Is Your Tokyo Travel Planning Stressing You Out?

Are you planning a visit to Tokyo? Feeling daunted at the idea of finding your way round this mad megalopolis? It's a scary prospect for the first time visitor. Still, with some forward planning and some insider help it's perfectly possible to step off your plane ready and armed for an amazing Japan vacation.

It's a bit like you can't see the woods for the trees at times. Tokyo is a sensory overload for almost anyone the first time they visit. Let's face it, landing in a city of approximately 35 million people, for most of us anyway, is either a big shock... or a very big shock! Add to that the whole, "Does anyone speak my language?" thing and you begin to see the problem.

A Good Dose Of KISS Will Sort You Out!

No, we haven't gone crazy. In business the acronym KISS is used for keep it short and simple. Well when you travel to Tokyo, change one word and you've got your travel mantra. Keep it safe and simple. Sounds easy right? But just how do you go about keeping it safe and simple? That's the problem right there.

Tokyo is complex, big, noisy, busy, confusing, frustrating... as well as exciting, unique, full of amazing events and traditional Japanese culture. So how do we keep you on the positive side of the last sentence!

What Will Your First Experience In Tokyo Be Like?

I remember my mum coming to visit after I'd only been in Tokyo for 2 months. Granted I was working and getting used to a lot of other new stuff at the time but I really didn't know where to take her. I hadn't had time to figure it all out for myself yet. One thing's for sure. If I could do the same trip again for her now it would be a completely different ball game.

Ok, so you know this isn't the easiest city to negotiate. It has some hidden corners and a quirky character. If you don't do your planning it's easy to miss out on the good stuff.

That's where we come in : ) We'll be your insider guide to what's on, where to go, how to get there, and more. By the time you board your flight to Japan you'll be ready for all this city has to offer. You'll have an itinerary planned that's tailored to your specific interests and you'll have all the essential bases covered.

The Purpose Of This Site

We've put together a step by step process that's easy to follow, with checklists and information so you can keep all your Tokyo travel planning in one place. Maybe you've already completed some of the steps. That's fine. If you've already done one step, just move on to the next. The important thing is to follow the steps and check them off so you don't miss anything out.

We've put each set of steps in phases to make it easier for you to organize and find specifics when you need them. Start from our essentials section and move through the different areas of the site. We'll show you the way so don't worry.

Six Essentials For A Stress Free Japan Vacation

Start by getting your Tokyo Planning Essentials download by joining us as a member and tick off these six essentials to get you on your way. When you're done, we'll take you to Step 2 but lets get this one finished first.

So do you need to organize a Japan visa before you can enter Japan? Is there any other paperwork you need to know about? It's important to find this out at the beginning of your Tokyo travel planning in case you need to do the whole filling in forms thing. It's not much fun at the best of times but its even less fun if you leave it till the last minute! Time to start with step 1 and hopefully you can check this one off your list quickly and move on to step 2.

The Japanese calendar may seem a strange thing to have second on your Tokyo travel planning list. So why are we starting you here? Well, if you're coming to Japan and you're even the slightest bit interested in Japanese culture, it would be a real shame to find out one of these is happening the day you're booked to fly out! Find out what's going on and then decide the dates you want to be here and make sure you don't miss out : )

Tokyo weather changes according to the time of year and some of the changes can be pretty dramatic! It's one of the things we love about the city as you get a little bit of everything. When you're planning a holiday though, you need to have an idea of what to expect so you don't end up visiting when it's too hot, too cold, too humid, and the list goes on. There's also packing tips and information about special items you might need to bring with you. Head on over to our Tokyo weather center!

Booking your flights to Japan is next on our list. Booking ahead for this can really save you a lot of money depending on the time of year you're traveling. Also think about which airline you're going to choose and compare your prices before making your decision. You might get a nice surprise. We've also got some good long haul flight tips for you learned from the many trips home we've made. I'm not the best flier so I try to make the flight as comfortable as possible... and then just wait till I land at the other end.

Finding your Tokyo accommodation is all down to budget and whether you want to be in the heart of the action or a little further out. Having all this organized so when you land you can go straight to your hotel and dump your bags is well worth the planning ahead! We've done the whole traveling thing where you land with a backpack and then find where you're going to stay. As we've got a little older though we definitely prefer having at least the first night sorted. It makes our arrivals a lot less stressful!

Travel insurance. It's a dirty word for some but we don't travel without it and we recommend you don't either. Of course it's up to you but medical care is expensive in Japan, especially if you want a Doctor who speaks your own language. Enough said on this one.

When you've finished all the steps in Stage 1, it'll be time to start Stage 2, putting together your Japan survival kit.

---

Ready For Your First Step?

It's time to get started. If you haven't already, head on over and sign up to the site to get your Tokyo Travel Essentials planner. As a member of the site it's a gift from us to you, to help you plan for that stress free Tokyo vacation you've been looking forward to. Now it's time to move to step 1...

Warm regards,
Honor

P.S. We don't try to know everything about Tokyo. It's just not possible! What we do do though is share our favorite bits of the city and give you our geniune personal experience of what we like. Remember KISS... keep it safe and simple ; )

If you want to keep on top of changes as they happen on the site, follow along by signing up for our Tokyo blog. Whenever we add something you'll see it happen so you can decide whether you need to read the new page or not. It's a very handy way of keeping on top of things.

Happy travels