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The Imperial Palace, Mt. Fuji and the airport

MWY
MWY
over 9 years ago
18 answers

Hello there,

We will be leaving for Osaka from Tokyo tmr (staying there until Mar 29, will go visit Kyoto from there) and then stay in Hiroshima for 2 nights, then 4 more nights back in Tokyo.

  1. Do we need to make advanced reservations to visit the Imperial Palace in Tokyo?

  2. Can we go to see Mt. Fiji ourselves ( or would it be more desirable to join a tour)? If the former, when (while in Tokyo or Osaka or Hiroshima) and how? How should we get dressed for the occasion (I.e. will it be cold there esp. if we go there ourselves)?

  3. What is the best way to go to the Narita airport from the Westin Hotel in Tokyo? We took the airport limo bus from the Narita airport to the New Otani Hotel in Asakusa (it was expensive, not comfortable and took 2 hours).

Many thanks.

avatar
Daniel-san
18919 posts
over 9 years ago
Expert

Hello there,

1.) The imperial palace itself is not open to public, although you can enjoy the surrounding imperial gardens on any day except Monday, Friday and national holidays. No reservation is required. All the details can be found here.

2.) It completely depends on what you wish to do. The climbing season starts later in the year, so I guess you would want to go for a good view. In that case I would either recommend a visit from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko (and Fuji Five Lakes) or the Hakone area. Both provide an excellent view of Fuji, weather permitting.

3.) The Hotel itself recommends a limousine bus, an alternative is to use the Narita Express to Shinjuku or Shibuya and from there use the Yamanote line to Ebisu station. For there you could either walk or take a taxi.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

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MWY
MWY
18 posts
over 9 years ago

Hello Daniel,

Tks for your prompt reply.

Yes, we'd just like to have a good glimpse of Mt. Fuji (and the Fuji Five Lakes). Would it be closer to get there from Osaka geographically? If going from Tokyo, could we do it ourselves?

If going to Nikko to see the monkeys, can we use the JR passes?

Tks.

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MWY
MWY
18 posts
over 9 years ago

Hello Daniel,

Tks for your prompt reply.

Yes, we'd just like to have a good glimpse of Mt. Fuji (and the Fuji Five Lakes). Would it be closer to get there from Osaka geographically? If going from Tokyo, could we do it ourselves?

If going to Nikko to see the monkeys, can we use the JR passes?

Tks.

Useful!0
avatar
Daniel-san
18919 posts
over 9 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

Tokyo is definitely the better place to visit Fuji from. Osaka is simply too far away. It's not hard to get there, so you can certainly do it yourself.

Travel to Nikko is also covered by the JR Pass.

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Toraneko
Toraneko
1303 posts
over 9 years ago

Mt Fuji is much closer to Tokyo, and as noted the weather is frequently uncooperative. I'd say Hakone makes a better choice since even if the weather is bad there are a lot of other things to see and do.
There's more info at:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5206.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

For Nikko, see:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3800.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3805.html

You can get there using the JR Pass, by bullet train part of the way.

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