Tag: food

Open post
Girona, Spain

Girona – Game of Thrones day trip from Barcelona

Girona for many years was just a place near Barcelona where cheap flights were landing. Maybe because Jandirk is fascinated with Game of Thrones or maybe simply because we were searching for a nice day trip from Barcelona, we ended up going there AND LOVING IT!

Although it’s possible to visit the main sites in a day, I can imagine we could be walking around those little streets for days. Getting lost in the back alleys and finding our ways to the best restaurants. But well maybe next time. Below all the highlights that can’t be missed.

The Cathedral with its staircase

That’s where our day begun to avoid all the potential crowds and at 9 o’ clock we succeeded.

The Cathedral was built between the 11th and 18th century so as you can imagine it features many styles. Part of it is gothic, some Romanesque and some even baroque. For me the most spectacular part was the staircase leading to the church. The stairs (all 90 of them!) are wide, massive and provide plenty of space and interesting perspectives for beautiful pictures. At the bottom of it there is a charming, little square with cafes and as you climb up there are colorful houses on both sides and some terraces to enjoy the view.

Some of you might recognize the sight from the Game of Thrones TV show. I’ve never watched it but Jandirk reported to me all excited, that it looks pretty much like in the series.

Monastery of Sant Domenec

Another location from GoT. It looks a bit like the Cathedral but in mini-version. It also has a staircase leading to it and the same type of architecture. I absolutely loved the little street going to the left just before the stairs. It’s a perfect hideaway and the first step to explore…

…Girona’s old town’s streets and corners  

The part that we love the most about cities like Girona is that there is an old town where most of the people gather around the main sites and there are plenty of tiny cobblestone streets, archways and passages where you can be all by yourself to soak up the beauty. Even though by the time we started diving into the forgotten alleys it was the late afternoon (read. the sites were packed) we were still alone and managed to find even more GoT locations. Which made JD truly ecstatic.

Don’t forget the bridges!

The old town of Girona is separated from the rest by Onyar River and to cross it there are 5 stunning bridges (in the center, 11 in total). We especially liked the Eiffel Bridge that was built around 1877. You can probably guess from the pictures and the name that it was designed by the same gentleman that created the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The bridge itself is honestly quite a sight but the views from it are truly one of a kind. On both sides you can see the vivid facades of the riverside homes. The flags hanging from many of them will leave you in no doubt that it’s Catalonia you’re in, not Spain.

Another bridge that we loved was the Princess Bridge. It’s probably the most romantic one of them all and also from this one we got a great view of those colorful houses.

The last one that we would recommend to see is the Stone Bridge. It’s the biggest one and when we were there it had a lovely arts& crafts market. I don’t know if that’s a rule or just a temporary thing though so don’t get your hopes up.

Arabic bath

It’s a really tiny spot but for Game of Thrones’ fans it’s a big joy. Another location! I was not too impressed but JD was over the moon. And that for just 2 euros p.p. More info here.

TIP! Some of the GoT locations didn’t knock me off my feet so I didn’t include them as a must see on here but you can find them here and here.

Walking over the city walls

Passeig de la Muralla as they call it, it’s the best way to get a gorgeous panorama of the city with a backdrop on the distant Pyrenees. It shows you the old and the new harmoniously together. The oldest parts of the walls date back to the Roman times. I was shocked to read that the passage was in pretty good shape until the 19th century when the city started to expand… Thankfully nowadays it’s reconstructed and this 3 km walk is seamless again.

I would recommend to do it in the afternoon, if you come here in the summer, to avoid being exposed to the worst heat.

There are various entrances (all of them free). You can enter through Jardin de la Infancia or Jardines de la Francesa (those are close by the cathedral) or Jardines de John Lennon.

Ice cream time!!

Girona is practically a fine dining capital so to deny yourself at least that top notch ice cream would be a sin! That's what we told ourselves when on our way to Rocambolesc Gelateria.

This tiny shop with a massive queue stretching outside is the baby of Jordi Roca, the dessert chef at the three- star legendary restaurant El Celler de Can Roca… where we wouldn’t be able to eat because of a months of fully booked waiting list and a potentially ruining receipt coming with the experience.

