Japan - the itinerary

I stayed in Japan 15 days and this was my itinerary:

Tokyo (from here one day in Nikko - if you decide to go to Nikko, please don't just stop at the temples. After a while, they look pretty much all the same. Once you are done with them, take the time to go up to the mountains and visit the beautiful lake Chuzenjiko and the near by waterfalls. These are the most beautiful things in Nikko, in my opinion. Bring a heavy jacket as it gets pretty cold up there - 1300 mt above sea level).

Advised places in Tokyo: once you are done with the fish market, go eat some sushi at "sushizanmai". Fresh food and fair prices. The atmosphere is also great :)

If you wish to admire Tokyo's landscape by day or night, don't pay useless money by going to turistic attractions and just go instead to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The view from there is for free and it's stunning!

I stayed at the L Kamata hotel. The location is great, literally in front of the Kamata station from where you have JR and subway lines to all main sites in Tokyo. This hotel is not the best if you want to party and meet other travelers, but for me was just perfect to get nice nights of sleep and do major sightseeing during the day! I would definitely recommend this hotel as it is also very clean with big rooms. They clean the room daily and provide you with free water and coffee every day also.

Takayama: this is the best place I have seen in Japan, I just loved it! The train ride to get there is amazing as Takayama is located in the Japanese alps and you will pass by dozens of mountains, lakes and waterfalls. Takayama is a very pretty city, the old town is lovely and the food is great :)

From Takayama I went for a day tour at Shirakawa-go. This is an UNESCO site and the village is just lovely, you really feel you're back in time of a couple of centuries!

From Takayama I also went to the Hirayu Onsen for half a day. From this village you can visit a magnificent waterfall (20 minutes walk from the bus station) and take the best open air onsen ever, facing the mountains. Highly recommended!

In Takayama I stayed at the JHoppers hostel and took a tatami style room. This hostel is great, you can meet lots of other travellers and if you book for 3 nights or more you get free bike rides for an afternoon. Biking in Takayama was just lovely. Jhoppers was my favorite place to stay in Japan.

Kyoto: From there I went for a day to Osaka (the aquarium is beautiful!), to the Inari temple and the bamboo forest. I recommend all these places. Also the golden temple was really nice to visit and the geisha spotting in Gion is fun! They are really beautiful to see.

In Kyoto I stayed at the Guesthouse Renjishi Kabuki. Pretty okay and in a good location.

Last but not least, I spent the last night of my stay in Japan in the capsule hotel at the Narita Airport as I had an early flight the day after (9 hours hotel). This hotel is extremely practical as it is right at Terminal 2 and a great experience if you're up for it! I had fun there, the capsules were big and really welcoming, despite what one could think :)

IMPORTANT!

Before going to Japan, once you have a clear idea of your itinerary, you should get in your home-country the Japan Rail Pass (please check for agencies in your country providing this service). You CANNOT get the JRP in Japan and it will cost you much more money to move around if you don't have it by the time you get there. This pass covers all JR trains and buses in Japan, therefore comes really handy not only to move from one city to another (including shinkansen trains) but also to move around in the major cities. For more information about the JRP, please click here. You can also do a simulation and check if the JRP is indeed convenient for your itinerary by going to this website: Hyperdia  I found this website of great help when calculating the transportation costs of my trip. I chose to buy the JRP as it was definitely cheaper. If you decide to take the JRP, you will get a voucher that you'll need to exchange once in Japan for the actual pass. Once you have the pass, you can request all the needed tickets at once. Of course, as the pass covers unlimited tickets until its expiration date, if you change your mind at one point you can always request additional tickets.

Good luck and have fun in Japan!

For more tips, please don't hesitate to contact me at gaiastrips@gmail.com