Me and my SO visited Japan in autumn 2019 and loved it. Since then I convinced my mom (who’s never travelled beyond The Netherlands (where we live), Austria and Germany before) to let me take her to Japan at some point. The original plan was autumn 2021 but unfortunately Covid made that impossible so now we’re looking at 2024 for practical reasons.
My mom is around 60 and this would be her first “big” trip, she’s really into food and cooking and is a bit scared of places she doesn’t know. I figured that Japan is both very safe and clean and also interesting enough with delicious food and beautiful places that it would be a great choice for her.
So any tips regarding travel with someone who is a little older and not used to travel would be great. We will be visiting a lot of spots I have already been but I feel would be a good fit for my mom.
I haven’t planned what and where we will be eating for most days since it’s still a few years out and my experience is that there is always something good to eat nearby in Japan, but if you have recommendations for food and restaurants let me know!
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Day 1 – **Netherlands**: Travel from AMS -> NRT
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Day 2 – **Tokyo**: Arrival at NRT, Skyliner to Ueno, leave suitcases and have some lunch. Pick up our JR Pass and walk through Ueno park and Ameyokocho while fighting the jetlag. Check in to our hotel (Resol Akihabara) and have an early dinner somewhere nearby.
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Day 3 – **Tokyo**: Shibuya for some sightseeing and shopping, sushi for lunch, relaxed afternoon in yoyogi park and Meiji shrine. Dinner somewhere near Yoyogi station or Kanda station.
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Day 4 – **Tokyo**: Tokyo metropolitan building for the skydeck, not sure what to do with the middle of the day yet, don’t want to overwhelm my mom but I think there is some room to do/see something here. End the day in Akihabara to find some retro game souvenir for my dad (I’ve tried convincing him to join but he has a pretty bad fear of flying and prefers to stay home). Hitachino brewing labs for some beers (this one is mostly for me)
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Day 5 – **Tokyo**: Asakusa day, Nakamisedori for some street food, Senso-ji, Nishi-sando and and Kappabashi Utensil street for cooking related souvenirs for mom. Ending the day and our time in Tokyo with Omakase sushi somewhere (Manten sushi?)
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Day 6 – **Hakone**: Travel to Hakone by train, see Owakudani volcano and lake Ashi, stay at a Ryokan with Kaiseki dinner and (private) hotspring.
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Day 7 – **Hiroshima**: Travel to Hiroshima by Shinkansen, check into our hotel (Kiro Hiroshima) and walk around a bit, eat Okonomiyaki at Okonomimura.
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Day 8 – **Hiroshima**: Miyajima island. Probably take the ropeway up for the view, get some streetfood and oysters, enjoy the views and back to the hotel when it gets dark.
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Day 9 – **Hiroshima**: Peace park and the Bomb Dome, Shukkei-en garden and dinner. After dinner take the Shinkansen to Osaka and check in to our hotel.
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Day 10 – **Osaka**: Osaka castle, Kuromon Market, Shinsaibashi shopping street and ending the day at Dotonbori for as much food as we can eat. After that back to the hotel to have a drink and pack our bags.
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Day 11 – **Osaka**: Travel from KIX -> AMS
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I don’t plan on visiting Kyoto this trip. It’s a wonderful place that I would love to visit again, but half of the city seems to be made of hills and stairs, which isn’t great for my 60+ year old mom that has some trouble with climbing stairs and walking long distances.
Any tips/ideas are very welcome!
3 comments
While the gov. building is a free observation deck, I would say it’s not my favorite. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower is pretty good. I would also be interested in the new Shibuya Sky, that would especially make sense as you are already going to Shibuya.
Actually, I would say the Shibuya/Harajuku day is backward. Shibuya is a shopping oriented area, so store only open around 10-11am, on the other hand, Meiji-jingu is open much earlier, so it make sense to start by that. And you can get dinner more or less in the Shibuya area, for example it could be Spring Valley brewery that is not too far from Shibuya.
Going to Hiroshima will not be that long, so you will either want to spent a good portion of the day visiting Hakone some more or do what you plan on day 9. Or why not just stop somewhere on the way ?
Have you calculated the price for JR Pass to compare ? Thing is, this will just save you absolutely nothing, it will just force you to get in slower shinkansen. So don’t get a pass, just buy the shinkansen tickets when you need them and get on the Nozomi to go faster.
I would recommend staying not in Akihabara as it’s fairly dead after 5 pm ish, including restaurants. Stay in Ueno or Shinjuku is my recommendation, even if you’re not about going out all night.
Osaka castle is a modern reconstruction that is just like a regular building inside (its a museum) so Himeji is a better option if you’re looking to visit a castle. It’s a solid half day so I’m sure you can find a good time to fit it in if you want. Some walking involved but not too strenuous.
I would also recommend Himeji castle, you can easily put it in your already planned trip since it’s on the way from Hiroshima to Osaka. It’s also quickly accessible from the station.
I would be splitting up some of the things on your Day 8 to Day 6, so you could leave Hiroshima earlier and stop at Himeji on your way.
I spend 2 days in Hiroshima and had plenty of time and were finished earlier than expected with visiting the Peace Park and the castle.
I would also switch the plan for Day 3, simply because you can spend the morning at Meiji Jingu while in Shibuya everything is still closed. Also Meiji Jingu closes at 4:20 so you might have to rush to be able to go while the stalls (where you can buy amulet and such) and the garden is still open.
For Day 4 you could go to Shinjuku as it is where the metropolitan building is, but to be honest it might be not too interesting to spend much time there, but you could visit Shinjuku Gyoen if you are into visiting Parks. Additionally you could visit Nakano Broadway for the retro game search. It’s not far from Shinjuku and is considered cheaper than Akihabara also since it is inside a building it is great in case of rain on that day.
If you want a great view you could also opt for the Shibuya sky building (it’s not free though) on the day you are already in Shibuya. The observation deck is on the top of the building, not just the top floor