Itinerary check – Family of 4 trip – 9 July to 20 July

6 comments

1. July 14 doesn’t seem feasible. If you are somehow able to do it, it will be a long day, which then impacts July 15.

   If you cut out Hiroshima, and split that time in Kyoto and Osaka, it might be better.

   Be prepared for walking tons. This is a packed trip as it stands now.

2. July 17 is a public holiday, Marine Day. We noticed e.g. Disney is likely going to be super crowded that day. Not sure if it means that weekend in general is going to see more (Japanese) tourists. Just something to keep in mind.

3. Not sure how old the kids are but this has a lot of walking and moving around in some very hot and humid weather, so hopefully they are at an age where they are fully mobile, independent, and in control of emotions.

   July 11/12 have multiple vast areas of Tokyo on different ends of the city. I would streamline a bit (eg Shibuya/harajuku/Shinjuku on the same day), delete some areas (eg Ikebukuro), and possibly move some to July 19 (eg Akiba/Pokemon center so you can do your shopping at the end instead of carrying them all over Japan).

   July 13 assuming you are using the JR Pass, plan on three hours tokyo-kyoto, one hour kyoto-nara, and some time faffing around with check-in. Since the Nara sights close at 5, this will require a very early wakeup time in Tokyo to pull off.

   July 14 is illogically ordered and most likely not possible. I suggest to delete philosophers path (too out of the way from everything else + most famous for cherry blossoms which are obviously irrelevant in July), start early at Arashiyama bamboo, be at the doors of the monkey park at 9am opening, then Kinkakuji -> Nishiki Market/tea ceremony -> Fushimi Inari in the evening as this is 24/7 and the days are long in July.

   Onsen – I would deconflict this from July 11 (takes too much time to pull off during a very packed Tokyo day) and consider doing a night at a proper onsen ryokan at Hakone/Atami/Yugawara (or anywhere else close to the Tokaido Shinkansen line) on the night of July 18.

   Possibly controversial but I also think that one or at most two of Nishiki, Kuromon, and Tsukiji (if not watching tuna auction) are sufficient – there are only so many “crowded tourist oriented food markets” I can tolerate in one trip.

4. This is very similar to my current trip. Been here since 5/25 and leaving 6/7.

   My wife and I are doing it with our two kids, 2 and 4. Instead of Hiroshima, we are ending our trip in Tokyo Bay: Disneyland and DisneySea.

   Same comment as others, your days are pretty jam packed. We had maybe one or two activities per day. On the days we tried to do more, the kids didn’t cooperate and we ended up doing one or two of the things we had planned.

5. Where are you flying from? How old are the kids? Where is your first hotel located?

   Im in Japan atm, for a 3 month sabbatical with my family of 4, kids aged 4 and almost 2

6. I’m traveling with our family literally same time period; I recommend looking at hotels and booking immediately. Even if you do “book now, pay later” better to reserve and cancel after you figure out things. A lot of hotels are fully booked already, especially in Tokyo and Kyoto near the subway stations.