Hi all,
So, we're (me, my husband and our toddler) are taking a long trip through Japan. We have been twice before, so we have seen the touristy known things (Golden Route extensively but also Hiroshima, Miyajima, Izu Peninsula, Kanazawa and Shirakawa-go). This will be our first time in Japan with our toddler and it has always been a wish of mine to explore the countryside of Japan in the fall. So we're doing exactly this from mid October to early December. It's an extensive itinerary, but I want to check with other travellers who have seen more of the countryside of Japan if I am missing something and if my planning as it is is feasible and realistic.
As we are with our 2yr old son, we try to keep our travels and planning a bit flexible and try to do 1 thing per day or make sure to do things that are close together. Especially in Tokyo we have seen a lot already, so we just want to enjoy and relax. We have booked all our flights, and I have also already booked the majority of our other apartments/hotels/stays.
Day 1- 3: We spend our first 3 days in Seoul, from where we fly to Okinawa first. We want to have a 'summer holiday' before we go into the rest of Japan 🙂 I will start our days at 4, as this is the JapanTravel sub.
– Okinawa – 6 nights
- Day 4: Fly into Okinawa at 12:00, pick up car and drive to Motobu (90min), check into Ala Mahaina and have a stroll and dinner at/around hotel
- Day 5: Have a quiet relaxing day around the hotel, the pool, check out our surroundings. Maybe visit Bise Fukugi Tree Road and get an icecream. Dinner around the hotel.
- Day 6: Ocean Expo Park, Churaumi Aquarium, Emerald Beach
- Day 7: Kouri Island and Kouri Bridge, Nago Pineapple Park
- Day 8: Maybe take a drive more North, towards Okuma Beach and then later onwards to Onna, Cape Manzamo, maybe the Southeast Botanical Gardens
- Day 9: Enjoy the pool and the beach, have tacorice somewhere 🙂
- Day 10: Check out, drive back to Naha, drop-off car and check in to hotel in Naha. Visit Onayama Park and Kokusai-Dori for the rest of the day.
– Tokyo – 5 nights
- Day 11 – Flight to Tokyo, arrive at 12:30. Check in to AirBnB in Kichijoji (we fell in love after 1 day there, decided to base ourselves here for 6 days of city-fun). Have dinner around the AirBnB.
- Day 12: Inokashira Park, do the boats, have lunch somewhere, visit a playground and the park
- Day 13: Ghibli Museum if we get tickets, Harmonica Yokocho
- Day 14: Setagaya Park to have a picknick, ride the train or a chill day in Kichijoji
- Day 15: Have a chill day around Kichijoji, do some shopping, hit up coffee places and just eat our way around
- Day 16: Might be a Disney day!
– Matsumoto – 4 nights
- Day 17: Travel to Matsumoto with a Ltd Expr from Shinjuku, pick up a rental car and check-in at our homestay.
- Day 18: Matsumoto Castle, city centre
- Day 19: Kamikochi daytrip!
- Day 20: Lake Suwa, Gofukiji Temple, maybe visit Dogo Onsen
– Ena – 3 nights
- Day 21: Drive to Ena from Matsumoto and have a stop at Narai (which is on the way) for a walk and lunch. Check in at Enakyo Onsen Hotel Yuzuhira. Dinner at hotel while checking out the view.
- Day 22: Daytrip to Magome and Tsumago
- Day 23: Family onsen session, check out Enakyo Gorge (do a boatride). Make sure to send out our luggage towards Hiroshima.
– Hiroshima – 3 nights (we've been before, so we have seen the big sites, just want to enjoy the city at a lower pace because we loved it).
- Day 24: Drive to Nagoya to turn in our rental car (without a lot of luggage!) and take the Nozomi towards Hiroshima. Check in at hotel (CL-ASS for now) and explore the surroundings.
- Day 25: Orizuri tower, Hiroshima Gate Park, Children's Museum
- Day 26: Hiropia Kiond, stroll through the park, have okonomiyaki at a child-friendly place
– Ehime – 6 nights
- Day 27: travel to Hiroshima Port and take the Super Jet ferry towards Matsuyama (Ehime), pick up rental car and drive to Saijo to check in at homestay. Do grocery shopping and have dinner at homestay
- Day 28: Matsuyama Castle, Childrens Castle, have lunch in Matsuyama
- Day 29: Drive to Imabara and rent bikes to bike around the Shimanami Kaido! ~ very excited for this
- Day 30: Visit Saijo, The railway History Park, maybe surroundings Imotaki on the way back
- Day 31: A nothing day, spend it around the homestay 🙂
- Day 32: Drive along the scenic coast route, Shimoda Station, stop in Uchiko
– Kyushu – Kurokawa Onsen – 5 nights (for travel, we haven't decided to keep the car and take it with us on the ferry or return the car in Matsuyama, take the train to the ferry and rent another car in Kyushu. We know about the one-way fee). Kyushu is a bit open still, we have not booked anything yet, but for now my plan is as follows:
- Day 33: Travel to Yawatahama and take the ferry towards Beppu/Oita. (If necessary, pick up rental car). Drive on the Yamanami Highway towards Mt Aso. Check in at stay around Kurokawa/Mt Aso.
- Day 34: A nothing day, spend it around the homestay, maybe go out for lunch
- Day 35: Explore Mt Aso and it surroundings
- Day 36: Takachiho Gorge, do the boat, Amaterasu Railway
- Day 37: Daytrip to Kumamoto if we have the energy
– Kyushu – Takeo Onsen – 4 nights (or somewhere in Saga or Northern Nagasaki Prefecture). I want to explore not only the city of Nagasaki, but also the surroundings and I also want to go to Huis Ten Bosch as we are Dutch 🙂
- Day 38: Drive to Takeo Onsen from Kurokawa (2,5hr), so travel day. Plan nothing else that day
- Day 39: Nagasaki daytrip
- Day 40: Huis ten Bosch
- Day 41: A nothing day again 🙂
– Kyushu – Fukuoka – 3 nights
- Day 42: Drive to Fukuoka, turn in rental car, check out Ohori Park
- Day 43: Nanzo-in temple, maybe Dazaifu
- Day 44: Uminonakamichi Seaside Park (or Itoshima!)
- Day 45: Travel day, flying from Fukuoka to Seoul, where we spend 6 more days before flying home.
Very very excited to hear some thoughts on our itinerary, experience with travelling Japan for a longer period of time with a toddler are also very welcome!
by Capital_Designer_229