Hi there.
We are planing to visit Japan later this year for 12 nights, sometime between mid-September and early December. October/November would suit us best but have mixed feelings about amazing autumn colours and big crowds.
TLDR: does the number of tourists around Tokyo and Kyoto vary much during October and November, and if so when is quietest while still having a good likelihood to see early autumn colours?
Full story: When we first planned this trip pre-covid we didn’t have a baby, now we are lucky enough to. So our new itinerary is simpler: 6 nights in Tokyo including 1-2 day trips (one of which likely to be Nikko, maybe relevant to question), then 6 nights in Kyoto also including day trips to Hiroshima and the nearby cities in combination (Osaka, Nara etc.).
Researching the time of year, we’re excited at seeing the fall colours but are getting put off by the prospect of significantly larger crowds. We ideally want to see at least some fall colours during our trip, noting we prefer the idea of seeing plenty of green still, mixed with assorted deep reds and yellows – I mention this as I know some regard the best fall viewing as when pretty much everything is red (or yellow). However, if there is a significant increase in the number of tourists over the expected peak fall time, now we have a baby we’d rather sacrifice the fall viewing to experience less intense crowds. Warmer temperatures would also be nice, meaning earlier, though we’d also love to see the evening light displays, meaning later.
At the moment I’m leaning towards two ideas. Either a) going from mid to late October, hopefully seeing good autumn colours in Nikko, and hoping maybe there will be fewer people in Tokyo/Kyoto and milder weather (maybe some early signs of colours too); or b) going mid to late November and hopefully maximising chances of great autumn scenes and dealing with the crowds since tourist numbers are similar and consistently high all through October/November.
I was hoping for some advice or thoughts from people who’ve experienced these main tourist areas around any of that time, especially if you either had a baby or just don’t deal with intense crowds well. Also feel free to suggest anything itinerary related, although we don’t want to do any more overnight moves if we can help it.
Thank you 🙂
2 comments
I think Japan will always be crowded regardless the season, however it’s very baby friendly.
If you want to avoid crowds I would forget foliage and avoid Kyoto hotspots on weekends. The popular areas will never not be crowded, and the crowds will shift with where the peak autumn colors are. For example, Nikko (chuzenjiko area) in late October, Nikko (two shrines and temple area) in early November, Kyoto in late November etc.
Depending on the child’s sleep schedules it may be more challenging or even impossible to do the traditional crowd avoidance tips such as getting up very early for sights such as Kiyomizudera, Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama etc.
Also avoid the first week of October as that is chinese golden week and the GR in Japan is a very popular destination for them and it simply makes sense to avoid traveling during peaks that have no relevance to us.