Planning my trip for Japan, Oct/Nov15 (~14days)

[kifo]

confirm enough if your lodging is cheap
i dun even intend to spend more than 3k
i know some ppl went and spend less than 1.5k for 10+ days

If you willing to stay capsule hotel, dormitories, manga cafes, etc for 10+ days.... lodging will at most cost you $500.

 

[koicafex]

If you willing to stay capsule hotel, dormitories, manga cafes, etc for 10+ days.... lodging will at most cost you $500.

airbnb is cheap also and if u can find ppl to share, even cheaper
there's ryokan that u can share with strangers as well

 

[[M]aiev]

Okay srsly, this is making me worried. $3500 not enough for approx 14days?

It's way suffice. I go 21 days with less than $3k.

Sent from GAGT Android App

 

[samtcy]

For travelling within Tokyo itself, I usually don't use any form of railpass or discount tickets, because they are not always cost effective (depends on which places are u planning to visit at Tokyo). So I just use SUICA card (kinda like EZ-link card where u just tap in/out of stations)

 

[yukari_san3]

Okay srsly, this is making me worried. $3500 not enough for approx 14days?

$3500 i can stay for a month, or two

 

[xtwis7]

I'll be in Tokyo from Sept. Thinking if I should travel to Osaka also since I was there earlier this year. Sorry to hijack your thread though. Would taking a domestic flight to Osaka be cheaper than the shinkansen?

 

[evilerniex]

$3500 i can stay for a month, or two

$3500 for entire trip including flight and accommodation? O_O
can share how u do it?

 

[evilerniex]

I'll be in Tokyo from Sept. Thinking if I should travel to Osaka also since I was there earlier this year. Sorry to hijack your thread though. Would taking a domestic flight to Osaka be cheaper than the shinkansen?

single trip ticket on shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka is around 14k yen. for domestic flight, u can take the domestic add-on for 10k yen, or budget airlines for even lesser if there are promotions. so comparing directly, domestic is usually cheaper.


however, there are JR passes available and if utilised well, there can be quite a bit of savings and the overall transport cost for taking train may be cheaper than domestic flight


another consideration for taking train is the convenience and time. train stations are right in the heart of the cities, whereas for flight u still have to take another transport into the city. the trip to and from the airport, plus the time needed for check-in etc. adds up and is likely to be more than the time u take on shinkansen.

 

[jkhorr]

Wow, thanks for all your replies!

I've since revised and tweaked my plans

I'm thinking maybe using an IC card for the first few days in Osaka and the last few days in Japan is more worth it than using any other pass?

Is it possible to explore the whole of Kyoto, or at least most of the highlights, on a bicycle?

Since I haven't really travelled before, emergency cash and petty cash at $150 each should be sufficient right?

$50/day for food seems to be sufficient?

If anyone sees anything out of place or anything that I can do more efficiently, please do help me and point it out!

Spoiler

Most importantly, where to get the best nuru message? (just kidding )

Also, if yukari_san3 and [M]aiev, can you enlighten me how do y'all travel with such a low budget?
I don't intend to splurge or anything(other than one night in ryokan and the trip to Alpine Route), but I can't seem to figure a way out, other than sleep on the streets.
And I wouldn't wanna do that in Oct/Nov when the temperature is dropping.



Y'all have been a great help so far, I can't thank you guys enough!

 

[jkhorr]

Oh yeah, sufficient food is relative, but as a rough gauge, 2 sets of chicken rice is one meal for me.



As for airfare, its at 700 to be safe.

And for petty cash, its meant for small stuff like sightseeing $$ and bike rental or misc.
Emergency cash, anybody practice carrying it around?

I'm thinking maybe $100 each should be enough, am i doing it right?

 

[evilerniex]

Oh yeah, sufficient food is relative, but as a rough gauge, 2 sets of chicken rice is one meal for me.



As for airfare, its at 700 to be safe.

And for petty cash, its meant for small stuff like sightseeing $$ and bike rental or misc.
Emergency cash, anybody practice carrying it around?

I'm thinking maybe $100 each should be enough, am i doing it right?

u can take a look at the first post of this thread to have an idea on how to budget ur trip:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/japan-271/how-much-you-will-need-bring-trip-japan-2369267.html

the total expenses will slowly firm up once when u confirm ur itinerary and bookings. dun have to be too concern now, unless u have a limited budget which u cannot exceed.

