minnie mum
Unapologetic Disney Fan(atic)
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2011
As some of you may remember from a couple of posts I made in the spring, we are finally taking our trip of a lifetime to Japan. I can't believe it's finally here- in a little less than 12 hours we'll be at the airport and starting what we hope will be a truly memorable vacation.
Just a couple of facts:
Who's going- Me and Mike, my DH of 38 years. Both retired with 2 grown and married daughters and a sweet grandson who will soon be a year old.
Where we live- a little town about 90 km. east of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Trip dates: Departing Toronto for Tokyo Oct. 13. Touring Japan's main island until Oct 25. Then 2 1/2 days at Tokyo Disney Resort before flying home on Oct. 28.
The first part of the trip is a guided tour. It's a small group of 12 plus our guide who will be accompanying us the whole time, including the flights.
The itinerary:
Day 1,2 Travel. Arrive in Tokyo and settle in. A little walk in the evening
Day 3 Day trip to the Hakone area
Day 4 Tour Tokyo
Day 5 Tour Tokyo . Fly and drive to Yamanaka in afternoon. Stay at an Onsen hotel
Day 6 Tour Kanazawa including Kenroku en garden, the Nomura house and Higashi Dhaya area
Day 7 Tour through the Alps. Visit Gokayama. Tour Takayama (sake!!) Stay at another Onsen hotel.
Day 8 Tour takayama, explore the Nakasendo towns of Tsumago and Magome. Stay the night in Osaka
Day 9 Explore the sights in Nara and Osaka
Day 10 Explore the sights in Kyoto
Day 11 Drive to Hiroshima with an enroute cruise on the Seto Inland Sea. Explore the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum
Day 12 See the Kintaikyo Bridge, then to Miyajima and the shrine at Itsukushima. Back to Osaka that night.
Day 13 Fly to Tokyo and check into Sheraton Grand Bay. Spend the rest of the day at TDL
Day 14 Spend the day at TDS
Day 15 Park hop between the 2 parks. This will be the last Saturday of the Halloween celebrations, so we're bracing ourselves for really heavy crowds.
Day 17 Fly home in the afternoon.
We've gotten everything all packed and ready to go. The exchange rate at our bank was quite decent so we decided to bring a fair amount of yen with us, and then depend on hitting the local post offices and 7/11s for additional cash towards the end of the trip.
All our meals are included in the tour part of the trip, and I love that we'll have the chance to try a lot of the local specialties. And I'm really looking forward to trying the takiyaki to see for myself what it's really like!! And of course checking out the local beers and saki!
Have phrase book, will travel. Wish us luck, and I'll try to give a quick report on the outcome of the trip when we get back home. Sayonara
Just a couple of facts:
Who's going- Me and Mike, my DH of 38 years. Both retired with 2 grown and married daughters and a sweet grandson who will soon be a year old.
Where we live- a little town about 90 km. east of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Trip dates: Departing Toronto for Tokyo Oct. 13. Touring Japan's main island until Oct 25. Then 2 1/2 days at Tokyo Disney Resort before flying home on Oct. 28.
The first part of the trip is a guided tour. It's a small group of 12 plus our guide who will be accompanying us the whole time, including the flights.
The itinerary:
Day 1,2 Travel. Arrive in Tokyo and settle in. A little walk in the evening
Day 3 Day trip to the Hakone area
Day 4 Tour Tokyo
Day 5 Tour Tokyo . Fly and drive to Yamanaka in afternoon. Stay at an Onsen hotel
Day 6 Tour Kanazawa including Kenroku en garden, the Nomura house and Higashi Dhaya area
Day 7 Tour through the Alps. Visit Gokayama. Tour Takayama (sake!!) Stay at another Onsen hotel.
Day 8 Tour takayama, explore the Nakasendo towns of Tsumago and Magome. Stay the night in Osaka
Day 9 Explore the sights in Nara and Osaka
Day 10 Explore the sights in Kyoto
Day 11 Drive to Hiroshima with an enroute cruise on the Seto Inland Sea. Explore the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum
Day 12 See the Kintaikyo Bridge, then to Miyajima and the shrine at Itsukushima. Back to Osaka that night.
Day 13 Fly to Tokyo and check into Sheraton Grand Bay. Spend the rest of the day at TDL
Day 14 Spend the day at TDS
Day 15 Park hop between the 2 parks. This will be the last Saturday of the Halloween celebrations, so we're bracing ourselves for really heavy crowds.
Day 17 Fly home in the afternoon.
We've gotten everything all packed and ready to go. The exchange rate at our bank was quite decent so we decided to bring a fair amount of yen with us, and then depend on hitting the local post offices and 7/11s for additional cash towards the end of the trip.
All our meals are included in the tour part of the trip, and I love that we'll have the chance to try a lot of the local specialties. And I'm really looking forward to trying the takiyaki to see for myself what it's really like!! And of course checking out the local beers and saki!
Have phrase book, will travel. Wish us luck, and I'll try to give a quick report on the outcome of the trip when we get back home. Sayonara