Itinerary Check – Family doing old Golden circle in April

Hi, would love some input on our preliminary Japan itinerary for early-mid April.

We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 13yo and 11yo), none of us have travelled much before so wanting to keep things beginner friendly. We have a lot of mixed tastes to cater for: the 13yo is very into anime/manga, 11yo very into food and pokemon, partner and I are interested in history/tradition, and I’m into nature things. We’re all keen on theme parks as we don’t have any where we live.

We have two night owls in our fam, so would generally prefer activities where we don’t need to get up early to avoid crowd mayhem (have left Fushimi Inari Taisha and golden temple off the list for this reason).

This is what we’re thinking so far:

**Saturday:** Arrive in Osaka around 8am. Pick up a pocket wifi for each adult (in case we get separated during the trip and need to contact each other, but more data than e-sims for the kids devices). Pick up Kansai One IC passes. Travel to Kyoto by train and check in to airbnb. Thinking of staying somewhere central north like Kamigyo?

*Optional:* Manga museum, would love to get our manga style portraits done, Higashi Hongan-ji Temple near kyoto station

**Sunday:** Samurai & Ninja Museum experience. Rent kimonos and explore the gion district. *Optional:* A giesha/maiko show?

**Monday:** Arashiyama Monkey Park

*Optional:* Adashino Nenbutsu-ji, Otagi Nenbutsuji temple, Nijo Castle, Kimono forest.

**Tuesday:** Travel to Nara where we’ll stay at and have dinner included at a ryokan (Thinking we might send our luggage (one carry-on sized suitcase each) from Kyoto to Osaka hotel, and just keep our backpacks with us?).

Not sure whether to do these activities on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning?: Tōdai-ji temple, Yoshikien Garden, Nara National Museum (how long should we allow for these activities?)

**Wednesday:** Ryokan breakfast. Train back to Osaka and check into hotel. (The reason we’re doubling back to Osaka is to avoid going to USJ on a weekend).

*Optional:* Osaka aquarium

**Thursday:** Universal studios all day, hopefully will be able to secure fast passes.

**Friday:** Nazomi Shinkansen to Tokyo. (Do we need to book this in advance if we want a reserved ticket or buy on the day?). Check in to airbnb, thinking of staying around Shinjuku but open to other suggestions.

*Optional:* Shibuya scramble/explore shibuya, Meiji Jingu temple

**Saturday:** Ghibili museum (assuming we can get tickets).

*Optional:* Cinnamaroll cafe

**Sunday:** Team lab borderless (these are timed entry tickets, will it make a lot of difference in crowds going at midday vs late afternoon?).

*Optional:* Azabudai Sky lobby, ~~Shueisha Manga Art gallery~~ (just learned this is members only)

**Monday:** Sensō-ji temple (would this be quieter in late afternoon?). Check-in to Hilton hotel at DisneySea (May send our luggage in morning to hotel if there’s a drop off point near the airbnb)

*Optional:* pokemon cafe or kirby cafe (if can get booking), ~~Edo-Tokyo Museum~~ (just learned this is closed till 2025-26)

**Tuesday:** Full day at DisneySea!

**Wednesday:** Checkout. Not sure what to plan for this day. Possibly disney land however we might be really tired from the full day before. In the evening we could take airline limosine bus to Haneda airport. (What time should we aim to get there if our flight is at 10.30pm?)

Would love to hear your thoughts on whether we’re planning too much or too little, and any other tips?

Some specific questions:

\- We’ll likely arrive a week or two after cherry blossom full bloom, if they’re still blooming, will we need to go to specific places to see them or are they all around kansai region?

\- Are there any other tween friendly anime/manga things to do? I’ve heard akihabra has lots of not-appropriate-for-kids stuff so haven’t put that on the list.

\- Should we pack umbrellas/rain coats, or likely to make do without?

by PromptDizzy1812