 

[evilerniex]

i dun really have emergency cash.
however, i have a shopping budget of 10k yen in cash for buying gundam models and other toys. this shopping budget doubles as emergency cash coz my shopping is always at the end of the trip. if i overspent during the trip, i can eat into the shopping budget, then pay for my shopping using credit card.
on top of that, i usually budget to pay for all my accommodations in cash as well. if i start running low on cash during the trip, i can always pay for accommodation with credit card instead and use the cash for other stuff.

ur detail on budgeting quite similar to mine. so dun worry.. i have never exceeded my budget and have not used credit card in japan

 

[yukari_san3]

Wow, thanks for all your replies!

I've since revised and tweaked my plans

I'm thinking maybe using an IC card for the first few days in Osaka and the last few days in Japan is more worth it than using any other pass?

Is it possible to explore the whole of Kyoto, or at least most of the highlights, on a bicycle?

Since I haven't really travelled before, emergency cash and petty cash at $150 each should be sufficient right?

$50/day for food seems to be sufficient?

If anyone sees anything out of place or anything that I can do more efficiently, please do help me and point it out!

Spoiler

Most importantly, where to get the best nuru message? (just kidding )

Also, if yukari_san3 and [M]aiev, can you enlighten me how do y'all travel with such a low budget?
I don't intend to splurge or anything(other than one night in ryokan and the trip to Alpine Route), but I can't seem to figure a way out, other than sleep on the streets.
And I wouldn't wanna do that in Oct/Nov when the temperature is dropping.



Y'all have been a great help so far, I can't thank you guys enough!

$3500 is low budget!?


just stay some cheap place (wont be in room anyway)

eat local

dont buy souveniers and avoid getting tourist chopped

skip buying SIM cards and all that unnecessary crap


$3500 is more than enough for a month

 

[yukari_san3]

It's way suffice. I go 21 days with less than $3k.

Sent from GAGT Android App

most people dont know how to travel smart

give them $8000 a month also not enough

 

[cpuer]

The IC cards offers no advantages except you have lesser change to carry and speed up your transit. If you have an ICOCA, you will not need to get SUICA when you are in Tokyo. Only problem is ICOCA cannot be refunded in Tokyo.

$50 per day on food is very good budget. My daily spent on food is about 120yen breakfast, 1000 yen lunch, 800 yen dinner. That's about 25 dollars per day. Some days may go lower or higher, depends on situation. They averaged at $25 per day.

As for cycling in Kyoto, try to get the battery assisted ones as Kyoto has many hill outside of central Kyoto. Higashiyama area is quite a challenge on cycling. And some of the paths are just steps.

 

[Nalgene123]

most people dont know how to travel smart

give them $8000 a month also not enough

I feel that that for traveling...as long as you don't anyhow spend money and that the money spend is well worth it....it really doesn't matter how much you spend if u can afford it....

The last thing you really want when coming back from a tour is that in order to try to save...u didn't try something you wanted to or go to somewhere because of the cost of transport or admission fee and then u regret it upon your return...some ppl need to stay in nice hotels and go try Michelin resturant to have a good experience while some ppl are just happy with the very basics...so it really depends on how an individual want to define his own experience when traveling....and that's why it's also hard to find traveling companions that seeks the same travel experience and some ppl just travel solo

 

[MajiMax]

$3500 i can stay for a month, or two

Please share tips how to last two months.

Can breakdown bo on the expenses.

 

[evilerniex]

$3500 is low budget!?


just stay some cheap place (wont be in room anyway)

eat local

dont buy souveniers and avoid getting tourist chopped

skip buying SIM cards and all that unnecessary crap


$3500 is more than enough for a month

it also depends on the places u are going.

$3500 is quite ok for the places TS is going. alpine route is expensive, 10k yen for the route itself and doesnt include getting there. Kamikochi is also quite out of the way and getting there is expensive. and JR pass adds to transport cost.

 

[jkhorr]

$3500 is low budget!?


just stay some cheap place (wont be in room anyway)

eat local

dont buy souveniers and avoid getting tourist chopped

skip buying SIM cards and all that unnecessary crap


$3500 is more than enough for a month

most people dont know how to travel smart

give them $8000 a month also not enough

I cross referenced(online) hostels and airbnb, all usually around 28-35/night, which is what I am doing now(other than the ryokan), since I'm sharing with 2 other guys. Is it possible to get cheaper accommodation than that? If possible, please do enlighten me, I also want the cheapest rates possible.

I'm planning to as much local and street food as I can already (other than the night in ryokan, again), its just that for food I really am not sure what to expect cause my stomach is a bottomless pit.

