Cheap places to travel in Japan
Indice
Japan is a destination for all types of travelers. The country has options for all budgets, including those seeking to know its cities, nature, culture, customs, traditions and gastronomy from a very economic perspective. In fact, Japan has a multitude of attractions and monuments that can be visited and experiences that can be lived without spending a single yen or at a very low cost. To help you discover this side of Japan, sometimes unknown, we have included on this page a series of resources that will be useful to plan a trip: 80 free plans and experiences to enjoy in Japan, how much some of the most popular tourist attractions cost, the most common prices of restaurants or hotels in the country… Are you ready?
One of the aspects that most surprises anyone who visits Japan is its diverse and lush nature: endless forests, huge lakes, nature reserves, Mount Fuji… Discover all the free plans
How much does a trip to Japan cost in dollars?
What happens if your camera or luggage is stolen? What happens if you get sick and have to do quarantine? What happens if you have to go to a hospital because of appendicitis or a sprained ankle? What if the airline loses your luggage and you are left without clothes? Who is going to pay for all this? I’m telling you: travel insurance
Japan has one of the most modern rail networks in the world, that’s for sure. So that makes the train one of the best transportation options in Japan. Without any doubt for us it’s our favorite: it’s a fast, comfortable and safe option.
Japan’s four main islands, Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, are covered by an extensive and reliable railroad network. So as I said above, you can get almost anywhere by train.
Most domestic flights in Japan are operated mainly by two airlines: Japan Airlines and ANA. There are also some low-cost airlines with which you can find better prices: Skymark, Air Do, Vanilla or JetStar. There are many airports in Japan, but the most important are the two in Tokyo (Narita and Haneda), the two in Osaka (Kansai and Itami), Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa.
Budget for travel to Japan
It is one of our best kept secrets: this website is where we usually find the best prices for flights and also with the guarantee that after all it is a physical store (although the bargains are only contracted online).
It costs a lot. That’s why we decided not to sleep in a hotel (we were also looking for rooms with two separate beds) and for long stays we opted for two apartments booked through the Airbnb website (where I remind you that we have a discount for new registrations and yes, you help us a little bit too, at no extra cost for you).
I have not included in these basic expenses the two hotel nights we had to spend in Madrid before taking the plane and when returning from our trip. It would be 45 euros more per person… but being a personal expense that not everyone shares, I wanted to take it out of the budget.
As for restaurants, we ate well, but with water. We have allowed ourselves some beer and ice cream in the supermarket… but nothing alarming. That’s what I was telling you: if we feel like it, we pay for it.
Japan is expensive
Even if you don’t have a big budget, you will definitely enjoy your trip to Japan. The country is full of wonderful places that will fascinate you. And if you are traveling on a tighter budget, if you save on food and transportation, for example, maybe you can use the money saved for other attractions that interest you, such as the Ghibli Museum, Tokyo Disneyland or Universal Studios Japan.
Anyway, whatever your situation is, we recommend you to read our post about how much it costs to travel to Japan. There we have created sample budgets for two totally different types of travelers, one who wants to save more and one who does standard spending.
Of course, a basic tip to save on your flight to Japan (and any other destination) is to be flexible in dates. It’s not always possible, of course, because it depends on vacation availability and other factors. But if you can fly on weekdays, it’s better than flying Friday through Sunday.
So, if you want to save on the plane, going in May or from November to February is a good idea. The problem in Japan, however, is that you may save on airfare, but then things may not be so cheap there.