected to pay upfront when you arrive (normal amongst budget hotels)

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm actually going with my boyfriend but he has, so far, failed the task of planning.... now it's up to me.

Do you think it's too adventurous to hop off the flight and try to get a train to Kyoto almost immediately? We're planning to do that right now...

Also, any thoughts on Hakone? I thought of doing the Sunrise tour but may just do it on our own (and book the ryokan's ourselves).

Right now we're looking at going there the Sat before we leave and then either returning to Tokyo on Sunday night or going right to Narita on Monday AM.

Any thoughts on how far in advance I need get to the airport? Our flight out is at 14:55 and we're in J.

THANKS!