Discussion
As in my flights thread the Mrs and I are hoping to get to Japan in June for approx 3 weeks.
Sorting flights and a few nights in Tokyo is relatively straightforward but I’m a bit lost as to what to do next.
I’m tempted to do what I normally do when I holiday in Europe and hire a car but we always stay in one location. This wouldn’t really work being based in Tokyo all the time. The bullet train is an option but prices have just gone up to about £1k for us both for 2 weeks.
Is it possible to take off in the car and book hotels ad hoc as we go along? I’m not particularly bothered about going to X one day and Y the next just because they’re on the tourist trail. I’d rather just take off and see where we land.
I’m rambling a bit because this is a bit new to me. Usually it’s fly somewhere to a pre booked hotel and hire a car for a couple of weeks.
Any helpful suggestions?
Car hire to drive around Japan is a disproportionately expensive way to do a lot of travelling, fuel isn't extortionate, but it's not cheap, either, and the toll charges for the expressways are very noticeable.
Usually, the answer would be go straight to a rail pass for train travel, but they've bumped the prices up on them now, so it's less clear cut.
I would suggest having a think about which areas you want to visit, and then look at the logistics of getting there and around.
My usual approach is to take the train to cover the majority of the distance, and then hire a car if needed to get around more specific areas.
Usually, the answer would be go straight to a rail pass for train travel, but they've bumped the prices up on them now, so it's less clear cut.
I would suggest having a think about which areas you want to visit, and then look at the logistics of getting there and around.
My usual approach is to take the train to cover the majority of the distance, and then hire a car if needed to get around more specific areas.
InitialDave said:
Car hire to drive around Japan is a disproportionately expensive way to do a lot of travelling, fuel isn't extortionate, but it's not cheap, either, and the toll charges for the expressways are very noticeable.
Usually, the answer would be go straight to a rail pass for train travel, but they've bumped the prices up on them now, so it's less clear cut.
I would suggest having a think about which areas you want to visit, and then look at the logistics of getting there and around.
My usual approach is to take the train to cover the majority of the distance, and then hire a car if needed to get around more specific areas.
Edit: To put it in perspective, when I needed to use a car to do a round trip from Tokyo to Nagoya because the trains were out due to a typhoon, I think my total cost was over £200, Even with the higher price of the rail pass now, if you're travelling a lot, you can probably still justify it.Usually, the answer would be go straight to a rail pass for train travel, but they've bumped the prices up on them now, so it's less clear cut.
I would suggest having a think about which areas you want to visit, and then look at the logistics of getting there and around.
My usual approach is to take the train to cover the majority of the distance, and then hire a car if needed to get around more specific areas.
Hiring a car and driving in Japan is fine as long as you get an English sat nav, or the bolt on for your phone and use that. You are totally and utterly f
ked without it unless you are a fluent Japanese speaker of course. We have done it a few times now, including a skiing trip. Most people drive quite slowly and are very courteous. It’s quite an eye opener when you get out into the sticks, it’s a very different culture.
As far as hotels go I have always booked in advance. My Japanese is very limited and English is not widely spoken outside of the main population centers. I don’t fancy sleeping in the car! I am sure it is possible to wing it as long as you check carefully when the national holidays are in Japan. Every man and his dog go away during the holiday periods and it does get very busy. I am very partial to Onsens and Ryokans, there is nothing like sharing a hot bath with lots of naked little Japanese people
, and I tend to plan my routes about them.
ked without it unless you are a fluent Japanese speaker of course. We have done it a few times now, including a skiing trip. Most people drive quite slowly and are very courteous. It’s quite an eye opener when you get out into the sticks, it’s a very different culture.As far as hotels go I have always booked in advance. My Japanese is very limited and English is not widely spoken outside of the main population centers. I don’t fancy sleeping in the car! I am sure it is possible to wing it as long as you check carefully when the national holidays are in Japan. Every man and his dog go away during the holiday periods and it does get very busy. I am very partial to Onsens and Ryokans, there is nothing like sharing a hot bath with lots of naked little Japanese people
, and I tend to plan my routes about them.We got a hire car in Tokyo and drove to Mount Fuji.
Driving was very easy; as has been mentioned, the standard of driving is very good. Most road signs are in English as a well as Japanese and we had no issues at all, not even with my wife navigating! I don’t remember it being particularly expensive either (this was 2018 so things may have changed).
