Non Stop Family

Traveling to the distant and mysterious city of Tokyo is a dream come true for many of us who love to travel. However, from an early age, we got used to associating the idea of traveling to Tokyo with the high price associated with that trip and that has always been one of our concerns, especially since we started traveling with our son because Family travelers know that travel costs increase with parenting.

Trying to overcome these fears, it was not until 2018 that we finally managed to make one of our dreams come true and to know one of the cities that most delighted us to know, and that we really advise visiting, because we had a wonderful experience that we will surely repeat.

Is Tokyo expensive?

Before answering this question, we invite you to visit our post to get to know our Tokyo city trip and itinerary in detail (click here for our 4 day Tokyo itinerary).

But let's go looking to answer the real question and the reason for our post: is it expensive to travel to Tokyo?

Traveling to Tokyo by plane often tends to be very expensive. However, we will not address much about the price of air travel to Tokyo. Of course, this always depends on your place of origin and, in our case, a trip from Europe to Tokyo is never cheap, but we can also guarantee that it is currently possible to do it at prices that would have been impossible to reach a few years ago. which has allowed more and more people to visit the city, the capital of Japan.

Now what we were afraid of was the cost of living in Tokyo, because for many years we had heard stories of the absurd prices of, for example, buying a watermelon in Tokyo, which really made us terrified and wondered how we could afford our money. stay in the city.

However, after our experience in Tokyo, in a nutshell, we are forced to say that while this is not the cheapest destination in the world, we can consider that a good holiday can be spent at prices that are cheaper than for example, many of the European cities we have visited.

So let's get down to business and leave our suggestions on how you can save money on your trip to Tokyo.

1- How to save on your stay in Tokyo?

This is a question that can scare a lot of people and the truth is that it scared us a lot. However, if you book in advance, you will find that you can get a very acceptable price for a good room in Tokyo. One of the issues for those traveling with children is the increased price for family rooms, but what we found is that there are hotels that allow a child to stay up to a certain age free of charge if they sleep in their parents' bed. So that's what we did, during our stay our 7-year-old son slept in our room and we just had to pay his breakfast apart. For a reasonable quality room, 3 stars, well located in our opinion, we paid in July 2018 less than € 80 per night which we considered a very good price when compared to cities like Paris, New York or London where we paid much higher values.

In addition to the need to book several months in advance, we recommend that you book with the possibility of free cancellation and, as your travel date approaches, go through the different offers to find better options.

Another of the secrets of marking a good hotel is the location. Unlike other major cities, Tokyo cannot be said to have a center. Instead, it has several centers, and the key to a good location for your stay is to stay by the Yamanote train line. This is a circular line that runs close to the city's main attractions, and being located at a station on this line will ensure you quick and easy access to just about anything you want to see in Tokyo.

Another option we didn't use because we don't consider it the best for our family but may be great for many travelers is the ability to sleep in a Capsule Hotel. In addition to being a different and very “Tokyo” experience, it is one of the best ways to get accommodation at really low prices.

2- Always ride on public transport (or walk)

Another issue we recommend to save money is to always use public transport. In Tokyo, Taxi and Uber are extremely expensive and we only recommend them as a last resort. Even in the last need, it is to be avoided. For example, the train crashes near Haneda Airport shortly after midnight, but there is still a chance to go by night bus (see here our post on how to get from Haneda Airport to the city center) If you prepare your trip well, you'll almost always find affordable alternatives.

The cost of train and subway tickets in Tokyo does not differ much from those in other major cities, so your budget will not go down. In order to save even more, what we recommend is for those who like to walk to organize their itinerary so as to walk as few public means of transport as possible and also to walk to the fullest, which is always a wonderful way to know a city like Tokyo.

