Sharing some details from our trip with this sub, as I got so many great ideas and advice from all of you while planning the trip.
Our stats: First-timers to Japan, Family of 4 with 12 and 17 year-old girls, from San Francisco (meaning unable to handle hot weather but used to city living and walking).
Day 1 – SFO to Narita. Opted to stay in Ueno due to recommendation I saw on Reddit. This was a great move as we were able to take the Narita Skyliner to Ueno in just 40 minutes. There are a few ways to buy these tickets and YouTube videos are helpful to see where you need to go and how the fares work. In the end, we did not prebook anything and simply bought them from the ticket office staffed by a human. Very easy and only a short wait. We opted for the &HERE hotel, which is a 5-7 minute walk from the Ueno station and directly across the street from Ueno park. they have contactless check in and our 4-person room had a small kitchen, table and bunks for our kids. Plenty of room and within easy walking distance of food, Ueno park and the Ameyoko area under the railway tracks. many options to help us stay awake until dark.
Day 2 – Explore by foot- Yanaka for “Old Tokyo” vibe, Ueno, and arcades and shopping in Ameyoko.
5 days on the Izu Peninsula. Train to from Ueno station to Shimoda, with a nice break/train switch in Atami. Lots of food options in a shopping complex connected to the train station. Rented car to get to AirB&B in Sotoura Beach, just outside of Shimoda. Car rental ended up being great idea as there are a lot of small towns and beaches to explore. The car provided flexibility and it was not difficult to drive/park. We had obtained our international drivers permits in advance at AAA ($20 fee).
The Izu peninsula has lovely beaches (Shirahama, Irata, Sotoura, Tatadohama) and clear, refreshing water. This is a popular tourist spot for Japanese later in the summer, but in June it’s still pretty quiet. We had a paddle board lesson and recommend the cafe IRIE Coffee & Sea in Shirahama. The owner is a surfer and makes great smoothies. Also recommend FermenCo pizza at Irata Beach – you can make a reservation online (in English) and skip the line!
3 days in Kyoto. We stayed at an Airb&b near the Fushiri Inari shrine. This made it very easy on the day we visited the shrine, but it was otherwise a little out of the way for seeing other parts of Kyoto. Nishiki market and the nearby outdoor shopping streets/malls were a big hit with our girls. We also had fun in Round 1 (video games, bowling etc). There was a more obvious tourist presence in Kyoto, especially in Gion.
2 days at Kinosaki Onsen for traditional ryokan experience. Easy train ride from Kyoto (2.5 hours on Express). We stayed at Onishiya Suishien and opted to do the traditional meal service (breakfast and dinner), and take advantage of the free passes provided by the hotel to visit the seven public Onsens in the area. This was a great way to relax after the bustle of Kyoto shopping, and the hotel also had free e-bikes that we could use to explore the town and greater area, including biking to see the Japan Sea. The biking was a highlight for our girls, one of their favorite parts of the trip!
5 days – Tokyo. It was a longer travel day from Kinosaki Onsen to Tokyo but it was a great opportunity to take the Shinkansen (about 5.5 hours total, transferring in Kyoto). We also enjoyed being in a completely different area of Tokyo. I can’t do Tokyo justice in this post, there is simply so much to do but if you have time to stay in two parts of the city, I recommend it.
On this leg we explored: Shibuya, Harajuku (teen fave), Daikanyama, Ebisu, Ropponga, Diver City (to see Gundam robot, then unplanned stop at science museum because the nearby malls were super crowded). Specific activities included Disneyland and Teamlab Borderless. These activities were fun and we are able to get tickets a day or so in advance. We debated Disneyland due to concerns about crowds and heat but opted to arrive later in the afternoon and just strolled in! Many of the rides only had 5-10 minute waits (longest wait was 40 min) and there was a nice breeze and it cooled off in the evening. Having been to Disneyland in California a number of times the Tokyo version seemed small in comparison but it was a low key and fun addition to our itinerary.
Highlights and learnings:
-Appreciated the Japanese culture and found everyone to be incredibly friendly, helpful and polite. Japan is very clean and I felt completely safe everywhere we went. We were able to let our kids have some independence in the smaller towns to walk around on their own.
-June is rainy season and also pretty warm. This year there was significantly less rain than normal so we only saw rain in Kyoto and it wasn’t a big deal. The clear plastic umbrellas are readily available at stores or hotels and are better than rain gear as you stay cool and can leave them outside of shops. The heat was another matter. Most days were between high 80s/low to mid-90s F (sometimes up to 97/98) with high humidity. This was quite challenging for us, especially when we were in cities, as we live in a mild climate with low humidity. For those who have more resilience to heat, this may not be a big deal at all. Everywhere has AC and the evenings are pretty pleasant so we found ourselves spending more time in museums or indoor malls during the day. The weather was great for the beach in Izu Peninsula.
-We used taxis much more than planned, in both Kyoto and Tokyo. We didn’t realize Uber is readily available in both locations. There are Japanese taxi apps that are likely cheaper and work equally well. I believe all the apps connect you to real taxi drivers (this was at least the case with Uber). You could always get a cab within 3 minutes and for us this offered a few advantages that made taxis worth it: escape from heat, quiet/no crowds so could offer some recovery between activities while seeing the sights from the car, no language barrier. I’m sure more expensive but we did have a group of 4 at all times.
-I regretted not learning more Japanese phrases before the trip. Everyone we met with willing to work with translation app or hand gestures if they didn’t speak English.
-I had read the advice many times that it’s worth learning how the trains work in advance of the trip. We didn’t heed this advice so made some time-consuming errors by relying only on google maps in the moment. We didn’t understand Green Cars or how you combine base fares with additional tickets. We eventually figured it all out but learned to work with humans at the stations when buying tickets instead of just guessing. Larger stations in the city are busy and crowded, so plan for extra time.
-You do need to have some cash. We experienced cash-only restaurants in all cities we visited.
-Our younger daughter has a nut allergy, so it was extremely helpful to have pre-printed cards with an explanation of that allergy in English and Japanese. We found these online and used 10-15 cards throughout the trip. It’s helpful to have a physical piece of paper that can be taken back to the kitchen if needed, and we didn’t get them all back. Many restaurants have detailed lists of what allergens are present in each menu item.
It was such a memorable trip, I would definitely travel to Japan again during a cooler time of year.
by Content_Aardvark1652