Quick japanese travel question

[Hellfury]

Ballpark:

Roughly how much should you estimate spending on 2 weeks in Tokyo & surrounding areas (not including plane), assuming you want to live&dine not upper class luxuriously, but fairly well,(not 5 star, but far above hostel grade) with hotel(s) in relatively secure parts of town, not intending any serious shopping, but lots of good sightseeing?

edit: thinking around spring, Norwegians and too much heat is a bad combination, but somewhat flexible.

[Silenka]

Tokyo is fucking expensive. Everything there is expensive and the fact that the dollar is not doing well against the yen lately doesn't help matters. I can't give you actual numbers but I'm betting nowadays it's pretty miserably expensive.

If you're only going to Japan for tourism and don't need to stay in a specific place like Tokyo, you should really go to Kyoto instead. Cheaper, much less industry, nicer people, more interesting food and much more beautiful for sightseeing. All the good cultural stuff is there, whereas Tokyo is really more of a super-cramped shopping/pop culture/industrial hub and much of the stuff there is Westernized to pander to tourists. If you're looking for a beautiful, authentic and (relatively) cheaper tourism experience Kyoto is really the place to go. And if you go at the right time in spring you can catch the famous cherry blossom season...

[Hellfury]

Is it feasible to spend one week in Tokyo and one in Kyoto for example, or a horrible hassle?
(We're from Norway all of us, one of the most expensive countries in the world, from what we can gather, Tokyo prices are about on par with our own(?), there's Norwegians who have been able to justify weekend trips to New York from Norway to go shopping, since the price differences pays for the trip + more when they go for tech etc. Our best guess/hope is that we should et away with an estimate spending of around $3750-$4000 each on two weeks including hotels if the price levels match Norway, but we don't know if this is realistic or not?)

[quannum]

bring some iodine tablets

[Renzokuken]

Tokyo isn't all that bad. It's more expensive than the rest of the country, but not by a huge margin. I got a damn nice hotel in Meguro for just over $100 a night for a room. There are better things out there but you will pay quite a bit more. Honestly, for a two week trip, plan on spending one week in Tokyo and a week seeing the rest of the country. Kyoto is a MUST SEE.

If you do decide to do that, make sure you get the JR rail pass. This saves a ton of money on the shinkansen.

[yuzu]

Long time lurker but I travel to Japan quite a lot for work.

Spring time and fall time are the most expensive times to visit Japan. It will be worse when you visit when the cherry blossom blooms because everyone will be crowded around Tokyo and the bigger citys to view flowers.

My average hotel stay in Tokyo (Continental Hotel) is about Y22500 for a double bed one night. I suppose you might be able split the room and half that. The midrange hotels in Tokyo you are still looking at Y15000-17500. You might get some deals if you travel in group but unless you are fluent with Japanese you will probably have to negotiate that through a travel agent who will also charge you their fees on top of that.

If you are a savy traveler and don't mind the extra hops on the train, you can look at staying at some of the nearby places in Tokyo. Yokohama is slightly smaller and it's only about 30 minute train ride away from Tokyo and less if you happen to hop on the express train. And if you are fluent in Japanese another thing to look at is the weekly mansions they have. It's basically like renting out a studio flat by the week (far cheaper than hotels) but like I say that might require quite a bit of language fluency to sign contracts and such.

As far as meals are concerned, I think if you are looking for an average meal experience (not fast food/not "combini") Y3500-5000 would be reasonable. With that said I have to say meals in convenient stores are very good and nothing like what you get in the States. Alcohol is separate and tends to be quite exepnsive.

Happy to answer any other questions through private message.

[Hellfury]

Thanks for all the feedback thus far, we're planning wayy into the future, so it's nice to know about the congestion around cherry blossom time.
(We should've thought about that, but didn't).
We're thinking we'll play it fairly safe with regards to hotels, since none of us speak Japanese, and none of us will probably be able to set aside the time to learn it properly anytime soon. I am of the understanding that navigating Tokyo is fairly easy as long as we're all fluent in English?

