Hi Guys, I remember last year I came this thread to share my travel literary. Now I need to finalize hotel etc for the golden week on first week of May.

I will be traveling to Tokyo with my wife for 14 days. Due to the fact that departure and arrival are in Tokyo. Hence we decided to travel straight to Osaka from Tokyo once we reach Airport. And travel from Osaka slowly towards back to Tokyo.

Here is the distribution of the travel

1 day Nara
2 day Osaka
1 day USJ ( With fast pass )
3 days Kyoto
5 days Tokyo
- One day Mount Fuji
- One day Akihabara shopping
- One day Disney sea
- One day temple hopping
- One day Shibuya and Shinjuku

Still have 2 more days available. Any place I can slot into the schedule? For example, 5+1 for Tokyo or 2 +1 for Osaka?

FYI, we do not eat beef, so I do not think there is a need to go Kobe.

The date will be 28th April Arrive Tokyo Narita, the same day will take train to Osaka.

Guys, just a quick update for my plan. Yesterday I went to get more information in JR Railway Cafe in Singapore which they provide free service for advice and JR ticket purchase ( USJ and Dsineyland as well ).

1) According to this Japanese Lady I approached. Golden week is the second highest peak in the entire year. ( Top highest peak is end of the year ). Hence, either from Tokyo to Osaka or Osaka to Tokyo will be very packed. It's unlikely I will be able to get seat during the JR travel, unless I get one way ticket. ( Which required to make the seat reservation and collect ticket in Japan and cannot be purchase online ).

2) It seems like taking flight is much cheaper than taking JR railway. SGD200+ for flight with maximum luggage weight of 40kg per person. Here is my updated itinerary.

28th April - 8am Arrive Narita Airport, Tokyo
- 12:45pm Depart at Narita Airport, Tokyo
- 2:15pm Reach Kansai Airport, Osaka

29th April - Nara
30th April - USJ
1st May - Osaka
2nd May - Osaka
3rd May - Kansai
4th May - Kansai
5th May - Kansai
6th May - 7:45am/2:05pm Depart at Kansai Airport, Osaka
- 8:55am/3:25pm Arrive at Narita Airport, Tokyo
7th May - Disney SEA
8th May - Shibuya and Shinjuku
9th May - Mount Fuji
10th May - Akibahara
11th May - Temple Hopping ????
12th May - 5:05pm Depart at Haneda Airport, Tokyo

She told me that there is no difference for foreigner between the temple in Tokyo and Kyoto. She suggested me to skip the temple hopping in Tokyo instead.
For the 6th May, I'm not sure which flight time is good. Do you all able to advise me?

If skipped the temple hopping. What else I can replace? For Mount Fuji, I can travel there in the morning, stay one night there, the next day morning will go back Tokyo. So I guess just one day is sufficient

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Jan 23 2018, 11:04 AM

10th May - Nope. Going to stay maybe half day in Akihabara. I will look into those places that you suggested.

11th May - Good idea, do you think allocating this xtra day for Osaka or Tokyo better?

12th May - Which part in Tokyo you think is better to stay? Cause I hope I can stay the place which night lift is quite lively. Like Wongkok in Hong Kong.

Thanks! I will take the early morning for better time allocation

to tell you the truth. We just book the APA hotel for Tokyo only. Haven't been able to book the Osaka area yet. Its free cancellation though, so I'm just wondering there is any other suitable area for stay in Tokyo. Just like if travel to KL, usually people will stay in KL central area, but people won't think of staying in Titiwangsa right.

Haha. That's the problem. I prefer to have xtra day for Tokyo, but my wife loves it to be in Osaka. So you know lah~~~ haha

I will look into Ikebukuro area via airbnb. I believe for Mount Fuji stay, there should be airbnb around that area as well right?

Got it. Based on google map, I think Ikebukuro is better place to stay as Shinagawa seems like there is a distance to the main city area. My wife is starting to think of getting AirBnB room. She managed to get room from airbnb for Osaka stay. It will be near Namba station. Hopefully it is a good location.

===

Seriously I'm kinda relief that I was able to book flight between Tokyo and Osaka. Have to think about the human packed during golden week. Though I am not able to experience the train bento in bullet train though. But I will definitely go Hokkaido for my next Japan trip.

For Mount Fuji, so far we just want to view the best scene of Mount Fuji. Won't be going for mountain climbing. I heard that Kawaguchiko is the best lake view from all ( Correct me if I'm wrong ). Not sure whether you both have any better itinerary suggestion in Mount Fuji for a day?

I have finalize the stay for entire trip. Here is the following.

