Background: Flying mid November with 2 adults (neither of us have been to Japan before, fairly independant travellers prior to covid, avg fitness level post pregnancy) and a 6 month old babys very first trip.
13 night total.
Red eye from home, flying into Tokyo.
[TOKYO – 4 NIGHT ]
Staying in a hotel in Minato city.
Our budget vs current availability meant the best areas were taken like Chiyoda or Shinjuku.
Day 1 will be a write off from travelling. Landing at around 3pm so itll be hotel check in, showers, food and sleep.
Day 2-4 checking out the key areas (shibuya crossing and surrounds, shinjuku, Toyosu market).
[TOKYO.- HAKONE 2 nights]
Day 5 – Check out around 11am and take the train/shinkasen to Hakone.
Staying up near the glass museum in hakone. Not as close to the lake as I’d like but again.. availability.
No set agenda for 2 days.
[HAKONE – KYOTO]
Day 7- Checkout and take the train/shinkasen to Kyoto.
Kyoto – stay 4 nights, near Kyoto centre.
Day trip to Nara from Kyoto.
Other days in Kyoto are seeing temples and bamboo Grove.
[KYOTO – OSAKA]
Day 11- Checkout from Kyoto and Take train to Osaka
Osaka – stay 3 nights, explore the city. No set agenda.
[DEPART OSAKA]
10am Flight home from Osaka. Land 10pm local time.
Seeking advice:
1. Overall, Is this reasonable itinerary for us considering a 6 month old? Or are we taking on too much. The days aren’t heavily scheduled because we don’t like to travel that way and we’ve not travelled together (partner is usually very spontaneous in travel) or with a baby before.
2. Nagoya – I’d love to jump off the train as it stops there from Hakone and Kyoto – but is a few hours there worth it? We’d also have all the luggage so I feel skipping it is more reasonable.
3. Is it worth doing nikko day trip while we are in Tokyo?
4. Given we have tattoos (full back or arms and ankles) and an infant, are we basically needing to skip the onsen experience? (Note I have seen some accommodation provide very small 1 person bath tub like onsen which isn’t what we are interested in).
3 comments
1. Yes its reasonable with a 6 month old. If you baby is happy in a carrier you can get a lot done during the day, especially if they can nap in there.
2. I don’t think it’s worth it for a few hours. Nagoya and the surrounding area is nice but you need more time to actually explore it.
3. Since you have 4 nights you will probably be too busy exploring to have time to go, so only go if it’s a must see for you.
4. You will need a room with a private onsen
Private onset or just avoid, or take turns going to an onsen. We went to Japan with our 3 month old and either baby wore or had him in a travel pram (Baby Jogger City Tour 2 – small enough to carry on board an airplane, folds down smalls, reclines flat, weighs less than 7kg).
Day trips – up to you. I think Nikko is a bit far personally, somewhere like Kamakura may be more enjoyable with a baby as it is not so far out.
Our baby was great at sleeping in the pram.
I would forward all luggage to the next hotel using Takkyubin. That is what we did the second time we went to Japan with kids. You don’t want to be dragging all your luggage and a baby around! We just packed a backpack with enough stuff for overnight each time.
Stay in Osaka OR Kyoto. Honestly, with a baby, changing hotels less often is better. The trip from Osaka to Kyoto or the other way is not too long. We did Osaka – Nagoya – Kyoto – Tokyo recently with a 1yo and a 4yo but we had a min 4 nights in each location, and we only did it that way because we needed to be in Nagoya for an event.
No need to stop in Nagoya unless you have plans.
That looks like a reasonable itinerary; you guys haven’t really committed yourselves to much (nor can you when you’re travelling with an infant). Whatever you think you can do, in reality, you’re likely only be able to do half. If one of you takes the baby, the other person could go somewhere by themselves and do a whole lot more.
I wouldn’t bother with Nagoya or Nikko.
I’d suggest renting a car in Hakone. The area is quite hilly and a car is good for carrying all the misc baby gear you’ll be carrying around and is really good spot for naps.
Definately don’t bring your child into the onsen. The water is usually too hot. But if you guys want a more fun family outing, you can go to Yunessan in Hakone (I can’t recall what their tatoo policy is)