Hi! Trip to Japan from Sheffield.

[Jennyhimi]

This is my first post, so hello everyone!

 

I'm planning the trip of a lifetime to japan. But I'm just wondering, how do you go about finding out the best flights? I want to visit Tokyo, but then also get to Sapporo and Osaka cause I have friends there (I know they're miles apart, but I have money). So what do you guys think the best way to go about it would be? I'd like to go next year, but I'm not sure when yet. I'd also like to stay for 2 weeks.

 

I'd prefer a direct flight to Tokyo as I'm travelling on my own and would prefer one long straight flight, even if it means staying in a hotel in london or somewhere the night before the flight. I am also aware that journeys from Tokyo to Sapporo and Osaka will require flights of their own, but I'm willing to do that once I'm in Tokyo. It's just getting there that's stumping me! I'd like fairly cheap flights too (don't we all) - I found some online that were around £700 but I'm not sure if I'm looking on the right sites.

 

Experienced travellers, please help! I've never really travelled alone but have wanted to go to Japan for about 8 years, so I figured now was a better time than any.

 

What would you do in order to get to Japan?

 

Thank you in advance!

[spilldig]

Stay overnight at Heathrow and fly out the next morning direct to Tokyo. Book all flights with STA Travel on Division street, and do not get the taxi from the airport, about £250,get the bus, and the flights are not too expensive so it may be more than a once in a lifetime trip. Have a great time. Japan is a brilliant place to visit.

[Cyclone]

We went to Japan last year, we flew with Lufthansa via their hub in Germany, flight prices were competitive and the seats/flight were good. Transferring in Germany was really easy, it wasn't much more than an hour on the first flight, and just enough time to buy some food and board the next plane.

 

We went to Tokyo and Kyoto (and a few places between), but ruled out Osaka because it's as far away as the Greek Islands are from the UK!

 

I'd also recommend booking a 4g hotspot to pick up from your first hotel, it's just a little wifi device, connects to the phone network and you connect your phone to it as a wifi hotspot. Vital access to google maps, google translate, tourist information in English, etc, etc... One of the best £50 we ever spent (for about a fortnight).

You don't have to worry about this, but as a couple we sometimes went to different shops or even split up for half a day, leaving 1 person with no connection as soon as they walked too far away.

I spent an entire morning in Tokyo walking to some park I'd seen earlier in the week, only to find that it had been closed due to yellow fever mosquitoes! Google could have told me that before I'd ever set out in the hot sun to walk much further than I'd estimated.

 

Oh, and plan your rail travel in advance, you can get it all set up so that you just hand over the form, get the correct stamps and you'll have your rail pass for the time you're there and a separate rail card for using the tube in Tokyo, which you pre-load with cash.

 

I'd totally recommend hiring a local English speaking guide. 2 of the best days out we had were with guides, one was an American chap who'd lived in Tokyo for 7 years, and the other was an older Japanese lady who (I think) had always lived in Kyoto. Both were excellent, and we saw much more than we could ever have fitted into a single day on our own. Just because they knew exactly where they were going and how to get there efficiently.

 

Last thing (that I remember now), use the luggage forwarding service. If you're travelling between hotels there's no need to drag your bags around, they have a very efficient system which will get your bags to your next hotel for the end of the day, leaving you to travel with just hand luggage, making life much easier.