However the ice cream place is a more affordable option to try some wicked flavors… and shapes 🙂

The prices start at 2.5 euro for a “normal looking” sorbet ice cream like bloody mary, gin tonic, mojito or pina colada. The more twisted the shape and flavor the more expensive it gets. Rose water and strawberry ice cream in the shape of a nose costs 4 euro, chocolate, raspberry and yogurt “birthday cake” is 5.50 euro. There is also a Lord Vader, a bear, a hand (GoT 😉 ) and God knows what comes next 🙂

If you don’t get a chance to visit that shop, where it all started, you still can enjoy the same flavors at one of their other shops in Barcelona, Madrid or Alicante.

Sangria or two at the Independence Square

This 19th century square is a perfect place to end your day in Girona. It’s full of life, nice cafes and restaurants. Every building surrounding it has a nice passage with arches and plenty of tables to hide away from the sun.

How much does it cost to travel in Singapore? Our budget and tips

Our budget from Singapore is, by far, the most we spent in a country per day. For low budget lovers: it might be tricky to enjoy your time on budget especially if staying in an Airbnb, hostel or hotel. On the other side if you manage to volunteer or stay at someone’s house Singapore will turn out to be actually pretty cheap.

Over 7 days we spent 821 euro for the both of us. That gives us around 59 euros per person per day. I have to mention that it’s a budget packed with tickets, everyday exploring, not much cooking and a bit of a splurge when it comes to accommodation. Let’s go into details.

 

Where did we travel?

We mostly stayed in the center of Singapore, we made sure our Airbnb was close enough to walk to most of the interesting spots. Except for that we went a bit outside of the center to visit the Chinese Gardens and the Joo Chiat Peranakan Houses.

How did we travel?

We mostly walked. Thankfully that was possible since our apartment was pretty centrally located. Honestly the highlights in Singapore are not far from each other.

The 32 euros mentioned in transportation include two uber rides to the spots that were further and not so easily accessible. The rest we spent on metro.

Where did we stay?

Accommodation was the biggest part of our budget especially since we decided to splurge a bit. We didn’t want to stay somewhere far away and travel to the center for a long time. We decided that since we were coming only for a week we would treat ourselves. We stayed in a nice room in an Airbnb apartment in a very nice art-deco neighborhood. The room itself was really stylish, cosy and with so needed airco. The apartment less so… It was a world apart: hot, dirty, not really well maintained. It's immediately obvious why we only saw the pictures of the room on Airbnb. Anyway we were satisfied. That luxury cost us 462 euros for 7 nights.

TIP! If you want to stay somewhere nice but reasonably priced the only option is an airbnb or  hotel rooms without windows… I saw plenty of those on booking.com and honestly it took me a while to notice that they didn’t have a window. The pictures almost fooled me…

When looking for an airbnb make sure you check the location as many cheaper spots will be over the border already in Malaysia or really far from the center.

What did we eat?

We mostly ate local food in omnipresent food markets and food courts. Nothing extravagant but pretty good and for a reasonable price. We chose between thai curries, hainese chicken and any other goodies that they had to offer. Few times we even scored really cheap coffee or tea to accompany our meals. On average we spent 13-20 SGD (around 8-13 euro) per time for both of us. In total we paid 94 euros on eating out.

Everything we spent on ingredients for our lunches and breakfasts, which we prepared at our Airbnb, we included in the food section. Whole 97 euros. This one also contains many liters of water that we had to buy during the running around Singapore. I mention it because water was surprisingly expensive especially considering that in such a climate we drunk insane amounts of it. We always tried to look for a food court where water was cheaper than at any convenience store.

How expensive are museums, tours etc?

Good news is that there is plenty to see for free. There is no entrance fee to see the Gardens by the Bay, stunning shophouses’ facades or the Botanical Gardens.

That said there are quite few unmissable spots that cost a lot. National Gallery entrance depends on the exhibition and if you want to see just one or all of them. We paid 60 SGD for us both (around 38 euros). On the bright side you can explore the building itself and its amazing terrace for free which we didn’t know.

For both conservatories in Gardens by the Bay (since we couldn’t buy just one) we painfully said goodbye to 56 SGD (around 35 euros).

All in all we spent 107 euros on entrance fees.

Where did the rest of our money go?

In the 29 euros in miscellaneous and equipment we included printing boarding passes and contact lenses that we bought for JD.

