What is a ball park amount of spending money in yen to take for a 9 day trip to Japan?
I am going to take a 9 day trip to Japan in late May of 2010. For just under $3,000USD, airfare from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, hotels, travel between cities (Bus, Bullet Train, etc. between Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Hakone, and Tokyo), breakfast daily and dinner on the last night, a full-time tour guide, walking tours, sightseeing tours, and entrance fees to several attractions (Nijo Castle, Heian Shrine and Garden, the Silver or Gold Pavilion, Lake Hakone cruise, Meiji Shinto Shrine, a Sumida River cruise, and Asakusa Kannon Temple) is all included. Locale includes 1 day in Osaka, 2 days in Kyoto, 1/2 day in Nara, 1 day in Hakone, and 3 days in Tokyo.
With this in mind, first of all, does this seem like a reasonable price for what is included, and second, how much should I expect to bring for meals, admission, souvenirs, etc.? My initial though was around $600 US Dollars. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
January 3rd, 2011 at 7:50 am
I visited Japan about three years ago, landed in Osaka, went to Tokyo, then to Kyoto. I spent about 2 weeks there with my family (4 including me) As a family, we spent about $50-$70 per day (easily).
The trick is finding the right place to eat every meal. Find the little corner shops or ramen stands (yummy).
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:36 am
That sounds like a reasonable deal to me, if you don’t mind doing the group tour thing and you’re actually interested in going to all of those places. If you’re more interested in doing your own thing then you may find the group tour schedule to be too confining.
As long as you don’t go crazy with the shopping or super-fine dining, $600 will be plenty for 9 lunches and 8 dinners at moderate restaurants, plus some souvenirs.