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When you consider touring throughout Japan, you most likely envision going to Tokyo, hopping on bullet trains, and hopscotching round Osaka and Kyoto to sort out among the hottest sights in Japan.
Nonetheless, my household and I lately took a barely totally different route method for our Japan go to. We rented a 16 ft tenting automobile.
Then we drove it round among the much less touristy elements of Japan. A few of these locations you’ve possibly heard of, however a few of them you most likely haven’t. And sure, we after all visited among the fashionable spots too, AND with a one and three-year-old our journey wouldn’t have been full with out a journey to Disney.
On this video, we’re sharing our 13-day RV highway journey itinerary throughout Japan, in case you ever determine to hop in an RV or van and make your method throughout this wonderful nation. For every day we point out on this itinerary, you’ll be able to be taught extra or watch our vlog from that particular day by clicking the cardboard we hyperlink to within the higher right-hand nook.
And keep tuned for the top of the video the place I’ll share some numbers from our journey, akin to the price of our campsites, RV rental, and the way a lot we paid in toll roads.
You’ll see extra particulars, like hyperlinks to the place we stayed, under.
Day 1: Tokyo
The place we stayed: Shiba Park Resort
What we did:
We flew straight into Tokyo. What journey to Japan could be full with out a go to to this wonderful metropolis? Not ours.
Earlier than arriving in Tokyo, we looked for family-friendly lodging. One suggestion that popped up was the Shiba Park Resort. Upon taking a look at their web site, I seen they’d rooms with bunk mattress configurations and with two little ones, we jumped on it.
The situation was nice, and we have been only a brief stroll away from the Tokyo Tower and an epic playground for the youngsters.
We had a brief keep in Tokyo however tried to slot in as a lot as potential. Here’s what we squeezed into someday:
- The Shinjuku Gyoen Gardens are positioned proper subsequent to the Shinjuku Prepare Station, the most well-liked prepare station on this planet. The gardens have been an oasis in a bustling metropolis and we have been even in a position to see cherry blossoms of their full magnificence within the backyard.
- In case you have youngsters (or simply if you wish to hit up an animal cafe), we spent our first afternoon in Tokyo at miPig cafe, which was successful with our one-year-old however our three-year-old couldn’t get out quick sufficient. It was a cool spot only a two-minute stroll from Takeshita Avenue.
- After hanging out with the pigs, we discovered a kid-friendly karaoke bar in Tokyo known as Rainbow Karaoke in Shibuya. That they had smooth serve on faucet and we jammed to Disney classics. Enjoyable was had by all.
Day 2: Tokyo
The place we stayed: Shiba Park Resort
What we did:
Our second day in Tokyo we hopped in a cab go to to DisneySea. Regardless of touring with a child, each of our children might do nearly all of the rides within the park. On the day we visited, it rained nearly your entire day however we nonetheless had a blast. For those who go to whereas in Tokyo, you’ve bought to hop round all the popcorn stands and check out all of the distinctive flavors. Our favourite was the white chocolate matcha!
Even jetlagged and within the rain, everybody had a good time!
Day 3: Selecting Up Our Camper Van!
The place we stayed: Onoji Household Tenting Floor
What we did:
On our third day in Japan, we picked up our RV rental from El Monte RV. We’d researched and located a number of totally different RV rental firms in Japan and since we have been visiting throughout peak cherry blossom season, availability was difficult. El Monte had good evaluations and two areas in Tokyo. The group was very responsive over e mail, so we booked with them. (And sure, this is similar El Monte you see within the States!)
The pickup course of was comparatively seamless and the employees have been wonderful. We did a walk-through of the RV, discovered concerning the methods, and loaded up on provides on the grocery retailer throughout the road.
One last-minute determination that helped us out a ton with our rental was including on an ETC card, aka an digital toll assortment, so principally a toll move. The vast majority of the roads we’d journey throughout Japan have been toll roads, so having this card allowed us to simply move by means of every automated toll gate with out having to cease and pay. (I share the full quantity we spent in tolls on the finish of the video).
We opted to drive straight out to Mount Fuji with our new to us RV. And due to a unsuitable activate Google Maps, we ended up detouring by means of downtown Tokyo. What was initially speculated to be an hour and a half drive turned out to be for much longer!
Nonetheless, we made it to our Onoji Household Tenting Floor earlier than it closed and awakened the following morning to essentially the most epic views ever.
Day 4: Mount Fuji
The place we stayed: Fumotoppara Campground
What we did:
We woke as much as crystal-clear views of Mount Fuji, which is uncommon in Japan. The campground was the very first auto park in all of Japan, constructed within the 70s. We have been one of some totally different RVs and most of the people camped in tents.
We woke as much as everybody outdoors cooking their breakfast and making espresso and had the perfect time making mates with locals from Tokyo who had pushed out for a weekend tenting journey.
From our campsite we drove out to Lake Kawaguchi, which was speculated to be the most effective locations to get a vantage level of Fuji. Different folks bought this memo too. It was a cute city alongside the lake and we have been there on a weekend, so it was a bit packed.
