Ask me any questions

[ash like snow]

otaru can be a day trip from sapporo

lake toya and noboribetsu a bit too far, will better to stay there, especially since they are onsen towns. or u can stay lake toya a night, then visit noboribetsu on the way back to sapporo. a bit more rush though, so if u have the time, it is best to stay a night each at those place

ok will go research more first!!

are u landing and departing from HND? which airline?

actually im planning to take scoot to NRT airport (1way), unless got cheaper airlines to land in HND.

cause i'll be flying off to korea after the japan trip, so either KIX>ICN>SG or CTS>ICN>SG.

 

[ash like snow]

check out Bumblebeemum's blog to get some ideas. it will help

thanks!! will kop some iti there

 

[ash like snow]

Its not one way ticket... You can choose multicities to fly in to CTS and out from HND, for example.

JAL offers one free stopover within Japan, so you can tinker around with the booking form to see how is it best to arrange your itinerary.

But to be honest it's a lot of travelling to do. I wanted to incorporate hokkaido into my next trip to Japan too, but I've already planned Tokyo and Kyoto, and it really doesn't make sense for me to spend so many hours to and fro on the shinkansen (or spend extra money on domestic flights), just for a couple of days in hokkaido which I won't be able to explore much. So I'm gonna give hokkaido a miss till next time.

If you have a lot of days to spend in each city, then do it. If not, try not to squeeze too many cities into your trip and spend too much time traveling...

what do u mean by free 1stopover? i didnt know about it
im planning for a 3 weeks trip.. about 4 days tokyo, 2 days osaka, 1kyoto/hakote and maybe 7-9days hokkaido.

 

[evilerniex]

what do u mean by free 1stopover? i didnt know about it
im planning for a 3 weeks trip.. about 4 days tokyo, 2 days osaka, 1kyoto/hakote and maybe 7-9days hokkaido.

very rush, and quite costly to travel to so many places. i suggest dropping kansai or tokyo

 

[KnobKnob]

those japanese massage usually done by male or female massager? me talking about clean one

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[anyhowsaysay]

thanks for the info!
which will be a better option in terms of route?

1) SIN>HND>OSA(SHINKASEN)+KYOTO>CTS
2) SIN>CTS>HND>OSA(SHINKASEN)+KYOTO

I doing
SIN -> NRT
HND -> CTS
Hakodate -> Tokyo Shinaknsen
Tokyo -> Nagoya Shinkansen
Nagoya -> Atami
Atami -> Tokyo
Tokyo -> Kyoto
KIX -> Singapore

But then most areas i will stay few nights. Unless u got long holiday like 1 month or else such route will be too rush to handle

 

[anyhowsaysay]

does june or july rains all the time? air tickets and hotel seem much cheaper..

June typically is rainy season and last until mid July
Mid July onwards is very warm like Singapore.
August and Sep is both warm and rainy due to typhoon season

I think Japan two period is best for travel. Autumn and Spring.
Nov and Late March/Early April.

Good Scenery, weather is cooling, dry and not much rain.

 

[anyhowsaysay]

Its way too early. Most hotels release their date only 3-6months prior. Some do release about 9months prior, but only on their Japanese hotel site (it will show not available on EN site, but if you switch to their Japanese language, it will show the rooms available, but can't book coz it's difficult to navigate the Japanese booking page).

I'd suggest to wait a bit.. Or if you have shortlisted a few hotels already, go to their website to check how long before they release their rooms. For example, now is May. You go through their availability calendar and see when is the latest month on their calendar where they show prices on it. When I checked for Ueno hotels last week, some hotels have prices for October (so it means they will wait till June to release November rooms), some have till November, etc. So do some maths and take note of when the various hotels are releasing the rooms and check again when the time comes.

A lot of work, but that kinda guarantees you a room in the hotel you want.

For Hotels, best to use their Japanese sites
In Japanese sites got more stay package and cheaper rates!

 

[ash like snow]

very rush, and quite costly to travel to so many places. i suggest dropping kansai or tokyo

Huh how come rush? So far I see my draft itinerary seems ok wor. Btw I'll missed Tokyo's cherry blossoms in order to catch Sapporo's. So my aim in Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto is to shop and eat only..

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[ash like snow]

I doing
SIN -> NRT
HND -> CTS
Hakodate -> Tokyo Shinaknsen
Tokyo -> Nagoya Shinkansen
Nagoya -> Atami
Atami -> Tokyo
Tokyo -> Kyoto
KIX -> Singapore

But then most areas i will stay few nights. Unless u got long holiday like 1 month or else such route will be too rush to handle

But since you landed in NRT, why dw travel Tokyo>CTS?

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[anyhowsaysay]

But since you landed in NRT, why dw travel Tokyo>CTS?

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For me, I don't feel like rushing so i stay in Tokyo few nights first before going to Hokkaido.

