Booking A Trip To Japan - Guide & Tips
I've been asked by a few people now for advise on booking a trip to Japan - I know people who've been quoted thousands for a two week trip! So I thought i'd best post a little guide here incase it helps anyone with their future bookings and trip planning!
Flights
Now, your flights can be the most expensive part of your trip, and they tend to be the same price all year round unless airlines put a sale on.
We flew with Air France/KLM both times with one connection in Paris/Amsterdam each way but there may be direct flights available from your airport with other airlines. It does pay to shop around though as these can be pretty expensive!
Hotels
Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro
We used this hotel as our main base for both trips, it's a 5 minute walk from the second busiest train station in the world - it's huge, you could probably spend a day here wandering the shops and trying out the cakes and treats on offer.
We always book the Superior room as Japanese hotel rooms tend to be small, and with two weeks of shopping you're going to want more floor space so you can keep everything organised and somewhat tidy.
The hotel is cheap, the staff speak several languages and Ikebukuro is well located and well served by trains so it's easy enough to get wherever you want to be.
Hotel Sunny
This hotel is ideal for catching the Keisei Skyliner to/from the airport as it is right next door to Nippori Station.
If you stay here, take the elevator up to the hotel, the escalator leads to a restaurant and theres no way down but to walk through the dining area with your suitcases and ask the staff to let you out from the other side.
MyStays Maihama
Located a 5-10min walk past the Ambassador Hotel this hotel is a cheaper way to visit the Disney Parks. It's a 10min walk from DisneySea and around 15-20min walk away from Disneyland.
Disney's Ambassador Hotel
Located by Ikspiari and owned by Disney this hotel is ideal for a Disneyland/DisneySea visit. They have free buses that run to the parks (or they're around a 15min walk away), offer special park hopper tickets to on-site guests and you also get the Happy 15 benefit, which is similar to Extra Magic Hours but only lasts 15 minutes.
Granvia Hiroshima
Located in Hiroshima Station this hotel was an ideal base for travelling around Japan using the JR Pass. While we stayed here we visited Kyoto, Okunoshima Island, Miyajima Island and Osaka.
Plaza Inn Kawaguchiko
We stayed here for two nights last year when we went to climb Mt Fuji. It's ideally located near the train station and the bus to the Fuji 5th Station. There is a Lawson near by but the hotel closes it's doors on a night so you must be in before then (I believe it was 10 or 11pm).
Airport Transport - N'EX & SKYLINER
You need to consider these right from the beginning, they're the two easiest and most effective ways of getting to and from the airport - asked Hays Travel about booking a transfer in advance last year and the prices came up in the hundreds!
The Narita Express takes a little longer, but as it has more stops it could be the easiest for you, but check the timetables in advance as not every train goes to every stop (Ikebukuro isn't served very often for example).
The Keisei Skyliner is fast, but unless you're staying at Ueno or Nippori you will need to change trains, and after a long haul flight this isn't always easy!
We used this last year and struggled to connect as there was something you needed to do with your tickets at your connecting station - we just found someone and they explained it to us but I can't remember what exactly we did here, so sorry!
As we stay in Ikebukuro we've found that the Narita Express doesn't run to the airport early in the morning from Ikebukuro so we usually change hotel for our last night and stay at the Hotel Sunny in Nippori - it's next door to the station so we can catch the Skyliner which runs quite often even early in the morning!
Transport - JR Pass & PASMO/SUICA
JR Pass
Ideal if you want to travel around Japan, these are available in 7 day and 14 day tickets.
You can buy these from JTB Travel and will need to set them up in a train station when you plan on using them (Ikebukuro has an office for this) once your rail pass is set up, you can go and reserve seats on the trains you plan on taking. You must carry your passport with you when you set up and use this pass as they're only available to non-residents.
PASMO/SUICA
Just the same thing as the Oyster cards they have in London.
Ideal for using the subway lines.
Hyperdia.com
Use this website to plan out your trips in advance if you're using the JR Pass.
We used it every day to find out how to get from one station to another on the subway too - it tells you what time, line, destination and sometimes even the platform of the train you need to take.
Pocket Wifi
You definitely want to book one of these before you travel. You can have them delivered to your hotel or pick them up in the airport. They're ideal for travellers as it means you can check Hyperdia for trains, use maps if you get lost and keep up with the news in English if anything happens.
Food/Snacks
Unlike travelling to America, when you travel to Japan they're not really interested if you're taking snacks in with you. We took crisps, sweets and cereal both times and were never even asked if we had brought any food along with us.
Spending Money
As Japan is a very cash-based society, you'll want to change as much money as you can into Yen before you travel. I know people don't usually like to do this - but Japan also has a very low crime rate. We locked the majority of our money in a suitcase in our room and just took a certain amount out with us each day. If you do end up running out of money, foreign cards work in the 7-eleven ATMs, but they generally don't work in any others or in many shops (e.g McDonalds don't accept foreign cards).
Leftover Spending Money
If you exchanged too much, you'll find a currency exchange office in Narita Airport, it offers a better rate than if you change back at home, and they accept coins.
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