Anyone Travel to Japan by their own before?

skulltown

Hi

Has anyone traveled to Japan by their own before and if so how did you get on? I am not really a traveler and I am wondering how to go about it. Should I go with a travelling group agencies or book everything on my own. Any recommendations would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Alfred123

Japan - you will love. My favourite country / people of all places I have lived in.

The Japanese are a fantastic welcoming people. Given the choice, I'd travel alone. You will have more freedom that way.

Air bnb - with a family - would be a fantastic Intro and you will get lots of advice re places / ways to travel on

I have not been up north but Kyushu .. Kyoto, Osaka would keep you entertained for a spell

bbbbb

we travelled by ourselves, i.e not as part of a package.

got to see some bits we wanted that werent part of some itenaries (e.g. mt. koya, nakasendo way), and saved a good bit of money.

1. get a rail pass and plan your trains here

https://www.hyperdia.com

2 you can book day trip tours yorself directly with local tour companies, e.g.

https://www.jptours.co.jp/

note also the pickup points and locations, they give you clues to where you might want to be staying (at least in terms of location, if not budget)

3 if doing lots of 1 day hops, you can use luggage forwarding to send your suitcase 2-3 days ahead, and then travel with a lighter bag. Reception in the hotel took care of the forms for us and the luggage is collected from the hotel later.

https://www.global-yamato.com/en/hands-free-travel/scene02.html

Evade

I went to Tokyo on my own in 2019 for just over a week, as long as you're ok doing things by yourself it's great. I booked the flights and hotel myself online, I stayed in one of the APA Hotels for about €40 a night in Nihombashi which is fairly central Tokyo. Get some data on your phone for Google maps, and you'll have no trouble getting around. If you're going to stay around Tokyo get a Suika card, it will save the embarrassment of buying tickets for the wrong train company in the bigger stations, I did that a few times.

I didn't have much of a list of things I definitely wanted to do besides see the Gundam in Odaiba and doing some shopping in Akihabara so at night I scrolled around on Google maps to see what was around and picked something for the next day. I ended up going to the Gundam, the Edo Museum, the Sword Museum, the Animation Museum, the Palace Gardens, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree, the aquarium near Skytree, some random shrines and other little things around. I ended up spending two whole days poking in and around Akihabara. I had planned to go to the National Museum but it's closed on Mondays (as are a lot of touristy things as far as I could tell) and I was flying out on Tuesday.

Being able to recognise Japanese numbers spoken aloud would help in some smaller shops they don't always have tills with customer facing displays.

I was supposed to go back in Winter 2019 but I pushed it back to April 2020 and obviously haven't gotten to go yet. Fingers crossed for next year.

el_gaucho

When you say “by their own “, do you mean as a solo traveller or by organising it yourself versus a package deal?

3d4life

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058202791/anyone-travel-to-japan-by-their-own-before

Perhaps you have come across the YT channel 'Life Where I'm From' ?

If not then I think you might find it interesting

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqwxJts-6yF33rupyF_DCsA

skulltown

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117720085#Comment_117720085

Both so if you traveled solo did you organise it yourself or get a package deal?

el_gaucho

I travelled with my girlfriend but we organised it ourselves. I’ve never done a package deal anywhere so we didn’t even investigate that. It’s very easy to get around with the trains, though they are expensive. Great country to visit in my opinion.

antix80

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058202791/anyone-travel-to-japan-by-their-own-before

When you say travel to Japan... it's fairly easy to get a flight to any country you choose.

But Japan is fairly big and i wonder how long you're planning on visiting, how far off the beaten track, will you fly to a few cities, stick to one place,etc

Oranage2

How long are you traveling for and what's your budget?

skulltown

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117724339#Comment_117724339

Around 14 days no budget yet

poisonated

I was looking at going to Japan by myself. I was looking at going either with a group travel company(like g adventures) or taking a cruise. The cruise was actually working out(taking into consideration all of the food and drinks included) cheaper. I didn’t even think of travelling on my own as I would just have too many headaches.

Royale with Cheese

I did 3 weeks by myself there in 2013. I loved Japan but it didn't have the same backpacker culture I found on the same trip I did in South east Asia or Australia/NZ that year. Most of my 3 weeks there (but not all) were genuinely spent all by myself, which may or may not be what you're looking for.

Oranage2

Your best bet would be to pick three cities (toyko Kyoto Osaka). There are day trips to places like hiro Shima. I'd do it solo, though as others have said it can be lonely traveling in cities, it takes a lot of luck to find someone with similar interests to suggest you explore together.

redcup342

Is it even possible to Travel to Japan with COVID restrictions ?

antix80

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726785#Comment_117726785

I assume the op isn't planning to fly during travel restrictions.

Quick google dub to japan shows "Destination closed to entry. Exceptions may apply."

acquiescefc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726785#Comment_117726785

I was meant to be going in April last year. Its been closed to tourists pretty much since before then.

Would be my 3rd trip solo, but i like to do it my way.

Love the place, different world. As others have mentioned, do 2 or 3 cities. Tokyo is Tokyo, theres lots of japan to see.

Get a railpass, also get a portable wifi as surprisingly internet isnt great and theyre easy to get.

But yeah if you like to do things your way go for it.