sambaixo

Hello everybody!

We're going to Japan for the first time from March to April, yay! There will be myself, my partner and our baby girl that will be 15 months. We're travelling from London, and we arrive to and leave from Narita airport.

We need a piece of advice to make our itinerary... We want to make the most of our trip, but we're not sure that everything is doable specially with a toddler. Probably right now is quite fast-paced, and we need to see what can be cut out and what can be kept.

After reading various itineraries around the web, our current idea is:

Sat 19/03 - Arrive in Tokyo at 8 pm
Sun 20/03 - Tokyo
Mon 21/03 - Tokyo
Tue 22/03 - Day Trip to Nikko
Wed 23/03 - Leave to Hakone in the morning, spend night there
Thu 24/03 - Leave to Kyoto in the morning
Fri 25/03 - Kyoto
Sat 26/03 - Kyoto
Sun 27/03 - Leave to Nara in the morning, spend night there
Mon 28/03 - Leave to Koyasan in the morning, spend the night in a temple
Tue 29/03 - Leave to Kyoto around noon, overnight in Kyoto
Wed 30/03 - Leave in the morning to Himeji Castle, then go to Miyajima and spend night there
Thu 31/03 - Leave to Hiroshima in the morning, spend the day there then leave to Kanazawa in the evening
Fri 01/04 - Spend day in Kanazawa
Sat 02/04 - Leave in the morning to Shikarawa-go and spend night in a farm house
Sun 03/04 - Leave in the morning to Takayama
Mon 04/04 - Takayama
Tue 05/04 - Leave to Matsumoto (and snow monkey park) ?
Wed 06/04 - Day Trip to Tsumago from Matsumoto ?
Thu 07/04 - Leave in the morning for Tokyo
Fri 08/04 - Leave Japan at 10 am

The bit in Matsumoto/Snow Monkey Park/Tsumago is something that we've just added to the list to fill some days and would be probably the first to go.

Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read and for the advice!

Sam, Adriana and Nina

tripplanner001

It makes more sense to keep Kyoto together and I would try to add another night there if you can. Kyoto is the place to take a slowly and linger for a while. The second half of your trip also seems very rushed; I like to spend 3 nights at places, although 2 seems fine for some of them.

Kathie

I think both you and your darling daughter will be very grouchy with that kind of schedule! Slow down, spend more tim in each place, and you'll need to play it by ear as to whether the day trips make sense.

I'm also not so sure as to whether the temples stay is a good idea with a toddler. Perhaps someone else can weigh in on that question.

I agree with tripplanner that it makes more sense to keep all of your Kyoto time together.

Also, either spend a few days in Kanazawa or cut it.

Lolazahra

Hi there -- congrats on your upcoming trip!

We were in Japan this past summer with four kids, two aged 13, one 11 year old and one 7 year old. I think your itinerary would have been too much for them and they are spunky, energetic and avid world travelers! I agree to keep Kyoto to one stay and add more days. It really is a nice, beautiful strolling town with a very relaxed vibe. Yet there is a ton to see, do and eat. You will have no trouble with a stroller in a lot of places should you want to use it. If you cut out other stops, you might consider adding the quaint Miyajima to your trip for one or two nights. You can see the memorial at Hiroshima and then take the ferry over. Again easy to stroll, cute shops, quaint places to stay, good food and your daughter will get a kick out of the deer, the water, and the temples are colorful and easy to manage.

Good luck. You will love it.

kja

WAY too rushed for my tastes -- and I travel hard and solo! I recommend that you sit down with japan-guide.com and some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation (you can check that on hyperdia.com), add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.

Some specific comments:

- If you are flying into and out of Tokyo, consider your options to put all of your time in Tokyo in one block at the end of your trip. Might not work.... And if you haven't booked your flights yet, explore options for flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka or vice versa.

- I agree with everyone else who is saying to add time to Kyoto / Nara and to put it all in one block. And much as I loved Nara, and was glad I stayed there, with a baby, I think you might be better off visiting Nara as a day trip.

- Like Kathie, I'm not sure Koya-san makes sense with a baby. You might email japaneseguesthouses to see if there are any options.

- I wanted more time for Kanazawa and Takayama than you are giving them. JMO.

Hope that helps!

russ_in_LA

I agree with most if not all of the suggestions you have received thus far. I would also eliminate everything you have after Takayama in order to add time to Kyoto and Kanazawa. (In fact, your Apr 5th date would require 6 hours of travel time via bus, train, bus again and then a 30 minute walk on a mountain path, just to get to the snow monkeys, not counting 3 hours back to Matsumoto).