If you are going to hire a car you will need to get an international driving permit from a post office.
We plan to go back and will definitely hire a car again.
We also used the bullet train to go from Tokyo to Kyoto, which was fine (can’t remember how much it cost).
Driving was very easy; as has been mentioned, the standard of driving is very good. Most road signs are in English as a well as Japanese and we had no issues at all, not even with my wife navigating! I don’t remember it being particularly expensive either (this was 2018 so things may have changed).
If you are going to hire a car you will need to get an international driving permit from a post office.
We plan to go back and will definitely hire a car again.
We also used the bullet train to go from Tokyo to Kyoto, which was fine (can’t remember how much it cost).
As someone whose ideal holiday is a road trip and avoids trains in the UK as much as possible, I'd say train travel is part of the charm of a visit to Japan. Especially if it's your first time.
I'm a planner and can't comment on the feasibility of spontaneous travel, but I wouldn't imagine it's much different travelling by car vs train given Japan's incredibly well-developed and reliable train network.
I'm a planner and can't comment on the feasibility of spontaneous travel, but I wouldn't imagine it's much different travelling by car vs train given Japan's incredibly well-developed and reliable train network.
Another vote for the Shinkansen train and the local network. Very clean and punctual, you book a seat on the bullet trains, so no nonsense with standing up in the aisles. Highly recommend going to Kyoto with its historic sites as the former capital. I’ve only been to Japan on business but Nagoya and Osaka are also places worth visiting. One word of caution, when I was last there 5 years ago, I found many of the ticket sales people do not speak English but I guess ticket sales are possible by app or ticket machine nowadays.
Enjoy Japan, I hope to return as a tourist in the near future.
Enjoy Japan, I hope to return as a tourist in the near future.
Murph7355 said:
RUSTILLDOWN said:
1 week in Tokyo then a 2 week tourist pass for the Bullet train… lots of well documented routes… you’ll love it!
This.They have also made it more difficult to make seat reservations (which you will need to do with large cases).
I have also heard that they have started to restrict which trains you can use - but I have yet to see this for myself.
It may work out cheaper to just get train tickets as you go. Thats what we did back in April - June this year as it was cheaper.
OP car hire is "ok". Its not cheap, but its not as expensive as you might think.
I did have a panic about toll road charges, but honestly with fuel being about £1/L the toll charges are not bad as the cheap fuel off sets it.
I forget the exact sum but in 4 weeks we paid maybe a couple of hundred in tolls. Its all done off a tag in the car.
The thing to budget extra for is parking at hotels (about 1200yen a night on average IME) and street parking 200-300 yen ish for an hour or two.
Most attractions have free parking.
We did 3 weeks by train and 4 weeks by car and then another week just back in Tokyo.
We really enjoyed having the car, but we did have a lot of time. It was nice to be able to just pull over and go and look at stuff. On the train you whizz past and its gone.
If you are sticking to the main tourist loop of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa Tokyo (or the reverse) then you probably wont need or want a car tbh.
Tokyo is perfect for the subway - a car is just a hassle.
Osaka is a bit more driveable but we didnt bother with the car.
Kyoto does not need a car. You will have to use the bus though.
The area around Kanazawa might be worth a car. Your only going to need it for a few days though.
Thats if you go that far.
Bear in mind a big part of the cost of hiring a car in Japan is out of prefecture drop off. Its usually c30% of the value of the hire.
If memory serves me rightly we paid about £300 a week for a Toyota Roomy. The 2 main options are Toyota and Nissan. We found Toyota cheaper.
In summary.
Get a suica card on arrival in Tokyo. Thats the only form of payment you will need whilst in Tokyo using public transport.
Look at costs for a train ticket on its own vs Rail pass.
You wont need a car in Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto/Hiroshima.
A car might be handy if you did head out to Kanazawa / Gifu for a few days.
Japan is like a well oiled machine so there is almost always transport around - just dont expect regular trains in the sticks. Busses are more common.
Few other tips.
Get a sim card before you go. I know people say to get one at the airport but the queues can be massive. Its cheaper in country but I just prefer to swap the sim on the plane and hit the ground running.
At the time of year you are going expect it to be hot, 30+c in some parts. Humidity will be high. There might be storms.
