Hi everyone! I’ve read so much great advice and trip reports from users here. It’s been amazing. I’m hoping for feedback regarding my itinerary as well.
I’ll be traveling in a few weeks with my spouse and our 1 year old baby. She’s able to walk. Still drinking formula but also eating solids (she can pretty much eat anything we eat if it’s not hard or chewy). I have the Mamamap app to find places to change her & so far I have a general list of places to get lunch & dinner such as at family friendly restaurants, malls, etc. I’ll have to work on finding specific places we can go eat each day though. I did include random malls in some of our days as those will be better options for us to grab meals. We have a hotel booked for Tokyo and Osaka with breakfast buffets at both. Definitely did this to ensure our baby has easy breakfast options since we usually wake up around 7/8am.
We’re bringing a small stroller and a baby carrier. She’s able to nap in the stroller. Nap time is around 11am/12pm.
We’re flying into Haneda and staying in Tokyo (near Shiba Park) for the first half of our trip. Then another flight from Haneda to Kansai airport.
We’ll do day trips to Kyoto from our hotel in Osaka (Umeda area). Our Kyoto day feels very packed. I would especially love insight for this day.
There’s a bunch of ‘free days’ since with a baby, I’m thinking to keep it relaxed. For some extra info, we’ve been to Tokyo for approx. 10 days over 5 years ago and we went to Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Asakusa, Odaiba, and the Tokyo Skytree area.
**Itinerary**
**Day 1 Tuesday – Travel Day**
– Land at Haneda Airport (land at 5pm)
**Day 2 Wednesday – Tokyo**
– Free day
**Day 3 Thursday – Tokyo**
– Tsukiji Outer Market
– Uniqlo Flagship
– Imperial Palace
– East Gardens of the Imperial Palace
**Day 4 Friday – Tokyo**
– Tokyo Disneyland (We’ve never been to any of the Disney parks before but we have low expectations with a young baby. We’ll go if we’re not all still jet lagged lol)
**Day 5 Saturday – Tokyo**
– Isetan Shinjuku
– Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
– Meiji Jingu Gaien
**Day 6 Sunday – Tokyo**
– Tokyo Tower
– Shiba Park
– Zojo-ji Temple
**Day 7 Monday – Tokyo**
– Free day
**Day 8 Tuesday – Flight from Haneda Airport to Kansai Airport (land at 1:30pm)**
– If we’re not tired, we may try heading to Dontonburi. Otherwise we’ll stay near our hotel for dinner.
**Day 9 Wednesday – Osaka**
– Dontonburi
– Shinsaibashi shopping street
– Kuromon Ichiba Market
**Day 10 Thursday – Day Trip to Kyoto**
– Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street
– Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
– Okochi Sanso Garden
– Kimono Forest
Do you think I should move some items from Day 11 such as the Manga Museum, Kyoto Children’s Hall, Kyoto Imperial Palace & Nijo Castle to Day 10 instead and skip Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street?
**Day 11 Friday – Day Trip to Kyoto**
– Fushimi Inari Temple
– Kiyomizu-Dera
– Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka Slopes
– Hokan-ji
– Gion
– Nishiki Market
– Kyoto International Manga Museum
– Kodomo Children’s Hall
– Kyoto Imperial Palace
– Nijo Castle
Does this order make sense or should I reverse it by going to Nijo Castle first?
We normally walk a lot (10k+ steps on weekends at home) but with a baby we’ll have more stops for things like snack breaks. Hoping for insight to make this day manageable.
Also, would you suggest bringing a small stroller this day or only use a carrier?
**Day 12 Saturday – Osaka**
– Osaka Castle
– Kids Plaza Osaka
– Umeda Sky Building, Hankyu Umeda, Grand Front Osaka or HEP Five
I’ll look into each mall to see the different food options. I saw there may be a Christmas Market at Umeda Sky Building.
**Day 13 Sunday – Osaka**
– Takashimaya for the food hall
– Namba Parks
– Namba Yasaka Jinja
**Day 14 Monday – Osaka**
– Free day
**Day 15 Tuesday – Travel Day**
– Flight from Kansai Airport to Haneda Airport (departs at 2pm)
– Stay at airport & take flight home a few hours later
Thank you in advance!
(I’m posting this from the Reddit app so hopefully there’s no issues with the formatting!)
4 comments
Any reason you’re flying to Osaka? We took the train and it was lovely
Honestly there’s no way you’re doing Day 11, especially with a baby. I’d recommend using your Osaka free day and splitting the central Kyoto activities to that day, and using day 11 for the eastern part of the city.
Increase the time in Kyoto if possible. Also needs 1 or 2 day trips into the countryside, otherwise it’s just endless urban sprawls the whole trip. Lastly, I’d take a bus instead of flying to Osaka, the Japanese highways are a tourist sight on their own.
Day 11 is way too much. If you can’t add an extra Kyoto day, I would pick 2-3 of the things you want to see the most and leave the rest for next time. Honestly, Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen and trying to rush through every attraction is not doing it justice.