Hey we (37m and 35f) had a trip with my parents who are 65 and 69years old. We are from Germany. Had planned this trip since pre covid and right now planning a trip for 2025 🙂 Not the biggest foodies, so not so much to say here. We used the railpass to get around. We wanted to see the autumn leaves 🍂 in Kyoto and experience some of the Christmas flair in Japan, we visited some Christmas markets too.

flights

• Hannover to Paris to Tokyo for around 1000€ (with the update to more leg room, emergency exit seats) I can highly recommend this, because not only for the leg room, it is super nice that you don’t have to stand up if someone wants to leave your row)
• had a night flight from Paris to Tokyo. So we started at 22:00 in Paris and arrived at 20:00 in Tokyo after finding the hotel etc we stayed awake till midnight and basically had no jet lag the other days

Tokyo (7nights)

• Hotel: sequence SUIDOBASHI with breakfast 10/10
• to hotel is near the Tokyo dome and in the middle of the Yamamoto line (but not part of the circle) but with good access to a subway and a JR line (both max 5min walktime)
• breakfastswas awesome, you had a choice of 5 menus and they were all fantastic! Because of the Tokyo dome there are many bars etc in the surrounding very nice location at all.

Highlight activities in Tokyo

• teamlab Planets(booked in advance) super stylish art display. Went in the morning not to crowded 9/10
• Tokyo skytree: even though it was nov 23rd there was a small Xmas market in front of it(pretty cool) The Skytree itself what to say it is super high and big and well managed but pretty expensive too I would say you could skip this one 5/10
• Asakusa Shrine: went on a Sunday and it was super crowded and we arrived at around 16-17 o’clock and some of the vendors were closing their stalls. But the temple/shrine itself is beautiful and I nice place for souvenir shopping 7/10
• shibuya sky what a awesome place we went after sunset (booked in advance but didn’t get tickets for the sunset timeslots). We had the champagne couch option (you have a 50min timeslot with snacks a blanket and champagne) awesome so look at the city und have a wonderful evening 10/10!
• Seirinkan one food spot I have to mention! We went to this pizza place they only serve Margarita and one other pizza style. We had to ask to hotel to make a reservation but it was awesome 10/10!
• Yokohama Went there by train (45min ride) visited the Cup noodle museum, very cool, visited the giant robot at the harbour, went to chinatown (very big, but if u want to eat in a restaurant you should make a reservation!) and visited the yokohama xmas market. Awsome day! 10/10
• A couple of things to the xmas markets they are pretty much like a german christmas market with a japanese twist. Very long lines for food etc. so you cant get drunk there. We waited like 20min for our Glühwein. They do have own cups for the specific xmas market but they do sell out, so be quick!
• DisneySea It looks fantastic and the rides are quit nice, we went on a Thursday but the waittime was pretty long Indiana Jones ride was 90min i think, we didn't understand the reservation system via app so we had to wait for everything. Popcorn is like 20-30min waittime 🙁 . Merch is super expensive there like 50€/$ to 100€/$ for a t-shirt, the show at the evening was awsome so all in all it was a 7/10
• We visited a cafe where u can show them a picture of your pet and they make "latte art" of that picture (you can film it etc.) you have to arrive early in the morning and you get a ticket in the queline (we had to wait 60min) you get an email and then you have to be there in 10-15min i think (1,5h time slot)

Kyoto(5nights)

• Hotel The OneFive Kyoto Shijono breakfast 8/10
• Very big rooms, There was no breakfast option there, but they do have a group room in the second floor where u can eat etc. , free coffee/tea there and in the lobby too, a bus stop right in front of the hotel was nice too, because:
• the only way to get around in Kyoto is by bus in our experience, the buses arrive not always on time and are pretty crowded (dont forget it was peak autumn leave season!). As much as i liked Kyoto the buses where the worst public transportation "system" in all of our visited cities 🙁