Money- saving tips and tricks

  1. Pay attention where your hotel/ hostel/ Airbnb is. You really don’t want to stay in Malaysia instead of Singapore! Try to stay centrally to limit the transportation costs.
  2. Check out your credit card deals! For paying with Mastercard we got a free ticket to the OCBC Skywalk.
  3. Eat locally! Food at local food courts and food markets is really affordable, not to mention the coffee. It’s a huge difference compared to even a mediocre restaurant.
  4. Take as much water as possible from your accommodation. If you really need to buy more, try local food courts rather than convenience stores.
  5. Try to volunteer! Accommodation is pretty pricey so try to volunteer to limit the costs. Not to mention the benefits of submerging in the local culture.
  6. Enjoy the free attractions. Many spots in Singapore are free of charge. You can see the whole building of the National Gallery including the terrace for free (except for the exhibitions obviously), same with Gardens by the Bay, light show on Supertrees or Marina Bay Sands Mall. Even the Botanical Garden is free. So if you’re staying for a short period of time and you are on a tight budget than maybe think about exploring the free options first.

Exchange rate used: 1 Euro = 1.6 SGD

Where and what to eat and drink in Taipei? Our favorite spots and dishes

  1. Tiny dumpling place

Unfortunately we have no idea how the place was called, if it even had a name but we know exactly where it was 🙂 we tasted so many dumplings everywhere on Taiwan but this little spot had the best ones by far. They were also pretty cheap, served in a very cozy place and the ladies working there were really sweet, although none of them spoke a word of English. After some time we also got fond of their water with floating jelly. I guess in a country where bubble tea is a religion, you just have to end up liking things like that. It helps that it was included in the service 🙂

  1. Mouthwatering gua-bao

This humble steamed bun with pork belly turned out to be our favorite dish. And after trying many around the island we unanimously decided one night market won. It had the best quality of meat, least amount of fat and most coriander and grounded peanuts. From our experience the quality of food on night markets was lower and lower the bigger the night market was. So in places where it was really crowded, the food was mediocre while smaller spots maintained high quality and often prepared the food fresh on the spot. The same night market had also the best barbecue with the most variety of veggies and meats and the most decadent sweet chilly sauce. Just next to that stand there was another one with spectacular roti with either eggs, bacon or just veggies. You will find it on our map below.

  1. Chinese food at its finest

Liu Pin Xiao Guan Chinese Restaurant was by far the most amazing restaurant we have visited on Taiwan. In this case looks are very deceiving, it seems like a so-so spot and the food doesn’t look very fancy but the taste is out of this world. They had a spectacular clam soup, noodle dishes, stir fries and fish. I honestly can’t believe they would have something disappointing.

  1. Get fruity everywhere

The whole island has an insane selection of all sorts of fruit. The availability changes with seasons but in general you can get passion fruits, dragon fruits both red and white ones, lychees, white pineapples and so much more. I have never made so many smoothies in my life. And I really miss those.

  1. The best fruit sorbet

With such a variety of fruit available, there are many spots offering juicy sorbet's. Nothing helps coping with the heat of the island better than a cool refreshment. After a very in-depth research we concluded that the ones sold at the Songshan Cultural Park were the best!

  1. Beef noodles worth queuing for

Taoyuan Street Authentic Shandong Beef Noodle might look humble from the outside but their beef noodle soup is worth standing in the queue. It’s delicious and full of flavor and their beef is soft and tender.

  1. Bubble tea EVERYWHERE!

Bubble tea is THE thing to drink on Taiwan. This tea based drink was invented on the island and rocked the whole world. There are so many varieties that the best way is to try them all and choose your favorite one. Give a chance to small businesses as well as big chains. I especially loved assam black tea with milk and tapioca balls. Jandirk was more a fan of a sweeter, fruitier type of teas with balls and fruit jellies 🙂

  1. More traditional tea

The island is famous for its teas especially for oolong and assam black tea. For more traditional tea tasting there is just one number one in Taipei- Wisteria Tea House. It’s a beautiful spot that looks like a Japanese tea house with our favorite tatami floors. Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to visit them. We were unlucky to find it either closed or too busy to serve us. We were more than happy with lovely number two –C-tea-loft. This is a bit more modern tea house with an insane selections of teas and a very friendly staff that will eagerly tell you all about those.

