Hi, family of 3 with a three-year old traveling to Japan for the first time in mid-to late November. Key guiding principles for our itinerary:
1. Our needs are very varied – for e.g., I am a foodie, wife does not even like sushi!! and likes museums, kid needs free spaces to run around.
2. We love cold climes and want the kid to have the chance to experience snow for the first time.
3. We need a light itinerary given the kid still needs his afternoon nap and refuses a stroller
Would love inputs on the split of time across places, activities, and order of activities within a day, and if its too much/less. Would love inputs on food, but I guess that may need a separate post in itself given Japan 🙂
Broadly doing 2 days in Takayama (experience rural Japan) + 4 days across Osaka & Kyoto + 1 day for Hiroshima & Miyajima + 5 days in Sapporo + 2 days in Tokyo. As you will note, we are skipping Mt Fuji (given we can’t hike with the kid and will be satisfied catching a glimpse on the shinkansen b/w Tokyo to takayama) and spending less time in Tokyo, away from the maddening crowds.
Day 0 – land in Narita late night; send stuff to Sapporo and Osaka via Takkyubin and stay at airport hotel
Day 1 – Pick up 1-week JR pass and go to Takayama. Stay at Ryokan with Onsen. Visit Sanmachi street, Takayama Jinya, Higashiyama walk
Day 2 – Visit morning market, visit Shirakawago given it’s autumn
Day 3 – Go to Osaka and set up base for 5 days; Do Umeda sky, Dotonobori, Kid’s plaza
Day 4 – Visit Kyoto and do Imperial palace **(Should we do Katsura Imperial villa instead?)** and Fushimi Inari after sunset
Day 5 – Visit Kyoto and do Kinkaku-ji temple and then Philosopher”s path and walk around in Gion-Higashiyama; end with non-verbal theater (would have loved one-act Kabuki but given the kid we are choosing non-verbal)
Day 6 – Go to Hiroshima and Miyajima; **(can we finish these by late afternoon and travel to Fukuoka while the kid catches up on sleep to watch Sumo tournament and then sample Fukuoka’s food or will it be too much?)**
Day 7 – Kaiyukyan aquarium and then rest day ( I will travel alone to Yamazaki distillery)
Day 8 – Take flight to Sapporo; Royce chocolate factory in airport
Day 9 to 12 – Except for Otaru day trip, pretty much relax and hope for snow; Visit University campus, walk around Sapporo factory area, and do the parks, Odori clock tower etc. (should we do Mt Moiwa?); take late flight to Tokyo for a packed schedule before leaving Japan
Day 13- Do Tsukiji market, Ginza, Shibuya, Meiji shrine > Omotesando **(Should/ can we do memory lane with a kid?/ if not should we do Roppongi hills complex?)** \> Sunset at Caretta shiodome (close to our hotel)
Day 14 – Toyosu market, Teamlabs> Take ferry to Asakusa, Sensoji> Nakamise > Ueno park >New Otani Japanese garden
2 comments
For day 6, Hiroshima and miyajima is already way too much for a day trip from Osaka. Fukuoka is completely undoable.
Overall, this trip is not what I would personally choose for a trip even just with my husband, let alone with our toddler, so I would not regard this as a light itinerary. 😅
I think your itinerary is very busy especially traveling with a toddler. A lot of travel including 2 flights. I personally would leave the Sapporo section out and only travel by train (and stay longer in the alps)
Also pretty sure the trip from Tokyo to Takayama to Osaka doesn‘t justify getting the JR Pass.
Trying to help with more misconceptions here:
the crowds in Tokyo are not „maddening“ – only at tourist hotspots like Asakusa, Tsukiji or Tashekita dori or around big stations like Shinjuku or Shibuya. There are dozens of nice neighborhoods where you‘ll be able to roam freely.
Kyoto imo is much worser in terms of crowds than Tokyo.
Takayama is not a big city but by no means „rural“. For Shirakawa-go half a day is really sufficient which is good so you‘d have more time in Takayama.
Day 6: Hiroshima + Miyajima alone is barely doable in one day so – no, absolutely not feasible to include Fukuoka.