Itinerary Check – Tokyo – Kawaguchiko – Kyoto – Osaka – Nara – Naoshima – Tokyo – Hokkaido?? – Tokyo – 25 days in December with a toddler

We’re headed to Japan for the first time in December with our then-18-month-old. We’re from NYC, so our kiddo is used to some madness and we have been lucky to have travelled quite a bit with him already (Italy, UK, Egypt, LA, and so on). He is pretty chill and we love to take him on our adventures.

We are finalizing our itinerary and would love some input. We’re interested architecture, design, temples, museums, shops, restaurants and coffee. Pretty easygoing in terms of how we spend our days as we know we have a toddler. We’ll most likely just choose an area per day and just explore.

My parents will join us for the last 9 nights (after Naoshima). They are in their sixties and good health, should be no problem for them to walk lots etc.

My questions:

1. My husband would love to go to Hokkaido, so I’m trying to slot that in towards the end but I wonder if it’s terrible timing as it will be the week of Christmas.
2. What are some nice day trips or side trips to make in Hokkaido? Thinking of going to Hakodate and travel from there.
3. Are there any nice towns on the way to Hakodate we should stop at? We don’t ski. We were looking at Sendai?
4. I assume luggage forwarding to Naoshima is a bit of a pain and not worth it. Would the hotel (TBC) in Tokyo be able to hold our luggage for a day?
5. Can you forward luggage to Hokkaido?

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|\+|A|B|C|D|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|1|12/7|Tokyo|Arrive 5:40am – drop bags at hotel, grab breakfast, walk around. Rest|The Peninsula Tokyo|
|2|12/8|Tokyo|Ghibli Museum|The Peninsula Tokyo|
|3|12/9|Tokyo| |The Peninsula Tokyo|
|4|12/10|Tokyo|Yayoi Kusama Museum (10am booked)|The Peninsula Tokyo|
|5|12/11|Tokyo > Kawaguchiko|Shinkansen to Mishima Station, pick up rental car to drive to Kawaguchiko (1 hour)|Onsen Bessho Sasa|
|6|12/12|Kawaguchiko|Sightseeing around Kawaguchiko. Chureito Pagoda, Mount Fuji Panoramic Ropeway, Arakurayama Sengen Park|Onsen Bessho Sasa|
|7|12/13|Kawaguchiko > Hakone > Kyoto|Hakone Open Air Museum then drop off rental car at Mishima Station, take Shinkansen to Kyoto|Hyatt Regency Kyoto or Kyo no Ondokoro, TBC|
|8|12/14|Kyoto|Early rise, Arashiyama. Temple hopping.|Hyatt Regency Kyoto or Kyo no Ondokoro, TBC|
|9|12/15|Kyoto|Tea ceremony|Hyatt Regency Kyoto or Kyo no Ondokoro, TBC|
|10|12/16|Kyoto> Nara > Osaka|Nara day trip and then train to Osaka|Mimaru Osaka Namba Station|
|11|12/17|Osaka|Explore Osaka, eat.|Mimaru Osaka Namba Station|
|12|12/18|Osaka|Osaka aquarium? Worth it?|Mimaru Osaka Namba Station|
|13|12/19|Osaka > Naoshima|Train to Okayama Station, bus to Uno Port, ferry to Naoshima|Bennese House Park|
|14|12/20|Naoshima & Teshima|Teshima by ferry|Bennese House Park|
|15|12/21|Naoshima > Tokyo|Fly back to Tokyo from Takamatsu|TBC|
|16|12/22|Tokyo|Teamlabs Planets| TBC|
|17|12/23|Tokyo| | TBC|
|18|12/24|Tokyo > Hokkaido|Hakodate or Sapporo?| TBC|
|19|12/25|Hokkaido| | TBC|
|20|12/26|Hokkaido| | TBC|
|21|12/27|Hokkaido > Tokyo| | TBC|
|22|12/28|Tokyo| | TBC|
|23|12/29|Tokyo| | TBC|
|24|12/30|Tokyo| | TBC|
|25|12/31|Tokyo| | TBC|

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