As we made our itinerary to see the city of Tokyo (click here to see), we tried to organize ourselves to divide the areas we wanted to visit, so we never had to ride more than 3 times by metro or train in one day, sometimes even just twice, so it was not worth buying the daily ticket, we just bought the tickets for each trip. Naturally, one is afraid to imagine what it will be like to buy transport tickets in a city like Tokyo, but you will find it easier than it sounds (click here on our post to find out how to do it).

3- Don't buy internet

The truth is that nowadays it is becoming increasingly difficult to travel on the internet and it is something that many people do not dispense with when traveling outside of their country. And in Tokyo, the internet really serves as a powerful aid to your trip. However, what we tried to do was get the benefits of the internet without paying. We'll explain how we did it, but for more detailed explanations, we invite you to visit our post on the best free apps for your trip to Tokyo.

The way we organized to save money on the internet was, at home, by organizing our itinerary and booking ahead in the free GPS app with the Tokyo map (see here to learn more). This way we always had our destinations organized and we didn't need the internet to reach them. However, as you can see in our post, there are still other applications that are extremely useful but that need the internet. One of the great aids was to be able to organize our metro/train trips and help buy tickets. But here comes another good news, is that all the metro/train stations we walked had free and good quality wifi. What's more, it is not very difficult to find free wifi in Tokyo (there are such apps that help, as you can see in our post) and also in the hotel room we had internet which helps a lot to organize the next day as well as to share and communicate with family and friends.

This way, with just some organization, we can make our trip without having to pay for the internet. Is it a bit more work? Yes. But it's cheaper and for those who save every penny when traveling, this option is a good way to save a little.

4- Don't buy water

Another way to save money is to travel with your reusable bottle and fill up. The water in Tokyo is very good and you will have no problem drinking it. Walking around Tokyo will have to consume a lot of water, especially in hot weather, and a good way to save money (and the environment) really is to use a reusable bottle and not buy any water. Throughout the city, there are several fountains in which you can safely fill.

5- Save on food

By this we do not mean to stop eating or to eat less than you need. The cost of food in Tokyo can be very expensive but it can also be very affordable.

We live in Portugal and we consider that Portugal is one of the best places in the world to eat well (and accompany with a good wine, for those who like), for very affordable prices. Now what we can guarantee is that after our trip to Tokyo, you can eat very well at very affordable prices.

One of the questions that make this possible is to study the places to eat. If you are going to see our Tokyo itinerary (see here), we refer to several places where we ate and many of them had already done some research on where to eat well and cheaply in the areas where we would be. And often the secret is going to eat where the Japanese eat.

Something very good is that you only pay the price of the dish you eat. Nowhere did we have to pay for the drink as there is always water and often tea available. Often there may even be soup at the entrance, for which you will not have to pay.

However, we can guarantee that we eat very good sushi, soba, ramen, for prices that would be perfectly acceptable in Portugal (around € 7 per person). By the way, the most expensive meal we had was about € 15 per person but it was a wonderful sushi lunch by the fish market Tsukiji (you can see our description here) and we can guarantee that for a meal of that quality, in Portugal we would pay at least double.

Another way to save money on food was to use the Kombinis, which are small supermarkets, or convenience stores, which are on every street in Tokyo, especially Family Mart and Lowson, something like 7 Eleven stores.

The point is that in these stores you can eat really good food and for very cheap prices. They sell packaged meals, which they call “Bentos”, with traditional Japanese dishes, at really affordable prices, and even better, when they are not sold soon, after a few hours they get even cheaper so you can buy your meal. really affordable prices and eat wherever you want. If they wish, they can heat their plate in the store and in some there are even small spaces to eat your meal.

If you want to try different types of local beer, these are the places to buy them, as you can try different types of cold beer for less than half the price you would pay at a bar.

Also in larger stores, you will find the famous Depachika, usually on the lower floor or in the basement. These Depachika are an ideal way to sample traditional dishes as they sell food to take with you, although here you can also find places to eat. Generally, the prices are great compared to eating in restaurants and believe me it is a wonderful way to eat traditional Japanese food at truly affordable prices.

