If you followed along on our Japan trip last year on Instagram you know what a soft spot I have in my heart for Japan! I lived there when I was in middle school for three years and I’ve been dreaming about taking my family back. We finally had the chance to go in 2019 for Spring Break and we timed it perfectly for the cherry blossom season! We even met up with some of our friends (who are currently living in Singapore) at the beginning of the trip and all of the kids had the best time playing together and exploring. This is a look at our itinerary. It was not a perfectly planned trip, and we definitely missed a lot of what Japan has to offer. But, even though in two weeks you can barely scratch the surface of Japan, we managed to fit in a lot of amazing experiences! Our goal was to get a mix of big city (Tokyo), smaller town (Hakone), history (Kyoto and Hiroshima), and to get a wide variety of unique cultural experiences. We even managed to fit in a very last minute three hour visit to Tokyo Disneyland our last day! Here’s our itinerary:
Day 1 : Arrival in Tokyo and Roppongi
We flew from Salt Lake City to Seattle to Tokyo (Narita Airport). After we landed at the airport and went through passport control we went to activate our Japan Rail passes. We had to order them ahead of our arrival in Japan and then activate them on arrival. We got the 14-day pass, but you can also get a 7-Day pass. These passes are great if you are going to be doing a lot of travel outside of Tokyo using the train system. You can read more about the pros and cons here. We heard they may change the JR Pass activation process before the 2020 Olympics, so make sure you check into that.
After we activated our passes we got tickets for the Airport Limousine Bus into Tokyo. We like these buses because they are inexpensive and a good resource if you are staying at or near one of the hotels where they drop-off. We were staying in Roppongi near the Ana Intercontinental Hotel, so this bus was an easy way to get to our Roppongi apartment. The buses are spacious, have a lot of luggage space below the bus, and have free Wifi. On our route, tickets were 3200 yen for adults and 1600 yen for children. It was supposed to take us about an hour and half to get into Tokyo (but it took us longer because we went during rush hour).
After we arrived at the Ana Intercontinental Hotel, we looked up the address for our Roppongi apartment that we booked on Booking.com and went to meet the apartment manager. He showed us the place and how to use everything in the apartment and how to gain access to the building as well as nearby 7-Elevens and the subway lines. It was a great spot for getting on the subway and navigating Tokyo, even though the apartment was tiny for our family of five (like most in Tokyo). Here is a link to the apartment on Agoda (it isn’t listed anymore on Booking.com). We liked it for the location, but it is definitely small. P.S. 7-Eleven is the best spot in Japan to get cash at the ATM and to get any essentials and is the largest convenience store chain in Japan (Lawson and Family Mart are also always useful to have nearby).
After we arrived and got checked in, we headed out to explore Roppongi and get dinner. We found some fun playgrounds on our walk around and we ended up eating dinner at Shake Shack our first night because everyone was too tired to find some good real Japanese food. We headed to bed early so we could get out and explore the next day.
Day 2: Ueno Park, Shinjuku, and Shibuya
One of our main goals in Tokyo was to see some of the best cherry blossom (sakura) spots. First stop, we took the train on the Yamanote Line to Ueno Park since it is one of the prime cherry blossom viewing spots and it did not disappoint. We wandered along the main street of the park to see the cherry blossoms and stopped to eat at the some of the food stalls (our favorites were yakisoba and yakitori). We’ve heard the nighttime viewing of the sakura is spectacular and if you go you might want to look out for the Hanami parties that happen as the sun is setting and after dark. We didn’t have time this trip. While there is a lot to do in Ueno Park (Ueno Zoo, Shinobazu Pond, Kaneiji Temple, etc.) we mostly just wandered the cherry blossoms rows and stopped at the Kaneiji Temple and the five-story pagoda. Anytime our kids saw playground equipment we also stopped to let them play and get out some energy.
After our visit to Ueno Park we headed to another cherry blossom spot, Shinjuku Chuo Park. The park is smaller than Ueno Park, but beautiful and the cherry blossoms were scattered throughout the park and there was a wide variety. We also loved this park because of the playground — our kids loved it. There were two playground areas near each other (and there is a splash pad in the summer). Our kids loved the giant slide (but it could be considered dangerous). The adults loved the shade and the public restrooms. You can read more about this park in The Tokyo Chapter’s Shinjuku guide.
