How much should I fear golden week in Japan?

1/8/2012 9:40:31 AM

My experience with public holidays in Japan is that traveling via the roads is a disaster. If you are not driving or taking a bus it should be busy but tolerable, else expect to be moving at a few kilometers an hour-even on the more popular country side roads outside of Tokyo. Getting a car park is also near impossible.

Accommodation is also very difficult to find if you haven’t booked a reasonable period in advance.

1/9/2012 4:08:46 PM

No, Tokyo is not a disaster area during golden week. However, flights out of Tokyo may well be more expensive, crowded, or already sold out on the first weekend, and queues may be longer. Another factor is that on the national holidays, some (not all) stores will be closed down, as will be banks (and that includes ATMs in most cases). Possibly also some museums or other attractions (Tsukiji fish market is closed, I think). But most tourism-related things will be open, since golden week is also used by many Japanese people to visit Tokyo as tourists.

All in all, the main reason not to choose plan B is the flight being unavailable or more expensive. If that’s not a problem, go for it.

Credit:stackoverflow.com

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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