We are two families travelling with teens/tweens (8 of us in total) in April 2023.
We will spend the first week in Tokyo, trying to squeeze in everyone’s wish lists. Then we have two weeks to try to zip around and catch the highlights. Keeping in mind we are travelling with four teens/tweens.
Kyoto and Hiroshima (including Mayajima) are a must, we will leave about 5 days for Kyoto and 4 for Hiroshima.
Then we have approx 4 days left to choose between Osaka, Mt Fuji and stopping in Nagoya to see the new Ghibli Park.
* Is Mt Fuji worth the visit? I visited India 4 times before I saw the Taj Mahal, and while I loved the experience I don’t think I was wrong skipping it for more interesting destinations the first three times. I’m wondering if Mt Fuji is like this, or if it is a Must Visit destination?
* Is there a way to squeeze in Ghibli Park without two nights in Nagoya? The park is a high priority for me and my two kids, but kind of indifferent for the other family. I would love to take my two, but feel like we’re dragging 8 people off the path (and not in an exciting way) for 48 hrs just for one theme park.
* People say Osaka is the laid-back cool little sister of Tokyo. Is it a Must Visit? With 7 days already planned in Tokyo at the start (plus we fly out of Tokyo as well at the end) are we just repeating ourselves with an urban experience?
* Is there anything else we are crazy for skipping? It already feels like 3 weeks is not long enough for this trip!!!
I realise that everyone will have very different opinions about what is a ‘must visit’ in Japan. Totally cool with that. The more opinions the merrier!
*Side note – my teen is autistic and very excited about the trip, but he struggles with fast transitions, so we are trying to plan an itinerary that doesn’t move between destinations too rapidly and gives us time to explore each spot.
12 comments
1. Mt. Fuji area (either Hakone, or Fuji Five Lakes) is not really a must visit destination. The views of Mt. Fuji are really, really nice, but if you are somewhat lucky, you can catch the view of shinkansen, or even off the plane.
2. Ghibli Park can be visited without staying in Nagoya at all. You could visit in on the way between Tokyo and Kansai (while using coin lockers at Nagoya station) or as a day trip from Kyoto (about 100 minutes each way). If the activity is indifferent – they may make a trip to Legoland/SCMaglev and Railway Park, Science Museum, or perhaps one of the Toyota techno sites.
3. Osaka has a different culture than Tokyo, and certainly it’s worth visiting at least for a day.
4. Note that unless you have specific plans for Hiroshima (like Mazda Museum, trip to Kure or Iwakuni), 7/2 split between Kansai and Hiroshima would work much better, especially since we recommend taking at least 6 days for Kansai (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Himeji/Kobe).
I really love the Fuji area and it’s popular for a reason but I wouldn’t call it a must see despite how much I love it. In your case, unless some of the people you are travelling with really wanted to see it, or you wanted to add in some nature and onsen to the itinerary I’d probably skip it.
You don’t have to stay overnight in Nagoya. You could day trip it, or what I’d probably do, I’d have it as a stop between Tokyo and Kyoto. There’s also other sights in Nagoya if you wanted to split your group for that time- legoland, castle, Toyota museum. Or one group could head to Kyoto while you and your kids split off to the Ghibli park.
Osaka is similar to Tokyo in that they’re both big Japanese cities. They are pretty different imo, and I’d spend at least a day in Osaka. The food in Osaka is great as well so I’d plan to stay long enough to eat dinner as well.
I would try to take time from Hiroshima if you can. Possibly you’ve planned the length for your autistic son, as you mentioned he struggles with fast transitions. But even if you reduce it by a day and add that time to Kyoto I think it would serve you better. Obviously you know your son best, but there’s much more to see and do in Kyoto, and I think you’ll feel rushed there otherwise which may be harder on your son than spending a shorter time in Hiroshima which has less to see and do anyway?
At the very least, I think you could take a day out of Hiroshima; 3 is more than enough, I think. 5 days in Kyoto is also pretty good and you could take a day trip to Osaka if you want to. Speaking of which..