We then drove over to the Chureito Pagoda. There have been numerous stairs to the highest, however the views have been value it.
We ended the day at Fumotoppara Campground with essentially the most epic sundown of Mount Fuji.
Day 5: Magome-Juku
The place we stayed: Hokonoko Tenting Floor
What we did:
After a morning at Fumotoppara campground, we got down to discover a small postal city known as Magome-juku.
It was idyllic Japan, with cute waterwheels and pathways that wind by means of an historical village that has been restored and preserved over centuries.
The city is correct on the Nakasendo path, which stretches from Tokyo to Kyoto and is a well-known strolling path. We walked 1 / 4 mile of the trail as much as an epic viewpoint, however not earlier than attempting out among the native road vendor meals—that we ended up going again to for seconds.
We camped at Hokonoko Tenting Floor, which felt like tenting in a nationwide park. It might even be the place that might significantly check my driving expertise as I attempted to drive out of it the following day…
Day 6: Cafe KuraKura
The place we stayed: Cafe KuraKura
What we did:
On day 6, We drove towards Yoshino NP and what could be our favourite campsite of the journey.
However first, after three days of touring, it was time to refill the gasoline tank. This value about $100. At this gasoline station, there have been attendants who crammed the tank for us, saving us from by chance selecting the unsuitable gas.
Utilizing Google Maps, we discovered a restaurant with three campsites behind it and booked one. BTW, nearly each campground in Japan requires superior reservations. We made all our reservations on-line earlier than leaving the States. (For those who e-book at KuraKura with a tenting automobile, we advocate the “Jungle” campsite!)
Our Campsite at Cafe KuraKura was a spotlight of our complete highway journey in Japan, largely because of the wonderful household who hosted us. Upon arriving, they let me drill holes into freshly minimize lumber that was set as much as develop their natural shitake mushrooms.
We ate an unimaginable lunch, performed on the playground subsequent door, and for dinner, Heath went out and minimize down one-month-old bamboo with the proprietor who taught us easy methods to season and boil it. It was the kind of expertise that can stick with us endlessly.
Day 7: Inexperienced Tea Plantation
The place we stayed: Mizuno Camper Base
What we did:
On day 7 we visited the small city of Wazuka to tour a inexperienced tea plantation. This city has been house to inexperienced tea plantation farmers for generations. Nonetheless, there’s one farmer on the town who stands out as a first-generation household to make inexperienced tea merchandise. Their enterprise known as D: Matcha and it’s not too far outdoors of Kyoto.
We spent a day getting a tour of their farm and studying how they bring about their matcha merchandise to life. It was a mix of a historical past lesson, matcha tasting, and a scrumptious meal all wrapped into one expertise. It rained on us most of our tour however no person appeared to thoughts and umbrellas have been supplied.
Day 8: Kyoto
The place we stayed: Miami Seashore Auto Campground
What we did:
On day 8 we awakened at Mizuno Base campground. Whereas it felt remoted in nature alongside a river, it was only a brief drive into Kyoto the place we have been set to discover the well-known bamboo gardens and take the youngsters to the monkey park.
We have been in a position to simply discover a parking spot inside a brief strolling distance of the bamboo backyard. Nonetheless, if I might return and do it once more I’d purpose to reach earlier within the morning. By the point we arrived, we have been shoulder to shoulder with different friends and it made navigating the world a bit more difficult. Nonetheless, the bamboo backyard was nonetheless magical.
For lunch, we walked throughout the river and located among the finest desserts we’d had up to now in Japan. We ate mochi balls, smooth serve matcha ice cream with fried candy potato, and a dessert known as a Mont Blanc, which appeared kinda like spaghetti noodles on prime of ice cream.
Within the afternoon, Alyssa and Ellie walked over to the monkey park. To go to, it value about $5 and requires you to stroll up 20 minutes of stairs and switchbacks. As soon as on the prime, you’re surrounded by monkeys climbing and swinging round you. Our 3-year-old had a magical time attending to see the monkeys and play on the park. We barely scratched the floor of what you would do in Kyoto, however in such a brief go to, it was time to maneuver on to the following factor.
Day 9: The Sea of Japan
The place we stayed: Hakusan Yoshino Auto Campsite
What we did:
On our ninth day in Japan we awakened at Miami seashore campground (sure, that is the true title of this campground). This campsite was considered one of our favorites. We had an epic view of Lake Biwa and a large campsite for the youngsters to run round and discover.
This present day we needed to make our technique to a extremely beneficial metropolis known as Kanazawa. We found that it might solely take us an additional hour or two to drive a route that went proper alongside the ocean of Japan, so naturally we opted to take that route.
The coastal route didn’t have a lot data on-line, however we discovered loads of highway facet gems that made for an epic day of driving— castles, waterfalls, jagged cliffs we might hike, and even a jellyfish aquarium that gave the youngsters an opportunity to stretch their legs and run round for an hour.
