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Land tour of Japan or DIY?


4774Papa
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If our Around Japan cruise of 27 Sept 2015 is cancelled, we are considering either taking a land tour or planning our trip DIY.

 

1) A cc friend send me a couple of links to companies that offer land tours. A two week tour would cost about 30% more than the cruise we have booked. Still, going with a tour would take away the hassle when moving from city to city, etc. Still, we would likely spend time in Tokyo, Kyoto, and perhaps a couple other cities. (Any suggestions on what cities to visit?)

 

2) My Son has been to Japan and says there are signs in English as well as Japanese. Also, he says the people are very friendly and helpful. We are just not sure winging it would be the best option.

 

 

Looking for suggestions on this choice, as well as tour companies, cities to visit for either a one week or up to two week tour.

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Trip Advisor is the place to go for planning a possible land tour.

I agree and have used Trip Advisor when planning the details of a trip. Right now, I am not looking for specific hotels, restaurants, etc.

 

First, I am seeking advise on a tour or DIY.

Second, cities to visit. Tokyo and Kyoto are obvious, but where else?

Third, experience with a specific tour.

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I've just come off a Japanese cruise (3 of them) and it was wonderful.

 

Pre-cruise we spent 6 nights in Tokyo and barely scratched the surface! There is so much to see and do.

 

We also had a four hour stop on-our-own excursion in Kyoto (the port to Kyoto was 2 hours by bus) and want to come back someday to see more of the city as we really only saw the Fushimi Inari Shrine (the one with the many red Torii gates).

 

I think a week in each city is a good idea. That way it is not a big rush and you can pace yourself and go farther afield from your base city.

 

As for English, there is some, mostly in the train/subway stations - which is where you'll need it! The Japanese are friendly and helpful; we always asked for help and it was given.

 

You'll need a good Japan guide book.

 

Cheers.

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I found this Viator three day tour from Tokyo that looks good.

 

Two or Three day tour of Kyoto from Tokyo $ 639.04

 

http://www.viator.com/tours/Tokyo/Kyoto-and-Nara-2-Day-or-3-Day-Rail-Tour-by-Bullet-Train-from-Tokyo/d334-2142TYO_QT2_QT3

 

2-day or 3-day guided tour of Kyoto and Nara with bullet train, from Tokyo

See majestic Mt Fuji from the Shinkansen bullet train (weather permitting)

Visit Nara's highlights including Todai-ji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine and Deer Park

Witness Kyoto’s rich heritage at Kinkaku-ji Temple, Sanjusangen-do Hall, Heian Shrine and Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Admire the majestic architecture the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle

Choice of one or two nights' tourist-class or first-class accommodation in Kyoto

Enjoy a worry-free tour that includes an expert guide for daytime tours, transportation, and accommodation

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I found this Viator three day tour from Tokyo that looks good.

 

Two or Three day tour of Kyoto from Tokyo $ 639.04

 

http://www.viator.com/tours/Tokyo/Kyoto-and-Nara-2-Day-or-3-Day-Rail-Tour-by-Bullet-Train-from-Tokyo/d334-2142TYO_QT2_QT3

 

2-day or 3-day guided tour of Kyoto and Nara with bullet train, from Tokyo

See majestic Mt Fuji from the Shinkansen bullet train (weather permitting)

Visit Nara's highlights including Todai-ji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine and Deer Park

Witness Kyoto’s rich heritage at Kinkaku-ji Temple, Sanjusangen-do Hall, Heian Shrine and Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Admire the majestic architecture the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle

Choice of one or two nights' tourist-class or first-class accommodation in Kyoto

Enjoy a worry-free tour that includes an expert guide for daytime tours, transportation, and accommodation

That looks good. If it's any help I went on a Japanese gardens tour based in Kyoto and Tokyo. Of course it was predominantly gardens but by no means all. Anyway I made a video for each day and the complete set is here

All the best, Tony
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Can't help you with tour recommendations, but I just visited Japan earlier this year, and I think it's quite possible to DIY (I did). Your son is right that signs for almost everything are in English, and I found it very easy to get around. For example, in most places in Tokyo and Kyoto, whenever I got off the bus/subway, there was a sign somewhere nearby that pointed me in the direction (in English) of whatever temple/garden/shrine/etc. I was planning on visiting. I rarely got lost, and if I did people were very helpful. I took the train from Tokyo to Kyoto and back (and Kyoto to Osaka) and it couldn't have been easier.

 

Most restaurants seemed to have either pictures of food, or plastic replicas of food, so that made it easy to just point to whatever you want to eat. The staff at the hotels I stayed at spoke pretty good English, so I had no problems there. Truly, it was just an all-around easy place to travel.

