Going to Japan the SD'er way

I'm going in April I looked at various options and went with JTB for simplicity. They arranged the paperwork for the JR 7 day pass plus budget hotels priced aroun $80-100/night.

Food wise - have an open mind. Bigger cities no problem finding Western choices but if you're walking around a lot, you may find yourself in areas where you don't know where restaurants are. Pack up supplies from Lawson's or 7-11 for those moments.

Expensive depends on your activities. Admission and tour fees add up, but Japan is a visual feast and i find it peaceful just spending time photographing and absorbing my surroundings.

Have a good trip!

Quote from princebargain : Going to Tokyo for a week in May, arriving in Narita. By golly, place is expensive! Want to ride bullet train to Osaka/Kyoto, some good eats, etc. Looks like getting the JR 7 day train pass is a good idea. http://www.jrpass.com/ Considering pricelining hotels. Any suggestions of what to do, how to do in an economical way, etc appreciated.

Quote from princebargain : Going to Tokyo for a week in May, arriving in Narita. By golly, place is expensive! Want to ride bullet train to Osaka/Kyoto, some good eats, etc. Looks like getting the JR 7 day train pass is a good idea. http://www.jrpass.com/ Considering pricelining hotels. Any suggestions of what to do, how to do in an economical way, etc appreciated.

Ya, JR pass is a good deal if you are going to be doing a decent amount of travel by train. Especially when you realize a R/T Tokyo -> Kyoto is going to cost you $300 or more. I don't know if the JR Pass can be used to get you in to Tokyo or not but if not check this out (http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/) It's a discounted R/T trip from the airport to Tokyo proper plus it includes some funds on a Suica which can be used to get around Tokyo or buy goods at a ton of places in the stations or vending machines. You can take the slow metro in to Tokyo from the airport for less but after a long ass flight the last thing I want to do is sit on a slow metro that stops every couple minutes.

I haven't ever been to Kyoto as I chose to go up to Nikko instead. It's a cool mountain area with some great temples and a lake nearby to kick it a bit. Was always told (by locals) Kyoto has some amazing sights to see so it's next on the list. 7 days isn't all that much to be honest. I love Tokyo but a couple days may be enough if you really want to spend more of your time in the country seeing the shrines and other sites. Don't get me wrong, you could easily spend a week just in Tokyo as there is a ton to do. Kamakura is another cool and easy day trip from Tokyo. Tons of sights (shrines/temples/hikes/beach) to see, basically all within walking distance or a very short bus/cab ride.

For hotels see if you can stay at a Ryokan in Kyoto as they may be cheaper. If you can get some Hyatt points the Hyatt Regency in Tokyo is a decent option as it includes taxes/fees. Not particularly close to everything but only a couple block walk to Shinjuku station. The real problem is the JPY is strong, even after it's recent devaluation, so everything is going to be expensive over there. Another hotel I've stayed at is the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. The rooms are small, well most are in Tokyo but they're smaller, but who cares. You're just there to sleep! Even better it's smack dab next to a ton of kick ass places to eat!

Enjoy!

I believe JR pass includes NRT to Tokyo

Might just do this as it is brainless. The itinerary seems good and built around JR pass.

http://www.japanpackagetours.com.....php?ID=12

Newbie question, can I use Visa/AMEX in Japan or do I have to exchange Yen/cashier's checks? I don't have a "travel" credit card, but some have free foreign transaction fees? Recs?

I have Chase Freedom, Citi Foward, PenFed Platinum.

Quote from princebargain : I believe JR pass includes NRT to Tokyo Might just do this as it is brainless. The itinerary seems good and built around JR pass. http://www.japanpackagetours.com.....php?ID=12 Newbie question, can I use Visa/AMEX in Japan or do I have to exchange Yen/cashier's checks? I don't have a "travel" credit card, but some have free foreign transaction fees? Recs? I have Chase Freedom, Citi Foward, PenFed Platinum.

You can definitely use your Visa over there pretty much most places. Amex is harder to use but usually larger restaurants and hotels will accept them. If you walk in to a hole in the wall ramen place they probably won't accept Amex and may not accept Visa. There are a few ATMs in NRT as you exit customs. I think they're on the same level but you may need to go down an escalator which you'll have to do to get to the trains anyways. I personally never take travelers cheques and just pull out some cash from my account. The $7 fee kind of sucks but it's usually a better deal than the commission/rate they would charge you. You can also exchange USD for JPY in airports here or over there if you'd prefer. one thing I will say is that a lot of their automated kiosks don't accept our cards because they don't have the chip in them. Even those that do are chip and signature not chip and pin which is required. No matter what make sure you've got a couple hundred USD (atleast) worth of JPY on you so you don't get stranded should your card not be accepted for some reason.