Another excellent option is eating street food. This concept that wins fans around the world has a place of excellence in Tokyo. Personally, we loved the chicken kabobs, called Yakitori by the locals, which we highly recommend.

6- Visit Tokyo's free attractions

Many cities in the world have a lower cost of living than Tokyo, it is a fact but not many can visit so many attractions without spending any money. By the way, the vast majority of Tokyo's main attractions are free or for very low prices. Which is really amazing, because we can spend extraordinary days without spending any money, hard to come by in most of the big cities we know. A wonderful example of what we are talking about is something always important to accomplish, which is being able to climb to the top of one of the largest buildings in a city to see the view. In Tokyo, you have 3 possibilities to do this activity, two of which, the Tokyo Skytree and the Tokyo Tower are really paid and its cost is high but, Tokyo offers the possibility to climb to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and enjoy the skyline of the city totally free, a must-see (see here on our third day in Tokyo for more information on how to climb the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building for free).

We invite you once again to visit our 4-day Tokyo itinerary, where you can confirm that we spent little money on attractions throughout our trip to Tokyo.

7- Buy your souvenirs at ¥ 100 shops in Tokyo

Isn't it like going on vacation and buying souvenirs for yourself and your family? Well, don't worry that in Tokyo you can bring wonderful and funny memories without your budget exploding. To do this, we recommend you take a walk around the 100 Yen stores, where for 100 Yen, as the price indicates, you can buy souvenirs (and not only that but you can also buy everyday items you need) for 100 yen, a value of less than one euro or one dollar.

We invite you to read this article on Time Out about the best ¥ 100 shops in Tokyo to discover the best places to shop.

Conclusion

By way of conclusion, and once our trip is over, we can guarantee that you can have a great vacation in Tokyo without having to spend all your bank account money.

Of course, everything depends on the type of trip and traveler you are. If it is your wish, and not about to give up certain luxuries, Tokyo can and can really be a very expensive city. We, as travelers, are not properly tied to luxuries, and we do not mind waiving certain luxuries if this allows us to travel further. However, we have our needs and requirements for family travel. We don't dispense with our comfort and safety and we love to try new foods, new flavors, and new experiences.

The point is, in Tokyo, it is possible to get a good 3-star hotel for a reasonable price (when booking well in advance) and if you choose to eat where the locals eat (which is often a sign of food) you can have wonderful dining experiences at very good prices. As for getting to know the main attractions of Tokyo City, there won't be many places in the world where you can see so much, spending so little.

Regarding travel, as we mentioned, public transport within the city of Tokyo is affordable and of course, we highly recommend walking. Those who wish to ride a taxi will surely spend a lot of money.

Remember, when making your reservations, trying to avoid peak seasons, and booking your hotel along the Yamanote line, you'll find it will be of tremendous importance both in financial terms, but also in community and time wasted in travels.

We hope our ideas may help you plan your family trip to Tokyo. We would like to invite you to follow our experience with us for the 4 days of the trip, in which we describe in detail our entire trip and we believe that it will help you to plan your trip to Tokyo.

Don't forget that hotels can be very expensive in Tokyo and, you should start searching for accommodations early before the prices get really high. We always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and it’s with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals by clicking here, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

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We also would love to invite you to comment and give your opinion, and we thank you very much for your visit to our Non Stop Family travel blog, which we hope you have liked and continue to visit us.

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Iceland is an extraordinary country for a family trip, your kids will love it, has a huge range of landscapes and, is different than anything you might ever imagine in our planet. If until some years ago it seemed to be unattainable, the cost of travel has been decreasing significantly, especially whit the appearance of some low-cost airlines flying there.

By 2008, with the big economic crisis, there was a big fall in the value of the Icelandic currency, which made daily life cheaper for tourists but, with economic recovery and a significant increase of tourism, it is increasingly expensive to go on vacations to Iceland, especially with kids.

