Hi everyone! We’ve been planning this trip for ages thanks to information from this sub. Just want a final check before we start booking things. Dates are still a bit up in the air but our aim is to avoid peak tourist season later in March.
We’ll have our one year old son with us, so trying to keep days to one activity at a time, and on our driving days sticking to 3-5 hours in the car maximum with breaks. We’ll be wearing him a lot but potentially picking up a cheap travel stroller in Japan as well. **We have some concerns about lack of public seating when exploring around cities, is this a real concern or are there enough benches in parks that we can stop to rest at?**
We’re keeping things sort of loose to play by ear what we feel like doing each day outside of activities where we need to book in advance. **We are looking for more recommendations on things to see to break up our driving segments from Day 6 to Day 9, as well as opinions on if it’s even worth it to go away from Tokyo/Kyoto for those few days.**
We love nature and getting off of the beaten path a bit, my husband is a big foodie, and I am excited to visit some temples, but we want to balance all that with access to amenities for our baby/having a relaxing time.
**We would also love recommendations for a region of Tokyo to stay in.** We are likely going to bundle our hotel there with our flight for the best deal from Expedia (while splurging on a direct flight to ease things for the baby). We are less interested in shopping and more into architecture, restaurants/coffee, parks, and walkability.
Thank you in advance for any wisdom/critiques/suggestions!
**Day 1:** Leave Toronto Fly into Tokyo – stay the night in Tokyo
**Day 2:** Train to Kyoto, relax, explore area around accommodation, maybe Arashiyama Bamboo Grove hike or mountain Inari-San hike
**Day 3**: Train to Nara (Kasuga Taisha shrine, Todai-ji temple, kofuku-ji Gojunoto, deer)
**Day 4**: Train to Himeji (castle and mt. Shosha preserve)
**Day 5**: More Kyoto exploring, maybe find a knife shop or blacksmith demo?/nice dinner
**Day 6**: Rent car, leave Kyoto- head to Toyama
**Day 7**: Either hike Mount Tate partly or visit Tiwasehama Beach for views (drive to Niigata area for overnight (stop at Nagaoka Saisho-ji temple on the way to see the mummified monk)
**Day 8**: Drive through Lake Hibara park to a resort in that area (any recommendations?)
**Day 9**: Return to Tokyo, stop at Ushiku Daibutsu on the way
**Day 10**: Rest, Ikegami Plum Garden, nice dinner
**Day 11**: Ghibli museum
**Day 12**: Open Air Edo Architecture museum
**Day 13**: Teamlab Planets
**Day 14**: Fly back to Toronto
