Hello, this will be my (30) first time travelling and I’ll be going with my cousin (28). And perhaps my mom and her 4 siblings, ages 50\~60. They’re not fond of crowds and Tokyo, and have bad knees. My grandma recently passed away and they want to chill outside the country… they said they’re fine with anything, except for Tokyo (they’ve been there before). I think they’d like to visit a relative in Ibaraki and Chiba, but we’re still undecided on that.
So far, they aren’t confirmed yet, so it could just end up with me going alone or just me and my cousin. Both of us are bad with directions (can’t tell left and right), so we might have left a lot of time in between, I’m not sure…
Anyway, here, please tell me what you think!
This will be around end of January.
D1 – Tokyo > Yokohama > Osaka
planning to meet a friend in Sakuragichou to hand some items, while waiting for her to finish work (6pm): we could go to Nissin Cup Museum via air cabin, Gundam Dock or Costco. Then head to Osaka to check in and rest.
D2 – Osaka > Kyoto > Nara
Kyoto is an optional choice, I personally am not fond of going but… its all I see in everyone elses recommendation. We plan to rent kimono/furisode in Osaka and go to Nara. Return the kimono before 9 and wander Dotonbori.
D3 – Osaka > Takayama
Check out in Osaka, and head to Takayama for an onsen stay up near Shinhotaka Ropeway.
For this day, were unsure if were doing Snow Monkeys in Nagano (too far?) or Shirakawa-go.
D4 – Takayama
It could be whatever is left behind from what we could not do in D3.
Shirakawa-go, Shinhotaka Ropeway or rent a furisode and walk around Old Town.
D5 – Takayama > Tokyo
Checkout in Takayama and head to Tokyo to check in.
We plan to wander among ourselves for this and meet up after,
I plan to visit Animate and Otome Road, etc.
while my cousin will be visiting Shinjuku and some of her art stuff.
D6 – Tokyo
teamlabs (tbh I’m not interested in it, but my cousin is)
Oriental Bazaar and shop around. Maybe Kabukichou at night to drink.
D7 – Tokyo
Checkout
6 comments
Hellohi, I’m just putting this into perspective for you. These cities are so incredibly far apart, that you’d be rushing through everything to see much of anything: [https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xcpoxd27.png](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xcpoxd27.png) Just Tokyo to Osaka is the equivalent of going from Paris to London for a day.
While this might be fine, if you’re young and spritely, if you’re bringing your mom and her elderly siblings along, this is way way way too much activity and moving around for most people, ESPECIALLY if they have bad knees and don’t like crowds.
For a 7 day trip, I don’t recommend doing several prefectures. Pick a city and do daytrips out to places (Like Tokyo and doing Nagano and Kamakura/Enoshima as 2 daytrips.
ALSO, it kinda sounds like you’re only going to places to do one thing and move on? That’s a waste of time. Most of the cities you’ve mentioned are 2-3hr train rides away from each other, and that’s not counting going to the shinkansen station, getting the ticket, and getting to the hotel at your next destination.
You will be spending a lot of time travelling. Takayama is not the most accessible place and Tokyo to Osaka is around 3 hours each way
It will be hard to squeeze in Kyoto and Nara as day trips on the same day. There’s tons to do in Kyoto and it will be crowded
Slow the pace… be sure to *allow extra time* for getting to scheduled trains, appointments, reservations, etc… seniors often don’t move as quickly and nimbly as they did in their 30’s after all… and they may also tire more easily which will make their experiences traveling more burdensome than enjoyable. Be sure to make meal times unhurried- and a choice that allows for resting tired feet and backs… and a time to get rehydrated and enjoy the food. 🫶🏿
just went to japan last month with the family (3 kids)…. travelling across cities during a single day is possible but I time consuming…. Nara is a full day if in addition to playing with deers you want to visit some of the temples in the area, and walking is not easy since it is uphill… if you only want to see the animals better go to Tokyo Zoo and see the pandas… I would recommend going to the skytree in Tokyo, amazing experience. Teamlabs is nice, but it is an inmersive experiece (i.e. you will walk into a pool, walk in irregular surfaces, rooms with flashing lights, etc… my kid got dizzy and couldnt finish it), still will recommend to go! On tokyo, I would really recommend going to Skytree and see the city from 450m above the ground! there is also an aquarium there worth checking in the same mall around the skytree. One of the most amazing experince was to attend a Tea Ceremony, cannot recommend it enough, but its not cheap and must be reserved in advance. enjoy!
You need to ***totally*** rethink this itinerary. 6 days is arguably not even enough for Tokyo on its own, let alone 6(!) different cities. And 3 separate cities in each of your first 2 days? Recipe for an awful trip, if I’m being brutally honest. Especially with a large group that includes older folks. This is a bad idea.
> They’re not fond of crowds and Tokyo, and have bad knees. My grandma recently passed away and they want to chill outside the country… they said they’re fine with anything, except for Tokyo
3 of the 7 days are in Tokyo on your itinerary. Another 1 full day is spent just traveling through the different cities that are not close together.
And your D2 is crammed so much that you would not have time to do anything in all 3 cities except to just get ready to transfer to the next station to get to the next city.
Plus almost all of the places you’ve listed other than Takayama, are crowded.
You need to rearrange this trip so that you are not squandering away such a limited time doing:
1. The very things that your parents/their siblings do not want – crowds and Tokyo
2. Sitting on a train for hours
3. Rushing around between cities and no breathing room
4. Going on a long train ride to Takayama just for a singular day and leaving on another long train ride back to the place your parents/their siblings did not want.
***
If the parents/their older siblings aren’t going. This is still not a good trip, as the above still applies for just wasted time on commutes and rushing between multiple cities that are not adjacent to each other.
Just pick one city, and if you must go out of it, just explore around adjacent areas. You’ll have a lot more fun and will be less tired. Kanagawa, is pretty popular and is is a lot closer to get to.