Need help w/ activities near Yokosuka

Hi,

My husband and I are going in late March of %26#39;09 for 10 days to visit his sister and her husband at the Naval base in Yokosuka. I am completely lost about how to plan a vacation like this! I am needing info about what to see and do around that area. I think we%26#39;re planning on going to Tokyo for a couple of days, but going back to the base each night so that we don%26#39;t have to pay for a hotel. Or would it be cheaper to just stay in Tokyo for a night? I%26#39;m still in college so I know that I can get student discounts on rail passes and stuff, but I honestly don%26#39;t know where to even begin with getting one. We were also wanting to stay in a ryokan at least one night, just to have the experience. Does anyone know of a good, yet not very costly one? We unfortunately don%26#39;t have a whole lot of money to spend, and I%26#39;d rather not spend it all on transportation. We would like to see a play, if possible. Is there anything else that we should try to see? Thank you so much in advance for your help! I really appreciate it!!

Need help w/ activities near Yokosuka

Worthwhile places to visit near Yokosuka include Kamakura, Enoshima and Yokohama. For an onsen experience, consider Hakone.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5209.html

www.hakonenavi.jp/tanbou/17onsen/guide.html

Need help w/ activities near Yokosuka

Does a play mean Kabuki, Musical or Noh ? What kind of play you think about?

Yes, Yokohama and Kamakura for one day trip, Hakone or Izu peninsula area where Ryokan with hot springs are quite close from Yokosuka. So you can visit and stay where you like. search those town and choose you like to go.

Forever11601,

You likely will be in Japan during cherry blossom season - good timing!

You won%26#39;t need any sort of rail pass. You can buy tickets at the train stations and it won%26#39;t cost much at all. All the prices I list are per person, one way.

You can spend a couple days exploring Yokosuka. There are a couple 100 yen shops and the Mikasa battleship park. There are tons of good, cheap restaurants. (You can do a search for more info on any of the places I mention).

You can also easily spend another 2 days exploring Kamakura (about $2.50 by train). Lots of temples, nice walks. One day in Hase - Great Buddah, temples, beach, and one day walking between Kita Kamakura and Kamakura station to see the temples and shopa in between.

Spend one day in Enoshima, a nice island about 40 minutes away by train (maybe $5 by train). Wonderful views, temples, seafood, caves, seafood by the water.

You can spend a couple days in Yokohama (about $6 by train), which is half the way to Tokyo. Sankeien Garden is worth a day visit. Chinatown and the waterfront are another day.

You can spend one day in Hakone. (maybe $20 train and bus)There are nice views of Fuji somedays, but always nice scenery and a nice lake with shrines.

That leaves a couple of days for Tokyo. The crowds on the trains are bad from 8-9am and 5-8pm. Cost is about $12. You wouldn%26#39;t need to spend teh night, but it%26#39;s not much fun to spend an hour packed on the train.

To start planning, I%26#39;d borrow a guide book on Tokyo/Japan from the library and look up Hakone, Yokohama, Tokyo, and Kamakura. Lonely planet has good maps. The guide book will also explain some info on flights, money exchange, trains, etc.

I forgot to mention, for a ryokan, see the reviews on this site for Annex Katsutaro. i haven%26#39;t stayed there, but the price and location are reasonable and the reviews are great. It%26#39;s a modern ryokan, but it%26#39;s mostly about the futons, tatami and hospitality anyway.

For plays, you can catch a single act of kabuki for $7-$10. I plan on doing that in a few weeks.

shochiku.co.jp/play/…single-show.html The English site isn%26#39;t very helpful, but you can find more info searching this forum.

Believe or not, many people who work in Tokyo take 1 - 1.5 hour for commuting each way. Lots of people (incl. my cousin) living in Yokosuka go to Tokyo central for work. So, you don%26#39;t need to have hotel stays in Tokyo if you want to. Perhaps, you will take Keihin Kyuko (Keikyu) line a lot to get for going around. The line goes to Shinagawa Tokyo and some are changed to Asakusa subway line. You can see Sensouji Temple - one of a traditional place in Tokyo. And then Asakusa line connect with Kesei line, it goes to Narita Airport.

For a day trip... rent a car and drive the coast to Miura Hanto in (Miura Peninsula) is pretty. There are some points to see.

When you take a short trip to Hakone or Nikko etc.; then you should have an accommodation.

This is some information in English for Miura Peninsula, Yokosuka, Kamakura etc. by Kanagawa Prefecture.

…kanagawa.jp/osirase/…engdld.html

Cheers!

Wow! Thanks everyone for your incredibly prompt responses! I really appreciate it. I have several guidebooks from the library, including one just on Tokyo, but at first all of the info was overwhelming. I got on here yesterday and researched and read older posts and am kind of starting to figure out what I%26#39;m doing. I saw where you can catch the single act of a play, so I think we%26#39;re going to do that. Thank you for the advice on the trains. I was thinking that I was going to have to get a rail pass to the tune of a couple of hundred of bucks each! That has relieved a good deal of stress in and of itself.

Now, as to the suggestion of renting a car: I read somewhere that one would need an international license. How would I (or my husband more likely) go about getting one? Would my brother-in-law, who%26#39;s military and is stationed there, need one? I know that we can rent cars on base, but I don%26#39;t know about cost or anything else.

Once again, THANKS!!!

Never mind about the driver%26#39;s license. I googled it and found out what I was needing to know.

However, can someone suggest a good book on etiquette? I would rather not offend people, even if I do it unknowingly. =)

Can you post your answer re: international license? I%26#39;d like to know!

re: international driver%26#39;s license

This has been an interesting search. I googled ';International Driver%26#39; License'; and out popped all sort of sites. In Japan, we go the Police Station to obtain an international license, so I had thought you go to your local DMV to do the same in the US, but I guess not!?

Snopes says beware of scams. www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/license.asp

According to the site, only AAA and American Automobile Touring Alliance can sell IDP (International Driving Permit).

http://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html

Fascinating.

Ms. Forever, I%26#39;m not sure if you want to rent a car in Japan. Remember: steering wheel on right side, drive on the left side of the road. You%26#39;ll be so stressed, you won%26#39;t enjoy it. Plus, INSURANCE might cost a pretty penny. Walk and let your feet do the traveling, or take the train and enjoy the scenery.

What did you find out about IDP? Just curious. :-)