Taking this into consideration, one possible option could look something like this:

Tokyo 4 nights (day trip to Nikko)
Hakone 1 night
Kyoto 6 nights (day trip to Nara, half-day trip to Himeji)
Koyasan 1 night (only if you can book a hanare, which is a free standing room separate from the main lodging, otherwise skip it. Try shojoshin-in temple, which has two of them)
Miyajima 1 night
Kanazawa 3 nights
Shirakawa-go 1 night
Takayama 2 nights
Tokyo 1 night

Personally, I think this still might be too many 1 night stops with a toddler in tow, but only you can decide if that works for you. This also still entails a couple really long train days, from Koyasan to Miyajima and from Miyajima to Kanazawa. If you drop Shirakawa-go you could do 2 nights in Miyajima to break that up, which would enable you to see that and Hiroshima at a more leisurely pace as well. Of course, there are unlimited variations on this.

sambaixo

Thanks for your awesome answers. We thought it would be easier to list all our destinations and then start cutting them off the list... We knew already that it was quite fast-paced...

We're cutting out Koyasan - we've read about some temples accepting babies, but it will probably be easier staying in Kyoto, specially with all the luggage.

Our current plan is roughly:

from night 19/03 to morning 24/03 - Tokyo 5 nights (with Nikko day trip)
from night 24/03 to morning 30/03 - Kyoto 6 nights (with Nara day trip, and maybe Himeji Castle on our way to Miyajima)
from night 30/03 to morning 01/04 - Miyajima 2 nights (with Hiroshima day trip)
from night 01/04 to morning 05/04 - Kanazawa 4 nights (with Takayama and/or Shikarawago day trips)
from night 05/04 to morning 06/04 - Matsumoto 2 nights (maybe with Tsumago day trip, is it doable?)
from night 06/04 to morning 08/04 - Tokyo

We are considering simplifying even more and make it only 3 main stops, Tokyo, Kyoto and either Matsumoto or Kanazawa, making everything else in day trips. We would probably make Himeji Castle in a day trip but then we wouldn't go all the way to Hiroshima/Miyajima. How does it sound?

Thanks!

russ_in_LA

Much better! Himeji is only 44 to 79 minutes from Kyoto and is easy as a day trip. Takayama from Kanazawa is 2.5 hours each way. With a 5 hour round trip, I think Takayama warrants an overnight, and 3 nights in Kanazawa is enough. You can then take a bus 2 hours from Takayama to Matsumoto.

As kja suggested, have you used hyperdia.com? You can check times between cities which will help you plan time to each destination. Have a great trip!

Kavey

Caveat: I don't have any children and have never travelled with a baby...

We found travelling on trains in Japan very easy and relaxing, hopefully you will also find it so, especially if your daughter is a happy traveller or tends to sleep during such journeys.

Your simplified itinerary looks much more appealing, and more doable too.

Glad to see 6 nights in Kyoto. You could even do more if you like, as there is not only so much to see within Kyoto itself, there are many potential day trips you could choose from - Osaka, Uji, Kobe and Nara that you have already listed. So if you do decide to drop somewhere, add the nights in Kyoto, you won't regret them.

Personally, I would try and keep Miyajima / Hiroshima in - it's a beautiful place to visit, and not a difficult journey from Kyoto. I'd suggest seeing the Hiroshima sights that interest you either before you get to Miyajima or after you leave, rather than as a day trip from Miyajima - I think that will make more sense logistically. Check Hyperdia.com as Russ suggests, to understand the journeys / connections better.

I can't comment on Matsumoto as have never been.

tripplanner001

I personally think you have too many nights in Tokyo, but otherwise, your itinerary is much better and you will enjoy your trip much more.

kja

I like your current plan much better, too. I might take one night from Tokyo and add it to Takayama, so you have 3 nights in Kanazawa and 2 nights in Takayama (stopping in Shirakowago en route if you want).

If you make judicious use of luggage forwarding, I think you can keep all the stops you are now considering. And yes, do take advantage of Japan's excellent luggage-forwarding option, which you can use to send bags ahead from one place one morning to another place the next day (so you use an overnight bag in between). Its called takuhaibin; here's the info:
www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

JoanneH

Shirakawa-go: first be sure you stay is there and not in the overall general area many farm houses are listed as Shirakawa-go but are in small villages surrounding the actual tourist site, in my case was actually appx 25 miles away. Lesson learned.
Also be aware that while its a interesting experience most are not heated and some do\do not offer food and you can't just run down and pick up something at the corner, it can be cold at that time of year so be aware as some only have basic central fire pit for heat. Ask for conformation you are actually staying at Shirakawa-go site.

JoanneH

I forgot to ad that you could stay in Takayama and skip S-go and do the Hida village instead which has same huts etc as you will find at S-Go with artisans working in various shops and is a short bus ride from bus station stations bus runs every 1/2 hour and takes about 20 min and gives you a great view over town and gold temple

mrwunrfl

The Tsumago day-trip is doable but totally optional given that you would visit Takayama (and you won't be spending the night there and won't be walking the Nakasendo). It is not as easily reached from Matsumoto as you would like: 2+ hours on a JR local and then an (infrquent) bus, or a JR Limited Express, change to a local train, then bus. Magome is more easily reached by Limited Express from Matsumoto to Nakatsugawa and then a bus. But, either of those towns would be somewhat redundant.

mrwunrfl

I stayed in a gassho-zukuri (Koemon) in Shirakawago in January and remember that I did not freeze. I think there was a space heater in the room.