Konichiwa Japan

In less than two months I will be going to Japan and so far planning the trip has been fantastic. With the help of several guide books, free brochures and browsing through websites I have put together my 3 week itinerary and I can't wait to set my feet on that land.

When I start planning a trip on a limited budget I prefer to divide it in to 3 main parts. Travelling, Sleeping and Fun aka TSF (not "That's So Funny" in my case ^^’). The most expensive part of the trip is purchasing the airplane ticket and how much you spend on this can determine the rest of your vacation. My advice: buy it months before your departure. Once you have decided on which season you want to travel and you got the dates set in your head do some online researching, compare the prices with different airlines and yes, buy it.

Once the main item of “Travelling” is checked, let’s move on to the “Sleeping” part.

Since you’ll be spending most of your time on the road and heading back just to sleep try not to spend too much on hotels, if you want to travel with a low budget that is. Japan offers many hostels, guesthouses and there is always airbnb and homestay. Or a really unique place like a capsule hotel or a Japanese Onsen. You could reduce the budget even more if you pick to stay in dormitories. So again with some online researching you should be able to find a good place to stay.

According to what you want to see, decide how many days you want to stay in each city, try creating 1-3 main bases and from each base add a few side trips if necessary. I created 2 main bases, Tokyo and Kyoto. From Tokyo I will do a day trip to Kamakura and then go to Nikko and Hakone and spend 2 days each. And once settled in Kyoto I will do a day trip to Nara and another to Osaka. I wanted to add a day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima but it seemed too packed up and I didn't want to spend too many hours on trains.

Speaking of trains, public transport is the best way to travel in Japan. Buying a Japan Rail Pass, city/region day pass and/or a rechargeable transport card can really save you money and time.

In the next weeks I’ll update the “Fun” part with the schedule and the estimated cost of the trip ^^

Ja matane!