Hi, I'm planning to visit East Asia after graduating for min. 3 weeks but I guess my probable budget of around 2500 Euros including air fare won't allow for an extended stay. However, hostels or similar accommodation and street food or supermarkets will do. I'm not sure what places besides Tokyo I should visit. Maybe I just focus on Tokyo and surroundings.

On the contrary, I have alternative itineraries in mind that involve Korea and/or China, e.g. Shanghai > Qingdao > Seoul > Busan > Osaka > Tokyo. Means of transport would be planes (open jaw flight), trains and ferries. Obviously, more cities = less money to spend for food and entertainment, less time for exploring each location.

Any advice? Thanks!

Er...With a budget of 2500 euros, you want to go to several cities? Talking to some Irish friends and Japanese people, the return ticket alone to Japan would be at least 800. (if you're in continental Europe, likely be cheaper) but still...

I can understand wanting to go to as many places as possible since you'll have to go through all the trouble of flying all the way over to South-East Asia. Just out of interest, have you been to S-E Asia before?

Yes, that seems like quite a small budget for so many places. Air travel is expensive. Train travel over long distances is also expensive. Have you actually checked how much all the transportation will cost?

If you can find crappy hotels/hostels to stay in for about 30 euro per night, that's still 600 euro over 3 weeks. "Street food" can also be expensive (i assume you are talking about little shops and stands out in the streets)

30 euro/night is pretty pricy for a hostel.
I know of plenty of places where you can sleep in a dorm style room for 2000yen/night in Japan (friend runs a hostel in Nagoya).
There is also the option of sleeping at manga cafes or karaoke.

2500 euro is pretty tight though. Transportation alone will eat up pretty much all of that if you're wanting to go to more than one country and travel within the country.

PensukeD Wrote:Just out of interest, have you been to S-E Asia before?

My furthermost travel into Asia has been Istanbul (east of the Bosphorus) so far.

Zarxrax Wrote:Have you actually checked how much all the transportation will cost?

Shanghai--Qingdao: 18 EUR (170 RMB) by train (http://www.icha.com.cn/Fare/6195ca.Html)

Qingdao--Incheon: 76 EUR (720 RMB) by ferry (http://www.qingdaochinaguide.com/listing...ferry.html)

Incheon--downtown Seoul: 5 EUR (7500 KRW) by airport bus (http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/GK/GK_EN_2_2_2_3.jsp)

Seoul--Busan: 38 EUR by train, Korea Rail Pass (http://www.trainticket.com/rail-products...orail-pass)

Busan--Osaka: 79 EUR (12500 KRW) by train (http://www.panstar.co.kr/customer/eventView.asp?idx=68)

[possible alternative Busan--Fukuoka by ferry (http://www.jrbeetle.co.jp/english/)]

Osaka--Tokyo: 42 EUR by bus (http://www.japanbuses.com/howto2_1.html)

I did some searches for airline tickets on possible dates departing from Frankfurt and there are offers below 600 Euros at times but I expect to pay around 800 Euros.

18+76+38+79+42+800+200 Euros for additional fares (metro, bus, etc.)
= 1253

Visas:
China: 30 EUR (http://www.china-botschaft.de/det/lsfw/t514074.htm)
South Korea: visa exemption agreement (http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/GK/GK_EN_2_1_1.jsp)
Japan: visa exemption agreement (http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/...ovisa.html)

Remaining budget: ca. 1200 Euros

Zarxrax Wrote:"Street food" can also be expensive (i assume you are talking about little shops and stands out in the streets)

Yes, I've read about night markets in Korea.

I just realized that I don't like traveling at all. That is I don't like extended journeys by airplane, train or other means of transport. Maybe I should ditch the idea of traveling from city to city and only choose one.

I think that your schedule is enough to make most people hate travel xD. Yeah, I would suggest going to one country. Are you studying Japanese? If yes,maybe it'll be more beneficial to just explore an area in Japan to show off your 1337 Japanese skillz

I would definitely recommend cutting down the amount of places. I went to Japan for just 2 weeks, spent over a week just around tokyo, and didn't have time to see much of the kyoto area. There is just a huge amount of stuff worth seeing and doing there. Probably at least 10+ cities worth visiting around the tokyo area, if not 20.

PensukeD Wrote:Are you studying Japanese?

Well, I'd like to study Japanese, Korean or Chinese seriously but in order to choose one I need to see the countries where the respective languages are spoken in.

Thanks for your advice. I guess I'll have to cut down on my destinations.