Pre stops on Essence of Japan tour.
We are going on the Essence of Japan on Oct. 24, 2026. We are contemplating a stop in Taipei, Bangkok or Korea on our way for 2 days in addition to arriving in Tokyo a day early. Does anyone have any experience in any of those places? I would love to hear if anyone broke up the beginning of this trip with any interesting stops. Reading the forum, our time may best be used by adding time in Tokyo. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Not sure how much help this will be - of the places you mentioned, we have only been to Korea. It was about 15 years ago and was not part of a tour. When we were there, we visited the Changdeokgung Palace. It was a huge complex and we were able to join a tour with an English-speaking guide. It was impressive. The first two pictures are buildings on the palace grounds. We also visited the Namsangol Korean Village and Imjingak Park which was near the DMZ. I took the last picture in Imjingak Park - in the foreground on the right side is the Freedom Bridge which was used at the end of the Korean War to exchange prisoners of war. North Korea is on the other side of the river. If you are still considering Korea, you might want to look at Tauck's itinerary for the Sakura Seas: South Korea and Japan to see what sites they have included on the tour. That is obviously much more current than what I just shared. We will be doing the Sakura Seas tour in April. We are going early and will be doing a night tour in Seoul, going to Suwon to see the Hwaseong Fortress and also taking a cooking class.
In spring 2024, we visited Taipei — including Taroko Gorge (just days before the earthquake) and Sun Moon Lake — before continuing on to Japan.
IMO, two more days in Tokyo beats any quick detour. There's always another neighborhood, another vibe to discover.
I haven’t been to any of the countries you mention but I have been to Japan three times and I thought Tokyo was the least interesting of all the places I have been there. I flew via Seoul airport once. My choice would be Korea, I hope to go there in the next couple of years.