The standard x-rate fee is 3% so just know that you will get dinged for that on everything you buy. If you're in the market for a new card check out the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Chase Hyatt (which gives you 2 free nights at a Hyatt and other Hyatt benefits BTW which you could use at the Park Hyatt Tokyo!!!) as they don't charge x-rate fees. There are others as well like free internet, late checkout, better rooms, etc.. I always keep an x-rate fee card as I travel internationally for work and hate paying the fee. It's not a ton of $ but it's annoying and they always separate it out on your statement so your expense report is a PITA! The Hyatt one isn't bad actually. while there is an annual fee (I think of $95) you get a free room a year in their ok to decently nice hotels. Using my free night this year in lieu of ponying up $300 for a room so it definitely balances out! I know Chase Freedom does charge you the x-rate fee. Looks like the PenFed card doesn't charge you a x-rate fee so if this is your card I'd definitely load that bad boy up over there if you aren't going to get a new card - https://www.penfed.org/Platinum-Rewards/

Thanks for the info. Won't be traveling enough to justify a new credit card, so penfed it is.

Consider staying in Yokohama, close to Tokyo and cheaper hotel fee.

any Yelp type of restaurant guide?

I really hope you are not traveling the first week of May, since it is Golden week.

Do you have your plane tickets? If not consider flying into NRT and out KIX, this will save money on train travel. If you can swing this then taking the train from Tokyo to Kyoto could be managed for 9,800 yen by using the Puratto Kodama Economy Plan
http://www.jrtours.co.jp/kodama/ Print the page and buy from ticket counter at least 1 day in advance to purchase tickets from Tokyo to Kyoto The only negative is that it will take and extra hour compared to the the second fastest Hikari (you cannot travel on Nozomi using JR rail pass) travel between Kyoto and Osaka is cheap and easy

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018_tokaido.html explains the difference in the 3 shinkansen


The Jr Rail pass can be a good bargain, but sometimes it isn't the best option. You can use it on all JR trains,(except Nozomi) but not the private lines or subways. Since May can be a hot month, I suggest taking what ever transportation gets you the closest to your destination and not being locked into just JR. A better option may be getting a package deal with hotel in Kyoto or buying the round trip Shinkansen alone for 21,000 yen and then using Suica for local trains, subways, and buses.
http://www.japanican.com/special/shinkansen/

I would suggest getting the Chase Hyatt Credit card if at all possible and then spending the 2 free sign up nights in Park Hyatt Tokyo for a huge splurge. A plus is that this card has no foreign Transactions fees.

There are many cheap options including the comfort hotel chain in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. They offer very cheap prices, free wifi,and free breakfast and are nothing like the comfort hotels in the US
http://www.comfortinn.com/

two other cheap hotel options are:
http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
and
http://www.princehotels.com/en/

If you are traveling by yourself , you can stay in hostels such as:
Oak Hostel in Tokyo
and
http://www.budgetinnjp.com/ This one in Kyoto by the shinkansen station and is a Ryokan style and very nice and cheap.

For activities , I suggest making use of the Tokyo free guide
http://tokyofreeguide.com

There are also many places that offer free English speaking guides including Ueno park, Tokyo Edo Musuem, and the tourist desk of Sensoji temple asakusa area.


cheap eats are easy to find, try the basement of the department stores, mos burger, and my favorite.... the cafeteria's of office buildings. One such cheap eat is when you go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office ( Tocho) in Shinjuku to view all of Tokyo from their towers for free *all guide books mention this place* ask the attendants on the first floor about the cafeteria on the 32'nd floor and they will point you to a different set of elevators, go up and lunch will be under 400 yen. I've had the Udon, the chicken katsu curry, and the tempura... all good


hth

Thanks for the tokyofree guide tip. Will look into that. So basically a personal guide and we pay for food/transport correct?

Thanks for all the great suggestions, love the SD community!

Will be going at the end of may.

The cafe in the government building...is that open for dinner or only weekday lunch?

Haven't figured out what to do for transport in Kyoto. Maybe the all day bus pass for 500 yen? Planning on going to Kiyomuzi and Golden Pavilion, among others. Staying at the Urban Kyoto Hotel, found it for $50 usd/night for a double from Priceline. Not sure why its so cheap, looks decent 3 stars.

Will be spending a day in Osaka. Not sure what to do there, not a big shopper, not a museum type. Temples and castles will be done in Kyoto.

Any checkings with free ATM withdrawals besides Charles Schwab at 7-11? How about Citibank checkings itself?

Planning on using PenFed plantinum credit card when I can.

Plan on bringing my smart phone AT&T so that I can use Hyperdia, google maps, but use in airplane mode. I'm still paranoid that I'll get charged some sort of fee so I'll pull out the sim card. Will that work?

Quote from princebargain : Plan on bringing my smart phone AT&T so that I can use Hyperdia, google maps, but use in airplane mode. I'm still paranoid that I'll get charged some sort of fee so I'll pull out the sim card. Will that work?

pull the sim card just in case, but I think Japan is on a CMDA network, so your phone most likely wouldn't be able to connect anyways (unless it's a world phone)

You can call ATT and tell them you're traveling. They can give you international service for the one month. For only a few dollars you will have peace of mind

this little thread is awesome! I'm putting together a trip for September (Tokyo game show) and I'm gonna rep all you guys!