9 days trip - Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka

Dear all,

Travelling to Japan in the second half of March with 2 kids (6 and 11). Based on my initial research, came up with the following itinerary, please advise if below route is fine and which all recommended places have i missed (we wont be going to Disneyland)

Is it advisable to do Lake Kawaguchi from Hakone or should we keep only one night for Hakone/Lake Ashinoko and do 3 nights in Tokyo and visit Kawaguchi from Tokyo only.

Are 2 nights more in Osaka? We are not interested in city tour but looking for more scenic views only.

Day 1 - Tokyo - 6am arrive in Tokyo (Narita Airport), Check-in at Hotel and then sightseeing - Sensoji Temple, Tokyo Skytree, Nakamise Shopping Centre, Imperial Palace, Shinjuku Shopping / Shibuya/ Ginza
Day 2 - Tokyo - Sightseeing continued
Day 3 - Tokyo - Lake Kawaguchi, Mt Fuji and around
Day 4 - Hakone - Leave Tokyo in morning and reach Hakone. Sightseeing around Lake Ashinoko, Hakone Shrine, Mt Fuji, etc
Day 5 - Kyoto - Leave Hakone and arrive at Kyoto. Sightseeing - Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Sanju-san Gen-do Temple, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Sagano Bamboo Forest, Tenryu-ji Temple, Kinkaku-ji Temple
Day 6 - Kyoto - Sightseeing continued
Day 7 - Kyoto - Day tour to Nara - Todiaji Temple, Nara deer park, Isuien Garden, Kasuga Taisha, Kofikuji Temple
Day 8 - Osaka - Leave Kyoto and arrive at Osaka via Bullet Train. Sightseeing
Day 9 - Osaka - Sightseeing continued
Day 10 - Leave Osaka in morning

Thanks

In general your pace seems to e too high. Doable (but not necessarily enjoyable) for adults but with two relatively small kids sounds way too high.

Osaka: no need to change hotels just stay in Kyoto. There are many different train lines between Kyoto and Osaka so its an easy commute.

If you really go to Kawaguchiko and Hakone I would go from Kawaguchiko to Hakone and sleep there 2 nights. No need to come back all tge way to Tokyo.

Consider shipping your luggage via TaQBin.

In general your pace seems to e too high. Doable (but not necessarily enjoyable) for adults but with two relatively small kids sounds way too high.

Osaka: no need to change hotels just stay in Kyoto. There are many different train lines between Kyoto and Osaka so its an easy commute.

If you really go to Kawaguchiko and Hakone I would go from Kawaguchiko to Hakone and sleep there 2 nights. No need to come back all tge way to Tokyo.

Consider shipping your luggage via TaQBin.

Thanks for your feedback.

Please explain what did you mean by going from kawaguchi to hakone. If we check out of Tokyo hotel on day 3 morning, then next hotel should be in kawaguchi or hakone.

Hi

I believe @LikeBike means (and if so I agree) Tokyo to Kawaguchiko, Kawaguchiko to Hakone, Hakone to Kyoto.

It's counterintuitive, but it's easier to get from Hakone to Kyoto than from Kawaguchiko.

From the latter you get to Odawara and then it is a direct shot and depending on where you stay there are lots of options to Hakone-Yumoto and from there it is a short train trip to Odawara.

From Kawaguchiko, you need to take a bus to Mishima and catch the shinkansen there. The bus between Kawaguchiko and Mishima doesn't run as often and isn't timed well for the shinkansen to Mishima.

I like to move fast, I too travel with a kid. My kid would not like changing hotels so often. I've also not taken my kid to Kawaguchiko yet because I've yet to figure out what a kid is going to actually enjoy there outside of Fuji Q.

We're staying in Kyoto and so far going into Osaka 3 days in a row (we're going to an event day 1, the Pokemon Cafe day 2, and a Christmas themed tea at the Ritz day 3.) It's a really easy and fast trip. I would not change between Kyoto and Osaka unless you specifically want to do very late night (aka after 22:00 sightseeing.) I would pick one location based on what you are more interested in doing. I personally prefer Kyoto.

