Three Countries, One Trip: How a Little Planning Saved a Lot of Money

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When people hear we visited Japan, South Korea, and China on the same trip, the first question is usually, "How did you put that together?"

The answer was simple: let the airfare do the planning.

I've visited Tokyo several times before, so rather than spending all our time there, we used it as a gateway into parts of Japan we hadn't explored. After arriving in Tokyo, we immediately started working our way south through Japan, enjoying everything from the major cities to the smaller towns that many visitors miss.

From Fukuoka, we discovered that flights to Seoul on Korean Air were both convenient and affordable. Once we were in South Korea, another opportunity appeared. Flights from Seoul to Beijing were far cheaper than flying directly between Japan and China, so suddenly a three-country adventure started to make perfect sense.

The route ended up looking something like this:

Tokyo → Southern Japan → Fukuoka → Seoul → Beijing → Seoul → Osaka → Home

What started as a Japan trip had evolved into a tour of three fascinating countries, all without spending a fortune on airfare.

One thing that made the Japan portion incredibly easy was the Visit Japan Web app. Immigration and customs were largely completed before arrival, making entry into Japan about as smooth as international travel can be these days.

China was equally surprising. Thanks to the new visa-free entry arrangements available to Canadian travelers at the time of our visit, arriving in Beijing was remarkably straightforward. We breezed through the airport and were on our way much faster than expected. For anyone who still pictures China as a complicated destination to enter, it was a pleasant surprise.

Looking back, South Korea became the glue that held the entire trip together. Not only did it offer its own unique experiences, but it also served as the perfect hub between Japan and China. Without Seoul, the logistics and cost of combining all three countries would have been much harder to justify.

Sometimes the best travel itineraries aren't built around a rigid plan. They're built by watching the flight maps, keeping an open mind, and letting opportunities reveal themselves. What began as another visit to Japan ultimately became one of the most rewarding trips we've ever taken, giving us a chance to compare three very different cultures, cuisines, and travel experiences, all within a single journey.