Vitz - Travel With A Butterfly

This is a series of four blog posts because of the number of different places I went to for my Japan trip, and I want each post short enough to keep you from getting bored but long enough to provide you as many details as I could.

This first post will focus on the western parts beyond Tokyo – Izu Peninsula, Hakone, and Gotemba. The second part will focus on Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes, especially focus on Mt. Fuji since I feel it deserves a more special post. The third part will focus on Nagoya, and the fourth post will focus on Tokyo. The Gotemba was mainly going to the Gotemba Premium Outlets, and we actually went on two separate days. So it was outlets, Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes, then a revisit to Gotemba again. Continue reading Let’s Drive: Izu Peninsula, Hakone, Gotemba (Japan Part One)

Quick tips about Hokkaido:

The people here do not speak any English… like at all. You’d expect the hotels to know English, but a majority of the staff couldn’t speak the language even one bit
As yen continues to depreciate, the value there keeps getting cheaper. I was extremely happy with what I was getting for food and for shopping for the price I was paying
So yeah it’s a food paradise
Since public transportation is quite expensive, and since the weather can be a bit harsh in winter times, I would actually recommend renting a car if you have a group of three or more. 4 days rental was quoted at 29,000 yen including insurance
If you are traveling short distances and going with 3 or more people, you can consider riding a taxi too
Felt very safe the entire trip
If you want to see the autumn leaves, you should go there around Sept / Oct. If you want to go for skiing / snowboarding, you should go there around December to February
Sapporo is a great city, but to appreciate Hokkaido’s scenery, you really have to go outside the city to other parts of Hokkaido

Continue reading Hokkaido in November