 

[evilerniex]

Huh how come rush? So far I see my draft itinerary seems ok wor. Btw I'll missed Tokyo's cherry blossoms in order to catch Sapporo's. So my aim in Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto is to shop and eat only..

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2 days for osaka and 1 day for kyoto is too short. and will need to spend $170 for a 3hrs one-way shinkansen ride from tokyo to osaka. not worth the time and money if u ask me. u can have more days for hokkaido instead. since it is expensive to travel to hokkaido, might as well spend more time there.

 

[ash like snow]

2 days for osaka and 1 day for kyoto is too short. and will need to spend $170 for a 3hrs one-way shinkansen ride from tokyo to osaka. not worth the time and money if u ask me. u can have more days for hokkaido instead. since it is expensive to travel to hokkaido, might as well spend more time there.

kyoto is not confirmed though, but might change to a day trip to hakone!
cause last trip i did a 2 days osaka+1kyoto and i think its enough
maybe cause im not a temple/shrine person, so 1day kyoto is ok. and i dont go aquarium or usj in osaka, will be hanging ard shinsaibashi area to eat

if i set aside 8 days hokkaido, will it be enough?

 

[evilerniex]

kyoto is not confirmed though, but might change to a day trip to hakone!
cause last trip i did a 2 days osaka+1kyoto and i think its enough
maybe cause im not a temple/shrine person, so 1day kyoto is ok. and i dont go aquarium or usj in osaka, will be hanging ard shinsaibashi area to eat

if i set aside 8 days hokkaido, will it be enough?

kyoto or not, if u are going osaka, u wil still have to make tt expensive trip on shinkansen. dropping kansai completely will save u quite a bit and makes it easier to plan ur transportation.

hokkaido is huge, so really depends on where u want to go. 8 days probably enuf western part of hokkaido: sapporo, lake toya, noboribetsu etc.

 

[thwysg]

Is 13D in Hokkaido a little too short? We are looking at a 18-20D trip in late Jan next year till CNY. The rest of the time would be in Tokyo.

The mister wished to visit East Hokkaido (cranes and scenery photography) and he wanted to try the trains from Tokyo all the way up to Hokkaido. Would be getting 14D JR Pass (green car). No driving and probably no flying (he's against it). For my case, it's the snow festivals that I'm more interested.

First time visiting Hokkaido in winter.

Current plan (order of the stopovers) is as follows:
Lake Toya 1N (in Tokyo to rest first before traveling up)
Sapporo 3N
Asahikawa 2N
Abashiri 1/2N
Kawayu Onsen 1/2N
Tsurui (near one of the crane zones) 2N
Sapporo 1N
Sendai 1N
Tokyo 4N

 

[Gixxerfied]

kyoto is not confirmed though, but might change to a day trip to hakone!
cause last trip i did a 2 days osaka+1kyoto and i think its enough
maybe cause im not a temple/shrine person, so 1day kyoto is ok. and i dont go aquarium or usj in osaka, will be hanging ard shinsaibashi area to eat

if i set aside 8 days hokkaido, will it be enough?

I will totally skip Osaka for my next trip, will spend probably 3-4 days in Kyoto..Last trip i did Kyoto for 2 days i find not enough even thou i nv walk into all shrines..

 

[Ruriel]

I will totally skip Osaka for my next trip, will spend probably 3-4 days in Kyoto..Last trip i did Kyoto for 2 days i find not enough even thou i nv walk into all shrines..

Last trip I spent 5days in Kyoto and I still don't find it enough lol. Planning for another 5-6 days in Kyoto next year.

 

[ash like snow]

kyoto or not, if u are going osaka, u wil still have to make tt expensive trip on shinkansen. dropping kansai completely will save u quite a bit and makes it easier to plan ur transportation.

hokkaido is huge, so really depends on where u want to go. 8 days probably enuf western part of hokkaido: sapporo, lake toya, noboribetsu etc.

Hmm cause my mum wanna go Osaka for food, so I can't drop kansai.

I'm ok with paying shinkasen/hotels in Osaka, so it's not an issue.

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[ash like snow]

I will totally skip Osaka for my next trip, will spend probably 3-4 days in Kyoto..Last trip i did Kyoto for 2 days i find not enough even thou i nv walk into all shrines..

Cause we're not really interested in shrines and mum said she's bored of Kyoto for her previous trip too.

I can't give up on Osaka due to the food

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[cancer81]

Osaka has pretty nice shopping

u can also visit Minoo park, no like see shrine/temple then go see scenery and nature

I would suggest 3-4 days in Osaka then spend another half of the trip in Tokyo

If you want to have a better time, I would say you should consider removing Hokkaido from your plans.

My advice for lodging in Tokyo is to avoid Shinjuku or Shibuya. Frankly, u get a better deal elsewhere and the distance travel is not really that bad as long as you are near the Yamanote