1

Hey Kat,

You can stay in (reasonably) nice private rooms in hostels for cheap - about $30AUD a night. Have a look on hosteworld.com - that's where I booked all my accomm for my last Japan trip. Business hotels are also pretty good and cheap, too. I went with my partner and we stayed in the private rooms - it was much better than the bunk bed/communal thing, esp. if you're a couple.
As for budgeting - we stayed for 2 weeks as well and I budged about 30 for accomm per night, 20 for food and LOTS for travel - the shinkansen is mega expensive (about 150 from Tokyo to Osaka) and the regular trains are not cheap either. Food is also fairly expensive - but if you're happy with lower end restaurants you should be fine.
If you have any other questions, let me know :) x

2

No idea about AUD, but generally 8000 yen/day for travel, eating, sightseeing (not including souvenir shopping) is considered budget travel. However the more you move around, the more you are going to spend on transportation (which can be expensive).

As for must sees, in my opinion everybody should at least see Tokyo (ca. 3 days) and Kyoto (3 to 5 days). As for the other week, I suggest to read a bit on JNTO, Japan Guide or in your guidebook. Popular choices include, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Nara, Nikko, Kamakura, Koyasan, Takayama, Tsumago/Magome, Shirakawago, ....

I'd also try to arrange the itinerary such as to see at least one festival. For a start of what's on, have a look here (there are many more).

3

Thanks so much for the replies guys. After seeing your comments we are feeling a lot better :)
Am about to start looking into all your suggestions so Thanks again :)

4

As for "must sees", help us here. We don't know anything about your interests in Japan or current knowledge.

Why are you planning to come, and what do you want to see and do? (Or NOT see and do?)

What have guidebooks not told you?

5

Hi Glenski,
We are still waiting for our lonley planet so don't really have much of an idea at the moment. Basically we want to be able to feel the atmosphere of tokoyo and then travel out and see the beauty of the country.. We do want to visit one or two temples but no more than that.
Though at the moment we are thingking of flying into tokoyo and spending 2 nights then heading to Takayama - not too sure how many nights to spend here yet, then heading to Hiroshima kyoto and osaka.. But again we are not too sure how long just yet,

Would you recommend having all accomodation booked before we travel or is quite easy to find rooms as we trvel?

I know I am a bit vague with details at the moment, but I don't know too much about travelling through Japan at the moment.

THanks, Kat

6

sivvyx01 - we are planning our trip and haven't managed to find anywhere coming anywhere near close to A$30/night. Do you mean per person? We'd love to find somewhere for that amount of money :)

7

I did about 24 days in Japan about 18 months ago. If you're doing two weeks, I'd say Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima are your must dos. Tokyo & Kyoto are obvious choices. Hiroshima is an emotional experience when you visit peace park, and so much unexpected fun when you go out at night. The best nightlife (food, bars etc) I found was in Hiroshima.
Takayama is really good but you can do most of it with just 2 nights and two days. We stayed at the Hotel Ouan which was fantastic. They have a rooftop onsen which is beautiful and the rooms were great and reasonably priced.
One mistake I made was trying to fit too much in. You really need a minimum 4 nights in Tokyo & Kyoto each. Hiroshima is doable with 2-3. One note with Hiroshima - you'll read a lot about Miyajima island being a good stop. It is a tourist trap. Crowded, full of cheap crappy souveneir shops. It's sort of worth it if you can lower your expectations but still pretty skippable.
But whatever you end up planning, just limit the stops to a few places only. No matter where you go, Japan is just amazing.

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I love this question! My boyfriend I also got the 2 for 1 flights yesterday on a total whim without thinking it through, so now I'm trying to find out everything I can. We're going for 15 days, but not til I have uni holidays in July.

PS - sorry, I have nothing useful to answer your question with!

9

I tried doing the two for one flights with Jetstar but it kept trying to charge me for two.

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Thanks gdtraveller, its great to get info like that.. :)