Leeds - Tokyo

[Bayum]

I've always been a Japan fan. Pokemon, the bullet train, lovely Kyoto and the business! With my ill health it's always been something that I've sought after and not considered. I'm now looking to screw the health and at least look in some detail at going for it.

I'm posting in the forum as I'd like a little help with a few things. There are a number of specifics I'd like to tick off if I'm going to make this worth my while.
These are:
Travel on an A380
Experience travel on the bullet train, more specifically the N700 series. Trips to Kyoto and a number of other places should cover that relatively easily for me.
Spend some time on the Tokyo metro
Stay in Tokyo prefecture; Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda.

Is anyone able to help with planning these in? I've tried looking for flights to Tokyo on the A380 and there are only a couple of operators from Europe from what I could see, but I couldn't find any timetables! Times would be fantastic. Anything on cost, places to stay/visit, input on medication usage over there would be fantastic!

 

[me123]

According to AirlineRoute.net, there are no A380 flights from Europe to Tokyo. Tokyo is served only by Thai (from Bangkok) and Singapore Airlines (Singapore to Tokyo to LA).

If you want an A380, looks like your best bet (from your location) would be from Manchester. You can fly Emirates (EK) to Dubai on an A380, and onwards on a B777. Alternatively, you can fly to Singapore and then to Japan on an A380 from there, but those fares are much more expensive, involve a stop in Munich, and give you less time on an A380 compared to EK.

If you look at random EK flights in October (Sun 9th-Sun 23rd), I'm getting various combinations of the following flights (with MAN A380s highlighted):
MAN - DXB ... 10:00 - 20:00 (+1) B777
MAN - DXB ... 14:00 - 00:15(+1) A380
MAN - DXB ... 21:15 - 07:25 (+1) A380

DXB - HND ... 08:00 - 22:45 B777
DXB - NRT ... 02:50 - 17:35 B777

NRT - DXB ... 22:00 - 04:15 (+1) B777
HND - DXB ... 00:30 - 06:45 B777

MAN - DXB ... 03:00 - 07:50 B777
MAN - DXB ... 07:25 - 12:05 A380
MAN - DXB ... 14:35 - 19:20 A380

Fares in the £600pp range return in Economy class - seems to be about the going rate for these flights. Exact fare will depend on dates and combinations of flights, so shop around based on the dates you have available.

 

[Zerothebrake!]

Hiya,

You could try Korean from Heathrow (380 to Seoul) and buy a jaw ticket with them to fly into Tokyo and return from either Sapporo or Fukuoka using a Japan railpass to get about.

This would be the most cost effective way of experiencing the bullet trains and seeing the country itself.

Accomodation can be had for £30 pn ( including the airports) and eating out can be very reasonable too.

I did over £2100 worth of travel on a £300 three week railpass last year and had a really great time.

Hope that you decide to go as it's a marvelous place to visit.

Cheers,
ZTB.

 

[47513 Severn]

I flew with Emirates via Dubai last September and the Gatwick-Dubai leg was a 380 both ways. I wasn't specifically looking to fly on one but Emirates were the best offer price and timings wise (about £600 less than BA direct as I was booking less than a month before). Cheaper options were possible but they involved arriving or departing at silly times.

I can recommend the Sunroute Plaza hotel in Shinjuku. The rooms are a little small but excellent all the same and I thought the price was reasonable. It is very close to Shinjuku station but print yourself a map anyway, it took me over an hour to find the first time I went! Shinjuku station is similar to Bank in London, essentially several separate stations on one site with passages between them and numerous exits.

The Japanese railway museum is a short journey away (I forget the name of the city) which can be made by bullet train.

All in all an excellent place to visit. Don't worry about the language, nearly all the signs and maps etc have English translations and there are many English speakers.

 

[Ianno87]

My wife flew to/from Tokyo via Doha with Qatar Airways last year - Qatar use an A380 on some of their Heathrow-Doha flights.

We also flew together with them to Malaysia/Singapore last year, with an A380 each way Heathrow <> Doha

 

[bangor-toad]

Japan is a very different country to the UK with many things that are very different to what we’re used to and expect. That makes a trip there even more interesting and having been a few times I’d really recommend it and that you go to see yourself…

Flights.
Stating the obvious it’s a long way. For simplicity a direct flight is good but as others have mentioned there don’t seem to be any direct A380 flights.
If you are going to get a connecting flight why not do it somewhere interesting and stop over there? There are a few options in the Middle East. If that doesn’t interest you then there are south east Asian routes through Hong Kong, Bangkok or Singapore. Then there are options through Korea, China or Vietnam. Or you can change in Europe somewhere.
Personally I prefer to avoid overnight flights wherever possible. But others have different views. You can construct a UK – Japan itinerary many ways and select whichever you prefer. Expedia seems to show the plane type so that might be the place to check if the A380 is important to you.


Travel in Japan.
Why not fly into one city in Japan and travel to another to leave? On one of my trips there I flew into Fukuoka (in the south) and travelled up to Tokyo over a few days on the trains.
Whatever you do – get a Japan RailPass before you go. It saves a *lot* of money. I think it’s £184 for 7 days and that’s well worth it.


Food.
Restaurants often have plastic models of the food they serve. If language is a barrier, polite pointing works well.
Alternatively there are always convenience stores nearby and they all sell prepacked food. If you’re brave and/or hungry there are also many vending machines that sell food, even if you can’t immediately work out what it is!


Places to go.
Tokyo itself is big and has lots.
Try to visit the madness of Akihabara – even if you don’t understand what’s going on it’s great.
Get the DLR-like train out to Tokyo Big Sight – for the ride over the Rainbow Bridge

Visit the cities of Kyoto and Hiroshima.
Go to Jigokudani Monkey Park to watch monkeys lounge around in hot springs. (As seen on many nature documentaries)

Have a great trip.
Mr Toad