Travel Recap – 12 Days in Japan – Family of 4

I just got back from 12 days in Japan, traveling with a family of four (kids 12 and 15). We got so many great tips from this Reddit thread, so I wanted to share back some insights and tips for other families.

Trip: Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara (day trip), Hakone – Gora, Tokyo – End of March 2024

We loved the MIRAMU apartment hotel chain. We stayed seven nights between Tokyo and Kyoto. The rooms were larger than traditional hotels, allowing our family to spread out a bit. The sleeping room with bunk beds were separated from a simple sitting room and a kitchenette by a sliding door or wall. The toilet and shower were also separate from the bathroom. In Kyoto, we had laundry in the room, and while we packed light, we could have gotten by with even less. I highly recommend it to other families. We booked these approximately five months in advance.

We shipped luggage between hotels one time. The hotel took care of all the paperwork and made it easy. It allowed us to travel between Tokyo and Kyoto with just daypacks (with one day’s worth of clothes) and hit the ground running without the need to go directly to our hotel before exploring. The bags were in our room when we arrived.

We determined that we did not need a JR pass and just used IC (Suica) cards in Apple Wallet on every train trip. It was so simple. I added my AMEX to one kid’s phone so they could easily recharge as needed using Apple Wallet (they cannot recharge with Apple Cash), but for the other minor, we needed to pick up a physical IC card (from an IC ATM) when we landed at Haneda airport in the arrivals hall.

In the Arrivals Hall: 1. Get pocket WIFI (we got a physical unit and did not reserve in advance). It’s so cheap compared to phone plans. 2. Get cash. We always had 30,000 yen just in case, but we primarily used IC or AMEX. 3. Get a physical IC Suica card for minors from self-service ATM. Twenty minutes later, you can be on a train.

We bought Shinkansen tickets 2-3 days before travel using the smartEX app only to get 4 seats together or sit on the right side of the train. When you purchase, you can connect or “designate” your IC (download the Suica app to get your full Suica number) cards to Shinkansen tickets to streamline flow through ticket terminals in train stations, especially if you are going between local trains and Shinkansen…just tap and go. You don’t need to print QR codes. If you don’t do this, the friendly ticket station people will quickly get you through. There were always tourists getting this sorted.

Food was a big focus of our trip, but we only had one reservation (the hotel called for us on the same day). Many of the booking sites require payment in advance, and we were not interested in that level of planning. Since we have kids and we’re operating on a totally different schedule, we opted to eat early dinners, usually arriving just after they open for the day. We ate at some really popular restaurants and never waited for more than 10 or 15 minutes, including restaurants with Michelin ratings. Our family had one vegetarian, and so we did a fair amount of research for friendly restaurants in each area and starred them in Google Maps.

Make sure you are fluent using Google Maps for navigation. It does a phenomenal job of navigating train stations, determining what exit #/name to enter/leave a station, what platform to be on, and even the best car for efficient transfers. After a few train rides, you’ll be a pro, able to toggle the times and switch floors on the map. It’ll tell you the basic information, but you’ll still need to use the station signage to get where you need to go.

We booked an onsen in Hakone-Gora five months before our trip, but I think I should have done this earlier. Most of the small boutique onsens in the area we wanted to stay were already booked and several implied that they booked out a year in advance. The onsen was such a fun part of our trip that I recommend researching and booking far in advance. I also recommend at least two nights in Hakone to get the full experience and to allow multiple days to get good views of Fuji in case of weather (it rained for two solid days). The trains and buses are packed, and I do not believe Hakone should ever be done as a day trip from Tokyo; it would be exhausting. Go there and stay. We were there two nights and didn’t even have time to do “the loop” because of all the soaking and leisurely dinners. The Open Air Museum is amazing…even in the rain and clouds.

by Ok_Biscotti_4070