A trip to Japan is an exciting adventure that promises to be filled with unforgettable experiences, vibrant culture, and stunning landscapes. However, to ensure a smooth and enjoyable journey, it’s important to carefully plan each aspect of your trip.
Therefore I think its good to follow a certain order of steps.
Step 1: Determine your travel conditions
Understanding travel conditions is a crucial first step in planning any trip, and this is especially true for a destination as unique and diverse as Japan. Travel conditions encompass a wide range of factors that can significantly impact your travel experience
So before you rush into collecting all kinds of sightseeing’s and squeeze them into your trip it is wise to determine the following
What is my available time ? When can I go (Depending on work and other obligations)
When do I want to go (based on your wishes)? What’s my budget What are my interest? What are already my must see?
This knowledge will form the base for planning your trip
Step 2: Get your tools
Tools are important for helping you planning your trip.
I suggest to use at least 2 types of tools
The first one is a map and the second one is a timetable sheets like excel
Map
A map like google maps or even better my maps is a good tool throught out your planning.
In the start you can save all the interesting places so they can’t get lost. From the saved places a global route can get drawn. The more the route gets clear the more the places can get saved per day or on category like importance.
Excel
Excel is perfect for putting your trip in a timetable. Starting from roughly a day to day subscription till a detailed planning with travel time. A budget calculation can get added in separated columns.
Both tools can get useful and therefore necessary to got when starting planning.
Step 3 Decide where you start and end
While Japan is a island, you probably will get there by plane or boat. This will limit your entry and departure place. Finding arrival and departure points is useful because it is wise to place these places tactically in the travel order.
Step 4: Find interesting places
Now the conditions of your travel are set, your tools are ready and the start and end places are known, the fun part can start
Before a wise descision can be made about what to visit and what not. The first step is to know what are the nice places for you. This can be done searching on your interests and based on places you want to visit.
For example, when you are interested in culture, and nature you can look specific for sightseeings that meet that interest. This is why it was good to figure this out during step 1.
For every founded place it is wise to save them on map you prepared at step 2
Step 5: Draw a first concept route
When the available time and days are set in excel and the interested places saved and shown on the map, it’s time to drawn a route out of it. This will be a process of kneading and scraping.
The first part is to get a first raw route out of the saved places you have on the map.
This will be look like Tokyo, daytrip 1, 2 and 3, Matsumoto, Takayama, Osaka, Nara and ending in Kyoto. These route you can put in excel like
| Day | ||
| 1 | Tokyo | Visit Tokyo North |
| 2 | Tokyo | Visit Tokyo North |
| 3 | Tokyo | Day trip 1 |
| 4 | Tokyo – Matsumoto | |
| 5 | Matsumoto – Takayama | |
| 7 | Takayama – Kyoto | |
| 8 | Kyoto | |
| Etc |
It is important to determine the needed time for a place based on the things you want to see.
It would be shame if you would find out you need more time
Step 6: Adjust your route
You probalby will see you will have to much nice places find to find in the available time.
In this step you will adjust and your route. This often mean you have to erase some of your route element. When adjusting your route (by erasing a place to visit) it can give space for other possibilities. When you doubt if your route is affordable, it is always a option to ask an agency
By this kneading and scraping you will reach a route that fits your time and budget.
Save the places your had to remove, hopefully there will be a second trip where you can use the places for a new itinerary
Step 7: Book and prepar your trip
In this step you can book your trip. When the hotels, flights and other transportations is booked, you can now prepare for the trip. For example, you can prepare you map on your phone so you have your sight closeby. Now it is also whise to arrange things like, pocket Wifi and read about the do’s and dont’s of the country