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I am gonna guess that this is a first time trip considering the sights you wanna see.

Pace is way too fast. Especially with kids in tow. You are trying to hit too many locations in a too small of time.

I wouldn't bother with Osaka other than maybe the Castle and dinner at Dontonbori.

Add another day each to both Tokyo and Kyoto.

Access what you really wanna see and prioritise those. Too many locations outside of Kyoto and Tokyo.

I've travels with children of that age. You really need a half day rest every second or third day. Two reasons is either to rest, or to catch up on missed sights.

Thanks for your feedback.
Still confused about kawaguchiko and hakone. So are you suggesting staying at both places for 1 night each?

Well taken your point for osaka. We will stay in Kyoto only and check out from the hotel on day 10 morning. Our flight from osaka is at 215 in afternoon so I believe we would be able to reach airport on time directly from kyoto.

Hi!

Personally, I would completely skip Kawaguchiko entirely. You can get a good view of Mt. Fuji from a lot of places in Tokyo or from the shinkansen.

I might skip Hakone as well, it really depends on your interests and really how your kids do with travel.

But what I think @LikeBike is suggesting is if you are determined to go to Lake Kawaguchiko and Hakone you should spend 1 night in Kawaguchiko (night 3) and then go from there to Hakone and spend (night 4) in Hakone.

Again, I would probably just leave out Lake Kawaguchiko entirely and possibly Hakone.

You can take the Haruka from Kyoto Station directly to KIX. It's about 90 minutes direct and is probably the easiest way between Kyoto and KIX (but not the cheapest.) If your flight is after noon, I don't think you will have an issue make it.

Since it was mentioned in your itinerary.... there is no reason to take the shinkansen from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka. 99.9% of the time if you are trying to go from Kyoto to Osaka, you're not trying to get to Shin-Osaka. Depending on where you are staying and where you are trying to go will tell you the best method. Heck, I am going to have a JR Pass and I don't plan to use the shinkansen to go to Shin-Osaka, because I would just need to change any way.

I would make sure to take things slow your first travel day. If you arrive at 6 am, your kids might be pretty tired by 14:00 or 15:00. I tend to get in late, like 15:30, but I know we are doing very very few things on arrival day outside of hopefully eating dinner.

About the Kawaguchi-ko and Hakone part:

Day 3 - Tokyo - Lake Kawaguchi, Mt Fuji and around (stay around Lake Kawaguchi)
Day 4 - Go by bus from Lake Kawaguchi area to Hakone, sightsee around Lake Ashinoko, Hakone Shrine, Mt Fuji, etc (stay in Hakone)
Day 5 - Kyoto - Leave Hakone and arrive at Kyoto

�cwould make sense.

I'd agree with rkold on omitting Kawaguchiko. It isn't a overly interesting place. Nice for relaxing. But your number of days don't allow relaxing. It's a very over-rated place. And slow to get to and from.

I personally would do 4 nights Tokyo, 1N Hakone and 4N Kyoto.

Thanks AK, rkold, H, and Likebike for your feedback. Well taken your feedback and have changed the plan as follows.

Pls review this.

Day 1 - Arrive at Tokyo at 6am. Spend the rest of the day with 1-2 sightseeing places
Day 2 - Tokyo - Sightseeing continued from Day 1 (Sensoji Temple, Tokyo Skytree, Nakamise Shopping Centre, Imperial Palace, Shinjuku Shopping / Shibuya/ Ginza etc)
Day 3 - Tokyo - Yet to decide
Day 4 - Hakone - Check out of Tokyo hotel and arrive in Hakone airport - spend the rest of the day exploring Lake Ashinoko, Hakone Shrine, Mt Fuji etc
Day 5 - Hakone - explore Hakone and around
Day 6 and 7 - Kyoto - Sightseeing - Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Sanju-san Gen-do Temple, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Sagano Bamboo Forest, Tenryu-ji Temple, Kinkaku-ji Temple etc
Day 8 - Day trip to Nara
Day 9 - Day trip from Kyoto to Osaka and return back to Kyoto hotel
Day 10 - Check out of Kyoto hotel and reach Osaka airport directly to catch 2:15 pm flight