In order to help us spend as little as possible, we have put together a set of ideas that can contribute to large savings in a country where it is easy to see money disappear quickly. Non Stop Family hopes that these tips help you on your trip.

Travel

One of the strategies to save some money is to book your plane trip in advance, looking for low-cost airlines flying to Iceland, even if it means not going on a direct flight.

- When to go? Travel and subsistence prices increase significantly in the high season, so it is important to get away from those dates. Of course, everything depends on what you want to do. If you want to go to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, you should go during the winter, when prices are significantly lower and, the best time to catch your goals.

But if you want to do route 1, this is not advisable in winter, because you run the risk of several roads being closed, but also for having a few hours of light, which will make it difficult to see the natural wonders of the country.

We also have to talk about safety, because it’s much more dangerous to do route 1 in the winter than in the summer. What we would advise is, if your planning to do the ring road, to go between 15 May and 15 June, when prices could be higher accessible, and in September. Sometimes the difference in prices is huge and it is still a good time to get to know Iceland.

Traveling

- It is possible to do the round trip by Iceland in public transport in the summer but, we believe that the best option will always be to rent a car and preferably when you arrive at the airport. If you book your trip for a few months in advance, you can get good prices.

The price of fuel in Iceland is expensive, so it's not worth renting a big car. You can do the whole route 1 with a small car in great safety and it will come out much cheaper than a 4x4 car. But, if you plan to go to the mountains, then hire a 4x4.

- If you choose to rent the car, try to occupy the car with as many as possible. Car rental and fuel are always cheaper when divided by 4, rather than 2. Try to combine with more friends to make the trip of your dreams together.

- Do not rent a GPS. We used our mobile phone with MAPS.ME (download it for free with the Iceland map) and it always worked perfectly.

- If you renting a car and traveling with kids, take your children's seat on the plane rather than renting it when you land. Airlines are required to let you carry your child's seat for free and, you will save good money that you would have to spend on renting when you lift the car.

- If you don't rent a car and want to go from the airport to the city, do not go by taxi, they are extremely expensive in Iceland and you have the option FLYBUS, which makes the direct connection from the airport to the BSI Station in the center of the city.

At BSI Station you can enjoy a good and inexpensive Icelandic meal at the same station, as we mentioned earlier here. On the bus, you have free wi-fi and the possibility to charge the phone.

- Walk around Reykjavik. Whether you have arrived in the city by rental car, taxi or bus, in the city you will not need to ride public transportation. It is an extremely easy walking city, where all major attractions are easily reached (you can see here a great itinerary for a one walking day at Reykjavik).

- Park the car for free. In case you have rented a car and stay a day or more in Reykjavik, you will have to park it and, one way to save money is not to pay for the car park. Of course, we aren’t saying to take the risk of getting a ticket, but look for where to park for free. The main rule is that the closer to the main street, Laugavegur (main shopping street), in downtown Reykjavík, the more you will have to pay.

What you have to do is get out a little bit from the center (not much needed) and, when you don’t see a "P" sign on the street or parking lot, it's free. We leave here an image that shows the streets in which it is necessary to pay. The streets with colors are the ones to avoid.

And, good advice: park the car in the parking lot of Hallgrímskirkja Church here, which is free and, easy to access everything from there.

Accommodation

- Plan your days and book well in advance. If you are going to do the round trip, you will have to sleep in places where the offer of lodging is very reduced and, as the offer is not enough, prices tend to increase. That is why it is important to make a good travel plan and program where you sleep, especially with kids, as far in advance as possible to make your reservation.

- Book with free cancellation. A large number of bookings we make in some of the major sites allows free cancellation until near the date of travel. Therefore, although you have made your reservations in advance, you should continue to check the prices at the desired places and, if there is a more advantageous option, cancel the previous one and make the new one. I already managed to book cheaper even at the same hotel using this strategy.

- Airbnb also has a wide range of offers around the island, do not forget to compare and look for the lowest prices. There’s not a lot of offer outside Reykjavik, so Airbnb is a very good option and, we had good experiences booking this way.