Pre book your transfer if arriving at NRT. Take the NRT express - pre book. You will need your passport to collect the tickets - dont try and use the NRT express machines, just go straight to the ticket office. HND has the monorail, dont think you need to pre book that.
Taxis from the airport are very expensive, but once in Tokyo they are not actually too bad. We found this out quite late in our trip!
Google maps works very well, especially for public transport. It takes time but once you understand which exit number to take it can save you 20 min walking in some stations!!
Take shoes that are easy to get off! Lots of places require shoes off.
The Japanese dress quite smartly, so avoid flip flops, baggy shorts and vests! I had on walking trousers and polo shirts most of the time or jeans and a polo and felt a bit under dressed just on the metro let alone going out at night.
gotoPzero said:
Get a sim card before you go. I know people say to get one at the airport but the queues can be massive. Its cheaper in country but I just prefer to swap the sim on the plane and hit the ground running.
eSIM? There aren't many which do voice as well as data, but are you going to be making any calls out there anyway?We went in 2016 and I got a mobile WiFi box from the airport , allowed the family to all use it when travelling and could keep in touch via WhatsApp or email with home . I went much at all think £80 and it comes with a pre paid envelope so you can post it back to them when you leave .
We did Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and traditional spa hotel in the country (Could have missed this to be fair)
Would certainly visit Kyoto again and Tokyo is a must imo
We did Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and traditional spa hotel in the country (Could have missed this to be fair)
Would certainly visit Kyoto again and Tokyo is a must imo
havoc said:
gotoPzero said:
Get a sim card before you go. I know people say to get one at the airport but the queues can be massive. Its cheaper in country but I just prefer to swap the sim on the plane and hit the ground running.
eSIM? There aren't many which do voice as well as data, but are you going to be making any calls out there anyway?I put my UK sim in a spare phone and just set it to 2G with data roaming off. Most people who wanted to contact me would do so on whatsaap anyway.
https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/internet-access/si...
They do an esim for $38USD but you are limited to 50Gb. Thats a good quantity of data though.
Its not the cheapest solution but they post directly to the UK from France.
Pocket wifi is ok, but from my research its very expensive. Around 2-3 times the cost of a SIM. Plus something else you need to keep charged etc. And again can be a long line of people to get the actual device.
gotoPzero said:
In summary.
Get a suica card on arrival in Tokyo. Thats the only form of payment you will need whilst in Tokyo using public transport.
Lots of good advice from gotoPzero but for anyone visiting Japan in the near-term be aware that Suica/Pasmo cards aren’t currently available due to semiconductor chip shortages…Get a suica card on arrival in Tokyo. Thats the only form of payment you will need whilst in Tokyo using public transport.
There is a 24-hour metro ticket available, albeit not as convenient:
Voxy said:
Lots of good advice from gotoPzero but for anyone visiting Japan in the near-term be aware that Suica/Pasmo cards aren’t currently available due to semiconductor chip shortages…
There is a 24-hour metro ticket available, albeit not as convenient:
I nearly did mention that but there are solutions. iPhone users can just use their phone. (does not work on android (unless JDM phone)) or you an get an icooca (sic?) card. Its only pasmo and suica that are currently not on sale.There is a 24-hour metro ticket available, albeit not as convenient:
The last option is ebay!!
I have a feeling the problem will be resolved soon, its just madness to have to buy tickets for each trip. No way I would do that given you might be on and off 5+ metro trains a day.
Apologies to the OP for the thread hijack but, as the theme seems to be travelling around Japan using public transport, I have a query regarding using local trains as we are out in Japan for 2.5weeks in May 2024.
I am aware that, if you are travelling with luggage, you need to pre-book seats with luggage space on the shinkansen. But what about "local" trains, i.e. from Osaka to Kyoto? Do you need to book a luggage space on those? Is just jumping on board with luggage frowned upon? We could just get a coach from Osaka to Kyoto, but the local trains look very appealing.
Thanks
I am aware that, if you are travelling with luggage, you need to pre-book seats with luggage space on the shinkansen. But what about "local" trains, i.e. from Osaka to Kyoto? Do you need to book a luggage space on those? Is just jumping on board with luggage frowned upon? We could just get a coach from Osaka to Kyoto, but the local trains look very appealing.
Thanks
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