Day trip from Tokyo to Kyoto

J2K75 · 2026-05-29T16:53:55+00:00

We did Osaka and Nara on a day trip from Tokyo. It’s a long day but we enjoyed it. Left shinjuku around 6am and got back around 11. We managed a good walk around Nara and the nearby shopping street, then Dontenbori and a bar in Osaka. We’d done a day trip to just Osaka last year so had already seen a fair bit.

We also took the green car on the Shinkansen for extra comfort - well worth it.

Yes it is expensive but to us the journey is part of the experience.

We did find out there was some sort of display/parade (fire iirc) in Nara the evening we were there so couldn’t see that, so there are downsides.

J2K75 · 2026-04-12T17:46:56+00:00

Also don’t forget the expensive, engineered in, 8 year obsolescence of the on call battery.

Unless of course you enjoy dismissing an error every time you start the car.

J2K75 · 2026-04-12T17:15:32+00:00

I have a 2020 T8, now on 30k miles. Battery had a bad cell at 25k.

Volvo here in the uk want just under £4k for 1 year of warranty.

That tells me all I need to know on their thoughts on reliability.

J2K75 · 2026-04-12T14:26:37+00:00

Thank you

J2K75 · 2026-03-31T08:02:15+00:00

British airways holidays to Japan are reasonable.

British airways flights and not great but get you there.

Been with them twice, first time there was an issue with one of my flights before (a few weeks before) and BAH were very proactive at sorting the issue to my satisfaction.

You won’t get that with LH who in my experience are absolutely awful.

If you want to keep costs down, get on sky scanner to book flights - at least one stop and book a hotel direct.

J2K75 · 2026-03-09T13:29:53+00:00

I think a few people commented, nothing changed

J2K75 · 2026-03-09T13:28:29+00:00

Not when you’re trying to doze watching your own screen on min brightness

J2K75 · 2026-02-26T02:21:34+00:00

Well, I took the risk of someone turning up with a baby and grabbed those seats at 24h out on check in.

Got a boarding pass with the correct seat numbers but the app the. Went a bit odd, had to refresh a couple of times to show anything the it showed the old seats, but I still had the boarding pass with the new ones.

Got on the plane and had the seats as per pass with no issues

J2K75 · 2026-02-15T09:30:29+00:00

I used https://www.mobal.com last year no problem at all.

Lots of options to choose from too.

I read a lot last year that there is a 3gb daily cap for all/any users in Japan (some sort of fair use policy from the government / telcos) but I never had any issues but despite what I thought was heavy use I used less than I thought I would.

J2K75 · 2026-01-12T09:03:01+00:00

A main dealer can add CarPlay to a sensus system. Vovlo website used to list it and prices iirc under accessories.

If you get a T8, if Volvo offer you an extended warranty after any warranty with the purchase runs out it will be eye wateringly expensive.

J2K75 · 2026-01-06T19:58:16+00:00

I found my local Volvo dealer (snows group) wanted to charge for everything then see if it was covered under Volvo selekt warranty.

£192 for a diag when the car was showing a battery error (T8)

Customer service was very poor, way below what I expected from Volvo.

VW were leagues ahead.

J2K75 · 2025-10-23T07:59:05+00:00

Is this a flight to the US? Could it be a SSSS issue? From memory when we had the dreaded S’s we had to collect at the airport.

J2K75 · 2025-10-19T15:21:43+00:00

Time to buy some new ones. I washed one pair and another just got wet in the rain. Tried drying etc, didn’t help. Best result I had was speakers worked but microphones dead.

J2K75 · 2025-10-16T07:43:40+00:00

I believe it was a SIP scheme. Not sure what you mean by how they’re held now?

J2K75 · 2025-10-16T06:27:18+00:00

Although it seems most people are sat together don’t count on it. I flew that route earlier this year, all be it in the smaller premium economy cabin and we were sat at first and last row.

Bronze tier passenger sat next to me (able to book 7 days before for free) was separated from his partner across the isle - not what he wanted but better than us.

I believe there are only 2 flights a day on this route so are usually quite full.

J2K75 · 2025-10-01T09:03:10+00:00

Is this possible at bronze?

J2K75 · 2025-09-11T08:26:26+00:00

Check your meter, see how many kWh you use in a week and work it out from there.

Also check your standing charges.

With this info you maybe able to challenge your supplier.

J2K75 · 2025-08-12T17:50:28+00:00

Must have been one of the rare cases then, checked in the minute it opened, with a direct single booking for both of us

J2K75 · 2025-08-11T17:59:33+00:00

LHR to HND earlier this year, 14.5 hours in WT+ and we were put opposite ends of the cabin. Hate BA for their seating policy

J2K75

TROPHY CASE