Highlight activities in Kyoto

• the romantic train was already booked, so we did a river boat tour and the scenery was epic. Cant describe how beautiful it was. After the tour (2h) you are right at the foot of Arashiyama for the bamboo grove and the monkey park 10/10!
• Day trip to Nara. So many deers. You can feed them they bow :). They are not very agressive, pretty chill. A lot of temples there too. One with a giant buddha statue in it. Highly reccommend! 10/10
• Fushimi Inari, very crowded at the beginning if u hike up a little bit it gets better, very nice view on top. My parents managed the hike quit easily 9/10
• a lot of temples, combined with the autumn color are just beatiful. Like the golden temple
• Kyoto train station, super modern, a lot of places where u can eat a giant LED staircase, so go when it is dark :), next to the station is the kyoto tower and under the tower are even more places to eat
• Sake tasting experience: Booked in advance for like 85€, you got a tour through the brewery and after that a tasting with like 10 sakes. I personally didn't like the sake, but the girls loved it and we meet some people form australia and portugal, cool event 8/10

Osaka(4nights)

• Hotel : Hotel Sobial Namba Daikokucho with breakfast 5/10
• We didnt like the hotel sadly :(, breakfast was ok, but the rooms are super tiny u cant even open our suitcase there was no public are. only the lobby with like 3 or 4 seats but because of the traffic of the people it got pretty cold because the door was open all the time. At the evening we like to sit down, drink a beer or two and watch our vid/photos of the day. But this was simply not possible there. At least a subway station is right in front of the hotel

Highlight activities in Osaka

• USJ We booked it in advance and got a express pass for Harry Potter and Nintendoland. We all loved the atmosphere there, the rides where awsome (jaws!, mario card, flight of the dinosaurs) a lot of people with merch or costumes there. 10/10
• Osaka Castle was not very impressive, by the time the fall color where gone so maybe in peak auztumn color or cherry blossum it would look nicer…. 5/10
• Day trip Himeji Castle: What a fantastic castle, it has 7 stories so you have to climb a little bit. Most of the time without your shoes so if you dont like to go barefoot be aware! 9/10

Hiroshima(3nights)

• Hotel: The Knot with breakfast 10/10
• Italian breakfast (you can only chance the style of egg you got, but for 3 days…everything fine 🙂 ), they do have a sky bar and you get some knot coins for free, which you can exchange for drinks at the bar.
• maybe two days are enough for hiroshima, we used the 3rd day for shopping

Highlight activities in Hiroshima

• PeacePark: What to say just sad and impressive at the same time…must visit if you are in hiroshima. So no rating here!
• Miyajima island: The island is impresive. You can hike to the top of Mt. Misen (620m). They said it would take 2-3h we needed 5h or so…and there are a lot(!) of stairs my parents struggled a little bit. There is also a ropeway which gets you like 90% to the top… a lot of dears at the foot of the montain. the Torii gate is impressive too! 10/10

Shimoda, izu peninsula (2nights)

• Hotel Shimoda Tokyu Hotel, no breakfast 7/10
• pretty old hotel, breakfast was too expensive, not many customers, on top of a hill, so you need a taxi or shuttle bus to get there. The hotel offers a shuttle bus from 9 to 17:oo o'clock

Highlight activities in Shimoda

• visited Mt. Omuro only to see that the lift was closed that day (and the bus only arrives every hour 😀 ) 0/10,
• so we went to a nearby city to the beach, lovly beaches there! 8/10
• Saphir Odoriko train back to tokyo. Booked in advance (150€). Best train ride of my life. So scenic. Awsome seats, superb service. One of the highlights of the trip 10/10

Tokyo(2nights)

• Hotel: the b Ginza, with breakfast 9/10
• very modern, free pancakes, free coffee, latte art for free, breakfast was "ok", big rooms

We did a lot of souvenir shopping the last 1,5 days so, not much to say here 😀

I hope u liked this trip report. As said in the beginning we plan to go back in april or may 2025 for the Osaka expo. We missed a lot of daytrips from tokyo (Hakone, Kamakura) and didnt visit Hokaido or Okinawa, maybe next time 🙂