- Couchsurfing is a good possibility to save money, especially if traveling solo but do not forget that the offer in Iceland is very reduced, so it is important to book in advance.

- Camping is also a possibility but always take into account the low temperatures. Iceland has a lot of campsites which offer good conditions such as cooking, hot water... There's also the possibility of camping for free but, under some circumstances, find out more about here.

Food

Eating in Iceland is frequently expensive and, unfortunately, the prices do not always match the quality of the food. You will love Iceland, but it will not be for sure for his food. Unfortunately, this is also one of the areas that significantly increases the cost of a trip to Iceland, so here are some ideas:

- Use and abuse of hot dogs. We almost dare to say that hot dogs are the Icelandic national dish. They are great, they are cheap and frequent. Almost all gas stations sell hot dogs and hamburgers and they are a great option when you are traveling. In Iceland, they even grab off having the best hot dog in the world, sold for extremely low prices for the country in central Iceland, as we have already mentioned here.

- When you are traveling on route 1, you will not find a wide variety of hotels and, in fact, you will sleep many nights in a B&B. Many of these establishments offer the possibility of cooking your own food, which is great for saving money.

- Buy prepared meals in supermarkets. We, in particular, loved the Supermarket Bónus (search the one whit the pig logo). We think is the largest supermarket chain in Iceland and we can stock up on food, whether we are talking about light snacks, bread, milk, juices, breakfast foods, salads, microwave meals, ingredients for cooking at home, everything. The prices are very good and you will see that the difference in the price of a meal is enormous. We love the Bónus Supermarket, but there are others that can allow you to save significant money.

- Don't drink alcohol but, if that is impossible or, just not fun (that’s our feel), buy it at Duty-free at the airport (find out more about here) when you land. All the alcohol you want to drink throughout your stay, shop at the airport, at the Duty-free shop. Because of taxes, alcoholic beverages are extremely expensive in Iceland, so beer, wine, etc is much cheaper at the airport. We talk about our family trip experience here.

- Do not buy bottled water. Iceland's tap water is known to be one of the best in the world, so it is a complete waste to buy bottled water. Take a reusable bottle and fill it on any faucet. It's free and more ecological.

Where do you really have to spend money?

Although traveling in Iceland is expensive, a very good part of it is that almost everything we will want to see is free so, after we take care of the plane tickets, the rental car, gas, hotels, and food, we do not have much more to spend money.

However, not everything is free and there are some activities that require money, which we will mention some, and especially those that we cannot avoid spending our money.

In our case, we could not stop spending money on whale watching tour in Husavik (you can read about it here), as well as where to eat a fish and chips for a good price.

Regarding whale watching, we recommend that you do it in Husavik if you are going to do the road ring, it is one of the best places in the world to see whales but, you can do a tour from Reykjavik but, we can’t tell about it because we didn’t do it.

In the case of Blue Lagoon, you can buy the tickets online (here) and we recommend buying the standard option, which allows you to save ISK 2000 per adult. Just be sure to bring flip flops and towel, which are not available in this option, as well as the robe. You can read about our experience here.

An option to save money, for those who go to Myvatn, would opt for Myvatn Nature Baths link instead of Blue Lagoon, which costs ISK 4000 in the summer and 3,500 in the winter. Or, even cheaper and closer to Reykjavik, is the Secret Lagoon, for 2800 ISK/adult.

We hope that our ideas may help you to prepare for your trip to Iceland. If you still do not have a place to stay on your trip, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals by clicking here, it will not cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

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We would also like to invite you to leave your opinion and questions, in case you have already visited Iceland, let us know what you think and give us more ideas of how to save money on your trip to Iceland. Thanks for your visit to our Non Stop Family Travel Blog and, we invite you to see here our itinerary of our family trip to Iceland. If you liked our article, do not forget to share it with your friends.

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