[Osede]

It depends on who are in your travel party. Sometimes, you may just bought some food from the convenience store for your breakfast, or you are in a way of hurry to next tourism spot. Usually it won't cost you more than 400-500yen per person. When I was only together with my sister, we always did this for our breakfast and lunch, which save alots of money. But when with our parent, we usually go to some regular restaurant, not those high class one, which cost about 400-900 yen per person.

Besides that, you may want to consider the transportation fee, usually this is the one cost the most.

For hotel price, it will depends on the season, during holiday season it will be extremely expensive. For example during new year, it can be 6000yen per night for two bedroom during 30 December, and the following day become 10k+ yen, even though you book the room from 28 Dec to 2 Jan.

[Anton]

If you do decide to do that, make sure you get the JR rail pass. This saves a ton of money on the shinkansen.

OP, you absolutely, totally, must do this before you leave for Japan. The price for an unlimited week is about the price of one Shinkansen round trip. Which is to say, if you go to Kyoto and return to Tokyo, well you just paid for the entire week.

The JR pass also allows you unlimited access to JR regional subways, trains, and buses, so when you get to Kyoto you can freely travel about, unlimited. Now, there are some regional transit systems not affiliated with JR (The Tokyo Metro is a whole different subway system in the city that is totally not affiliated with JR's extensive subway system in the same city. Tokyo's like an Inception city - levels within levels), you'll have to pay for those trips if you absolutely have to take them.

You must make arrangements for a JR pass outside of Japan - it's a tourist-only promotion. In an island country, where things are more expensive than usual, the JR pass is probably the most money youll save all trip

[Renzokuken]

I don't know if you're looking for additional destination ideas, but Nikko is another place that's a must see imo. The most beautiful shines, temples, carvings, etc I saw during my year there. It was well worth the day we spent to see it. Not to mention it's the resting place of Ieyasu Tokugawa.

[Hellfury]

Are those JR passes one week only, or can you get for several?

[Renzokuken]

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en003.html

Everything you need to know right there. They make it pretty easy.

[RKenshin]

Ballpark:

Roughly how much should you estimate spending on 2 weeks in Tokyo & surrounding areas (not including plane), assuming you want to live&dine not upper class luxuriously, but fairly well,(not 5 star, but far above hostel grade) with hotel(s) in relatively secure parts of town, not intending any serious shopping, but lots of good sightseeing?

edit: thinking around spring, Norwegians and too much heat is a bad combination, but somewhat flexible.

I spent about $800 over the two weeks, about 5 years ago. Got to see a lot, eat at a lot of different places, and even

That of course doesn't include airfare or hotel, and I didn't shop much at all... as was said, everything is really expensive. I remember buying a music CD and it costing basically $20.

And the yen has since gone up in value vs the dollar as well?

Is it feasible to spend one week in Tokyo and one in Kyoto for example, or a horrible hassle?

I in fact would strongly recommend it. I did this, and the two cities are literally completely different parts of the experience in Japan. There's a lot to see and experience in one city, that you can't really in the other.

Tokyo is far more 'Americanized' while Kyoto is much more traditional.

Also, as another poster said, Nikko is also a fantastic place to visit if you can. It's certainly worth the day trip.

[Prim]

I'll also chime in on the awesomeness of JR passes. They are by and far one of the most economical purchases you can make for a trip to and around Japan. For local trains (non-shinkansen) you just need to flash your pass at the gate and walk through. No dealing with ticket booths, or at least that's how it was when I went. For shinkansen trips you still have to go to a ticket booth and get a ticket, but it doesn't cost anything extra. The "green" (1st class) and "ordinary" (Coach class) pass types only really matter on the shinkasen, as local trains don't have different classes. Also the RP is not valid for the two express trains- Nozomi and Mizuho. Make sure to take that into consideration when looking at train schedules. The other trains are still plenty fast and cover enough stops to get you where you need to go, so that's not really an issue. As Anton said, I made a trip from Tokyo to Kyoto and back, and that alone would have cost me the amount of the RP. A green seat costs Y18,160 one-way; Green RP costs Y37,800. I bought the green pass and thought it was completely worth it, but if you want to save some money an ordinary pass is still a tremendous value.

The only reason I can think of not to get one is if you are 100% sure you won't be taking a shinkansen anywhere and will only be taking a few local trains and/or walking everywhere. Seriously, get one.

