Self Guide
Excellent app that works very well
Easy
Really easy to navigate and full of useful information. A must for travellers.
Not quite perfect
The Self Guide app which came with our travelling booked through Trailfinders was a great companion in Japan. The instructions for how to transfer between different trains and buses were clear, but had two important errors.
First, in transferring from Shinagawa to Shibuya, the app said we could take any Yamanote line train. In fact, this is a circular line, and you need to take the right direction, or it will take you much longer. At the time of writing, the correct trains leave from Platform 3 at Shinagawa.
Second, on our way to Hakone Hotel from Odawara, the app told us to catch the Number 3 bus. There is no such bus. Route H leaves from Stand 3, and took us to the hotel, but Route R would have been a much better bet, as it is an express service - Route H was 90 minutes on very twisty roads. I don’t know which Stand is used by Route R at Odawara, but the information needs to be revised.
With these two fairly small but easily corrected criticisms, we found the app excellent.
First, in transferring from Shinagawa to Shibuya, the app said we could take any Yamanote line train. In fact, this is a circular line, and you need to take the right direction, or it will take you much longer. At the time of writing, the correct trains leave from Platform 3 at Shinagawa.
Second, on our way to Hakone Hotel from Odawara, the app told us to catch the Number 3 bus. There is no such bus. Route H leaves from Stand 3, and took us to the hotel, but Route R would have been a much better bet, as it is an express service - Route H was 90 minutes on very twisty roads. I don’t know which Stand is used by Route R at Odawara, but the information needs to be revised.
With these two fairly small but easily corrected criticisms, we found the app excellent.
Show more
Works really well.
Very easy use
Helpful but uneven
On our visit to Japan, the self guide app was particularly useful on days we were travelling between cities. The information was clear and precise, and fitted with timetables at train and bus stations.
Information on the hotels was also really useful and, coupled with Google maps, meant we found our hotels easily, whether on foot, by shuttle or on public transport.
The information on restaurants and places to visit was less useful. In the latter case, perhaps because we had planned quite carefully what we wanted to do, though advice that certain places, such as the Naoshima galleries were better booked in advance would have been useful. We found walks in LO Japan and on GPSMycity provided better suggestions on what to see and do.
We did not find the restaurant section much use at all. It did not seem tailored to the area we were staying in and it was hard to match names to places. Additionally, two of our group are vegetarian, and the app had no filter that helped them find appropriate places.
Information on the hotels was also really useful and, coupled with Google maps, meant we found our hotels easily, whether on foot, by shuttle or on public transport.
The information on restaurants and places to visit was less useful. In the latter case, perhaps because we had planned quite carefully what we wanted to do, though advice that certain places, such as the Naoshima galleries were better booked in advance would have been useful. We found walks in LO Japan and on GPSMycity provided better suggestions on what to see and do.
We did not find the restaurant section much use at all. It did not seem tailored to the area we were staying in and it was hard to match names to places. Additionally, two of our group are vegetarian, and the app had no filter that helped them find appropriate places.
Show more
