Taking grandkids (11F, 8M) to Japan end of March, early April, 2024. Should be the right time for cherry blossoms. It’s been years since wife and I went to Japan. If we do the alternate day 7, we will probably get JR Pass. Thoughts?
Day 1
Arrive Narita 2 pm, check in hotel in Ginza
Imperial Palace East Garden, Explore
Tokyo Station
Day 2
Asakusa: Sensoji, Asakusa Jinja, Nakamise
Free time in case jet lag hits
Day 3
Meiji Jingu, Harajuku for her
Akihabara for him
Shinjuku Metro Govt Bldg for the free view
Day 4
Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka
Leave bags at hotel then head to
Osaka Castle, Shinsaibashi shopping,
Dotonbori grazing
Day 5
Kyoto Sanjusangendo
Kyomizudera, Chion-in, Shoren-in
Nanzen-ji, Heian Shrine
more or less depending on time
Explore Nishiki Market
Day 6
Nara in the morning
Himeji in the afternoon
Day 7
Kyoto
AM: Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Arashayama Bamboo forest
PM: Fushmi Inari
Day 7 Alternate
Day trip to Hiroshima, Miyajima
Day 8
Osaka
Shitennoji Temple, Shinsekai
Namba Yasuka Jinja
Day 9 Shinkansen to Tokyo, NEX to Narita and fly home
2 comments
A lot of these activities don’t sound especially fun for children. Maybe check out a few malls for things like Pokemon stores and cute accessories and clothing, i really enjoyed the sunshine mall in Ikebukuro (they have the worlds largest gacha store and an aquarium!)
with the alternate the jr pass would be a close to break-even. the alternative pass you use is the kansai hiroshima pass and just pay individual ticket when going tokyo to kansai and back.
you can also check if there’s any available flight in your country going in to tokyo and departing out of osaka.