My Japan Trip II: Hiroshima, Miyajima, & Tokyo

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

This is a continuation, as you can see from the title, of my trip with family around the main island of Japan.  I included general tips about transportation in the previous post.  Feel free to ask questions.  I might add places and restaurants that I visited on different trips.   

General Tip: A lot of shopping areas and sightseeing spots close around 5/6pm, so plan ahead.  If you are mostly sightseeing and running around shopping then just wake up and go to bed early.  On the other hand, if you want to party like it is 1999 then you need to figure out when is the last train/ bus/tram you need to catch in order to get back to your hotel.  Taxis can be expensive depending on the city, so I use them as an emergency option.  Although, if you want an experience plan to go clubbing until late and then either head to a 24hour family restaurant (Dennys) or a karaoke spot to either sleep or go for an all-nighter.  The trick to doing karaoke all night (after eating at a bar then clubbing) is to bring caffeine.  You'll probably lose your voice early on, but that'll just make things funnier.  

My Japan Trip Part I: Nagoya, Inuyama, Kyoto, Arashiyama, & Nara

After spending a year abroad in Nagoya, Japan some of my family came over to visit and travel.  I planned an itinerary for four major cities and three day trips to neighboring areas.  I'm going to give you an overview of where we went, where we staid, where we ate, and what we did. I will also include what was on my list of possible activities and such that we didn't get to.  My family is from the Midwest of the United States so they were tired in the middle of the day, so we made time for naps or recharging sometime after lunch or before dinner.  I'm 21 so it is normal for me to stay up late, but my parents go to bed around 10pm.  In other words, there was no night life included.  (The popular, foreigner-friendly club in Nagoya is ID-cafe in Sakae.)

General Tips:
If you are traveling from city to city on the shinkansen then you should order a JR pass.  If you plan on running around then you should consider purchasing a day pass for the subway or bus (based on what city you are in).  Otherwise a train/bus re-chargeable card (that now work in all major cities) will speed up commuting.