標題: Suggestions for first time 自遊行 in Japan? [打印本頁] 作者: sunmoon 時間: 2010-7-11 21:23 標題: Suggestions for first time 自遊行 in Japan?
Family of 3 (with a teen boy) is planning to go to Japan & HK in March next year, with enroute spending 1 week self-traveling in Japan (basically Tokyo area) first & then 1 week in HK.
Loyaukee, please give me advice on how to book hotels here. And are we better off buying the 7-day subway pass or buy individual train tickets? (We have never been to Japan before...)
Thanks.作者: BiscottiGelato 時間: 2010-7-12 11:23
本帖最後由 BiscottiGelato 於 2010-7-12 11:26 編輯
Hi sunmoon,
These should be your primary sites when looking for resources to plan your trip:
http://kunghc.pixnet.net/blog - This guy is EXPERT of the Tokyo area. He goes to Japan with his family of 3 all the time. Tons of detailed and very well through out articles. Your place to get the most organized information in the shortest amount of time.
http://www.backpackers.com.tw/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=43 - Board of a Taiwan travel forum moderated by dude who did the previous blog. You can look at sticky posts there, some of which are really same as the article from that guy's blog. Or you can search the forum to see if your question have been answered by others before.
In terms of booking hotels... how proficient in Japanese are you? If you are okay with Japanese some what, you have much better selection and price if you book through Japanese travel sites then say expedia or your local travel agent. I personally used Rakuten Travel the last time I went. Use the Japanese languaged site instead of the English site (Rakuten have both). Again, more selection and better price on the Japanese languaged site. Most places in Japan settles the bill in cash so you can simply just reserve, show-up, and settle the bill afterwards. No need to worry about whether Canadian credit card will be accepted. For details on booking accomodation through Rakuten, try this post from the Discuss travel forum. http://www31.discuss.com.hk/view ... 9905&extra=page%3D1
In terms of transportation, if you are just staying in the Tokyo area, I don't know of any multi-day pass that you can buy. There's a 1 day pass that allows you to roam through most of the metro system. Otherwise you can use SUICO (equivilent of the HK Octopus system). You will probably be using the Tokyo subway/metro system instead of the infamous JR train system (unless you want to just stay on the JR Yamatote line). The JR passes they always speak of would be of no use to you if you only stay in the Tokyo area.
Otherwise, self-travel in Japan is very awesome. The only thing is you need to do a ton of research and preparation in order to get the max out of the experience. Enjoy and good luck!作者: mcjohnjohn 時間: 2010-7-12 17:38
For food review, I actually like 食べログ: http://tabelog.com/
Google map is also good for transit, not too sure how it compares to Yahoo.作者: sunmoon 時間: 2010-7-12 22:01
wow, thanks BiscottiGelato and mc johnmohn. You guys have provided me lots of useful information. I don't know Japanese, that's why I really want to do some thorough research & preparation to maximize use our time in Tokyo.
Thanks.