Japan - what to do, where to go etc

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115 posts

Master Geek

#1705196 18-Jan-2017 13:17

Wibbleman

My wife can only take a week off work at at time,she owns her own business, so to make the most of the time available we travel Sat morning early as possible and get home the following Sunday. I don't have to worry so much about recooperating as I'm retired and just reaclimatise at leisure !

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Wibbleman

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1705197 18-Jan-2017 13:19

Camden:

Wibbleman

My wife can only take a week off work at at time,she owns her own business, so to make the most of the time available we travel Sat morning early as possible and get home the following Sunday. I don't have to worry so much about recooperating as I'm retired and just reaclimatise at leisure !

Fair enough. to maximise your time, might be worth seeing if you can switch your flights to the ones that land at Haneda, then you only have a 30 minute train trip into central tokyo instead of a 1hr 15 min NEX/Skyliner.

Camden

115 posts

Master Geek

#1705326 18-Jan-2017 16:03

I have just checked AirNewZealand and they don't start flying into Haneda until July 2017. We are going with AirNZ on April 1st. We are booked to fly into Narita so will just have to go with the 1h 15m train ride into Tokyo.

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1705369 18-Jan-2017 17:17

I now have Air New Zealand flights from Dunedin to Tokyo (via Auckland), Singapore Airlines flight from Tokyo (Narita) to Singapore and then an Air New Zealand flight from Singapore to Auckland.
Paid the extra for the exit row over to Tokyo and requested the same seat on the way back from Singapore (but as they booking was via Expedia, it is not guaranteed and no extra payment required)

I also have accomodation in Tokyo for 5 nights and accommodation in Singapore for 4 nights sorted.
Just working out the rest of the accommodation in Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka and another part of Tokyo

(also need to book Auckland to Dunedin flights, but no rush)

Camden

115 posts

Master Geek

#1705415 18-Jan-2017 19:21

That's good to read that you now have most of the flights sorted and some accomodation booked. Say our family goes to the Gold Coast or Fiji for a week or so, I wil book airfares and accomodation on line and get the best price I can. Likewise if I have to go up to Auckland for the day, I book on line a flight and rentalcar etc.

However for something more extensive and to a country I have never been to before I usually use the services of a good travel agent. In this case for a five week trip their help has been invaluable. My agent,who I have delt with for twelve years, sent a request to the Japan Travel Bureau in Auckland for suggestions for an itinery to cover my wish list that I gave them. I could have got on the internet and booked accomodation myself but they have chosen places close to train stations for ease of getting around or close to points of interest like in one place,a moutain bike park where I want to spend a day or two.I gave them my budget and the mix of accomodation I wanted and they came back with a pretty good mix that I don't think I could have betterd myself. I have booked two rental cars and they also came up with good pricing for those as well. I know that agents will have taken a rake off for all this work, but overall I am happy with the total costing.

One thing with your flights already booked, did you remember to take out travel insurance, right now, so that if you are unable to travel at the time, you will be covered.

The Japan rail passes can only be bought three months out from travel. That's my next and final bit to do.

Jas777

838 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1705621 19-Jan-2017 08:28

Re: Accomodation

As the public transport in Japan is frequent, efficient, fast, safe and easy to use you can stay in affordable places and travel to what you want to see easy.

As I am a bit of a train spotter, basing myself in two places and travelling to other places on day trips is how I did it.

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1705703 19-Jan-2017 11:17

Yep, Travel Insurance is booked as well (just under $100 through SCTI online, including discount from having medical with work through Southern Cross)

I see JTB sells the JR Pass, so after the 15th June I shall contact them and see if the price I see on their website is the price I pay (+ $15 for courier)

Jas777

838 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1705707 19-Jan-2017 11:28

nzkiwiman:

Yep, Travel Insurance is booked as well (just under $100 through SCTI online, including discount from having medical with work through Southern Cross)

I see JTB sells the JR Pass, so after the 15th June I shall contact them and see if the price I see on their website is the price I pay (+ $15 for courier)

Search around for your Japan Rail Pass. The prices I found varied by as much as $40 dollars NZ for the same pass

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1705766 19-Jan-2017 13:25

7 day standard rail pass is 29,100 Yen (which is roughly $377NZ)

JTB is selling for $355 + $15 courier, STA is $359

Websites selling in US$ are around $250US/$360NZ + postage

As I have to wait until 15th June to purchase, I have a decent about of time to find places, compare prices etc

Camden

115 posts

Master Geek

#1705905 19-Jan-2017 15:57

Those JR pass prices seem pretty good. I was originally quoted ex travel agent, 7 day at $416.00 and 14 day at $644.00. or $59.42 and $46.00 per day ! That was four months ago so the exchange rate could of altered by now.