  1. Coffee stop

Although tea is the national drink, coffee game is getting stronger and stronger especially in the capital. There are quite some popular and nice chains like Cama Cafe where they roast their own beans at the spot or Louisa Coffee with stylish interior and more delicate coffee. Our favorite one turned out to be the very artistic Artalley Cafe. Maybe the staff was a bit clueless but the coffee was good and the interior was stunning with super comfy chairs and a massive book selection.

How to save money during traveling?

These days traveling is almost for everyone. There is something for every budget. Although the smaller the budget the more effort and research it costs. After more than 2 years on the road I got pretty good in finding ways to save and I would love to share it with you guys.

Accommodation

That’s the biggest part of any budget and the most essential part of any journey. Everyone has to sleep somewhere, right?

Airbnb

Airbnb offers the most original and interesting accommodations possible. Sleeping in a castle, trailer, hammock or a tree house. All there, it’s just a matter of money. It’s not a cheap option but many times it’s worth the price and there are possibilities to lower the costs. Here is how:

  • Booking your first trip you get a discount on your first reservation. You can also use a discount send by a friend or partner. Inviting a next person into the Airbnb world get you a discount when that person books her/his first stay.
  • Weekly/monthly discounts. Many places offer a special price for longer stays. Some for a week, some for a month. It can be 10% or even 50%. It all depends on the owner. Some places do not even except stays shorter than a certain amount of days. We saw a place in Kyoto that didn’t accept any reservation under 22 days. We managed to get an apartment on Taiwan with a discount of 45% above 28 days stay. If you want to stay longer it’s worth searching for offers like that.
  • Special offer. The host can send you a special offer. We had few situations when we asked about a room and the host just send us a discount to push us to book. Or when he committed a mistake with our booking and had to switch rooms for us. Other times we saw that some spots had discounts for low season. When we started using airbnb we didn't know that the price can be negotiable, now we know that in some situations we can just ask. We got 10 % off in Malaysia just like that.

Booking.com, hostelworld and knocking at the door

Many of you ask if it’s better to book or just show up. There is no simple answer to that. What we usually do is checking few spots we like and compare the prices on booking, hostel world or any other of those pages. Then we check if the hostel has its own web page with better deals. Since hostels need to pay to booking they sometimes offer better prices at their own web page for people to book directly with them. If not it's worth sending an email and asking for a nice deal especially if you want to stay for a couple of nights. Usually staying longer than 3 nights is good enough to bargain. If it’s dead season, you’re aiming for, you can just pop by at the spot and ask. That’s the best option to get the best offer since if you’re not taking the room, there is a big chance no one else will…

If you're really on a tight budget some hostels allow camping or hanging your own hammock (especially popular in Colombia).

Couch surfing

Although we don’t really like that method, you can also consider staying for free with a local via Couch surfing. Make sure you choose your host carefully. Some stories about CS are quite epic and include harassment or stealing. We saw pretty many listings where guys were only offering a place to sleep for ladies and only in their own bed. Often CS offers not much flexibility, you can stay when the host is there but when she/he goes to work you have to go out as well. You are also expected to be rather social so if you don’t click it’s a bit of a miss to begin with. That I’m not gonna mention that both sides can cancel the agreement any time which can leave you on the street…

 House sitting

The idea behind house sitting is taking care of someone else's house while they are away on vacation. It usually involves taking care of animals as well as just being present at the house. We never tried that option during our journey simply because the countries we traveled to didn't have enough options to make sure that we at least got our fee and hassle back (some web pages require recommendation letters and other paper work). But if you're going to Europe, Australia, Canada or the US it's definitely worth trying. I have done it once in Amsterdam for a friend of a friend and I really liked it. You live like a local and stay in a local neighborhood and you also get a companion, dog or a cat or various 🙂 Some of the most popular web pages that other travelers recommended to us are: Trusted Housesitters and Mind My House

 

Transport

Another big part of any budget is transport. Often it can be the most expensive part of the trip. Flying to Colombia can cost way more than staying there for 2 weeks, especially on a low budget.

Flying is the most expensive mean of transportation and whenever we have to book a flight we make sure we book the best possible option. I always stay alert on deals from Secret flying, fly4free and many polish sites like Mleczne Podroze. From fly4free we got, for example, our flight Paris- Buenos Aires for 380 euros each.

