Hi all,
My wife, 2.5y old toddler and I are heading to Japan in June and just wanted to run the following itinerary by you all to see if it’s practical and get any ideas for the days where I have a ? Iisted (or anything I haven’t thought of!)
This will be our second time to Japan, but my wife will be near 6 months pregnant this time around and we have a toddler in tow. We have amazing memories of our time in Japan from last time and want our daughter to experience it as well.
I have tried to group activities together where possible or made it as practical transit wise as possible. We are basing ourselves in Tokyo and Osaka.
I’ve also popped in our transit from airport to nearest train station to our accommodation or accom to next city.
Thanks in advance, it’s safe to say that we absolutely can’t wait!
DAY 1 – Arrival 6/6
Sydney to Japan
Arrive Haneda
Take Airport Rapid Limited Express to Asakusa station
Walk to accommodation (6 min)
DAY 2 – Asakusa 7/6
Walk to My Basket (groceries)
Sensoji Temple (dependant on time departing after shopping, maybe too busy)
Ueno Park + Lunch
Tokyo Skytree + Dinner
DAY 3 – Odaiba 8/6
Teamlab Planets
Toyusu Park + Markets
DiverCity Tokyo Plaza + Decks + Legoland
Tsukishima Market St + Dinner
DAY 4 – Shibuya/Shinjuku 9/6
Hachiko Statue
Shopping Shibuya (Don Quixote, Parco, others)
Harajuku (Kiddy Land, Daiso, Takeshita St)
?
DAY 5 – Tokyo 10/6
Yasakuni Shrine
Imperial palace
Tokyo station (Pokemon center DX)
Yakitori Alley (Dinner?)
DAY 6 – Yokohama 11/6
Apanaman Children’s Museum
Nissan Global HQ Gallery (Optional)
Cup Noodle Museum (and surrounds)
Motomatchi Ramen museum (Dinner)
DAY 7 – Rest / Akihabara 12/6
Morning rest
Afternoon Kanda Myojin Shrine
Shopping
* Super Potato
* Yodabashi-Akiba
* Sofmap
* Animate
DAY 8 – Tokyo to Osaka 13/6
Asakusa st > Airport rapid limited express > Shinagawa St
Shinagawa St > Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen > Shin-Osaka St
Shin-Osaka St > Tokaido-Sanyo Line (Himeji) – Osaka St
Osaka St > Osaka Loop Line (counter clock) > Nishikujo St
Walk to accommodation (4 min)
Grand Front Osaka (maybe depending fatigue)
DAY 9 – Osaka 14/6
Osaka Aquarium
Nipponbashi Denden Town
???
Teamlab Botanical (evening)
DAY 10 – Kyoto 15/6
Fushimi Inara
Taisha Heian Shrine
Toji Temple
?
DAY 11 – Osaka 17/6
Kids Plaza Osaka
Lalaport ExpoCity
Nanba
DAY 12 – Kyoto 18/6
Higashiyam Ward (walking)
Gion (walking)
Kyoto city zoo
DAY 13 – Nara 19/6
Shoryakuji Temple
Nara park
Naeamachi Mechanical Toy Museum
Harushika Sake Brewery store
DAY 14 – Osaka to Tokyo 20/6
Hep Five Ferris Wheel (pending morning feeling)
Niskikujo St > Osaka Loop Line (Tennoji) > Osaka St
Osaka St > Tokaido-Sanyo Line (Takatsuki) > Shin-Osaka St
Shin-Osaka St > Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen > TO BE CONFIRMED
Walk to accommodation (\~15 minutes depending on station we end up at)
DAY 15 21/6
Tokyo Dome (can we spend a whole day here with a toddler?)
DAY 16 – Depart Japan 22/6
? (Morning and afternoon, departing for Sydney in evening)
Edogawabashi St > Yarakucho Line (Shin-Kiba) > Yarakucho St
Hibiya St > Mita Line (Hiyoshi) > Mita St
Mita St > Asakusa Line (Airport Express) > Haneda Airport Terminal
3 comments
TeamLab planets is amazing! And Nara is absolutely beautiful. I knew about the bowing deer, but I didn’t expect it to be such a large and beautiful park. Mt. Inari is also beautiful at the summit. Honestly, some of the itinerary seems a bit ambitious for a toddler and pregnant person, in my opinion. I was completely exhausted most of the time I spent in Japan. I wish we had paced ourselves more, and focused on one or two things a day. I would maybe add Tokyo tower. The view is amazing.
As for Day 11, Expo City is right next to Bampakun Koen (Expo ‘70 park) famous for Tower of the Sun. It’s great place to take it easy and relax with kids. There’s some nice playgrounds, a lake with paddle boats, a Japanese garden, and several museums. It’s one of my favorite places to take kids.
Honestly the days seem a bit packed in general for me (as the parent of a young toddler/preschooler in Japan), but if you put your “must do” or ticketed activity in the morning, then you can easily nix anything in the afternoon if it proves too much for your child or wife (being a tourist is exhausting and being pregnant is exhausting! Being both will no doubt be doubly so!). Make sure you have your stroller!
For example, Yokohama (which is where I live): I’d put my must do in the morning (for us, it would be Anpanman, may need tickets ahead of time), maybe hit lunch down the street at Mark IS shopping center (very popular with kids and parents), then chill on the cool rooftop garden or play in the fountains (bring extra clothes).
If it were my kid we’d probably be a bit overstimulated, tired, and/or done for the day at that point, but since you’re tourists you no doubt want to do more so you can then add in things like Cup Noodle and/or Red Brick Warehouse (often has awesome kid special stuff like a temporary beach, flower display, curry festival, etc). If not, then you can head back to Tokyo and call it a day.
Can I ask what’s the Motomachi Ramen Museum? Do you mean the one in Shin Yokohama? That’s a different location, and a bit crowded and maybe not worth it, from what I hear. Lots of other great places to get ramen closer to where you’ll be though!