Japan Oct/Nov 2016 Itinerary - What Do You Think?

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  altomic on 13/07/2016 - 22:17

  head south from yokohama and go to Kamakura just for a day trip (old Japanese capital and historic-ish town)

  never ever go to Disneyland on a weekend in Japan. -way too crowded. it will be unenjoyable.

  skip Osaka. just do Kyoto.

  use the Osaka days to spend more time in Tokyo.

  in Tokyo - have a look at shibuya, walk through Ueno park, visit the sky tree building, imperial palace, Ginza

  my 2 cents - I got back from a 2 week trip in Japan on monday. i had a plan similar to yours but I was going to drive - narita, osaka, kyoto, kanazawa, sendai, tokyo -spend 2 or 3 days in each. long story short the car fell through so we ended up spending 7 days in Tokyo, then 4 days in Sendai and then 4 days back in Tokyo. it was actually really nice and enjoyable for my kids to be able to hang out and become familiar with the neighbour where we were staying. they met local kids and played with them. we had a nice time walking around. plus we didn't have to pack and move every few days - which meant way less stress for me.

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    plain_biscuit on 13/07/2016 - 22:30

    Might do that on day 3. Thanks for the tip :)

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  belongsinforums on 13/07/2016 - 22:33

  +1

  relatively intense trip for elderly and wee ones. don't forget that the JR pass includes local services as well, as long as they are JR (but do check on what's included and what's not included). if you're not taking bullet trains every day, you won't get absolute full out of the pass, but it does save you from buying tickets for each trip. Is there any specific reason you want to go to Yokohama? Otherwise, skip it. You'll want to rest as soon as possible after arriving, so why not stay in Tokyo (or even Narita)?

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    plain_biscuit on 13/07/2016 - 22:44

    Initially I did plan it to stay in tokyo first but then I felt like i'll be double backing because I'll be spending the last few days in Tokyo anyways. And I don't want to waste the night spending it at the airport area.

    Yokohama I've never been so would like to check it out. Plus, I figured it would be closer to kamakura or Hakone if we wanted to do a day trip.

    Which part of the trip do you think is a bit intense?

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      belongsinforums on 13/07/2016 - 22:57

      all the travelling between places might be a bit much. hard to say because i dont know you all. anyway, i highly recommend chiba. the small surf towns with the freshest sashimi, the big buddha statue, and the old traditional japanese homes are worth the trip imo.

      i just showed my family around china. acting as a tour guide itself can be stressful, if thats what youre doing. stick to the popular tourist attractions FOR FOREIGNERS if thats all they want. non-weaboos dont appreciate history so much, i found.

      oh and tokyo has enough to see for a week i reckon

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        plain_biscuit on 14/07/2016 - 10:04

        Thanks for your input.

        We have all been to Tokyo before so wanted to visit other regions in Japan. I will definitely look into Chiba.

        As I type my parents are now on one of those bus tours in Europe. So I think they would cope okay.. i did try and spend atleast two nights in most places so if they don't want to go out they can just stay in the hotel.

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  Shadowsfury on 14/07/2016 - 09:24

  If you're travelling between Kanazawa and Takayama you may as well stop at Shirakawago.

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    plain_biscuit on 14/07/2016 - 10:06

    I did think about doing this but I'm not sure how my two kids on a bus will cope. Is it something that is a 'must do'?

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      Shadowsfury on 14/07/2016 - 15:45

      Isn't it better because it breaks up the journey?

      Also just go Nagano to Tokyo IMO, don't bother backtracking.

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  pyramid on 14/07/2016 - 09:28

  May I ask your purpose to visit Nara? If it's only for deer, I would skip Nara n head to Hiroshima.

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    plain_biscuit on 14/07/2016 - 10:10

    I've actually already been to Nara before but I think it's a stop i can't rule out as I'm sure my kids and my parents will love it. I might sneak off and do the Hozugawa River Boat ride instead on the day but not sure if my parents can cope looking after my two without me.

    My parents are not keen on doing Hiroshima… I have not idea why. Maybe because it has too much history for them.

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  CheapskateQueen on 14/07/2016 - 20:04

  I'd personally skip osaka and spend more time in Tokyo. I wasn't a big fan of osaka..just like a crappier version of Tokyo. We actually cut the Osaka part of our trip short, caught the train back to Tokyo and then back to Osaka again for our flight.

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  kryptoz on 14/07/2016 - 22:42

  In my experience, Tokyo Disneyland is great for kids and families, especially if you go on a weekday (albeit it is full with coachloads of Tokyo schoolkids every weekday! for some reason that's considered to be useful education in Japan!); however Disney Sea is not all it's cracked up to be, it's more of an adult themepark, with Vegas-style reproduction European towns and other attractions that won't really appeal to the young. If you have a spare day on your trip you could find better things to do that Disney Sea.

  If you are going to the Oedo Onsen, which is brilliant, you can spend half a day or more there, some locals even stay overnight! It is in the heart of Odaiba island which is a bit of a recreation mecca, so you can easily spend a morning at LegoCity, Madame Tussauds, and the like do some shopping at the Decks mall (which is mostly for kids), etc. then do the onsen in the afternoon.
  I've not been to Chiba, but that's a fair way from Tokyo to squeeze both into a day.

  Another thing to consider is that Tokyo is best seen on foot/bicycle and strollers are not very practical with the stairs that pop-up everywhere. Our experience was our kids were fine but Tokyo didn't suit my elderly in-laws one bit — they could not cope with the (moderate) exercise and spent the second half of the trip at the hotel.
  If they were wheelchair bound or the like, it would probably have been even more challenging.
  I wonder if Osaka/Kyoto are similarly mobility challenged??

  We didn't opt for a JR pass, we just bought Pasmo e-tickets (<5year old is free), if we had been travelling outside Tokyo, the pass might be better value, esp. travelling between cities. To save money (and minimise spending a lot of time training around) you might be best fitting your trip around the pass route, eg. Pass Central — Takayama, Shirakawa-go, and Kanazawa is $167 for 5 consecutive days, then you just need to add tickets to-from Tokyo. Also bear in mind that the JR pass will allow you onto the fastest shinkansen trains, while the slower trains are much cheaper to get around on if you have time.

  Be sure to check out the Ghibli Museum if you or your kids are fans of Japanese anime. Also, another unforgetable experience is a Japanese tea ceremony, which you can experience at many of the beautiful gardens around Japan (if the time of year is right).

  BTW: If you are looking for souvenirs, the heritage Nakamise shopping street next to Sensoji Temple, Asakusa is one of the best spots to find bargains.

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    plain_biscuit on 15/07/2016 - 09:48

    We had friends who suggested Disneysea over Disneyland - not sure if we will end up doing either because the kids probably won't appreciate it.

    Oedo Onsen day trip seems like something I would like to do. Will definitely check out the attractions around that area as well.

    We are trying to experience other areas outside of Tokyo so we are really open to any area. Looks like I might have to do the kanazawa side at the start of my trips as its coming towards snow season up there.

    I worked out I'm saving about $40 without the pass.

    Thanks for the tips

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      pyramid on 15/07/2016 - 10:36

      Check Tobu world square And day trip to Hakone. I travelled with 4 yr old and he loved both places.