I agree with rkold on removing Kawaguchiko entirely from your travel itinerary.
Are you wanting views of Mt Fuji? If so, then you can get very good views (on a clear day) of Mt Fuji from Owakudani [Owakudani:https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5203.html] .
If you do the classic Hakone Round Course [https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html], then Owakudani is a part of the route.

I would also personally remove Kawaguchiko, so that you can have an extra day in either Kyoto or Tokyo. As what you want to see, would be very fast paced and not an enjoyable experience.

Day 1: Sensoji Temple, Nakamise Shopping Centre, Tokyo Skytree & Ginza.
Day 2: Imperial Palace, Shinjuku Shopping [I'd also recommend checking out Shinjuku Gyoen] & Shibuya.
Day 3: Tokyo sightseeing [Might even recommend visiting Ginza on this day instead of Day 1]
Day 4: Hakone [I recommend doing the Hakone Round Course]
Day 5: Travel to Kyoto, Sanjusangendo, Kiyomizu-dera Temple & Fushimi Inari Taisha
Day 6: Kinkaku-ji Temple, Tenryu-ji Temple, Sagano Bamboo Forest
Day 7: Day trip to Nara [from Kyoto]
Day 8: Day trip to Osaka [from Kyoto]
Day 9: Day trip to Osaka [from Kyoto] or Kyoto sightseeing.
Day 10: Leave Osaka.

Depending on where you are staying in Tokyo and Kyoto, these days are more evenly spaced out and more easily doable than what you originally had proposed.

As for Hakone, are you wanting to stay at a particular ryokan or hotel?
If not, then make it a day trip from Tokyo. The Hakone Free Pass will give you a round trip journey between Shinjuku Station and Odawara station (on the Odakyu railway). This pass will also give you unlimited access to the various transportation within the Hakone area. And this is great for those travellers that explore Hakone by following the classic 'Hakone Round Course'.
[Hakone Free Pass info: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html]

Yes, this new route looks more doable and if you need to slow down you can. And if your family feels very energetic you can add a few things along the way.

You write Hakone and Mt. Fuji. Best case scenario from Hakone is that you can see Mt Fuji in the distance. Its a nice (but not guaranteed ) view. You cant actually access Mt Fuji from Hakone.

And a word of caution for Day 1. Japanese hotels have a very strict (and in my eyes stupid) rule that prevents you from Check in before 15:00. You can certainly drop your luggage at the hotel before, but they wont let you into your room no matter what. So your kids will need to keep going until 15:00. My personal solution to this now is to go to a day onsen in Tokyo relax there and then go to the hotel. I personally wouldn�ft do Amy sightseeing on my arrival day, but then id be coming from Europe so long flight plus time difference. If you have a short flight and no huge time difference sightseeing on day 1 is possible.

actually in your case arriving early and having 2 kids i would look into shipping (some of ) your luggage from the airport to your Tokyo hotel for a more relaxed arrival.

@LikeBike,

I think for me it would depend what hotel Original poster is staying at and if said hotel still has a welcome service. If they have a welcome service, it's always nice to have someone meet you and take your bags. Like you, I tend to always have a long flight and have a significant time change, but I also tend to always arrive in the afternoon.

But yes, I think your current plan makes more sense.

I would say, you don't need to do anything specifically for kids, like an amusement park (unless you want to as well) but I just think it's important to be aware of not planning things kids will hate.

My kid liked Yunessun, it was cheezy and silly, but is very appealing for children and not horrible for adults. Mine also liked staying at the Fujiya Hotel, because we could feed koi there. It's not on the water.