Sakura Season

So glad that we managed to catch these beautiful pink blossoms. I've never seen anything like it in my life. I decided to take a leap of faith and booked spontaneous flights to Tokyo 4 months before the bloom and was so lucky we caught it just in time before they started to fall. I'll definitely be back next year for more.

Here are my top 3 tips for planning to see cherry blossoms in time:

1. Do your research!

I used a Sakura Forecast for 2018. The first blossoms generally appear in Okinawa inJanuary and slowly move up the archipelago, passing through Japan's central islands (including Kyoto and Tokyo) in late March and early April, before progressing further north and hitting Hokkaido in early May.

2. Book flights in advance

Flights start picking up in price closer to cherry blossom season - so ensure you plan ahead and book your flights earlier! I flew ANA airlines and was amazed at the price of the tickets!

3. Look up places in bloom

I decided to visit Shinjuku Gyoen - be sure to look up different places. Watch instagram stories too on locations via Instagram as it'll let you know whether the last twenty four hour period was legitimate or not.

*This is a disclaimer : as I know how temperamental and short the window frame is for cherry blossom season. All information is based purely on my personal experience.