This sub has given me so much good advice already as I start to plan our trip for October 2024. Thanks to the people whose itineraries I have combed with interest and all who contribute with useful and interesting information!
I’ll be travelling with my then-11 year old daughter, alongside my Mum (mid 60s) and her friend (mid 50s). Our plan is to travel concurrently, meet up for various activities, stay in close by but separate accommodation and be in touch the whole time – we’ll get pocket wifis and have kicked off learning some Japanese on Duolingo.
Daughter is into anime (Demon Slayer etc), cute animals, all things kawaii and Harry Potter. We all love shopping, soaking up local life and travel in general, nature beauty spots and Japanese food.
This is my rough itinerary for my daughter and I – would like your feedback and ideas as to whether it’s doable? Tossing up whether to go the full 14 day JR Pass or start with Tokyo Metro as have been looking at train details and trying to calculate the best value.
**Day 1** – Arrive Tokyo from Haneda Airport. Make our way to an Air BnB (currently looking at one near Daitabushi station as want to stay in a residential area)
**Day 2** – Harajuku, Shibuya Crossing, capybara café
(edit: or not, based on advice)
**Day 3** – Odaiba, Miraikan, Rainbow Bridge
**Day 4** – Disney. Looking to book through Klook and wondering whether it’s worth doing with one of their bundles.
**Day 5** – Chill day. Walk around and see what we find locally. Markets? Playgrounds? Hop on a train and get off somewhere random?
**Day 6** – Hello Kitty Puroland, Tama Central Park
**Day 7** – Travel to Mt Fuji, tour, Gotemba outlets. Stay in the area near Mishima Station. Considering a private customisable tour from Tokyo to handle logistics for the 4 of us.
**Day 8** – Travel to Osaka via shinkasen. Hang out in Osaka and check out Dotonbori Street.
**Day 9** – Day trip return from Osaka to Hiroshima.
**Day 9** – Osaka to Kyoto. Arashiyama district. Monkeys are essential. Gion district. Stay in Kyoto.
**Day 10** – 3 hours travel back to Tokyo, chill for the remainder
**Day 11** – Harry Potter Studio Tour
**Day 12** – Yokohama, Cup Noodle Museum
**Day 13** – Depart Tokyo (evening)
**Day 14** – Arrive back in Australia
Look forward to hearing any feedback!
4 comments
For your day 3. The rainbow bridge is only a rainbow during December and early Jan. The rest of the year it’s lit up in white. If you cross it though there is a poop museum on the other side (I’m being serious!)
Day 4, Klook is pretty convenient. My brother actually went on his Japan trip yesterday and was having a hard time with Universal not accepting his CC. It’s apparently an issue with a lot of Japanese websites so if you can’t get it directly from them Klook is your safety net.
Hi!
This is for October 2024, not this October, right?
Just to warn you most animal cafes in Japan have very low standards for animal welfare.
There is no way as the itinerary now stands to make a 2 week and more than likely even a 1 week rail pass pay off, because the prices all went up on 10/1.
Your current expensive trips are: Mishima to Osaka, Osaka to Hiroshima (roundtrip) and Osaka to Tokyo. The cost of train fares would need to go up a lot to make a pass worth it. It might be worth it to still get a Kansai Hiroshima pass, since it is ~10,000 yen each way to Hiroshima and the pass is 17,000 yen for 5 days.
There is no reason to consider a 14 day pass, as most of your travel within Tokyo should not be terribly expensive.
Unless I am missing something Klook is just selling tickets to Tokyo Disney. I don’t see a particular package. You just need to decide if you want to visit Land or Sea. I went to both this Summer and enjoyed them both. Usually, we just go to Sea, but despite what people say, Land is fairly different from the US versions of the park.
I don’t suggest going to virtually any animal cafe, they’re all super unethical and cruel. Just not something we should be supporting
I just want to appreciate how you’ve set up your itinerary for each day. One main activity, not 5 smashed into one. Myself (27 weeks pregnant), my husband, and toddler are here in Kyoto on day 12 of our trip and I am so grateful we didn’t try to cram a million things into each day! We’ve been able to do what we want without sacrificing our feet or sanity too much! I think especially for the crew you’re travelling with, that’s a good call.
We stayed in Ebisu in Tokyo and it was incredible. On the main loop metro & JR east train lines, one stop away from Shibuya, incredibly walkable and very cool. I don’t love big cities and was prepared to suffer through our time in Tokyo but I was honestly blown away by how much I liked it. Incredible food, chill & residential vibe, close to daikanyama which had a similar feel.