 

Granted, I was in large cities that are most frequented by tourists. If you're planning on going off the beaten path somewhere, maybe it would be more difficult to get by with just English and no guide. I was only there for a week, so I'm not sure. But if you're sticking to the places that are most popular with visitors to Japan, I don't think you'd have any real problems with DIY.

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I'd DIY.

 

Tour companies charge an arm and a leg just for putting the logistics together. AND what passes for a "decent/tourist" hotel to a lot of tour companies is very often a backpacker special which for those 50+, NOT generally someplace you want to stay.

 

There are some incredible bargains for first class hotels as long as you are not trying to schedule your trip during Cherry Blossom season or any national Japanese/Asian holiday.

 

Ryo-kans in out of the way places can also provide some great experiences. Some are pretty cheap, some are very costly. But the experience is pure Japanese.

 

I booked one in Kyoto sight unseen and found it to be just what I wanted. SMALL room but otherwise-two blocks from the train station, one block from Mickey D's (if you can't find something to eat or are tired of bento boxes, Mickey D's is useful and a known commodity world wide). DIRECTLY across the street from the very large, oldest wooden temple in the world, a short bus ride to the old Imperial palace, and a quick walk to the Gion to see the Geisha (a must see in my book). The management at the hotel was incredibly helpful in telling me when to go see the Geisha before they went to their jobs.

 

I have also booked a Ryo Kan in Hiroshima. After my bullet train ride from Tokyo and a visit to see what my Dad saw in WWII, I was totally lost trying to figure out how to get to the RyoKan. It was out in the country on the sea. I walked back into the Peace Park museum (where they allow you to leave your luggage if it is just one carryon) and the ladies were sooooo helpful. They gave me directions via both taxi and bus. And told me how to get the taxi driver to understand where I was going. I had the address in Japanese but they told me it was "American" Japanese and some taxi drivers might not make sense of it. Off I went in the taxi (wasn't going to try the bus, especially because of the "American" Japanese thing-never did figure out what they meant). Absolutely lovely place to relax after the emotion of the day.

 

My Dad sat at sea for 39 days after they bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He saw the bombs go off. He was on the ship with an entire contingent of Japanese from Hawaii who were going to act as translators. He was a newly minted LT, basically fresh out of basic, who just happened to be an engineer and had been working at Glen L Martin Co building airplanes for the war effort when he was drafted. He was in charge of building an airstrip so the US could begin the huge aid effort to help the people of Japan. I had heard about this since I could remember. It was truly one thing I NEEDED to see. It was very, very emotional for me and the relaxing ryokan on the sea was just perfect.

 

I have been to Japan 5 or 6 times. I wouldn't trade my DIY experience that first trip for any tour. Half the fun of any trip, IMHO, is winging it. You can get some absolutely incredible, unplanned experiences.

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I agree and have used Trip Advisor when planning the details of a trip. Right now, I am not looking for specific hotels, restaurants, etc.

 

First, I am seeking advise on a tour or DIY.

Second, cities to visit. Tokyo and Kyoto are obvious, but where else?

Third, experience with a specific tour.

 

We enjoy DIY trips. For some of the countries/cities we've visited, we've booked transit and hotels on our own and then asked the hotel concierge to recommend a guide for a day tour. In Istanbul, we liked the guide so much that we arranged him to come by the hotel on our second day. In many countries, the tour guides are government licensed and extremely knowledgeable. The day guide can provide information about the sites, can assist moving between sites, suggest eating spots and share a bit about local life. Before traveling, you could check with the hotel concierge staff if this assistance is available.

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Which cruise company is doing around Japan in Sept. 2015?

Celebrity had an Around Japan cruise September 2015, also one in October. They cancelled both due to a charter.

 

We transferred our booking to the October 25 Japan and China cruise that starts in Tokyo and ends in Hong Kong.

 

We will probably do 6 or 7 days pre-cruise, Tokyo, Kyoto and perhaps another city.

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I'd DIY.

 

I had the address in Japanese but they told me it was "American" Japanese and some taxi drivers might not make sense of it. ................ especially because of the "American" Japanese thing-never did figure out what they meant).

 

I wouldn't trade my DIY experience that first trip for any tour. Half the fun of any trip, IMHO, is winging it. You can get some absolutely incredible, unplanned experiences.

 

I agree wholeheartedly about DIY, and specifically in Japan.

 

As to the Americanized Japanese......

The Japanese language uses Chinese characters (Kanji) and two alphabets, Hiragana and Katagana. For example, a verb would use the Kanji character as the root and Hiragana letters at the end to show the verb tense (present, past, etc).

The Katagana alphabet is used to write foreign words or names.

There is also a method of writing the sounds of Japanese using the English alphabet, so those who don't read Japanese can pronounce the vocabulary. This is called Romaji.

Perhaps the hotel info had been written for you in Romaji. Not all Japanese may be accustomed to the letter sounds in Romaji.

Edited by VidaNaPraia
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