I think you can absolutely skip Osaka. It’s different from Tokyo, sure, but I don’t think it’s so different that a foreign tourist will notice much.
I understand your son has trouble with fast transitions, but do you think he could handle a night in a ryokan in Hakone, for example? That could be a good pit stop between Kansai and Tokyo and will let you get views of Mt. Fuji. That said, you would likely be traveling from urban -> train -> more rural (Japanese rural so not that rural depending on where you’re from and used to) and then next day back to very urban.
For Ghibli, could you simply split up from the other family for a day? There are other things of interest in Nagoya if you find yourself there, or as mithdraug said, just as a day trip. If the other family doesn’t have any interest in anything in that area, they could consider traveling through Kanazawa as an alternative.
I don’t know how well this could fit into your schedule but there is a dinosaur museum in Fukui prefecture (best accessed while in Kyoto) which could provide an alternative if you find yourself with more time or time for other options. I found it very cool and interesting as an adult by myself so I think it could be a great option for your collective kids. Just some basic information, it’s 90 minutes by express train from Kyoto (no shinkansen) to Fukui city, and from there you’ll take another train out to the actual town. I would suggest then just taking a taxi from the station to the museum. But, it is a little out of the way and so unless your kids are dinosaur-obsessed, it’s totally reasonable to skip it.
IMO, 8 people is very big for a group. You can go together in most of the days, but you might want to consider for a split if people have different wants. For example if your family wanna go to nagoya and the other don’t, then pick one city where you can meet 2 days later. Imo, it is a win win solution. Going around with 8 people feels very cumbersome tbh
Mt fuji is not a must visit, you can look at it from many places including your shinkansen, or hakone (which is more interesting than Mt fuji)
And why do you want to be at kyoto for 5 days? I think 5 day is too overkill for kyoto (unless you wanna go hike fushimi inari temple)
I dunno where you get that “laid back little sister of tokyo” phrase. But osaka is definitely a must visit, at least for namba area. It is very wacky and has this blade runner feeling. Plus, it is called the kitchen of japan, if you like trying good food, go to osaka
Going in April, you won’t go to climb Mount Fuji, so what would make most sense it to go to a place from where you can see it like Kawaguchiko or Hakone that are the two most popular spots. That is, if you can even see it as it can easily be hidden by clouds. For sure you increase your chances with 4 days (I could only see it during my third day in the area) So while I think that the view on the mountain is indeed really nice, at the same time I am not sure it is an absolute must.
Ghibli park you should be able to do it with a single night in Nagoya. First day maybe try to get to Nagoya somehow early to have some time to check things around, next days you go the the amusement park and you can take the train at the end of the day to reach the next city, you should have time as the park close at 5pm anyway. Of course it always depend on where you go next. And if half of the group is not interested, then they could do something else and you meet back together at the end of the day. And if you want to move slower than that, then just look a bit more about other things to do for extra days in Nagoya. And well, I guess it could even be a stop between Tokyo and Kyoto if you do not want to stay in Nagoya.
I think that when people say Osaka is more laid-back it’s because of the people and not because the city itself.
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Yes, what is a must is for sure different from person to person and it is easier to give recommendation when you know the interest of the person. What do you want to experience, what do you like ? Do you want to experience the countryside, the scenery, go for a hike, do you want to have a taste of traditional Japanese culture, visiting gardens, temple, shrine, caste, or are you into modern Japanese culture and you want to see neon signs, street fashion, manga/anime stuff, go in arcade an karaoke. And are you more into history (and what period), or art, or do you have some hobby, like you like train or whatever.
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From what I understand, you want to stay a bit longer in each location as you kid have more difficulty to adapt to fast transition, so I understand it’s why you plan 4 days in Hiroshima (that usually does not require 4 days, unless you add some extra less usual daytrips).
