Tokyo Travel Answers

The JR rail passes are expensive and time compressed,. Using them effectively would mean that you are traveling every day, which leaves little time to enjoy selected areas. I suggest you make an itinerary. Map out what cities you want to go to and then price out the travel options. Remember, train isn't the only way of getting around. The bus may be slowest, but it is cheapest, and you can do overnight journeys. Flying is often around the same price as the train and can save you you huge amounts of time. With the time you have spending time in Tokyo is a must. There is a lot to explore in the area. I think you should also spend a couple of days in Kamakura/Enoshima. Then work your way down the Izu peninsula. Hakone (Fujisan)... but you can see this from Tokyo. Research "Skytree", and get yourself up it for the view. I would also suggest you get off the usual tourist path and visit some of the islands within the jurisdiction of Tokyo: tokyo-islands.com/e_index.ht... Spending a few days on these isolated spots is a unique opportunity.

I agree that if you are on a budget, the JR Pass may not be the most cost effective way around Japan. You do have to travel a lot and it is best to plan how long you will be in each area, and price the trip itself. Use www.hyperdia.com to help you figure out if a JR Pass is worth it or not. Just be mindful of the reserved seat charge. You can save a bit of money if you go into the non-reserved areas. If I'm not mistaken, heading north of Tokyo, you must get a reserved seat, but I could be wrong. South of Tokyo has non-reserved seating. In terms of buses, they are really cheap if you are using the overnight buses. If you can do it, you will save a lot. Planes are only faster if you are going on a trip that is over 2-3 hours by Shinkansen. There are some good deals on JAL and ANA's website for foreign travellers. You should look into it ASAP though. If you are booking regular tickets, you won't be saving that much now as most of the cheap seats are usually sold by now. Only exception is the end of July which you might be able to get cheap seats. On a budget, you can save a lot if you know what to eat and how to get around. Walking is your friend. :D Renting a bicycle is a good way to save money and see the city/town at the same time. Just be aware that in the major cities like Tokyo/Osaka, you won't have many options for parking your bike. If you want to stop somewhere and go inside, you might have a little trouble, but a few minutes is usually okay. If you want an idea on what a regular budget would be in Japan, you can read my page here: "Budget in Japan" - Japan Favorite Tip by dru46 If you know how to do it, such as eating cheaply and planning your transportation needs, you can probably do with 5000 yen a day, not including hotel. You could even go as low as 3000 yen, maybe 2000 but that is pretty much just going around town and eating the cheapest stuff you can get.

If you are on a budget then about how much is your budget? The 28th to the 17th is a good amount of time, so you could see a lot of places in Japan but it will depend on your budget. Some suggestions: - Stay at hostels and/or capsule hotels. They are typically both around 3000 yen. If you are REALLY cheap, you could also locate 24hr internet cafes or just sleep in a park or 24hr McDonalds but those would require that you don't have a lot of luggage. -Travel by bus. Highway buses can cut your travel costs in half many times or close to half of what you'd pay going by train. -Find Free Attractions: Shrines are usually free and there are plenty of shrines that are worth visiting. Temples may or may not be free. It depends on where you are and the temple. In Kyoto, for example, very few temples are free. The Imperial Palace and Imperial Villa tours are all free as long as you make the proper reservation. In Tokyo, many people just like to walk around, which is of course cheap fun to see the Shibuya Crossing, roam around Shinjuku, Harajuku, etc. The Currency Museum is free and worthwhile, Ueno Park is free, Yanaka Cemetary, etc. If you are on a budget, I would not recommend the Tokyo SkyTree. The price is exhorbitant and it's really just a gimmicky tourist tower, like every other tower in Japan, including Tokyo Tower, which is also overpriced. They're mostly just compensation for a lack of cultural sites and abundance of people willing to toss money around (and the SkyTree is meant to bring people back to Tokyo. It's ridiculous how it really is making people want to go just to see it!). A better option is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which has a free observation deck that still offers a nice cityscape view of Tokyo. Doing that over visiting either of the towers alone will save a significant amount of money. The main reason to go into the other towers is less for the view and more just to say that you did it.

Just wanted to add another note, Tokyo Sky Tree's observation deck is not open to the public if they just show up. Until July 22 (or pretty close to that), Tokyo Sky Tree is open only to those with advanced tickets. It's nice to see but don't expect to go up to the top, even with the prices they are charging.

willerexpress.com/bus/pc/3/t... WILLER TRAVEL operates the comfortable high end of overnight bus transportation. They recently added a new line of luxury buses that still cost far less than taking a flight or the train.

Sorry, I made a mistake on Tokyo Sky Tree. It is open to same day ticket purchases from July 11th. You can head up there at the end of your trip if you wanted to. It is 2000 yen to go to the lower observation deck and an extra 1000 yen to go to the top. tokyo-skytree.jp/en/reservat...

Thanks Guys, this has been real helpful. If you got any other suggestions in terms of cheap accommodation in the big cities like tokyo then please let me know. I have a really good understanding of things now. remember any details are good details, there is only so much you can find on the internet and from reading books, whilst experiences from other people are a lot more informative. So don't hesitate to give any suggestions at all. Also by the budget, I would be taking 350,000 yen for three weeks to be used on transport, accommodation, dining, sightseeing and maybe one or two nights of going out. Does this seem reasonable?

Y16666 a day for everything is cutting it close. Depending on location, you may not be able to find a hotel for less than Y10000 a night. It is possible though, if you get a breakfast included with the hotel, and eat a small lunch, saving up your daily budget for dinner. It's not at all out of the range of possibility to find basic accommodation for Y8000 a night.

To find the cheap hotels you are going to have to figure out the Japanese websites. I find Rurubu easy to use because it has a visual search using a map. Setting the price range, you can easily find many hotels around Y8000/night. rurubu.travel/hotel-map/

I've never been to a city where I HAD to pay 8000 yen for a hotel and if you pay 10000 yen then that is choosing luxury over cost. It's not common at all for a budget option to not exist. You can get good acommodations for less than 6000 yen easily and that is for hotels. Wikitravel can be a good place to start hotel searches, since they typically separate them by price. As I mentioned above, if you decide to use hostels or capsule hotels, you'll typically be paying around 3000 yen.

Cheers guys. To be honest, luxury is the last thing on my mind. I would like to have enough money for travel, food (enjoying the traditional cuisine), accommodation and sightseeing/activities. I'm willing to shed out some money on specific days but that will be very rare. Thank you all for your responses, i feel a lot more comfortable now in my planning. In terms of the islands of tokyo, such as Niijima and Kozushima, how can i find out about travel expenses to the islands? and also which ones do you recommend to see/ are not too expensive all round?

A simple search got me the ferry fare table here: tokaikisen.jp/news/unchin2.p... You can visit the English site here: http://www.tokaikisen.co.jp/english/ A friend of mine goes to Niijima nearly every year. It looks beautiful but I can't really comment on which is better as I have been to neither of them.