Japan: Day 10 + 11 - The many heights and sights of Osaka

View Post

Japan: The photogenic dream quickly becoming reality

In 6 days I will be on my way to Japan!
I actually can't believe how quickly it's come around. It seemed like it was only a few weeks ago that I thought this may actually be a possibility, and here I am putting together the finishing touches to a pretty amazing trip. All flights, hotels, rail cards and sumo wrestling tickets are booked. My itinerary is pretty much finalised and I've got a list of places I want to try and visit in each city.

View Post

Japan: Locations ... check. Route ... check.

Here it is ... the final line up.

After pinpointing the locations that I want to visit during my trip,  I've managed to figure out a route that means I can maximise my time in each city and hopefully give me quite a enough time to explore my top 3 - Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka:

The map above shows the route I'm hopefully going to take. The route includes the following places:

1. Tokyo
2. Hakone
3. Kyoto
4. Nara
5. Ise
6. Osaka
7. Kurashiki
8. Hiroshima
9. Miyajima Island
10. Kanazawa
11. Takayama
12. Tokyo

Now I have to work out the quickest mode of transport between each location and the activities I want to do in each city, which should then make it easy to figure out how many days I should spend at each place.
I do have a budget to try and work to so that will obviously have to factor in ... but this is a once in a lifetime trip so I'm going all out ... right!?!

Next ... the number of days per city and an idea of what I want to see and do in each place.

View Post

Japan: The potential line up! But what's possible in 24 days?

So after doing A LOT of research which included scouring instagram, tripadvisor, google, downloading countless brochures and guide books I'm 94% sure that I have the final list of places that I'd like to visit and if possible, incorporate into my trip Japan!

And the places are:

- Tokyo (of course)
- Mount Fuji (in the image above)
- Osaka
- Kyoto
- Ise
- Hiroshima
- Matsumoto
- Himeji
- Kurashiki
- Kanazawa

I haven't included too many places because I don't want to spread myself too thin. I'd like to spend quite a bit of time in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, so it's going to be a case of figuring out what I'd like to do in each city, the amount of time that will take me AND most importantly the travel times between each location. I really need to try and maximise my time in Japan because even though 24 days sounds like a long time, it's going to fly by! Planning my route with logistics at the forefront, dictating where I hit and when is going to be key.

Now I'm ready to start plotting my route ... watch this space!

View Post