Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting there
If you're flying to Tokyo, note that airfares
are at their highest around the Japanese
holiday periods of Golden Week (early
May) and the O-bon festival in mid-August,
as well as at Christmas and New Year,
when seats are at a premium. Flying at
weekends is also generally more expen-
sive; you may end up paying more than
the prices quoted below.
Tokyo isn't a di
cult city for the independent
traveller to negotiate, nor need it be horrendously
expensive. However, if you're worried about the cost
or potential language problems, a
package tour
is worth considering. Flight-and-accommodation
packages can be cheaper than booking the two
separately, particularly if you want to stay in the
more upmarket hotels. Prices for a return flight, five
nights' accommodation at a three- or four-star hotel
and airport transfers begin at around £800 from
the UK, US$1000 from the US and Aus$1800 from
Australia, based on double occupancy.
Chicago or New York; from Los Angeles, US$800;
and from Vancouver, Can$1200.
Flights from Australia,
New Zealand and South Africa
Qantas, Japan Airlines and Air New Zealand operate
nonstop
flights to Tokyo from Australia and New
Zealand. Flying time is around 10hr from Australia
and 12hr from New Zealand.
Return fares
from
Australia to Tokyo are often under Aus$1000 with
Jetstar, who fly from Cairns, Darwin and the Gold
Coast. From New Zealand direct routings will cost
at least NZ$2000, though again you can lop a fair
bit off this by flying indirectly with Jetstar.
Flying
from South Africa
, you'll be routed
through Southeast Asia or the Middle East. Promo-
tional fares can be as cheap as R8000, though you're
more likely to be paying in the region of R11,000
and above.
Flights from other Asian
countries
If you're already in Asia, it can be quite cheap to fly
to Japan with low-cost regional carriers.
Air Asia
(
W
airasia.com) have flights from Kuala Lumpur to
Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo;
Cebu Pacific
(
W
cebu
pacificair.com) head from Manila to the same
desti nations;
Jeju Air
(
W
jejuair.net) go to Tokyo
from Seoul; and
Scoot
(
W
flyscoot.com) scoot into
Tokyo from Singapore and Taipei. Japanese opera-
tions include
Peach
(
W
flypeach.com), who have
flights from Hong Kong, Seoul, Busan, Taipei and
Kaohsiung; and
Vanilla Air
(
W
vanilla-air.com), who
offer flights from Taipei.
Flights from the UK and Ireland
ANA, British Airways, Japan Airlines and Virgin fly
nonstop
from London
to Tokyo, with the trip
taking about 12hr. Return fares start from around
£550, but since you can find occasional special
deals for as low as £400, it pays to shop around.
There are no direct flights
from Dublin
; if you fly
via London, expect to pay in the region of €800.
Flights from the US and Canada
A number of airlines fly nonstop from the US
and Canada to Tokyo, including Air Canada, ANA,
American Airlines, Japan Airlines and United, with
connections from virtually every regional airport.
Flying time is around 15hr from New York, 13hr
from Chicago and 10hr from Los Angeles.
Many flights are offered at substantial discounts,
so keep an eye out for special offers. In general,
return fares to Tokyo start at around US$1000 from
AGENTS AND TOUR OPERATORS
Artisans of Leisure
US
T
1 800 214 8144,
W
artisansofleisure.com.
Luxury private tours including ones focused on food, art and gardens.
AWL Pitt
Australia
T
02 9264 7384,
W
japanpackage.com.au.
Sydney-based agent offering a variety of Japan packages, Japan Rail
Passes, etc.
IACE Travel
US
T
1 866 735 4223,
W
iace-asia.com. US-based
Japan specialist with many packages and themed tours to Tokyo.
A BETTER KIND OF TRAVEL
At Rough Guides we are passionately committed to travel. We believe it helps us understand
the world we live in and the people we share it with - and of course tourism is vital to many
developing economies. But the scale of modern tourism has also damaged some places
irreparably, and climate change is accelerated by most forms of transport, especially flying.
All Rough Guides' flights are carbon-offset, and every year we donate money to a variety of
environmental charities.
