Long post ahead!
This is excluding 2 days for traveling to/from Japan, so we’re journeying for 9 days total. Travelers are myself, my partner, and our kid who will be 3 years old when we go. My partner and I really like museums, art, cultural and historical things, food of course, and nature when we travel. I’m a vegetarian, partner and toddler are not. This will be my first time traveling internationally since visiting Montreal 10+ years ago and only my 3rd time ever being on a plane. The toddler has been on a plane a couple times as a baby but this will be her first time doing a loooong flight (mine as well).
Thankfully our kid is super chill and easygoing, but traveling with a toddler is still traveling with a toddler so we’re aiming to make this as realistic and easy on ourselves as possible. That’s why we’re choosing to just remain in Tokyo (except for the Kamakura trip) vs making our trip longer and hitting up other cities.
I’ve been doing a lot of research to try to make sure we aren’t packing too much into our days, and that our subway/on foot travel will be efficient. But I’m no expert so definitely open to opinions and ideas on how to plan and organize our days.
As of right now we’re planning on staying in Shinjuku, only because I saw a really nice looking Airbnb with good reviews there but we’re not 100% committed to that. But the itinerary was planned with staying in Shinjuku in mind.
I don’t really want to plan out where we’re eating for every single meal and love the idea of just finding places as we go. But it seems like finding vegetarian food in Japan will require at least a little planning and strategizing. I have a small list of some recommended spots.
**Day/evening of arrival**
Check-in to hotel
Eat, relax, maybe take
kiddo to a playground to help with the adjustment to time shift
(apparently Shinjuku Chuo Park has a 24 hour playground)
Maybe pick up some stuff at convenience store to make breakfast
After the kid (hopefully easily) goes down for bed I’m thinking it’d be nice to go to a tattoo-tolerant sento to unwind in (my partner has absolutely zero interest in the onsen/sento experience). If I’m too wiped for this on this night I’ll definitely do it another night. I’ve read Thermae-Yu is a sento that allows tattoos and I have a small list of some others.
**Day 1**
breakfast (right now I’m planning that we’ll mostly just be hitting up the convenience stores for breakfast vs trying to find a restaurant that’s open every morning)
Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park
Explore Shimokitazawa neighborhood
Dinner either in Shimokitazawa or around the Airbnb
**Day 2**
Tokyo Toy Museum for the little one
Spend rest of day in Yanesen neighborhood (particularly want to go to the cat themed street and Nezu shrine, otherwise plan to wander around and check out shops and things)
Find somewhere in Yanesen for dinner or get dinner in Shinjuku on way back to airbnb
**Day 3**
Shinjuku Gyoen National Park
Takashimaya Dept Store
Head to Asakusa for Nakamise St and Sensoji temple
Spend rest of day exploring Asakusa, get dinner somewhere
**Day 4**
Mori Tower for view, art museum, shops, food
take monorail to Odaiba
teamlab borderless
explore Odaiba surrounding area
**Day 5**
Fire Museum for the little one
Harajuku
-Takeshita St and otherwise exploring
Shibuya
-Miyashita Park seems like a nice place to stop and get a little green space in
-maybe Starbucks to watch the crossing from above
-Center Gai
**Day 6: Kamakura day trip**
(We’re considering doing a guided trip w/ this local guide company Magical Trip)
Explore town/shops
Komachi street
Saw in a youtube vid this place called Imoyoshi Yakata that has dope looking croquettes and ice cream
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu temple
Hokokuji temple for bamboo garden and grounds
The Great Buddha
Maybe explore the surrounding hiking trails if we have the time/energy
**Day 7**
nothing specific planned; open day for flexibility/rest/rescheduling/things we didn’t have time for
Fly home the next day
A question I have specifically for parents, bring a stroller or no? She loves walking, and we use our carrier more than the stroller in normal day to day life but she’ll be much bigger and heavier in a year. I’m thinking a stroller would be nice to have for when she gets tired of walking/naps on the go. Not to mention the convenience of having it in the airport. But it seems like getting around the city with a stroller could be annoying. The stroller we have is narrow and folds down almost totally flat. It weighs about 20 lbs. I’ve read totally conflicting opinions so far but willing to hear more to ponder!
(edited for formatting)
3 comments
You might have already found these, but have you seen the Happy Cow app or the Japan Vege Map ([https://vegemap.org/en/](https://vegemap.org/en/))? I am still planning my trip as well, but these two have been a great resource. Hope you have a great trip 🙂
For the stroller, bring a light-weight umbrella type stroller. You’ll do a lot more walking than you even anticipate and that way your little onr can nap/snooze in the stroller a bit as you’re wandering around if it’s not too hot. There are also a lot (a lot!) of stairs in subway stations in Japan and if you can easily fold up your stroller and carry your toddler you can get to your platform/train faster and not work about squeezing an open stroller into a crowded subway car. You can also try using the [wheelchair accessible route option in Google Maps ](https://www.accessible-japan.com/tokyo-now-has-wheelchair-accessible-routes-in-google-maps/) as this will make it (a bit) easier to find the elevators in subway/train stations. But elevators are often inconveniently located and can be difficult to find regardless. Travel light and be prepared to fold up and carry the stroller up/down.
What time of year are you planning for? Mid-May to June is rainy season and July – September is very, very hot and humid. Little ones can get overheated/heat stroke faster than adults and all the pavement in Tokyo radiates heat back up and since little ones are closer to the ground they get even more of this radiated heat than adults. If coming in summer, definitely plan indoor activities during hottest part of the day though truthfully it’s hot/humid in Tokyo by 6 am. The best times of year to visit are Late October to mid-December or mid-March to early May. The weather then is usually sunny and warm during the day but not too hot or humid and cools off at night. With little ones you’ll have a much more pleasant travel experience if you can avoid the summer months.
These resources may also be helpful:
– [The Tokyo Chapter: Tokyo With Kids ](https://www.thetokyochapter.com)
– [Best Living Japan: Fun by Age ](https://bestlivingjapan.com/category/age/)
– [Traveling With Children in Japan ](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2460.html)
While you do have many days that are more or less close to Shinjuku, I do have a mixed opinion of the area.If you are close to Shinjuku Chuo Park, you are actually almost 1 km from Shinjuku station and this is a big station, so can take longer to reach the platform you want to use. And if you are close to the park, you are most likely closer to a subway station that is not Shinjuku station, so you would have to do a transfer if you want to use JR. I just do not especially see the point of Shinjuku unless you want to frequently go for late drinking and dining in the area.
I personally think that station like Yoyogi, Harajuku, Ebisu and Meguro, just to give some example on that side of Tokyo, could be as convenient, they have both the Yamanote and a subway station, and are much smaller stations.
Stroller can be a good idea, but probably something you can easily fold. As someone else said, you might have to search for the elevator in the station, so can be a bit of a waste of time, and you do not want to take too much space in the train (try to spot the area for wheelchair as there is usually more open space so you are not in the way. Also keep in mind that some store have pretty narrow alley, so use of stroller can even be tricky in some situation.
And in any case, avoid rush hour, even if you do not have a stroller. Trust me, I’ve been in some really crammed trains and you do not want to be in one with a child.