After a lot of running around at the park and cherry blossoms, we were ready for lunch. We wandered around the area near Shinjuku Station and found some yummy ramen in a local restaurant. We mostly just pointed at things we wanted on the menu and everything tasted great. We always get extra rice for our kids, just in case they don’t like what we’ve picked for them. We also stopped into a few of the arcades in the area and let the kids try playing some of the Japanese games (which was a bad idea, because then they wanted to do them anytime they saw them on our trip!)
From Shinjuku we took the train to Shibuya to see the famous Shibuya Crossing (we may have gone across several times). Definitely hold onto your kids’ hands, there are a lot of people, but the whole experience was fun. We also stopped in Loft (one of Tokyo’s premier department stores) in Shibuya to check out their expansive stationary department and to get some souvenirs. Lastly, in Shibuya we stopped at a hedge hog cafe. Our kids begged us to go to one of Tokyo’s speciality animal cafes and hedge hogs were the only option with our allergy-prone husband and friends in tow. The kids were in heaven at the ChikuChiku Cafe. It was not my thing. To get a reservation you have to pay for 60 minutes, or you can walk in for a 30 min visit. We didn’t want to have to wait in line with five kids (ours plus our friend’s) so we paid more for a reservation (2,400 yen per person). You definitely don’t need a whole hour with hedge hogs though. But the cafe was cute.
We finished our night at a restaurant recommended by our apartment manager, called Sakura Tei. It was an Okonomiyaki restaurant (think savory Japanese pancake) and was a little over our head because you had to make your own dinner. It was fun to be able to grill all of our own food at our table, but we had a bit of a hard time following the directions without anyone who spoke good English and being jet lagged. It ended up being a really fun experience, but we recommend if you are going to eat Okonomiyaki in Japan for the first time (which we loved by the end of our trip!!), have someone else make it!
Day 3: Tokyo Tower and Harajuku
We started off our day walking from our hotel in Roppongi to the Tokyo Tower. We chose the Tokyo Tower over the Sky Tree because the Tokyo Tower was somewhere that I grew up visiting when I lived in Japan, and I wanted to take my kids back. It has been a famous landmark in Tokyo for decades. The kids loved riding the elevators to the various floors in the Tokyo Tower and looking out across Tokyo at the top. We skipped some of the other stores and amusement park activities inside the tower. We took the advice of The Tokyo Chapter blog after our visit to the tower and stopped at the playground at its based. We’ve found that when traveling with kids in big cities it is nice to let them have a chance to run and explore every time we see a playground.
We stopped at a few other parks in the area as well as we wandered around the Azabu-Juban and Hiroo (a popular area with expats and the area I lived as a teenager). Our favorite spot was Arisugawa Park — it feels like a jungle in the middle of busy Tokyo — and it has a playground, pond, walking paths, and waterfalls. You can also peek into the library in the park. We forgot to feed the kids until 2pm so they were starving and we ended up at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Hiroo (the hungry kids wanted some American food) even though there are a lot of better options in the area that you can find in The Tokyo Chapter’s guide above.
Our last stop for the day was Harajuku. You definitely want to make sure you keep your kids close to you in Harajuku or they can get separated from you — it is pretty crowded but it is great for people watching. Getting off the train in Harajuku we were stuck in one of the craziest crowds we’ve ever seen. Luckily we didn’t have a stroller and our kids stayed close to us. We walked along Takeshita Street and stopped to taste anything yummy we could find — crepes, cotton candy, etc. and looked into all of the unique stores. The kids especially liked the store Long! Longer! Longest! We tried the Tornado Potato and Cotton Candy. We skipped the Meiji Shrine (in the Harajuku area) because our kids were done for the day. But if you can, add it into your visit. We finished our night with dinner at a nearby nameless restaurant (it was not our finest day in terms of picking meals!) that wasn’t crowded and had an English menu.
Day 4: Asakusa, Tsukiji, and Ginza
Our last full day in Tokyo we tried to fit in a lot of different activities. I fit in a morning run around the Imperial Palace to check out the cherry blossoms before the kids woke up. Then, we headed out to Asakusa to the Senso-ji Temple. It is Tokyo’s oldest and most significant temple. The kids enjoyed receiving their “omikuji,” or fortune, at the temple. You pay a 100 yen offering in exchange for your fortune. The temple also had an awesome shopping street and food stalls with traditional local snacks. The best time to visit the temple is in the early morning (it was pretty crowded when we were there on a Sunday). The kids did a great job learning about the history of the temple, but then were ready to play so we found a local playground (Kinryu Park) to run out some energy before lunch. We stopped by the Panda Cafe for lunch, since it looked kid-friendly. There were toys for the kids to play with and they had a cute kid’s menu. It seemed to be more of a place for younger babies and toddlers, but our kids had fun. It looks like it might have closed since our visit, but there were lots of food options in Asakusa.
