best vacation places in japan?

[Chriz]

hi guys

i want to go to japan for 2 weeks , what are best citys to go ? anyone have experince

osu

chris

[harukaze]

If you've never been to Japan, Tokyo is of course a must. In the surrounding areas, you can also visit Yokohama, Mt. Fuji, Kamakura (a beach town that was once the capital of Japan), and Hakone (a hot springs town with a beautiful lake).

In the West, there's Osaka (the third largest city in Japan and a hub of Western Japanese culture), Kyoto (a former capital that has maintained many beautiful ancient buildings), Nara (the first capital of Japan and home of a famous deer park), Kobe (a very international port city), and more.

I think this should be more than enough for one's first 2 weeks in Japan :)

[smoothsake]

Spend a couple days in the city and then venture out to the countryside. Buy a JR pass. http://www.japanrailpass.net/

[meguro]

Good call on the JR pass, smoothsake. I guess if you haven't been to Japan, any season is just fine. However, the summer months are hot and humid in the big cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto). Tokyo and Kyoto are beautiful in the fall and spring. Osaka, like Las Vegas, looks best at night.

[Bengoshi]

I lived in Japan (mostly in Tokyo) for about three years and I would add these to everyone's (great) suggestions:

Nikko: A day trip from Tokyo (about two hours by train), it is the site of the Toshogu Shrine.

If you are in the Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe area, I would recommend a visit to Himeji Castle - one of the few original castles remaining in Japan. Himeji is 30 minutes by train from Kobe.

Hida-Takayama: Takayama is in Gifu prefecture, central Honshu. It's a lovely little mountain town with many traditional wooden buildings. It's about two hours from Tokyo by Shinkansen (Bullet Train).

Kanazawa: One of the few cities that was spared bombing during World War Two (Kyoto and Kamakura are two other notables), Kanazawa has some beautiful areas - especially the "Chaya" districts (old entertainment areas).

A good two-week trip could start in Tokyo (with day trips to Kamakura, Hakone, Nikko, Yokohama), then take the train up through Takayama, to Kanazawa, then to Kyoto. From Kyoto there are day trips to Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Himeji.

You could easily spend two weeks just exploring Tokyo though - spend each day exploring around two or three stations of the Yamanote Line. :D