Because I'm still a bit of a planning freak I also check skyscanner, kayak and momondo frequently. We also signed up for many airlines newsletters.

For others transportation we ask locals around about deals for buses or in some countries we bargain. In most Latin American countries that’s what you absolutely need to do. Leave your shame behind and do your best, otherwise you’re gonna get a true “gringo” price (gringo- white foreigner, in some countries the word is used for the white visitors from the US).

Food

The best way to save money on food is to cook as often as possible. To do that we always tried to get a place with a kitchen. We also always tried to use local ingredients rather than the ones we knew and loved from back home. Humble mozarella can be cheap in Europe but in Colombia the price can leave you speechless. So forget what you know and sail away in the supermarket. Reading some food blogs beforehand is not a bad idea. Otherwise you really don't know what you buy and how to prepare it.

Second best is eating locally, in the most crowded places. Giant queues give you a better chance for good food and a reasonable price.

Others

Great way of saving money as well as getting to know the country from the inside is volunteering. You can do that via web pages like workaway (for hostels, farm work, English teacher and pretty much anything), WWOOFing (farm work) or just ask around once there. More about volunteering read our post here.

If you have certain skills you can also exchange them for accommodation, food or excursion. Let’s say you speak Spanish and English, you can translate on a hike and go for free or even get paid. That's what I did on the Ciudad Perdida hike. Same with skills like photography, web design or cooking. Imagination is the limit! The most crucial part is to ask. Those who don’t ask always miss opportunities.

Open post

12 Japanese delicacies we will miss

Flavors in Japan won’t punch you in your face like in Korea, won’t knock you off your feet like on Sri Lanka but they will slowly charm you with subtle flavors. That’s what happened to us and we are completely hooked.

Japan presented us with new ingredients but it also gave us a new concept of a meal. We discovered how great it is to eat a tiny bit of everything. Enjoying bite after bite, each flavor seems more intense and new… and you end up eating less!

  1. Green goodness from the sea- Nori

Or simply seaweed. Before Japan I always thought it was only used to roll sushi but little did I know that it was the best snack at any time. Not to mention what a great addition it is for any meal as well 🙂 Almost like chips but than healthier and so much more delicious!

  1. Bowl of umami- miso soup

No meal could be complete without a bit of miso soup. It’s such an easy soup based on miso paste which is made of soy. What goes in there is pure creativity of the chef, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, maybe some seaweed. Everything's allowed. The taste is not comparable to anything, pure umami goodness that brings warmth and joy to your body.

  1. Sour, sour and even more sour- pickles

After miso soup, pickles are the most important part of every meal. I have never seen such a variety of sour goodness. There are daikons, plums, cucumbers, eggplants and whatever else you could imagine. It’s something that has been around for ages as one of the easiest methods to preserve the food. I was shocked by how many different techniques there are, pickles can be made with miso paste, vinegar, roasted rice bran or humble salt. 

  1. Our guilty pleasure- candied ginger

Jandirk got especially addicted to it. It's definitely something only a few people can like as it’s this weird combination of sweet and very spicy.

  1. Decadent goodness- okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki are kind of pancakes made on a hot plate that hero cabbage and batter. We especially loved the ones that put you straight into a food coma, with bacon, egg, shrimp, lots of soy sauce and shavings of smoked bonito. People on a diet can downscale their choice a bit and go for a bit more basic option...

  1. Pancake balls- Takoyaki

Takoyaki are decadent ball pancakes stuffed with octopus and topped with a decadent sauce and smoked bonito shavings. They reminded us a lot of okonomiyaki but because of their small size they seem a bit less unhealthy. There is not a single food market or event in Japan without them so don’t worry, you won't have to search.

  1. Japan’s famous- sushi and sashimi

Japan is associated with raw food, sometimes I feel like half of the world thinks that it’s all there is. It’s not but it is a big part of the culture. What most people don’t realize, it requires a lot of technique and finesse to put a great sushi together and to slice the sashimi to perfection. With quality comes the price so we haven’t eaten much of the fancy sushi or sashimi. But I have to admit that what is sold in some belt restaurants or even some supermarkets is just to die for!

