Hi!
Heading for my first trip in Japan from July 19th to August 6th. Landing and leaving in NRT.
I am going with my wife and my 2 children (6 and 9).
I have built the itinerary based on things we always wanted to do, suggestions from this sub-reddit, and also ChatGPT that gave me some additional suggestions!!
I still think that human feedback is very relevant, so I would appreciate if anyone has comments in terms of feasibility, logistics, variety, interesting areas that I have missed out, or places I had included that I should’ve been bothered with at all.
Some things to note for our itinerary:
* We don’t want to visit museums (not fun with kids…..)
* We want to keep busy because we need to with the kids! We want a mix of activities for kids and adults, but we don’t want to do too many “kid activities”, especially those that aren’t unique to Japan as we can do them elsewhere “less exotic”!
* We don’t particularly want to visit Disney parks since we’ll go in the US in the coming years
* Activities in the itinerary can be changed/remove/added (especially those that ChatGPT added for which I would need human to validate!!!)
* We’ll get a 7 day JR pass
* We’ll have 4 “carry-on” style luggages, and 4 small backpacks
* For now, we planned on staying 3 nights in Tokyo, then 1 night in Hiroshima, then 3 nights in Kyoto, then 3 nights in Osaka, then 1 night in Hakone, then 7 nights in Tokyo
* I know that it might be a bit intense to go to Nagoya and then Hiroshima on the same day and stay only 1 night in Hiroshima, but:
* The July Sumo Tournament only happens on those dates in Nagoya, we don’t want to visit anything else in Nagoya
* In Hiroshima we only want to see the peace park / memorial and watch a baseball game (the hotel is near)
* In Hakone we’re only staying 1 night because nice ryokans are really expensive, and we don’t want/need to visit many things
* I already shopped for hotels and found good deals on most; we only want to stay in hotels/ryokans and we don’t want to spend too much on hotels in general. We are not on a tight budget, but we don’t want to spend too much either unless it’s really worth it for the “uniqueness” of the experiences. I’m still willing to change hotels/cities/dates as all of the hotels are booked with free cancellation.
Thanks a lot!
Here’s the itinerary:
​
* July 19
* Flight at 3:10 pm to Tokyo
* Hotel in Ueno (1 night, breakfast)
* July 20
* Ueno Park
* Ameyoko (lively shopping street near Ueno Park)
* Asakusa and Senso-ji Temple
* Hotel in Ueno (2 nights, onsen, breakfast)
* July 21
* Akihabara District (electronics stores, anime and manga shops)
* Odaiba (Joypolis, DiverCity Tokyo Plaza)
* July 22
* Early departure and train pass activation
* Train to Nagoya (1h40)
* Leave luggage in locker or store
* Sumo Tournament (second to last day)
* Train to Hiroshima (2h)
* Baseball game (the next day as well if switched)
* Hotel near Hiroshima Stadium (1 night)
* July 23
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
* Train to Kyoto (1h30)
* Fushimi Inari-taisha
* Hotel near Gion (3 nights)
* July 24
* Gion Matsuri Parade
* Gion District (geisha district)
* Maruyama Park (park with a pond, near Gion)
* Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion)
* Nishiki Market
* July 25
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Iwatayama Monkey Park
* Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
* Surrounding temples
* Higashiyama District (temple walk and traditional streets)
* July 26
* Train to Osaka
* Dotonbori
* Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street
* Shinsekai (lively neighborhood with Tsutenkaku Tower)
* Hotel near train station (3 nights, pool, onsen)
* July 27
* Universal Studios Japan
* July 28
* Kuchu Teien Observatory
* Osaka Castle and Park
* Osaka Aquarium (40 min from hotel)
* Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel
* July 29
* Early departure
* Train to Hakone
* Hakone (traditional train, funicular, cable car, pirate ship)
* Hotel: Hotel Onsen Guest House Tsutaya (1 night, onsen)
* July 30
* Train to Tokyo
* Nakamise-dori (shopping street near Senso-ji Temple)
* Hotel near Tokyo Station (3 nights, onsen)
* July 31
* Meiji Shrine
* Roppongi Hills – Mori Tower Observatory
* Harry The Hedgehog Café in Roppongi
* August 1
* Odaiba: TeamLab Borderless (interactive digital museum)
* Odaiba Seaside Park and Rainbow Bridge
* Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba
* August 2
* Koishikawa Korakuen Garden
* Travel to the new hotel
* Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko Statue
* Shibuya Sky (in the evening to enjoy the night view)
* Hotel in Shibuya (4 nights)
* August 3
* Yoyogi Park and Harajuku District
* Mipig Café (café with mini-pigs) in Harajuku
* Takeshita-dori (lively shopping street near Harajuku)
* Omotesando (upscale shopping street near Harajuku)
* Pokémon Mega Tokyo Center and Pokémon Café in Ikebukuro
* August 4
* Nezu-jinja (shrine) near Yanesen (traditional Tokyo neighborhood)
* Yanaka Ginza (traditional shopping street in Yanesen)
* Shinjuku District: Gyoen Garden and shopping area
* Ginza District (shopping, Sony Park, Kabuki-za Theatre)
* Roppongi District (restaurants, nightlife)
* August 5
* Ebisu District (restaurants, shops)
* Hamarikyu Gardens near Ginza
* Akasaka District (lively area with shopping streets, restaurants, and bars)
* Kagurazaka (stroll through the cobblestone streets of this historic neighborhood, lined with traditional restaurants, shops, and cafés)
* August 6
* Meiji-jingu (Meiji Shrine) and Takeshita-dori in Harajuku
* HARRY Hedgehog Café in Roppongi
* Flight back home, departure at 5:30 pm
Thanks again!!
