Japan Solo Travel Review: Hakone, Tokyo Shibuya, Harajuku, & Shinjuku, Mishima Skywalk, Cable Car Ride, Nishiki market

Review by traveler

Kenneth C.

10.24.2019

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Japan

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Its happy to be home. I'm glad I got to fly home on Friday, because typhoon Hagibis came to Tokyo the next day. The itinerary was planned well. After I was dropped off by the taxi at Odwara, I decided to take the bus back to Hakone to do the boat ride, because I didn't have a chance to do the boat ride after I visited the Mishima bridge. Before I took the boat ride at Hakone, I put my luggage inside one of the lockers at the Odwara train station, and it only cost me $5. I chose not to do luggage forwarding, because I want to have access to all my belongings at all times, and I was afraid that somebody may take something out of my luggage. I boarded the train from Odwara at 3:42 PM to Tokyo Century Southern Tower. I got to Tokyo Hotel around 5:30PM, because the check-in time was 3:00PM. According to the brochure, I was supposed to be at the hotel at 12:00PM, and I thought that it was too early.
The tour guide in Tokyo and Takayama were friendly. However, the tour guide in Kyoto, he was touching me too much. Overall, I had a great time in Japan.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

I was also glad that I had one extra day to do whatever I want, because I got to go to the electronics town (Akihabara), underground shopping mall at Tokyo station, and Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku while I was in Tokyo. While I was in Kyoto, I got to visit the Nishiki market, and I got to take the train to Osaka.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

I wish I had more time in Hakone on October 9, because some of the outdoor activities and museums were closed early (5PM). While I was sightseeing in Hakone (away from my hotel), I was looking at my brochure on what activities there is to do in Hakone. When I took the cable car ride early in the afternoon, I took the cable car back. After I took the cable car back, I looked at my brochure, and it said that I should have taken the bus bridge to the boat ride, and took a bus to the Mishima Skywalk. Instead, I took one bus from the cable car stop to the boat dock. Originally, I had thought I can take a second bus to the Mishima Skywalk in no time, and take the boat ride all in the same day. However, the second bus to the Mishima Skywalk only stops at the boat dock once every hour. When I got to the boat dock, I missed the second bus by less than five minutes, so I went on the Mishima Skywalk, but didn't have time to do the boat ride the same day.

Travel Company Comments:

Welcome home, Kenneth!

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with some feedback about your trip to Japan. We're so happy to hear that you had such a good time, especially exploring all the exciting districts of Tokyo! WIth the Japan Rail Pass, you select your own trail reservation times and what we provide in our Info-Packs are only meant to be interpreted as suggestions in an effort to help maximize your time in Country yet to also provide maximum flexibility as each traveler's interests and pace is different rather than have a strict schedule. We certainly apologize if there was any confusion there! In the Japanese culture, touching is rather taboo and so we were surprised by your comments about your Kyoto guide but happy to hear that you overall enjoyed your guide's company and found them knowledgeable and friendly. Hopefully you can return to Japan again one day to spend more time in Hakone and beyond!

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