Not gonna buy souvenirs at all and even if I am buying anything extra, its not reflected in what I posted.

Data SIM is kinda needed for navigation and communication, I wouldn't know how to get to my accommodation if I don't have it or get to my friends if we go our separate routes. I don't wanna realise my dream of living in the streets at 10degrees just yet.

So what do you see in whatever I listed that is not needed? I'm not trying to be rude but I can't seem to figure out how you're able to do 1 or 2 months, with flight, accommodation and all essentials included, with the area I'm covering.

As for one night in ryokan, alpine route and kamikochi, I believe that it's worth it (right?) for the experience, cause I doubt I'll do anything like that anytime soon again, i guess.

The IC cards offers no advantages except you have lesser change to carry and speed up your transit. If you have an ICOCA, you will not need to get SUICA when you are in Tokyo. Only problem is ICOCA cannot be refunded in Tokyo.

$50 per day on food is very good budget. My daily spent on food is about 120yen breakfast, 1000 yen lunch, 800 yen dinner. That's about 25 dollars per day. Some days may go lower or higher, depends on situation. They averaged at $25 per day.

As for cycling in Kyoto, try to get the battery assisted ones as Kyoto has many hill outside of central Kyoto. Higashiyama area is quite a challenge on cycling. And some of the paths are just steps.

I was just reading something about IC cards being more universal in Japan, thanks for confirming that!
I guess I can keep the ICOCA card as memorabilia or just take a day away from Osaka and upgrade to the 3 day Kansai Thru Pass.
Still unsure if I really want to spend a day extra in Osaka.

I've been asking my friends who visited Japan about food already, they were saying the same exact thing; $25/day for food.
At the same time they said I should double the budget cause I'm a glutton.

I've got 2 free bicycles with the AirBnb apt I'm looking for. I guess I can get the battery one and get my friends to ride the manual ones.

Sounds like we would have to carry the bikes up hills/steps sometimes?
If its just carrying a bike up a few hills we should be fine, I just needed to know if its even recommended to cover the main regions with bikes(chasing daylight)?
Asking cause I can't really compute the scale of the region from my computer.

Thank you so much for your references!

I feel that that for traveling...as long as you don't anyhow spend money and that the money spend is well worth it....it really doesn't matter how much you spend if u can afford it....

The last thing you really want when coming back from a tour is that in order to try to save...u didn't try something you wanted to or go to somewhere because of the cost of transport or admission fee and then u regret it upon your return...some ppl need to stay in nice hotels and go try Michelin resturant to have a good experience while some ppl are just happy with the very basics...so it really depends on how an individual want to define his own experience when traveling....and that's why it's also hard to find traveling companions that seeks the same travel experience and some ppl just travel solo

Wise words.
It's lucky that I have two friends with pretty much the same mindset.

 

[jkhorr]

it also depends on the places u are going.

$3500 is quite ok for the places TS is going. alpine route is expensive, 10k yen for the route itself and doesnt include getting there. Kamikochi is also quite out of the way and getting there is expensive. and JR pass adds to transport cost.

I guess if anyone has a better plan or foresight than me is welcomed to sound my plan out!

i dun really have emergency cash.
however, i have a shopping budget of 10k yen in cash for buying gundam models and other toys. this shopping budget doubles as emergency cash coz my shopping is always at the end of the trip. if i overspent during the trip, i can eat into the shopping budget, then pay for my shopping using credit card.
on top of that, i usually budget to pay for all my accommodations in cash as well. if i start running low on cash during the trip, i can always pay for accommodation with credit card instead and use the cash for other stuff.

ur detail on budgeting quite similar to mine. so dun worry.. i have never exceeded my budget and have not used credit card in japan

That sounds like good news!
I'll have to be a little bit more careful as I do not have a CC to help out in emergencies but from your testimonial it sounds like I'm pretty safe as is as I was planning to spend the same way as you do!

I guess I got the "kiasi" attitude where I'd stash cash everywhere on me for when **** hits the fan (which happens all the time due to my luck).

u can take a look at the first post of this thread to have an idea on how to budget ur trip:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/japan-271/how-much-you-will-need-bring-trip-japan-2369267.html

the total expenses will slowly firm up once when u confirm ur itinerary and bookings. dun have to be too concern now, unless u have a limited budget which u cannot exceed.

I kind of skimmed through the thread a few times before but still am not too sure what to expect cause everything is relative... I guess even information in this thread can be relative but... yeah. Hahaha!
I'll read it again when I've got time for it!
I'm planning early because I need to plan finances through the year and stuff, just want to play it safe