My draft Thailand / Japan itinerary – suggestions please

[Boi]

Hi All,
Looking for suggestions on HOTELS (typically stay in 4-5 star) and wether this is a good plan? We can change things around if need be as currently we have only booked a flight to Bangkok, will book the return leg once plans solidified.

Tentatively this is what we are thinking of doing in March/April (we will have teenage kids):

Phuket: 4nights
Bangkok: 3nights
Osaka: 3nights
Hiroshima: 2nights
Kyoto: 3nights
Hakone: 1night
Tokyo:4nights.

Ps, we have never been to either country. I like shopping, kids want to do disney, Anime and “hello kitty”.

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[meta]

Very tight schedule. Bangkok to Japan is six-hour flight time. It’s either day time or night time flight to Tokyo (I think Osaka similar), so really you are looking at either day lost or at least morning lost.

Hakone is not really for teenagers unless they are open to nakedness with strangers and if you want to experience traditional onsen ryokan it’s a bit rushed with one-night stay as you can only check-in from 3-4pm, dinner is usually served at strict time (two slots normally), breakfast is very early and the check out is 10am, at most 11am. So no time to really enjoy the onsen properly. Avoid so-called onsen hotels such as Indigo Hakone, especially for first time. Nice as it looks it’s nothing compared to traditional ryokan service.

I’d possibly do 2 nights in Kyoto (anime museum and a few temples) then base myself in Osaka. You could do Arashiyama/Nara from there. Hiroshima could be done as a day trip from Osaka (1h30 on the shinkansen).

I would really concentrate on Tokyo. So much more stuff for teenagers.

There are a lot of suggestions on the forum posted by me and others, so have a search.

Hotels wise – Japanese chains can be cheaper than using points unless you want pampering and luxury, but you could have that for much cheaper in Thailand. The only place that I would highly recommend is HI&Suites Shin Osaka for new built, cheap rates and ease of access to shinkansen. Some other here disagree.

[BBbetter]

I would do Bangkok first then Phuket. Prefer relaxing on the beach after sightseeing. Phuket does have its own things to do, but will be quieter and less humid than Bangkok.

[BJ]

I would switch order. Out to Tokyo, main base in Japan. Do one day bus tour or train visit to Hakone or lakes as I imagine Fuji not onsen is the attraction for you here, shinkansen to Osaka as base for Osaka, Kyoto Nara and Hiroshima. IMO Kyoto and Nara are a bit boting for teens so do both in one day. If you want to make most of time then take 1am JAL flight from KIX getting you into BKK at about 5am. After seeing Bangkok fly to Phuket for beach at end. Easy to route from HKT back to Canada.

[meta]

The problem with @BBetter’s suggestion is that you’ll need to back track to Bangkok before Japan unless you go via SIN/HKG, but that prolongs the journey.

@BJ Great thinking!

[KimK]

As suggested by BJ, your order is wrong, do Japan first and Phuket last. Your journey will then go from busy and stressful to calm and relaxing.

[aq.1988]

I know its tempting when you’ve never been somewhere before, and don’t know when you might have another chance to go back, so you want to see everything, but it’s looks like a very packed itinerary.

Checking in and out of hotels every few nights and going somewhere else takes it out of you. You’ll probably come home needing another holiday as you’ll be exhausted, especially if you go Thailand first, and return from Japan, like others have said.

[BJ]

@aq.1988, several of us have advise Boi similarly in previous discussion on her trip but she seems determined to do both countries at once. Ultimately no har done, she will probably just want to go back to both and see some more 🙂

[Swifty]

Hey Boi
Im doing this in March April as well! Taking my 21 yo son. Am eagerly following your thread. Never been that far east so excited for it. We are getting the train down to Kualar lumpur from phuket. Somehow flying to Japan and looking at the blossoms. Maybe coming back from there. Just got the flights on finnair out there and trying to figure the rest out from there. Probably take a month to do it

[Seagull]

@Boi Hotel-wise I can certainly give a recommendation for Hyatt Regency Phuket which is in Kamala Bay. Stunning location right on the beach at the edge of the bay and town so a bit quieter, but regular free 5 min shuttle in to town if needed. Very nice hotel built into the hill with fantastic facilities and very reasonably priced. We had 2 nearly teenagers and took a family room which has a separate bedroom with a double and a single bed in it. Also only about 45 mins from Phuket airport.

If you want to do Disney in Tokyo then staying out in Tokyo Bay is useful as most hotels run shuttle buses to the park. Stayed in the Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay a few times (you can tell my brand loyalty!) which is a new hotel and nicely placed on the water with a park in between. Good access from HND or NRT via Airport Bus or train (hotel has a shuttle from the nearest station).

[BJ]

@Swifty, with a month you will have a blast! You cannit get train from Pguket to KL, you would need to take bus or van to Surat Thani ir Nakhon si Thammarat and take train from there. Alternatively I would suggest bus from Phuket Town to Krabi, a few nights there to explire the coasts and forests then a bus to Hat Yai. From Hat Yai you can visit Thale Noi on a day trip, a huge wetland with lotus flowers, water buffalo and many birds. Going in the spring you miggt get lucky and find it in full bloom to match your Cherry Blossom experience. You can take train or VIP bus from Hat Yai to KL, however, it’s easier and quicker to take a minivan to the border, cross and pick up a train in Malaysia. If you want to skip Krabi then I’d recomment flying Bangkok Airways from Phuket to Hat Yai to meet train, nus or van as described. Costs £36 ow including 29kg bag operated by ATR-72. If sky is clear views are fantastic, Thale Noi on left side of the plane 10 minutes before landing in Hat Yai. There is also a direct bus from Phuket to Hat Yai, takes 7 hours scheduled but could be 9h with entertainment along the way. If you are interested making some journey by sea you can do Hat Yai or Krabi transfer to Koh Lipe by van and speed boat and then another speedboat to Langkawi.

