Family of 4, (49, 46, 16, 14) travelling to Tokyo with an air-bnb in Shibuya. Yes, we know it'll be hot and humid, but last time I was there it was August of 04 and I didn't hate it too much. Wanted to run this plan by y'all and get some input on a few things as we get closer to finalizing our excursion reservations and train tickets. Little bit about us, we're all fit, love to explore on foot and we definitely don't want to over plan. Just want to see where the day can take us in most circumstances.
Day 1: Land at Haneda, the BNB we're staying in sends a car to the airport for pickup which is super rad. Assuming we should be in the house by 5-6pm assuming our landing at 2pm holds. Figure we'll freshen up and take a walk around the neighborhood and try to stay up till 10pm or so and get acclimated to the time as best we can.
Day 2: Explore Shibuya and Harajuku, mostly on foot. Mainly want to shop, eat and explore. There's a few spots we want to specifically check out but no desire to visit fancy restaurants or lock ourselves into time specific outings. We'll essentially let our mood take us where we want to go.
Day 3: Same as above.
Day 4: Thinking about a Disney adventure. With two teens, is Disney Sea or Tokyo Disney the move? We live near Disneyland and have been to Disney World a few times. Figure this will be an all day adventure so nothing else planned here.
Day 5: Day trip to Kamakura. Take a train in the AM, head to the coast and explore shrines, get some short hikes in and hopefully rent a board and surf. This is probably my biggest goal personally, to surf in Japan. If anyone has any feedback on the in's and out's of rentals it'd be greatly appreciated. Also, us parents both have visible tattoos, anything to worry about there culturally at the beach? Again, figure this will be an all day excursion so nothing else planned for night time.
Day 6: Repeat Day 2/3 and explore some more stuff locally. (see below for some feedback here on potential early departure to Kyoto)
Day 7: Overnight trip to Kyoto. Planning to take a morning bullet train to Kyoto getting us there before noon, then taking the train to the bamboo forest and the monkey park and making that our afternoon. (this is the wife and kids main goal of the trip after Disney) After we're done there take a train back to our hotel and wind it down in the neighborhood close to the hotel after what should be a decently long day.
Question here… as I haven't booked our train or hotel in Kyoto yet. Would it be a smart idea to take the bullet later in the afternoon the night before (Day 6), check in to the hotel and then start the bamboo forest and monkey park early on Day 7? Or is it reasonable to get those two excursions knocked out in the afternoon. We're keeping our BNB in Shibuya through this trip to kyoto so we'll be travelling light with just a backpack with toiletries and a change of clothes.
Day 8: Explore Kyoto shrines, grab food, shop etc… Then late in the afternoon head back to Shibuya via bullet and back to our BNB.
Day 9: Last full day in japan, walk, explore, eat, grab any last souvenirs and enjoy fresh air before our flight home. Might meet up with a friend who will be in town for summer sonic fest.
Day 10: Fly on home and get a burrito.
Few other odds and ends:
The BNB asked for photos of our passports, is this customary? I haven't sent them yet, just wondering if I should be worried.
We have T-Mobile, any feedback on their coverage with the INTL offering they have given the places we want to visit? Deciding if I'll need to rent a portable Wifi while we're there.
How's everyone's experience with the digital suica cards? accepted most places? We'll have cash on us as well, just wondering if we'll need to secure physical IC cards.
Anything I am over/underthinking? Again, we're happy to let the day take us where it does and I'm sure we'll discover things while we're there that we want to do so I don't want to overplan outside of hotel reservations and bullet train tickets. We don't really care about fancy restaurants or the hype instagram must see/eats, just looking to immerse our kids into a new culture and have fun as a family.
Thanks in advance! This subreddit has been a wealth of information so far and I plan to report back and continue the info sharing when we're back!
by brendanklein