Sat 28th April - 8am Arrive Narita Airport, Tokyo
- 12:45pm Depart at Narita Airport, Tokyo
- 2:15pm Reach Kansai Airport, Osaka
- Hotel Check-in in Kyoto

Sun 29th April - Kyoto
Mon 30th April - Kyoto
Tue 1st May - Hotel Check-in in Namba, Osaka
Wed 2nd May - Osaka (USJ)
Thur 3rd May - Osaka
Fri 4th May - Nara
Sat 5th May - Osaka
Sun 6th May - 7:45am Depart at Kansai Airport, Osaka
- 8:55am Arrive at Narita Airport, Tokyo
- Travel directly to Kawaguchi, Hotel Check-in, stay
Mon 7th May - Morning in Mount Fuji, Afternoon check-in Tokyo, Ikebukuro
Tue 8th May - Disney SEA
Wed 9th May -Shibuya and Shinjuku
Thurs 10th May - Akibahara
Fri 11th May - Tokyo ( After discuss with my wife ), will need to research more. including those that you guys recommend )
Sat 12th May - Morning will go around city. 5:05pm Depart at Haneda Airport, Tokyo

The only concern is whether is it enuf time for Mount Fuji area or not.

Jetstar only in Narita. I do not think there is osaka to haneda.

Its already booked....

Any way to reduce the tiredness. Cause traveling from Narita Airport straight to Mount Fuji will be few hours of ride~~~

Any highway bus that will be boarded in the main city of Tokyo so that at least we can arrive the main city by just taking the train express...

The upcoming japan trip, my budget will be RM15k for 2 weeks. ( not included hotel and flight ticket ). Have I changed too much for this 14 days trip?

Guys, I'm having trouble getting the travel from Narita Airport directly to Kawaguchiko ( Mount Fuji ) Area. Does anyone know the better way ( or fastest route ) to destination?

Hi guys, I will be flying off to Japan this coming Friday. Just wanna check, what is the common leisure dress code for guys there? If I wear bermuda pants, will I have any issue accessing the temple?

Facing a lot of obstacles, especially the bus trip from Narita to Kawaguchiko. They only allow one baggage per person put inside the bus storage. As I'm bring 2 baggage myself. I might need to think of using courier service in Narita Airport to deliver to hotel in Tokyo which I will be coming over after 2 days stay in Kawaguchiko.

Thanks! points taken.

Yeah, I'm thinking the same way as well. Just that I have to pay more. haha.

Hi all, need your expertise in this.

I just had a wonderful with my wife 5 months ago spending 16 days in Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo and Nara. Because my wife and I were so amazed by the culture there. We decided to go Japan at least once per year. And next year, we plan to have 2 trips to Japan with 1 week each. ( My wife said 2 weeks is very tiring )

We have confirmed one of them will be Hokkaido which we will travel around November or December. We are having dilemma in choosing the other one. We prefer south area further away from Osaka during cherry blossom full bloom ( around beginning of April or end of March ). We are looking at places like Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Miyazaki, and Kumamoto.

Have any of you been these places before? Any recommendations? My wife prefer place with Shrine and scenery based. And I prefer scenery and food. But then if there is place where I can get Gunpla will be good as well , but this is optional.

Looking forward to hear you guys.

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Oct 2 2018, 09:21 AM

I'm actually looking at the cherry blossom period because previously I went to Japan during Golden Week. ( yes, its a nightmare, but still enjoyable). Hence I wil be looking at around beginning of April or second week of April. But then not sure whether Hokuriku region has good location to view cherry blossom or not and whether it is a good timing as well to visit these places there.

Also, I assume that there is no nearby airport there right? I believe the nearest airport is Tokyo.

Yeah, I just went and googled it, the snow wall looks stunning!!

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Oct 4 2018, 09:48 AM

Ideal route - Kanazawa --> Shirakawago --> Takayama + surrounding area if you like (Gero Onsen, Okuhida, Shintoka Ropeway) --> Toyama ---> Kurobe Alpine Route

For this route, is it really can be completed within 7 days?

It seems like its very hard to have cherry blossom and this tour running together as cherry blossom should be around end of March and Alphine Route should be around mid/end of April.

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Oct 4 2018, 02:39 PM

All driving?

I dont think I will be going Nagoya, maybe just focus on north area. Checking youtube and it seems most place required either long travel bus or by car. I believe car rental is not cheap as well right?

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Oct 4 2018, 03:01 PM

That's pretty bad but I only have 1 week. So its either I give up cherry blossom or give up the Takayama festival event. haha

Great information from you both. I also would love to know more about driving experience in Japan. And 7 days driving for RM1.3k seems to be quite reasonable. Do you have any recommendation?

Just want to make clear. so you drive to Toyama station there, from there you take public transport to Shinano Omachi ?

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Oct 4 2018, 05:28 PM

Just book air ticket to Nagoya on 16th May to 26th May. My wife is fine not to have the cherry blossom season.

Later on I will need to get 5 days Tourism Pass to Toyama area, which include Alpine route. And need to decide the route and place to stay as I will expect to have multiple "hotel hop" throughout these 10 days.

This time I seriously need to travel light. Last time during traveling in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo with 4 luggages are really killing me. But of course it makes me loosen my weight down by 2kg in 2 weeks. lol

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Oct 9 2018, 02:31 PM