[BBbetter]

Swifty wrote:

Somehow flying to Japan and looking at the blossoms. Maybe coming back from there. Just got the flights on finnair out there and trying to figure the rest out from there. Probably take a month to do it

‘Somehow’? Hope you are aware that hotels are super expensive during the blossom period. As long as you have factored it in your plans.

[meta]

They are actually not really expensive if you move from chains and don’t do Kyoto on weekends. And on a month-long trip, you probably also don’t want to stay all the time in the hotels…

[Aston100]

I’m always surprised to find there are apparently many people who do whirlwind itineraries in countries they’ve not previously visited.
Quite a bit of time lost just in travel between all those destinations in 3 weeks.

[BBbetter]

meta wrote:

They are actually not really expensive if you move from chains and don’t do Kyoto on weekends. And on a month-long trip, you probably also don’t want to stay all the time in the hotels…

Probably. It might also come down to whether China outbound tourism bounces back, despite the domestic economic gloom.

[BBbetter]

Aston100 wrote:

I’m always surprised to find there are apparently many people who do whirlwind itineraries in countries they’ve not previously visited.
Quite a bit of time lost just in travel between all those destinations in 3 weeks.

Agreed. People underestimate how much time is spent on packing, checkout, travel, checkin, unpacking etc. I would easily budget a week for just Kyoto.

[Boi]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. As always hfp didnt disappoint.
regarding the order-we got award flights to BKK hence we wanted to do that first (my sister got Singapore airlines MAN-SIN-HKT )- So reward flights determined our starting point. She got Finnair via HEL on the way back. We are using aeroplan points and it was cheaper YVR-BKK//TYO-YVR).

After reading the comments I will make it slightly simpler (Phuket, Bangkok, Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo). I agree I probably would like to go back. Trying to satisfy too many people (I want Bangkok, sister wants Phuket and kids want Japan. Hubby doesn’t care).

Please keep suggestions coming regarding hotels.

Swiffty please pass on the tips as you do some more research.

Thank you once again to all.

[cin3]

Far far too rushed and christ 4 days for Tokyo.

[Reney]

@meta I’ve gone against your advice and booked Indigo Hakone. Miles For Family blog did a post awhile back and that really sold it to me I think my mum would enjoy the onsen on the balcony in each of the room. I was hoping there were public type onsen that we could just visit (if she is up for it) which is not part of hotel as well.

@Boi I’ve a Japan trip planned at the same time covering most of the places on your original plan. I’d had to decide to cut one of the cities as it was too much, I’m taking an older parent so can’t be too hectic.

[ayearinmx]

i’m in Japan now (first time), Kobe to be precise… i flew into Tokyo, then up to do 5 days in Hokkaido (rental car), back to Tokyo on plane before train to Hiroshima (bought the 21-day JR pass before price increase). 3 days there, then 3 here in Kobe, then I’ll do 3 in Osaka, 4 in Kyoto and 5 in Tokyo

3pm check-in has been standard so far, but all the hotels have allowed early bag drop-off. I book close to the JR train stations, checkout in the morning, train to the next city and then drop bags off and still have most of the day. I can pack/unpack in about 30mins and have managed to do some nice hikes and seen a lot of stuff i’ve wanted to see.

Travel is as easy or as difficult as you want it to be, and there is no ‘right’ way

[cin3]

Strange to spend 3 days in Kobe and 3 in Hiroshima but only 3 in Osaka and 5 in Tokyo – curious what you did in those two cities?

[ayearinmx]

Day one in Hiroshima was only only a few hours as I had a flight from Hokkaido-HND and then train where I saw Mt Fuji clearly, so I just wandered around a bit. I did Miyajima on the second day (hiking up Mt Misen), and then all the Hiroshima Bomb area and the castle on the third day. Then I took the train to Kobe, dropped bags and took the train back to Himeji for the castle. Today I hiked up Mt Maya and then hiked to the Venus Bridge. Tomorrow i will check out Harborland.

Friday, I will get early train to Osaka, drop bags off, go up Umeda Sky Building, look at Tenmangu and then have dinner with a friend. Saturday the castle Dotonbori, Sumiyoshi Taisha. I also want to do the Tempozan ferris wheel and head up near the Hiraoka Jinja for a hike at some stage but that’ll depend on weather.

[Boi]

ok, I have now fine tuned the trip based on what we want to do /see (I appreciate it might be a lot of travelling). Plan is to do:

1. 5 nights Phuket
2. 4 nights Bangkok
3. 5 nights Osaka (with day trips to Kyoto and Hiroshima)
4. 6 nights Tokyo.

I would appreciate hotel recommendations in those cities please. There’s so much choice it is doing my head in!

[BBbetter]

Start with hotels where you have status. If you don’t find anything in your budget or with good reviews, look at other options. In Thailand, independents are also good. They also have local chains like Centara that are well regarded.

[Ant M]

One suggestion for people visiting Hiroshima is to take the ferry to Miyajima island. You’ve probably seen pictures of Torii gates in the water – the usual photos are of miyajima.