But what about doing day trips, is this something you would consider, like take the bus/train in the morning and back to the hotel at the end of the day, if yes, how long would you consider the maximum for you ? I say that as Kawaguchiko for a view on Mount Fuji is a possible daytrip from Tokyo, it’s 2h one way. Osaka is also a daytrip option from Kyoto and it’s about 1h away (same for Nara). And if daytrips are kind of ok, then you could just stay a bit longer in each place you already planed and just do a couple extra daytrips options.
Also, is there a limit of how long you want to stay in the train between two cities ? Because if you end up in Hiroshima and want to return to Tokyo, that is a minimum of 4 hours in the train. And I would not recommend doing a long distance on the train before flying back home, for that reason I would suggest to either split the Tokyo stay in two half, so you can start and finish by Tokyo, or consider a multi-city ticket and fly out of Hiroshima (even if you have to transfer in Tokyo).
Mt. Fuji is not worth it unless you plan on climbing it. The Fuji Five Lakes area might be nice to visit in April and you might see cherry blossoms, but not sure if its worth the trip.
You could possibly do a day trip from Kyoto to Ghibli Park instead of staying in Nagoya. If you plan on being at the park for two days, then it might be better to stay at Nagoya, but I feel the city is kind of bland compared to the rest of the places you’re visiting.
Osaka is worth the trip in my opinion. Dotonbori is quite memorable and the teens would probably enjoy it. You can also visit Osaka castle which may look even nicer if there are cherry blossoms when you visit. Nara is also pretty close by if you’re interested in seeing roaming deer that bow to you for crackers.
Not sure exactly when you’re going in April, but early April is when cherry blossoms are at their peak. I’m still waiting to experience Japan during peak cherry blossom period, but perhaps there may be places to research if you’re interested in seeing the cherry blossoms. If you’re spending four days in Hiroshima, Okunoshima, a rabbit island, may be of interest to you.
Train travel is so easy-going, you could easily take some days out of Kyoto and Hiroshima and add Osaka. It was described to me as the belly of Japan, so worth going for the grungier, the dustier, and the ‘cool’. I did 3 nights in Kyoto, 2 nights Hiroshima and had a blast. Miyajima island was a good family oriented day trip from Hiroshima
Don’t be afraid to split up into smaller subgroups rather than “dragging” people to things they don’t want to see.
The Ghibli museum was a priority for me but turned out to be a massive disappointment. Just fair warning.
You are going to be exhausted if you stick with this plan. Most of time is going to be wasted by traveling or commuting. I recommend staying in one area or two cities. Even this is too much. Japan is huge and there is a lot of things to do in any given city.
If you intend to take it slower, Nagoya isn’t a bad place to spend a night or 2. I’ve spent 3 nights in Nagoya in a previous trip, and despite its reputation for having nothing to do, I thought it was worth our time. My son loved legoland, the science museum and the Toyota museum. And it’s a good place to experience a large Japanese city without Tokyo’s or Osaka’s crowds. We used the opportunity to eat things like Hida beef and unagi without needing to line up for ages, and it was much more pleasant browsing the shops without bumping shoulders with the other patrons.
Some train and subway stations in Tokyo can be a bit overwhelming due to their size and the sheer volume of people. Knowing where to stand, escalator etiquette, how to use the payment cards, etc., before you arrive will help keep things fun. japan-guide.com has a great video called “Taking the train”
I’ve had an extended stay in both Osaka (and Kyoto) and Tokyo and I’m now in the process of planning a trip to take my teenager to and I am definitely going to be factoring in Osaka. The general atmosphere there is a bit different but as others said, there’s great food there and Dotonbori is a nice place to explore together.
I also recall strolling around Amerikamura when I was younger to be fun, the shops and atmosphere there, particularly on weekends can be a bit of fun depending on the age of your teens. Besides that, the Osaka Aquarium is truly a great experience. I come from Australia and we have some excellent zoos and aquariums here but the Osaka one is something special and I’d recommend swinging by just for that. Next to the Aquarium, there’s also a shopping centre to spend a bit of time at – it has a legoland and a rather large ferris wheel so you can take in some great sights.