After lunch we had set-up a Sushi Making class in Tsukiji at the Tokyo Sushi Academy. This was a great family sushi making class and it was hands-on and the teachers really adjusted it to our kids’ skill level. Even though our kids don’t love sushi, they loved trying the various elements that go into making sushi and loved creating different types of sushi. The class lasted 90 minutes and they said kids 3 years old and up were welcome to participate (even younger kids can attend as long as they are supervised). They had a cute photo booth area where kids could dress up and take pictures with their sushi. It was a highlight of our time in Tokyo.
From Tsukiji we walked to Ginza. We love to walk when we can in cities to really get a feel of the city. It took about 15 minutes. When we got to the main area of Ginza the stores were all lit up and we loved checking out the various displays and windows. The kids loved the concept cars and the Hello Kitty store. We explored a few department stores and were on the lookout for a late dinner, and of course we waited too long and everyone was famished and it started raining so our dinner was lackluster and very touristy. Next time we are in Ginza we want to stop in Yakitori Alley, tucked under the Ginza train station tracks where you can grab a stool and get some good skewers at the food stalls.
Day 5: Tokyo to Hakone
It was a sad day when it was time to leave Tokyo and our friends and head to Hakone, but we were excited to get out of the city and into the country a bit. We took a taxi from the Ana Intercontinental Hotel by our apartment (it helps to have English-speaking bell hops order taxis for you) to Shinjuku Station. At the station we figured out how to buy bus tickets on the Odakyu Hakone Highway Bus (everyone is so helpful in Japan). The bus cost about 2000 yen per person and stopped at various hotels in the Hakone area, including ours. We decided the two hour bus would be easier with kids and luggage rather than taking the Shinkansen and then switching to the train/bus/ropeway. The JR Pass did cover the trains but it involved more logistics than we wanted for this part of the trip. We enjoyed a pleasant bus ride through the mountains, got to see Mt Fuji and the landscape of Japan, and the kids just played on their iPads and slept. The bus dropped us off right at our hotel and was very convenient. For the Hakone part of our trip we decided to stay in a resort hotel that had access to a Japanese onsen. We wanted our kids to get an onsen experience. We stayed at the Odakyu Hotel de Yama and it was wonderful. It was right on Lake Ashi, had wonderful views and a beautiful garden to explore. After we got settled we walked along the path from the hotel toward the Hakone Shrine and floating torii gate and the nearby town. The walk was beautiful and we could see boats out on the lake. We didn’t get a chance to ride the boats and fully explore Hakone, but plan to go back. We ate dinner in a little Italian restaurant in town called La Terrazza, which was kid-friendly, and also stopped by Bakery & Table Hakone for some treats.
After dinner we wandered back to the hotel and got ready for our onsen experience. Since the onsens are separated by gender, all of the girls went together and my husband went by himself. We loved our hotel’s onsen because there was a beautiful bath area inside and then a very relaxing bath outside in nature. We think we scared away all of the other guests, because when we entered they all left, so we got to enjoy the onsen together and in private. Our hotel provided us with yukatas to wear from the hotel room to the bath and it was fun to get the girls all dressed in their yukatas. Between hiking around the lake and an onsen bath, we were ready for an early bedtime and felt so relaxed in nature. We could’ve stayed in Hakone for several more days. We wished we’d had time to visit the Hakone Open Air museum, ride the Hakone ropeway and the Hakone Tozan Railway, enjoy the hot springs, or enjoy a boat cruise across Lake Ashi. Next time!