Day 10: Kanazawa
The place we stayed: Kanazawa
What we did:
On our tenth day in Japan we explored the city of Kanazawa after tenting 20 minutes outdoors the town. Kanazawa was described to us as “older Japan”, however a lot of what we explored felt like a more recent metropolis. We had no hassle discovering a spot to park our van within the downtown space!
Highlights for us in Kanazawa have been strolling the Kenroku-en gardens, seeing Kanazawa Fort, and stumbling on a road market with some wonderful native distributors.
On this night time because of the heavy rain, we grabbed a lodge so we might keep within the metropolis of Kanazawa as a substitute of heading 45 minutes away to our subsequent campsite.
Day 11: Our First Onsen!
The place we stayed: Okuhida Spa Auto Campsite
What we did:
On our eleventh day we drove into Chubu Nationwide Park. The drive into the nationwide park was suffering from waterfalls, mountain views, and dashing water.
The campsite we discovered for the night time was beautiful and proper alongside the river. Finest OF ALL, it had an onsen proper on web site. We’d seen 100 totally different onsens as we drove throughout Japan, however few of them permit younger kids. We lastly discovered one which we might go to from the consolation of our personal campsite with the household. To prime it off, we have been the one ones at our campsite so we had all of it to ourselves.
Onsens are quite common throughout Japan resulting from its excessive volcanic exercise. Lots of them are absolutely nude and there’s some fundamental etiquette concerned when going to a lot of them, akin to showering beforehand, not entering into with a towel, and following no matter guidelines they’ve posted on web site.
Day 12: The Day We Blew Up Our Plans! ❄️
The place we stayed: ?!
What we did:
Our plan for our twelfth day was to do a waterfall hike within the Nationwide Park. However even in late April, many of the nationwide park was closed from snow! We didn’t anticipate this in any respect! We couldn’t make it to any trailheads to hike. This was a serious bummer, however we knew the youngsters wouldn’t like climbing within the chilly snow and we didn’t have the precise gear with us, so we determined to take a serious pivot and get again to hotter climate.
Whereas the youngsters napped, we hightailed it again towards Tokyo for redemption.
The youngsters did nice with so many grownup actions throughout our time in Japan, so we parked the RV again at Disney Sea for spherical two of Disney. This time round, the climate was sunny and excellent and there have been no crowds in any respect. We walked onto each experience and the youngsters had a good time.
Day 13: Disneyland!
The place we stayed: Resort parking simply outdoors Disneyland. You’ll be able to stroll (there’s a walkway over the freeway) from the lot to the parks or stroll to the Ambassador Resort and seize their shuttle to the parks. It’s not too far of a stroll.
What we did:
For our final day in Japan, we ended on a excessive word with Disneyland. If we might do it yet again, we’d’ve pushed into Osaka throughout our journey to go to Common Studios Japan, however we have been apprehensive about driving and parking the van in cities—which ended up being simpler than we thought it might be!
Fast Stats and Prices: Japan by Van
All of us had a tremendous time touring Japan by campervan!
All in all, our journey lined 1,647 kilometers throughout Japan (1023.4 miles).
Our common nightly campsite value was $36 or 5,000 yen.
The price of our RV rental for 11 nights was $1,779.24 USD (roughly $161.72 per night time).
And we paid $204 for the numerous tolls that we crossed by means of throughout our journey. Mainly each highway is a toll highway, so this was lower than I might’ve anticipated!
Ideas Earlier than You Go
There have been a number of issues we did throughout this journey that made our lives considerably simpler.
- Printed out all reservation confirmations upfront. As a result of we don’t communicate Japanese and to eradicate any confusion upon arriving at our locations, printing out our confirmations was an enormous peace of thoughts. Plus, they have been in Japanese which made it even simpler for our host. After we rolled into our nightly campsites I might merely hand them our affirmation print out and it made the method very clean.
- Downloaded Google Maps for offline use in Japan. I wasn’t certain how properly our mobile sign could be throughout Japan, so earlier than our journey, I downloaded Google Maps. Because it seems, we had strong cell alerts nearly all over the place we went and this was a nonissue. El Monte (and I’m assuming different rental firms) can have scorching spots you’ll be able to hire along with your RV rental.
- Pre-purchased our sim card from Japan Wi-fi. There’s a handful of firms you’ll be able to pre-purchase a Japan sim card from. We purchased ours by means of Japan Wi-fi, picked it up proper on the airport in Tokyo, and had no issues all through our complete journey.
- Including cookware and bedding onto our rental as a result of a lot of this stuff didn’t include the bottom rental.
There are most likely extra objects to say, however these have been among the prime ones that come to thoughts.
Driving this RV throughout Japan was really a dream come true for us. We’ll be planning extra worldwide campervan adventures, so if you wish to see extra movies like this — it might imply the world should you might subscribe to our channel and keep in contact. You’ll be able to watch our complete Japan collection right here for all the main points of our experiences on this nation.
And if there are any extra questions you could have about driving an RV throughout Japan, please drop a remark we’d be blissful to reply any of them!
The put up How one can Spend 13 Days in Japan—Our Japan Highway Journey Itinerary appeared first on Heath & Alyssa.
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