robbied 0 Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Thanks for all the replies guys, if we cross paths there will be (many) pints involved! Scousers route sounds pretty ideal for us. Im sure we could spend 3 weeks in one area but I figure If we see a few this trip we can 'specialise' in our next trip. I guess we are a little ambitious Sanjo: I just checked on google maps here , Zao > Niseko is 700Km's which is about 13 hours drive. Another stop halfway in Iwate, Akita or Aomori pref. would be ideal even for 1 day. Can you recommend a good resort in those areas? Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 From Hokkaido to Tokyo, drop the car off at Shin Chitose airport and take one of the 61 daily flights to Tokyo. Of course, the train could be a nice way if you want to spend that time looking out the train window. Link to post Share on other sites
robbied 0 Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Originally Posted By: thursday From Hokkaido to Tokyo, drop the car off at Shin Chitose airport and take one of the 61 daily flights to Tokyo. Of course, the train could be a nice way if you want to spend that time looking out the train window. Flying would be better. Roughly how much are flights from Shin Chitose to Tokyo? What are the baggage allowances, we will have snowboards? Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 full adult fare about 26k Link to post Share on other sites
robbied 0 Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Thats not too bad. I think a railpass would be better for us though. Its the same price and we will need it anyway to travel around Tokyo for the last 4 days. What do you think? Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 yes good idea. The all Japan railpass would be handy. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 I wouldnt stress too much about the baggage allowances - pack light anyway - but snow gear is being lugged up and back between Tokyo and Hokkaido on all flights at that time of year - at the airport it is quite comical for an aussie where theirs might be the only board bag being unpacked from the 'special luggage area' on flights at home, when they have 20 or 30 bags lined up in J-land! LOL Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 How much does that cost robbied? (the train pass) Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 something like 28k Link to post Share on other sites
skiya 0 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Thinking of doing something similar myself.. Link to post Share on other sites
Nisoko 6 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Interesting how more people are doing different things now. I suppose that will only increase, and its a good thing. Happy planning. Link to post Share on other sites
John_Janelle 0 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 I have read this thread with intrest, as I am planning a trip to Furano in January. We are a family of 4 with 2 teenage boys, so no child airfares. My problem so far, is that I want to fly into either Tokyo or Sapporo and out of the other. Every web search I have done for airfares has returned a huge price, due to the different entry and departure points. I would like to take the train between Tokyo and Sapporo or vice versa, just for the experience. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I should approach this ? I am thinking that I need to contact an agent ??? John. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 We were looking at that also John for 2007/8...but ended up giving up. We had planned to take the sleeper train Cassiopea between Tokyo and Sapporo, but the tickets needed to be booked within Japan and were released something like 4 weeks before, and first in best dressed...TOO HARD! I believe there are SOME ways to make it happen, especially if you get the right travel agent, but we have friends -wife was a high powered head hunter for Japanese Corporations, now running a travel agency specialising in Aussie/Japan connections from Perth - and we still couldnt get it happening. Good luck with your bookings. Personally I would like to see more than ONE flight a day from Narita to Sapporo (we always end up having to bus it to Haneda to get up there!) Link to post Share on other sites
John_Janelle 0 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Thanks for the reply. Guess I may just end up flying in and out of Sapporo. Seems a shame to not be able to see more of the country though? John. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Hey - give it a go - things might have changed. We found it WAY easier to book to do the train around Europe thing and go in and out of Zermatt that way - would have loved to do the same in Japan. Maybe we can spend a big block of time there in the future (thinking early retirement sounds good) and can book at that time. I am still convinced my eldest will end up moving to Japan - he certainly looks caucasian, but inside he is very definitely Japanese!! LOL Maybe he was in a past life ....LOL Link to post Share on other sites
snowbender 3 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 You'd have a blast driving I reckon. It really adds to a visit - some of my friends from overseas did that when they came to visit me and said it was the best decision of their holiday. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 cool trip planned robbied, As for getting around with baggage, don't even worry about it. You can cheaply send bags and suitcases through a system called takkyubin. There doesn't seem to be any weight or size restrictions that I've ever had problems with and is usually about 2000Yen per bag pretty much anywhere domestically in Japan. Last time I used it I had one bag with 2 boards (one big powder board) bindings, boots, all my wet gear (from boarding that morning!) and luggage that cost 2000Y from Hokkaido to Shizuoka (about 100km south of Tokyo) and it all arrived the next day. As for driving all the way to Hokkaido, personally I wouldn't want to do it as I would be worried there are too many things that could go wrong and ruin a perfectly good trip. One way tickets between New Chitose and Haneda (Tokyo) could be as low as 10,000Yen if you are flexible. Probably looking at about 15,000Yen. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 `@johnjanelle, just have a look at flying domestically. For a family of four it would be cheaper than taking the train and you could explore tons of places. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Can't see much that can go wrong other than the car breaking down. Like I said our experience was hassle free and fun. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I agree. There isn't too much that can go wrong. But even little things like snow storms can throw a major wrench in your plans when you are covering a 700km stretch of road here. I've had some epically terrible drives over the years here. Once driving between Hakuba and Shizuoka (home) it took nearly 10 hours because of a snow storm and terrible road maintanence. It's usually a 4-4.5 hour drive (about 260kms) on a bad day. It does look like a pretty fun drive though. Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Don't worry, doesn't snow that much these days in Japan Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 it does up north. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Haha. It will here too. Honest. Link to post Share on other sites
flip360 0 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Sounds liek a good trip to me, I would really love to get 3 weeks to do a trip. Just not the reality right now. Just 9 days for us this next winter and we're going to plonk ourselves down in one place so using the trains not a car I think. Would be interested to see how your trip planning goes though. You could do all the work and then perhaps next year we could copy. Link to post Share on other sites
Srog 0 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I'm contemplating the driving thing too. Sounds like a good idea to me, though it's more the cost that puts me off. Just as a ballpark anyone give me an idea of how much I might expect to pay for a small car for a week? Link to post Share on other sites
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