  1. Upgraded hot pot- Shabu shabu

It’s just a humble broth put on a little stove at the table. But that’s the whole beauty of it. It’s like pure Christmas. Everyone sits around the table and dips in whatever they want. It can be pork, Chinese cabbage or spinach. At first it seemed a bit weird to get raw ingredients and cook your own meal at the table. Especially that that's what you get in a restaurant as well. But it's just pure fun and such a beautiful experience to share. At the very end when the soup is almost finished, you throw beaten eggs in there with some rice and eat that. So don't forget to leave some place for those last bits. So simple and so delicious!

  1. Noddles like no others- soba

Those buckwheat, thin noodles are Japanese natives. Low price, fast serving time and enormous variety makes them a perfect backpacking meal for every taste. It seems to be a bit of a Japanese fast food option.
The best soba we had was in Hakone. Perfectly thin, al dente, it was so good that many people ate just the noodles without the broth. It’s popular to dip them in some yam paste with raw egg. As weird as it sounds and as slimy as it is, it’s delicious. In a country with no cheese that’s as close as you will ever get to indulgent and creamy.

  1. God´s drink- Sake

Everything tastes better with sake. It’s a drink that could accompany every single meal. Dry, mild, cold one by the dinner, warm, sweet one by the dessert. Not to mention the one with rice particles could be the dessert on it’s own.

  1. Good for everything- Green tea

We have been tea lovers all our lives but Japan got us addicted to green tea. We started drinking liters of it, hot and cold. Not to mention the very bitter, intense matcha that we were seeing and tasting everywhere

  1. White and essential- tofu

Comes in a variety of forms and uses. It can be soft or hard and watch out… it can be even deep fried. The last one is sliced very thinly and deep fried twice. It looks like many sheets stacked together and its fluffy and airy. To be quite honest I didn’t know it was tofu when I tasted it and even less that it had anything to do with oil. I naively thought it was healthy…

Open post
Hakone, Japan

How much does it cost to travel in Japan? Our budget and tips

Japan can be described with many words but cheap is not one of them. Transportation, accommodation, food…practically everything is pricey. No wonder it was our biggest budget fear. We prepared ourselves mentally to spend just under 100 euro a day for us both. Sounds like a lot but believe me, that’s low budget.

Surprisingly we ended up spending “just” over 7000 euro in 89 days. So that makes 40 euros per day per person.

So let’s break it down. Where did all the money go?

 

Where did we travel?

We visited many cities like Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagoya and even Fukuoka in the south. We also explored a lot of the countryside in the Gifu prefecture, Iya Valley and surroundings of the big cities. Unfortunately we didn’t get to go all the way north but hopefully that will still come.

How did we travel?

We didn’t want to spend much on transportation so we used local trains, buses and ferries. So no bullet train for us.

On transportation we spend a massive part of our budget (1597 euro). Short distance buses weren’t huge budget breakers. For example a trip from Kyoto to Sanzenin (1hr) cost 550 yen (so around 4 euro each). Buses on mountainous roads were a completely different story. The steeper the mountain, the more expensive it got. To get from Hakone village to the lake nearby we paid 820 yen each (almost 7 euro) for maybe around 40 min ride. In Iya Valley it got even more expensive.

For long distance travels we sticked to the buses especially to Willer Express, they offered a lot of direct connections for good prices. The journey with them from Kyoto to Fukuoka cost us 5900 yen (around 47 euro). It was a very comfy, overnight bus.

For short journeys between the cities or day trips we used local trains. For example to go from Nagoya to Nabana No Sato garden we paid 400 yen each (around 3 euro)

Where did we stay?

The most economic accommodation turned out to be aribnb so we stayed a lot in small studios with private kitchen, bathroom and all the Japanese crazy commodities of life. In Hiroshima we got a lovely studio with bikes, super-fast wifi and even pocket wifi that we could take with us. All that for only 33 dollars a night. Most of our Airbnb studios were really great value for money, pretty and in range of 30-40 dollars. It’s really hard to believe but they were way cheaper than dorms or guesthouses.

In more rural areas where there was no studio to rent we had to go for hostels. In Hakone we slept in a double capsula for 10400 yen per night (around 83 euro), by far our most expensive accommodation. In Iya valley we stayed in a charming, traditional double room with tatami floor and futon for almost 70 euro per night for us both.

