/trv/ sticky

Welcome!

/trv/ is a slow board, you don't need to bump more than once a day -- it's OK if your thread is not on the front page, we look several pages deep here. You can do that. too, looking for threads on your topic.

Questions are welcomed, as are threads sharing experiences or generally discussing travel. For very general questions, you can get answers faster at other sites. Google is your friend. Start there, then come back here for specific questions. Some good links for basic info, and a few Pet Peeves of the board, are included within this thread.

General information on holiday destinations:
www.lonelyplanet.com
www.wikitravel.org
www.tripadvisor.com
couchsurfing.org
rideshare.co.uk
hitchwiki.org

Hostels:
www.hostelworld.com
www.hostels.com

Working abroad:
www.workaway.info
www.wwoof.org

ELS/Teaching English:
www.eslcafe.com
http://www.eslteachersboard.com/

Traveling to Japan:


English links
http://www.japanrailpass.net/
http://www.japantravelinfo.com/news/news_item.php?newsid=431
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/stations/index.html
http://tcvb.or.jp/en/
http://www.asakusa-umai.ne.jp/e_asakusa/umai/index.html
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/index.html
http://www.japantravelinfo.com/popculture/
http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/shiryokan/
http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/higaeri/english/
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/series/tokyo-city-guide
http://www.taitocity.com/kanko/asakusa_ueno/e_guide/index.html
http://www.visitjapan.jp/eng/what/index.html
http://www.edowonderland.net/html/en/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/kraminjapan/
http://www.gotokyo.org/en/

Travel by train
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/
http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/stations/index.html
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/

Hotel search:
http://www.japanican.com/hotels/list.aspx?sar=130111&so=c&ref=tokyobigsite
http://www.newkoyo.com/index.html
http://www2.gol.com/users/ryokan-fukudaya/index.html
http://www.katsutaro.com/annex_link.html

Tools:
http://welt-zeit-uhr.de/worldtime.php
http://web2.0rechner.de/
http://rechneronline.de/add-time/
http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/
http://www.realkana.com/katakana/

Currency converter:
http://www.oanda.com/lang/de/currency/converter/

German tokyo guide:
http://www.tokio-reisefuehrer.com/
http://wadoku.de/index.jsp?search=search&ix=1327946095642&phrase=Dateitausch&search=such


Traditional /trv/ Japan Copy-Pasta:

In the Tokyo area:
Akihabara, of course, is the electronic district in Tokyo. You can spend all day just walking around there and looking.
The Meiji-jingu temple near Harajuku is a really nice temple and Harajuku itself is an interesting place to walk around (especially on "cosplay" Sunday)
Ueno has a nice park and zoo and also a lot of museums.
You can visit the Emporer's palace a few blocks from the Tokyo station, but they wont let you in the gates except 2 days a year, in December and January. It has a nice park, though and you can see some of the buildings over the wall a bit.
Tokyo Tower near Akabanebashi station is cool as well as the Zoujoji temple near it.
The Kiyosumi garden was a nice place to visit near the Kiyosumishirakawa station.
Shibuya for lots of shopping for clothes (in asian sizes), but expensive.
Roppongi for the night life. It is foreigner central, plan to stay out all night if you go there and don't bring any credit cards. The clubs and bars like to rip you off if you do.

Outside the Tokyo area:
About a 30 min train ride south is Yokohama. There, visit Sakuragicho (Cosmo World) and the Landmark Tower.
About a 45 min train ride south on the Yokosuka JR line is the really old capitol of Japan, Kamakura. There is a large temple district as well as the largest sitting Buddha in Japan.
If you want to travel a couple hours west, you can go to Odawara and see the beautiful Odawara castle.
About a 45 min train ride northwest of Odawara is Hakone where there are some great Onsens (Hot Springs) and gardens.
Another 30 min bus ride (or a series of trains and a gondalier) north of Hakone is Owakudane where the sulfer springs are at boiling temperature and is a sight to see. They will even boil some eggs for you to eat in the springs.

Airfare:

farecompare.com
onetravel.com
Kayak.com
Momondo.com
Dohop.com/away
http://www.skyscanner.com/
http://www.hipmunk.com/

On flying:

1. Standby. If you saw something on TV or in a movie about showing up at the airport and trying to bargain your way onto the plane, you're hearing about something that was sometimes true under limited circumstances about 30+ years ago. There is such a thing as "flying standby" but it doesn't mean what you think it means. In the modern era it normally describes standing by when you hold an existing ticket for another journey on the same route (not all tickets/airlines/routes/circumstances allow this), or employee pass travel. If you don't know if your ticket allows standby, read the fare rules.

2. Yes, your ticket has a list of fare rules. Read it and don't assume /trv/ is clairvoyant and knows what you bought. That applies to change fees, stopovers, etc.

3. If you don't know what an airline will allow for some special request such as bringing some equipment on board, oversized luggage, etc, CALL THEM. Their job is to tell you that stuff. Same goes for getting official entry requirements for other countries, minimum connection times at various airports, advance check-in time requirements for specific airports (especially early flights), stopover/layover restrictions on a ticket, baggage check and customs clearance procedures, upgrade options, the list goes on.

4. Seatguru.com for equipment details and seat recommendations on a per-aircraft-type basis

5. If you don't yet have a ticket, please don't ask /trv/ what the fare is, or how to get the cheapest fare. Look at the links in this thread.

For all those wanting information on Vagabonding:

http://www.artoftravel.com/index.html
http://www.vagabondjourney.com/

Don't forget visa requirements:
http://www.visahq.com/citizens/

Happy traveling! P.S. Do not post nsfw content on this board.