5 comments
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Namba Parks is a generic shopping center and you’re already visiting plenty of those in Tokyo. On that note, unless you come from somewhere without this type of shopping centers and really enjoy going to them, not sure why there are so many being visited.
> Tokyo hotels
Not clear why there are four different hotels in Tokyo, especially since packing / unpacking and checking in/out presumably takes extra long with kids. Furthermore, neither Kazusaya nor Edoya are genuine onsen, they are heated tap water in a pool.
> 7 day JR pass
Are you aware that this is 7 calendar days, so you will have to pay for Osaka-Odawara on July 29 out of pocket?
> Train to Hiroshima (2h)
On the JR pass you cannot use Nozomi trains, so it is more like 3 hours (including the transfer time at Shin-Osaka) and relatively limited frequencies.
Hi!
I do not know why you are staying in 1 hotel 1 night and another hotel 2 nights at the start of your trip. My tween hates changing hotels. It is one of her least favorite things. I still make her do it sometimes, but doing it within Tokyo like that seem weird.
I’d also make sure you know how big room sizes really are and make sure you remembered to add both your kids to the reservation. In Japan, your 9 year old often counts as a 3 rd person for room rates. I travel with just my daughter, so it is something I am very aware of. It’s not like the US where kids stay free in most hotel rooms. At many hotels, 7+ counts as another adult. 6 years old tends to be free, but counts for occupancy as well.
I personally would not want to take my 6 and 9 year old to Akihabara to spend a lot of time. I’m not a prude and don’t believe nudity has to be sexual. But anime in Akihabara isn’t just like Demon Slayer and Spy x Family, it’s also hentai and it is not hidden. If you’re OK with that, then cool, but it is something you want to be aware of before you get there. Akihabara also doesn’t really start opening until 10 am or later.
On 7/22 I don’t know where you saw it is only 2 hours between Nagoya and Hiroshima, because that is not the case. It’s 2 hours and 11 minutes by Nozomi Shinkansen which you can not take with a rail pass. From Nagoya you have to take a Hikari to either Shin-Osaka or Shin-Kobe ands transfer to another shinkansen to get to Hiroshima. It’s going to take you at least 2.5 but probably more like 3 hours when all is said and done because of timing and transfers. There are no direct shinkansen covered by the JR Rail Pass between Nagoya and Hiroshima after 7:26 am.
Nishiki Market is not open very late. There are of course other shopping streets in the area that are open later, but the area specifically considered Nishiki Market has more limited hours.
August 1st you are not going to Palette Town or Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba.
All those things closed during the pandemic and many of them are in the process of being torn down. Oedo Onsen Monogatari lost its lease in September 2021 and Palette Town closed in August or September 2022.
You could either go to Yunessun or Urayasu Mangekyo or one of the other themed bathing facilities run by Oedo Onsen.
Quick tip. You can ship/mail your luggage to your hotel room from postal or moving services like Kuroneko yamato or JP post to your next hotel. Usually possible from the airport too or any other post office too. It’s cheaper than a coin locker and a lot easier.
Edit: when sending your luggage contact your hotel before hand and let them know. You can sometimes also send your luggage from your hotel too! Again let them know in advance.
A bunch of your Tokyo days make no sense geographically. Lots of bouncing around all over the map in a single day but then visiting places right next to each other on different days. You should stop letting the AI do your research and make some pins of the places you are interested in seeing on google maps so you can figure out how to group things together logically