However I since thrown my normal ecconmical(travel economy) conservatism out the window and upgraded to a green pass at $548.00 and 14 day at $887.00 as I have two eight hour trips,Tokyo to Sapparo and Kagoshima to Tokyo as well as a Tokyo to Kyoto return trip. I am a train fan (but not excessively so) from the days of steam so this is my one little endolgence on this trip ! I have always wanted to travel on the bullit trains since they came out in 1964 but never had the opertunity until now,so I'm going to make the most of the pass by using it on all the second tier trains as well, to get from Sapporo to Kagoshima in lots of short hops with overnight stays on the way.

Camden

115 posts

Master Geek

#1708141 23-Jan-2017 15:19

Nzkiwiman

Just been given a web site that is great for getting all the JR timetables. I have used it over the weekend and I have now got sorted the eighteen rail trips. It gives you up to ten departure times per search.

I snipped each section I wanted and put it a folder then printed it out. I will also copy to my phone. You may have already got this site, but prior to this I had never heard of it.

www.hyperdia.com

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1708146 23-Jan-2017 15:28

Camden:

Nzkiwiman

Just been given a web site that is great for getting all the JR timetables. I have used it over the weekend and I have now got sorted the eighteen rail trips. It gives you up to ten departure times per search.

I snipped each section I wanted and put it a folder then printed it out. I will also copy to my phone. You may have already got this site, but prior to this I had never heard of it.

www.hyperdia.com

I had heard of it thanks to a thread I have been following over on Whirlpool Forums. It will definitely come in handy when I start trying to roughly plan my movements (mainly between cities)

Over the weekend I completed booking all of my accommodation - one of the hotels I had been watching in Kyoto went up by over $100 and sadly was still the cheapest so I decided it was now or never (and my plans to work around the increased costs didn't work out so well.

Now to plan my itinerary for each city .. no rush, I have 8 months

sbiddle

30853 posts

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#1708197 23-Jan-2017 17:23

Camden:

Those JR pass prices seem pretty good. I was originally quoted ex travel agent, 7 day at $416.00 and 14 day at $644.00. or $59.42 and $46.00 per day ! That was four months ago so the exchange rate could of altered by now.

However I since thrown my normal ecconmical(travel economy) conservatism out the window and upgraded to a green pass at $548.00 and 14 day at $887.00 as I have two eight hour trips,Tokyo to Sapparo and Kagoshima to Tokyo as well as a Tokyo to Kyoto return trip. I am a train fan (but not excessively so) from the days of steam so this is my one little endolgence on this trip ! I have always wanted to travel on the bullit trains since they came out in 1964 but never had the opertunity until now,so I'm going to make the most of the pass by using it on all the second tier trains as well, to get from Sapporo to Kagoshima in lots of short hops with overnight stays on the way.

What is your rough route to get to Kagoshima? There are lots of really scenic lines around Kyuhu (it's where I explored in November) and some such as the Kyudai Main line from Oita inland are really beautiful. I didn't go further onto the Hita Hikosan line as I only caught it from Hita to Oita but that's apparently stunning as well. There is a green scenic train that also runs this route.

Camden

115 posts

Master Geek

#1708247 23-Jan-2017 19:13

I am going to Kagoshima from Hirishima on the Shinkansen so I assume that will be the main rail route. The map I have shows the following route.

Hiroshima

Kitakyushu

Fukuoka

Kumamoto

Yatsushiro

Senda

Kagoshima.

Average trip time 2h 50m non stop.

I would like to cover more of the island but that is geting towards the end of a five week trip to Japan so have had to miss some things out unfortuately.

Going to have a hot sand spa on the beach of Ibusuki though !

Then back to Tokyo from Kagoshima changing trains in Osaka. Total trip time 7h 2m, distance 1467km.

sbiddle

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#1708256 23-Jan-2017 19:33

Ahh so you're just on a Shinkansen down and back. It's a shame you don't have slightly more time - traveling anti clockwise around from Kagoshima is very scenic and you could then connect to the Shinkansen again at Kokura but it's probably about 6 hours off the top of my head for this route so would be an incredibly long day to get back to Tokyo on the same day.

If you're down that way again I'd highly recommend visiting Nagasaki, it's a very beautiful city. You'll find it very different in Kagoshima than further north in Japan.

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