We also spend 2 weeks volunteering in a guesthouse, south of Nagoya where we stayed for free. Except for that we visited a friend and stayed at her grandma’s house for a few days in Osaka. Those saved us a lot of yen… that probably went for food 🙂

In total we stayed 50 nights in Airbnb studios, 18 nights in a variety of shared accommodations, mostly capsula style and the rest in “free” accommodations volunteering or visiting. In total we paid 2558 euro on accommodation.

What did we eat?

We fell in love with Japanese food and its variety. We ate a lot of seaweed, sushi, sashimi and a variety of veg. Since most of the time we had a kitchen, we cooked a lot. But we also ate out to try authentic local cuisine. We went to mid-range restaurants as well as markets, bars and very local ramen micro-restaurants. During volunteering and visiting we enjoyed a lot of Japanese goodies cooked by our hosts.

The only drawback were ridiculous prices of fruit which forced us to limit ourselves to bananas and kiwis…

Overall we spent 2227 euro out of which 473 euro went on eating out and the rest for grocery shopping or convenient store sushi.

How expensive are museums, tours etc?

On tourism we spend 296 euros and that includes entries to castles, museums, gardens and sake tastings.

Most castles cost around 500 yen (around 4 euro). The most expensive ticket (2300 yen so around 18 euro each) was Nabana No Sato, amazing gardens and a bit of a theme park in one.

Where did the rest of our money go?

273 euro in the equipment section of our budget went for clothes that we bought in Japan. We treated ourselves with some amazing socks, t-shirts and replacement for stuff that was worn down. I also bought some Japanese cloth that can be folded to a very nice purse and that according to Jandirk is an essential thing to have and therefore belongs to equipment.

In 98 euro from miscellaneous we included postcards, chopsticks and small souvenirs we bought for ourselves as well as luggage storage and small expenses that didn’t fit in any other category.

Our tips to save money in Japan

  1. Stay in Airbnbs ! ! ! Huge budget saver! I know Airbnb seems to be “the more pricey” option but in Japan it’s really the cheapest that there is. It requires a bit of planning in advance, the best places fly out of the window pretty fast. It’s also better for stays longer than 4 days, just because of the cleaning fee and Airbnb fee which then spreads nicely without hurting your sight and account. Many of the properties have pretty great discounts for stays above 7 nights. If your schedule is flexible, you want to stay longer in a place and you want great value for your money, Airbnb is the way to go!
  2. Consider volunteering! Japan is not a country that you can understand over a day or two. It’s a long, never-ending process and the best way to do it is to volunteer. You get closer to the people that live there, you can ask them questions and see their lifestyle. Not to mention that you can help them! For opportunities in guesthouses, farms and yoga centers go to Workaway.
  3. Go to the tourist information. Except for Tokyo we met nothing but kindness and a sea of help in the tourist information. Those people are magicians, they know everything and what they don’t know, they will find out for you. They can book you a ticket, find a bus, inform you about millions of discounts and save you a lot of money. Japan has a lot of special tickets and offers for foreign travelers but they are pretty complicated so you really need someone to clear all of them up for you and fish out what could work for you.
  4. Use million transportation discounts. They vary per region and per city. Tokyo has metro cards valid for 1 or multiple days and the price changes depending on your home station. In the Kansai region you have a special ticket to see the whole area of Osaka, Kyoto and Nara. Some tickets include entrance to castles or public baths. With multiple day tickets sometimes they need to be used for consecutive days but sometimes you can choose the days and even use the ticket together with a few other people. We even came across tickets that you can only buy when you’re still in your own country and pick them up on the spot. It’s a pretty confusing and twisted system. Over time we realized the discounts were not meant for long term, slow travelers. They require a bit of a pace and tight schedule to get the value out.
  5. Take Willer Express! This bus company offers the cheapest buses and plenty of different connections. They also have a loyalty program, you save points every time you travel with them and then you can use them as discount on your next trip. Their webpage is in English and buying tickets online is super easy. You don’t even have to print them!
  6. Take a look at the Japan Guide. It’s an amazing guide book for culture and sights in Japan but they also give you all the transportation info. For each destination they show the cheapest, the fastest and the easiest route. Be prepared though, it’s almost never 3 in 1.

P.S. Exchange rate used for the overall budget 1 EURO = 119 YEN

Posts navigation

1 2 3 4 5 6