Day 6: Hakone to Kyoto
We didn’t plan very well with the transportation from Hakone to Odawara to catch the Shinkansen and ended up taking a long taxi ride instead of the bus. Next time we will plan better, but everything seemed complicated to me and a taxi seemed easier (albeit more expensive). Let’s just say that Japan wasn’t an overall inexpensive trip, but we did cut costs in other ways. We arrived at Odawara and booked our Shinkansen tickets for our next several trips (between Odawara and Kyoto and between Kyoto and Hiroshima) because it was a busy travel season with the cherry blossoms and trains were getting full. We took two Shinkansens from Odawara to Kyoto and we love these trains. Getting on and off the trains is easy, the whole Japanese train system is just so nice, and we had plenty of space to store our luggage on the trains. When we arrived in Kyoto it was very busy and the concierge at our apartment recommended we go directly to the MK Taxi VIP stand, rather than wait in the long taxi stand lines at the Kyoto station. We managed to get a taxi rather quickly (and we all fit in one taxi) to our apartment hotel. We used Booking.com to find a wonderful apartment/house (Kiyomizu Garden) in the older area of Kyoto by the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The apartment was on the ground floor and had two bedrooms, a large living room, kitchen, washer/dyer, and a small garden outside. It felt like a very authentic old Japanese home and was surrounded by other beautiful Kyoto homes. After we arrived and got settled we wandered around the neighborhood near the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Between the cherry blossoms and the women dressed in traditional kimonos and the sunset, the impression Kyoto left us with our first night was magical. We stopped at a local Indian restaurant near our apartment, Chakra, for dinner.
Day 7: Historic Kyoto
We arranged for a tour with Cityunscripted for our first full day in Kyoto. Our guide was nice, but in the end we think we might have enjoyed exploring the city without a guide. Some of the guides we’ve have over the years fit right in with our family, but this one wasn’t as comfortable. He did help us use the bus system to get around the city, so that was helpful. Kyoto is very big and it took a long time to get between locations, which is why we wanted a guide, but our guide didn’t make it much easier unfortunately. It was nice to have him to take family pictures of us though. The first stop on our tour was the Kyoto Railway Museum. It was very fun and hands on, but not something we needed to do on a tour (or as early in the morning when the kids were fresh). We would’ve loved to have gone to this museum on a rainy day, but since it was nice outside we didn’t stay too long. The museum had a lot of great interactive exhibits for kids and trains you could explore and also gave a history of trains in Japan. Our kids loved the area where they could use the train ticket machine and pretend to be riding the subway. If you are traveling with kids who love trains, this would be the place for you!
Our next stop was the Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) and it was beautiful and very crowded. It is a Zen Buddhist temple whose top floors are completely covered with gold leaf and it gleams in the sunlight. We did find some areas where there weren’t as many people and the temple looked beautiful with the cherry blossoms around it, but we only stayed for a short visit because of the crowds. Next we took the bus to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The Palace was the residence of Japan’s Imperial Family until 1868 when the capital moved to Tokyo. The landscaping at the palace was beautiful and you could peek into some of the palace buildings. We enjoyed getting a glimpse into Kyoto’s history and it was very peaceful and uncrowded. Right outside the palace walls we found a playground for the girls to enjoy. Lastly, our guide took us to the Gion District to the Yasaka-jinja Shrine. This area was where we saw some of the best cherry blossoms in Kyoto and it was a wonderful place to people watch and finish the day. We sent our guide home and stayed to explored the Gion District, mostly on the lookout for some geishas. The streets of the Gion neighborhood came alive at night with lantern lights and people looking for bars, restaurants, and teahouses. We walked back to our apartment from Gion (it was about a 15 minute walk) and stopped on the way for some ramen for the kids. We quite enjoyed getting a historic overview of Kyoto in one day, although I think we could’ve done it on our own!
Day 8: Fushimi Inari Shrine, Nishiki Market, Kiyomizu-dera Temple
This day was probably one of our favorites in Kyoto, despite some questionable children’s attitudes. We took the train from our neighborhood using the JR pass to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It took about 30 minutes from where we were staying. Once we got off the train we were in a quaint, slightly touristy neighborhood of shops and made our way to the temple grounds. There were food stalls all around the shrine and we stopped when needed for a few treats and snacks. The most iconic part of the Fushimi Inari Shrine is the thousands of red torii gates and we wanted to hike to the top of the shrine. When we first started climbing the stairs to the shrine it was very crowded, but as we kept climbing the crowds thinned out and it was much more enjoyable. We took a wrong path to the top of the shrine and it was a wonderful detour. We saw bamboo forests, small temples, and it felt like we were wandering in an untouched jungle. Eventually we got to the top of the shrine and enjoyed some ice cream at the summit — a bribe for all of the hiking and minimal complaining. The hike to the summit probably took about 2.5 hours. Then it was time to climb down, the right way, among the torii gates. It was much faster on our way down and we enjoyed the views as we descended. The Fushimi Inari Shrine was probably one of our highlights of Kyoto.
