Key West Day Trip Tour Ideas

Above, the  Key West Lighthouse and Keeper’s Quarters Museum from the Hemingway House. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Three years ago (it hardly seems that long ago), I took a cruise down to Havana, Cuba from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Along the way, the ship stopped for a few hours in Key West.

I didn't take any town tours with the exception of using one of Key West's trollies to get to places in town such as the Hemingway House, Shipwreck Museum and other areas. The trolly was part of our cruise package.

The Miami Herald has an article on day trip tour ideas in Key West.

They begin with:

So you’ve made it to Key West on your cruise or arrived for a day trip and have a limited amount of time to explore this tiny tropical island before you pull out for your next stop.

You’ve got options. 

Take a trip on the water to catch some sun and ocean breezes. See some history. Tour museums. Visit some butterflies. 

You can always just grab a cocktail and wander the Duval Sreet corridor and side streets downtown soaking up the sun, sights and shops. 

But for the more adventurous, here’s a list of the best things to do in Key West so you don’t miss the boat.

To read more, go here.

Lonely Planet: Best Day Trips From Jackson Hole

Above, yours truly under an antler arch in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

The northwest corner of Wyoming is a great and fun place to visit on vacation. There's plenty of things to see and do.

Near Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks is the valley known as Jackson Hole. It is an ideal base camp for exploring the region. There are plenty of hotels, motels and campgrounds in and near the town of Jackson.

Lonely Planet has posted an article on the best four day trips from Jackson Hole.

They begin it with:

There’s enough to do in Jackson Hole to keep you busy for weeks at a time – and most visitors use the valley as a home base to explore the wider area, too.

Two of America’s most famous national parks are within 60 miles of Jackson Hole, and the history of the American West feels omnipresent in the region. Here are the top four day trips for visitors to Jackson Hole.  

To see what they are, go here. 

6 Best Day Trips from Tokyo During the Olympics

Above, a visit to Mount Fuji is at the top of Tokyo Cheapo's list. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is unknown to me just how many readers of this blog are planning to attend the Olympics this summer in Tokyo, but the suggestions for some day trips out of Tokyo can apply to all tourists.

Tokyo Cheapo has a list of six best day trips from Tokyo during the Olympics.

They begin it with:

Whether you’re coincidently in town during the Olympics or coming over to cheer on your country, your visit during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games is going to be a summer you’ll never forget. While there’s always plenty of excitement buzzing through the streets, sometimes, to recharge, you need to escape the city—even if just for a day. 

Luckily, Tokyo is surrounded by some of the most incredible day-trip opportunities, many of which are available in tidy package deals that not only save time on the organization side, but usually save you money too. From the majestic Mt. Fuji to the verdant valleys of Nikko, the Ghibli Museum to Gunma’s bountiful fruit farms, get out of the city and in touch with a different side of Japan. 

To make your choice easier, here’s a round-up of some of the best day trips you can take during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

To read more, go here. 

Escape From Tokyo: Day Trip Ideas

Above, the Great Buddha of Kamakura. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those who are visiting Tokyo, Japan and who want to take a day trip or two outside of the city, the Japan Times has some very good suggestions for places to visit that are relatively easy to get to.

They begin with:

In his 1921 book “A Diplomat In Japan,” written during the 1880s, British diplomat Ernest Satow (1843-1929) wrote widely about travel in Japan: How Japanese people traveled, where they stayed, what they ate and what happened during his own travels on the Tokaido (“Eastern Sea Road”) from Tokyo to Kyoto. 

Declaring Japanese people to be “great travellers,” Satow explains: “The booksellers’ shops abound in printed itineraries which furnish the minutest possible information about inns, roads, distances … and other particulars which the tourist requires.” 

To this day travel remains easy, or and fairly well documented. And, with increasing English signage and English-language proficiency of people positioned at traveler hotspots throughout the land, the country has never been more accessible. 

Just as it was in the days of the Gokaido (Five Highways), if Tokyo is where you choose to base yourself for your vacation, or if it is where you live, sightseeing certainly does not have to be limited to the confines of the capital. Ease of travel makes the humble higaeri-ryokō (day trip) from Tokyo definitively doable.

