Itinerary Check – 18 days Tokyo/Kansai with infant Apr 2023

Long time lurker here and finally compiled all info to put together this itinerary! I have some questions but will leave to the end – would really appreciate this reddit community’s input.

**The travelers:** A couple in their early 30s and an 11-month-old infant (turning 1 in Japan!).

**Goals:** Just want to hit the main spots and be flexible each day with our infant in mind.

**Housekeeping:**

* Our trip starts in HK/Singapore the week prior so hopefully we won’t be as jet lagged.
* JR: It does not work out for us to get a 7/14 day JR pass based on our itinerary so will be getting single ticket JR tickets.
* We plan to use eSIM card and share data

**Day 1 TOKYO:** Haneda (\~7AM). Pick up Suica card. Head to hotel in Asakusa, explore area while waiting for checkin time. Ueno Park in late afternoon/evening

**Day 2 TOKYO:** Tsukiji Fish Market in early AM, followed by Teamlab Planets around 10AM. Explore Akihabara in the late afternoon/evening

**Day \_18\_: \*\*Option here to spend an extra day in TOKYO or in OSAKA\*\***

**Day 3 OSAKA:** Travel to OSAKA. Dotonburi in the evening

**Day 4 OSAKA:** Osaka Castle, Sakuranomiya Park, Umeda exploration

**Day 5 OSAKA:** Day trip to Nara

**Day 6 OSAKA:** Kuromon Market, Den Den town, Shinsekai, Haruka300

**Day 7 KYOTO:** Travel to KYOTO, Pontocho Alley, Hanamikoji Street

**Day 8 KYOTO:** Fushimi Inari shrine, Nishiki Market

**Day 9 KYOTO:** Bamboo Forest, Monkey Park (just to observe, not feed for infant’s safety)

**Day 10 KYOTO:** Kiyomizu dera, Sannenzaka, Keage Incline

**Day 11 HAKONE:** Travel to Hakone/Ryokan

**Day 12 TOKYO:** Travel to TOKYO, evening —>Shibuya Sky/Shibuya crossing

**Day 13 TOKYO:** IKEA, Pokemon Centre, Roppongi (Mori Building…want a nice view of tokyo tower)

**Day 14 TOKYO:** Gotokuji Temple, Harajuku

**Day 15 TOKYO:** Day trip to Fuji Five Lakes (debating by car – need car seat…vs train 3hrs)

**Day 16 TOKYO:** Free day to do whatever we want/missed

**Day 17 TOKYO:** —> Narita airport for home

​

**Questions for this reddit group!**

* Based on what we have so far, should we explore TOKYO or OSAKA for 1 more day?
* Would a Kansai Thru Pass be worth it for us here?
* Debating which location to stay in Kyoto – stay 5 min walk from Sanjo station versus stay right next to Yasaka Shrine (10min walk from Gion station). We were thinking that staying next to Yasaka Shrine will allow us to walk a comfortable distance to the local tourist attraction spots but it’s also $175/night vs $100/night for same size room and amenities. What are people’s thoughts???
* How does luggage transfer work if the hotel we are staying at eg. in Kyoto, does not have a staff (check in by iPad/phone apparently)
* Did people find team lab planets to be “relatively” less crowded in the evening? Not sure if I should reconsider aiming for a booking time of 10AM.

Thank you so much in advance!