After our long hike, we found a small playground near the train station and our kids enjoyed playing and then we took the train back to central Kyoto. We were close to the Nishiki Market when we got off the train, so we decided to go explore and see what was there. The market is renowned for being the place to get many of Kyoto’s famous foods and goods. We stopped to try things as we wandered the market and explored. We finished our last night in Kyoto at sunset exploring the Kiyomizu-dera Temple grounds again. We finally entered the temple and explored around and also wandered the touristy shops surrounding the temple. It was one of our very favorite places to watch the sunset in Kyoto. Our kids were exhausted after a long day of hiking and walking, so my husband and I split up and he took the older girls to dinner while I headed back to the apartment with my youngest to eat some ramen and get to bed early.
Day 9: Kyoto to Hiroshima
Honestly, when were planning our trip to Japan I wasn’t sure what to think or expect about Hiroshima and I wasn’t that excited to visit. Hiroshima ended up being a beautiful and peaceful city, and the cherry blossoms were at their perfect bloom, and I’m so glad we were able to visit. We left our Kyoto apartment and took a taxi to the Kyoto Station to wait for our Shinkansen. We took the train directly to Hiroshima and it took about 3 hours. The kids enjoyed the comfort of the train and having a relaxing day on the train after a few days of non-stop exploring. When we arrived in Hiroshima we took a taxi to our Airbnb. We didn’t use Airbnbs in Japan other than in Hiroshima, but we had a great experience in Hiroshima. We followed the directions from the Airbnb host and were able to find our apartment easily and it was in a great location right near the river, Peace Park, and a great playground. We got settled and took the kids right over to the playground to run out some energy. Once the girls got out enough energy, we headed over to walk along the river to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. We just wandered the grounds and got a taste of what we planned to see the following day. We finished the night at another playground and a delicious and award winning pizza place that we found, Pizza Riva.
Day 10: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima Castle, and Team Lab Hiroshima
We started our first full day in Hiroshima off with a visit to the Children’s Peace Monument where we talked to our kids about what happened in Hiroshima. Of course, they were devastated by the loss of lives and destruction and we talked about wars and tried our best to give them our perspectives. They also rang the peace bell and stopped to get a book about a girl that had been in the bombings and got sick as a result. We took the girls through the Hiroshima Memorial Museum but carefully controlled what they could see. The museum had several interactive activities to distract our kids while my husband and I wandered and looked at the more disturbing parts of the exhibits. We felt like they were able to appreciate the museum and what we were telling them, but we spared them anything too graphic. We left the museum in search of lunch and came across the Honduri shopping street. We found the restaurant chain Gusto, it came recommended by friends, and our kids enjoyed the children’s meals they offered. After we were energized again we headed to Hiroshima Castle.
Hiroshima Castle was surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms and we enjoyed exploring the grounds. We also went inside the castle (370 yen for adults and 180 yen for kids) and there were multiple floors of exhibits detailing the history and culture of Japanese samurai families. The girls enjoyed several hands-on exhibits and dressing up like samurai. After exploring the castle we decided to try out the Sightseeing Loop Bus (Hiroshima Meipuru-pu) that was included with our JR Pass. Unfortunately the bus got so crowded that we could barely see anything out the windows. However, if we had taken it on our first day in Hiroshima to get an overview of the city I think we would’ve appreciated the experience more. Some of the buses have informational videos about the locations we were seeing playing in the background. During the cherry blossom season the buses get more crowded than normal, so you may want to avoid them then. After dinner at McDonalds (the kids begged) we went back to Hiroshima Castle to see the temporary nighttime interactive art exhibit by Team Lab Hiroshima on the castle grounds. After a long day, we walked back to our apartment exhausted.
Day 11: Miyajima Island
One of the parts of our Japan trip that we were most looking forward to was visiting Miyajima Island, and it lived up to our expectations. Miyajima is a small island near Hiroshima that is famous for its giant torii gate that looks like it is floating on water during high tide. The Itsukushima Shrine located on the island is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. We used our JR passes to take the train from Hiroshima Station to Miyajimaguchi and then we walked two minutes to the ferry terminal to get on the ferry to Miyajima (all included in the JR Pass). The ferry took about 10 minutes and it was cool to see the giant torii gates at high tide as we arrived. The island is known for wandering deer, which our kids enjoyed spotting. We wandered the streets and stopped to get some of the treats that Miyajima is known for (the steamed buns were our favorite!) like momiji treats and beef steamed buns. The only thing we didn’t try was the oysters. After exploring the streets and stores for a while, we headed to the Miyajima Ropeway. The ropeway is a cable car up to the top of Mount Misen. The views were spectacular from the cable car, even though it was a little smoggy on the day we were there. After our cable car ride, we explored Momijidani Park (there were more deer) and enjoyed being in nature (it kind of felt like a jungle). Near the end of our visit on Miyajima the tide went out and we were able to go out onto the sand and see the giant torii gates at low tide. The girls looked for shells and little mollusks, while we watched the sun set over the shrine. It was a beautiful way to end our day on Miyajima. We took the ferry back to Miyajimaguchi and stopped at a local Okonomiyaki spot for dinner. The okonomiyaki in Hiroshima is a known speciality and our dinner was amazing, probably because this time someone else cooked it for us. The place we stopped was right by the JR Miyajima Ferry but I can’t find the name anywhere. You must try the okonomiyaki in Hiroshima!