To read more, go here. 

The Best Day Trips From Tokyo

Above, the Great Buddha of Kamakura is only an hour away from Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A visitor to Tokyo, Japan can spend weeks in the city and still not see every tourist attractions and other places. But after a while, a person can tire of roaming the city and needs to get out of the city to see other places.

LearnJapanese123.com has posted an article on the best day trips from Tokyo. Some of places suggested I have been to and agree with their suggestions.

They begin with:

Are you coming to Japan and staying in Tokyo? Thanks to Japan’s convenient public transportation, you can easily make a number of great side trips if you’re using Tokyo as your home base. Get out of the city for a bit and get lost in the beauty of rural Japan – just for a day or two. Here are the best day trips from Tokyo!

To read more, go here. 

Condé Nast: 5 Best Day Trips From Tokyo

Above, the Great Buddha of Kamakura. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those who are vacationing in Tokyo, but may want to take a day trip or two out of the city, Condé Nast Traveler has five suggestions on where to go in their article, "5 Best Day Trips From Tokyo".

They begin with:

Chill out and catch some surf in Kamakura; bathe in the mountainside hot springs of Hakone; visit the shrines and temples of Nikko (almost as impressive as the old-growth trees around them); pick up some pottery in the low-key artist town of Mashiko; or check out how American and Chinese influences have been absorbed into Japanese culture in the port town of Yokohama. Thanks to Japan’s fantastic infrastructure, all of th​ese day trips can be reached by train​.​ ​B​ut if you’re ambitious, a rental ​car ​​is the best way to see Mashiko's hidden cafes and Nikko​'s scenic lakes ​(pick it up at Utsunomiya station and eat some gyoza while you’re there). Ready to plan it? Read on for our guide on where to go, where to stay, what to see and what to do five of our favorite day trips from Japan.​

To read more, go here.

Day Trips From Kyoto

Above, Miyajima (near Hiroshima) is 2 hours and 40 minutes away from Kyoto. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Often times, foreign visitors to Japan who are in Kyoto have seen pretty much everything in the city they wanted to see and wonder what else they can do.

Zooming Japan has an article different day trips that people can take from those two cities. They can get to other places and nearby prefectures by either commuter train, shinkansen, bus or car.

They begin with:

People always ask me about good day trips from Kyoto or Osaka.
Especially if you have allotted quite a bit of time for the Kyoto region and fear to get bored, it’s good to know what else you could do.
And if it’s your second or third trip to the region, then you might want to explore new things. 

There are the well-known day trips such as Kobe, Himeji and Nara, for example.
Apart from these, I want to show you a lot of different alternatives. 

Believe it or not, but there are so many lovely day trips you can easily do from Kyoto – and I bet there are many you haven’t heard of yet! 

Please note that the following travel time estimation is based on public transportation. It’s sometimes faster if you travel by car.

To see more, go here. 

A Day Trip To The Grand Canyon

Above, Grand Canyon National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Here's an interesting video of a day trip to Grand Canyon National Park with Caravan Carolyn, RV Pandamonium and Nomadic Fanatic.

They begin their caravan to the Grand Canyon from Williams, where I stayed at last October.

Zooming Japan's "19 Awesome Day Trips From Tokyo"

Above, the torii gate at Lake Ashino (a.k.a. Lake Ashi). Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Zooming Japan has a list of "19 awesome day trips from Tokyo" for potential Japan tourists to consider.

These are in prefectures nearby to Tokyo, so they are within easy reach.

The article begins with:

I know that Tokyo is a very exciting place, especially for first-time visitors, but I cannot emphasize it often enough: It’s important to get out and see other parts of Japan as well. If you cannot afford going all the way to Kyoto, Hiroshima or Fukuoka, then at least plan a few day trips from Tokyo. I’m sure you won’t regret it. In fact, there are million of options, so it might be hard to choose. Here are my recommendations for day trips from Tokyo.

To see the 19 day trips, go here.