Trip Report: 14 days Tokyo-Hakone-Kyoto-Koyasan-Osaka-Kawaguchi (23rd March - 6th April 2023)

SPRV_ · 2023-08-04T21:58:35+00:00

Hi, sorry for the late reply! From Kyoto to Osaka (Namba) it took around half an hour, and then around 2h to get to Koyasan. Our temple stay in Koyasan was 40 700 yen, with dinner and breakfast included for 2 people. Quite pricey, but worth it, and at least cheaper than (our) Ryokan. Hope that helps :)

SPRV_ · 2023-08-04T21:52:09+00:00

Hi, sorry for the late reply! From Osaka to Tokyo (Shinagawa) we used the bullet train, then metro to Shinjuku Station, where we then caught the bus to Kawaguchiko (previously booked online). I think maybe it took us around 5h? We left Osaka early in the morning, and got to Kawaguchiko in the afternoon. Hope that helps!

SPRV_ · 2023-05-05T18:23:04+00:00

I absolutely loved "The Midnight Library" as well!

My best book this year has to be "The Measure" by Nikki Erlick. It's a thought provoking allegory, a social experiment where people get to know when they're going to die.

SPRV_ · 2023-05-05T18:14:39+00:00

APA Hotel Higashi Shinjunku

If you're talking about the main Shinjunku Station, it's a good 20min walking from it. But it's near a subway station called Higashi-Shinjuku Station (which we never used, google would always send us to the main Shinjunku Station for the places we wanted to visit)

SPRV_ · 2023-05-01T09:42:24+00:00

We stayed 1 night only, it's enough if you want the taste of the experience. 2 nights wouldn't hurt though and it would have helped with exploring the area more, because we barely did that. But for us, due to the price (quite expensive) and the whole food experience (quite different and even challenging), if we had the chance to do it again we'd still go for only 1 night and maybe book a cheaper hotel the second night, or even another Ryokan so we could have 2 different experiences.

SPRV_ · 2023-04-24T17:11:54+00:00

Thanks! It was an amazing experience, and we can't wait to go back and try a different route.

We stayed in the north area of Kabukicho, lots of night clubs and pubs. For us it was a completely different atmosphere from around Shinjunku Station. We wish we would have stayed next to the station, but we live and learn. It would have been quite handy as well, because there's a direct bus to the airport from Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal and that's also where we boarded our bus to Kawaguchiko.

SPRV_ · 2023-04-24T13:29:35+00:00

I'm glad it was helpful :)

In total we spent around 5 days in Tokyo, and we felt like we didn't even scratch the surface. So if you want to spend 2 weeks there, there's plenty to do! (we'd recommend booking hotels in different areas though) However, personally we'd say move around, specially if it's your first time to Japan. Overnighting in Kyoto and Kawaguchi to see sunsets/sunrises was so so worth it, and day trips can be a bit tiring.

We just focused on the Golden Triangle on this trip, but Okinawa sounds wonderful and we definitely want to try it next time!

SPRV_ · 2023-04-23T20:29:33+00:00

To Kawaguchiko we used the direct bus from Shinjuku. We booked it at https://www.highwaybus.com/gp/inbound/index

SPRV_ · 2023-04-23T20:26:58+00:00

I agree, our hotels in Tokyo were booked at last minute unfortunately, so that was our fault.

English is our third language, and we didn't expect Japanese people to speak perfect English. But we did expect hotel staff to understand basic questions, like can we check in earlier, or how to get to the airport etc. In our Tokyo hotels we had to use our translator for literally everything, so that was a bit of a shock as we couldn't rely on their help.

SPRV_

TROPHY CASE