Day 12: Hiroshima
We probably didn’t need another full day in Hiroshima, but it was nice to have a relaxing day and it really was such an easy city to visit. Also, the cherry blossoms were the best in Hiroshima out of everywhere in Japan we visited and there were playgrounds all over and it was very kid-friendly. Our last day in Hiroshima was a lazy day. My husband and I switched off watching the kids and I took them to some playgrounds, arcades, and the Hiroshima Children’s Museum (it’s free) and library. The museum has two floors of a variety of activities and a planetarium. The planetarium was the only part that was not free, so we didn’t go. There was a library on the first floor and our kids enjoyed looking at the Japanese book and the small selection of English children’s books. We spent the rest of our day just exploring and doing last minute shopping and errands. We ate dinner at Pizzeria Parco della Pace and the staff was wonderful with kids and the food was delicious.
Day 13: Hiroshima to Tokyo
It was time to leave Hiroshima, and our Airbnb host called us two taxis (some areas were stricter about that rule than others in Japan) to get us to Hiroshima Station and we took the Shinkansen to Tokyo. The ride to Tokyo was about five hours because we had to transfer at Osaka, but it went very smoothly and our kids loved having some down time after a non-stop packed schedule. I could go on and on about the trains in Japan — they are so wonderful. We arrived at Tokyo Station and took a taxi to our last hotel, the Hilton Tokyo Bay. We booked this hotel for our last night in Japan because it was less expensive and a fun hotel for kids (themed rooms, pool, kids eat free for HHonors members, etc.). We hadn’t planned on visiting Tokyo Disneyland, but at the last minute we decided to surprise our kids with a few hours at Tokyo Disneyland. We dropped our bags and headed over to Tokyo Disneyland! Since we haven’t really taken our kids to Disneyland before (other than a one day visit when our oldest daughters were 2 and 4) they were in awe of everything. We mostly just went on any rides that didn’t have long lines, since they didn’t know what to expect. The highlights were taking them on Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s a Small World. We got caught in a pretty bad rainstorm after we’d been at Disneyland for a few hours, so our kids decided it was time to head back to the hotel pool. We swam in the hotel pool and enjoyed the amazing kid-friendly dinner buffet and got in a good night’s sleep before our long haul flight the next day.
Day 14 - Tokyo to Salt Lake City
Sadly, our time in Japan had come to an end. We took the Airport Limousine Bus again to the airport (we flew out of Haneda Airport). We had the best time in Japan and were pretty sad to leave — it is such a great country to visit. When we landed at LAX after our 10 hour flight it was a rude awakening to the fact we were not in Japan still — everything in Japan runs so smoothly and LAX was kind of a nightmare and mass chaos. We can’t wait to visit Japan again and explore more of the beautiful country. Check out our Instagram account @3KidsTravel for more pictures and videos from our trip (we have IG story highlights for each city we visited!)
General Tips:
Even if you don’t understand Japanese, you can still get around really easily in Japan. Google Translate is a great resource for communicating and Google Maps is helpful in getting around.
We thought the JR Pass was great for our trip, but it did require some pre-planning. You’ll want to carefully assess if it is the right fit for your trip and really depends on how much train travel you will be doing.
Use the Hyperdia App to help you navigate trains in Japan, especially when you are using the JR Pass.
Leading up to the 2020 Olympics, many important monuments and torii gates in Japan are getting renovated. Make sure you check their status before you go to any of these sights we’ve recommended.
We thought our time in Tokyo was perfect. You can always stay longer — but we thought it was just right for us. We’d definitely add another day in Hakone on our next visit and another day in Kyoto. We stayed in Hiroshima for four days, but you probably only need three full days to fit in everything we did — although at the end of our trip it was nice to just have a relaxing day in Hiroshima before heading back to Tokyo.