[Darlantan]

This was my travel plan, when I was there 2 summers ago with my brother:

(Tuesday) 24 August --- Arrive Tokyo JP Narita @18:00
(Wednesday) 25 August --- Tokyo (Imperial Palace - Hama Rikyu - Temple Zozoji - Tokyo Tower – Roppongi)
(Thursday) 26 August --- Tokyo – Nikko – Hakone – Fuji Lakes
(Friday) 27 August --- Tokyo (Akihabara - Asakusa - Kaminarimon temple - Ueno - Park)
(Saturday) 28 August --- Tokyo –( Ginza - Asakusa – Odaiba)
(Sunday) 29 August --- Tokyo (Shinjuku - Harajuku - Park Yoyogi - Temple Meiji – Shibuya)
(Monay) 30 August --- Tokyo (Tsukiji Market) – Kamakura - Yokohama
(Tuesday) 31 August --- Tokyo - Kyoto
(Wednesday) 1 September --- Kyoto - East neighborhood(Kiyumizudera - Ginkakuji - Sanjusagendo)
(Thursday) 2 September --- Kyoto - North neighborhood (Kinkakuji - Ninnaji – Ryoanji - Comercial zone or Imperial Palace), Geishas neighborhood -> Gion.
(Friday) 3 September --- Kyoto - Osaka
(Saturday) 4 September --- Kyoto - Nara - Fushimi Inari
(Sunday) 5 September --- Kyoto - Hiroshima - Miyajima
(Monday) 6 September --- Miyajima – Mt. Misen - Kyoto
(Tuesday) 7 September --- Kyoto
(Wednesday) 8 September --- Kyoto - Tokyo (Depart Tokyo JP Narita @19:00)

2 weeks in the same place can be too much. Yeah, you would need years at a city like Tokyo or Kyoto to know it completely, but its usually not the point on a travel. Be there for a few days, see the most important shit, enjoy yourself and get out before it becomes boring/tedious and runs the great feeling. We could have used more time in most of the places, surely, but it was good enough to enjoy everyplace and dont get bored of it. Miyajima was beautiful and relaxing but thinking back I would have just spent those days in Kyoto, Tokyo or some other place, there isnt really much to see or do there.

Money wise, I didnt spend more than in Amsterdam, Milan, Madrid or Barcelona. Cheap shit is cheap everywhere, and expensive is expensive. I'd say Tokyo is more expensive than most cities but not by as much of a margin as many people say... except for places to sleep. Other than that, I think transport, food and sightseeing stuff had pretty standard prices, except for drinks and meat in general which were surprisingly expensive.

[Yugl]

Just supporting the JR pass advice (Didn't even think about that until someone posted, but damn that was an amazing pass).

[Darlantan]

Yeah, the JR pass is definitely a must. Unless you dont plan to travel at all.

[Anton]

I bolded, italicized, and underlined it, but it's worth repeating: To buy a JR pass you must, must, must make the arrangements to purchase it outside of Japan - it doesn't even matter if your flight just landed and you walked to the JR office in the airport, they will not sell it to you at that point.

As for what to do there, well that's another story. Kyoto has about two thousand sites, all of them awesome. I strongly recommend Kinkaku-ji (aka Rokuon-ji), Kiyomizu-dera, To-ji, Sanjusangen-do (site of the Thousand Armed Kannon)... and that's just the tip of an impressive and extensive iceberg. Their Zen Gardens are unreal - all of them cunningly designed to hide the city and blend into the surrounding forests, they give you the impression that you're in the middle of nowhere.

[alexand]

It's depend on yourself.

[Cletis]

When I go out to Tokyo I go to roppongi or shibuya. The best club i think is AgeHa in Chiba. We go out for clubs and nightlife. We stay up all night and take the train home, so idk about hotels.

So if you go out for nightlife you can spend 5,000y or more. A drink costs about 900y. Cheap dinner costs 1,500y. Good dinner is 4,000y. Traveling is nice. There's a trains.jp app for iPod that I use. I don't know any Japanese and I get by. Let all the girls take pictures of you.

If I were a tourist, knowing me, I'd bring 50,000y per week. Assuming I would buy stuff. Maybe more depending.