We spent 3 weeks in Japan in March 2024. Elliot was 23 months old and here is what we did!
TOKYO – KYOTO – HIROSHIMA – HOKKAIDO
General Info
– Trip length: we did our usual of planning a trip 1 week longer than what we would for a pre-baby trip, and we felt like 3 weeks was pretty perfect for us.
– Itinerary: after lots of research, I settled for 6 nights in both Tokyo and Kyoto and wanted to do a few nights in the snow at the end. In terms of the other destination, I really wanted somewhere easy to access on the Shinkansen. Actually I really wanted to go to Naoshima Island, but knowing that Hokkaido was going to be a long day of travel there and back, I was keen to avoid this twice. So we settled on Hiroshima, which I was glad about.
– Nappies: hilarious. So during my trip planning I got as far as reading “take 3-5 days worth as they’re a bit hard today find, then you’ll be right”. However, they are near impossible to find in any quantities more than 2 within the CBD!! They are only sold at ‘drug stores’ or chemists and I suspect only really in the suburbs. We spent the first few days popping in to every one we passed and found a few here and there, which kept us going. But essentially I think the locals order them in bulk, online, so there isn’t a demand in the city. The only place we found that sold big packets was a drug store on Teramachi Dori in Kyoto.
– Sleeping for children: we haven’t ever co-slept with our little one, and I was a bit wary of starting this on a long holiday, in case we started something we couldn’t get out of when we got home! But he also would never sleep in a travel cot and we weren’t prepared to lug one around. He has a ‘nap mat’ which we place on a soft-ish surface on the floor. It’s pretty compressible and so fits inside our suitcase, but it can also just be carried on the plane if you do a bit of shopping and need the extra space on the way home. Worked a treat for us and gives us flexibility for where he sleeps within the room.
– Eating out: so the toddler we took was some sort of behaved child who was well versed in eating out at restaurants with a natural bedtime of around 9pm, which has always been great when travelling. By about night 6 or 7, we were surprised to realise we now had a child going through some sort of terrible 2’s who developed a resemblance to an angry shark crossed with the attention span of Dory from Finding Nemo come 5.01pm. Anyway, we tried to roll with it and changed the game plan, starting to eat in with a bottle of wine at home for maximum enjoyment. Japanese restaurants seem to be either bar stool/chef table arrangement which isn’t particularly toddler friendly when they’re like this, or really casual but then the food definitely isn’t as good. But there is a huge culture of take out and they will package almost anything up for you. The main train stations (Kyoto and Tokyo for sure) are also incredibly good for food. They are NOT like a western shopping centre food court but they ARE very family friendly.
– Getting around: we didn’t use data roaming on our phones any day of the trip except for Disney, instead we downloaded the apple maps for the city we were in, you can save all your destinations of interest with wifi and then do directions to them offline later, it was excellent (Especially if you happen to have an Apple Watch). We used the trains ++ and apple maps gave specifics including platforms, train times etc, so this made travelling around in the day super easy. The JR rail pass is becoming less and less efficient cost wise so we didnt get it. We pre-purchased all the Shinkansen tickets and then just carried cash and bought local train tickets one by one. We almost exclusively used the trains with a few buses when we needed.
TOKYO
We spent 6 nights in Tokyo, although 1 night we had a sleepover at Disneyland. I booked our Tokyo hotel before I thought about Disney and found out that you could stay there, so we ended up just popping out for the night and having 2 hotels booked, which was great because we only needed to take a backpack with us for overnight.
We absolutely loved Tokyo, it is a pretty, clean city with so much going on. We certainly could have stayed longer and will definitely go back.
STAY..
In Tokyo with stayed at Hoshinoya. Oh it was so beautiful. To start with, I wondered if we were going to feel unwelcome with a toddler, as it’s very civilised and quiet, but actually they were so warm and welcoming. It’s a traditional Ryokan style hotel, and for staying 6 nights you get a huge discount. The room itself was probably the smallest of out accomodation, but on each floor there is a ‘family room’ so you feel like there is more space. It was still a huge hotel room by Japanese standards. Beautifully comfortable king bed, big bathroom with bath, they even put a nappy bin in our room! Only word of warning, the total per night cost was about $300AUD, and the early check in fee was about $100/hr! In terms of the location, it was certainly the business end of town, and perhaps if we went again we might stay somewhere different for variety, but it was well connected and we didn’t mind the slightly longer commutes to explore the different areas, which would be the case no matter where you stayed.
DO..
It is a big city and we found planning a day to go and explore each district helpful. Though lots of our days were full on/long/tiring.
– Shibuya: Hedgehog Cafe, Meiji Shrine. We thought Shibuya had a bit of a strange feel and much preferred Shinjuku, in case you have to choose.
– Shinjuku: Tokyo Toy Museum (could easily spend half a day here), National garden (take a picnic and explore), we did a free nighttime walking tour through ‘Tokyo Localised’ which was great!
– Disney: we did one day, and stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay for the night (which wouldn’t be on my ‘must revisit’ list but we got in at 9pm at night and there was a huge buffet breakfast before we headed back to out hotel, so it did the trick). In my opinion, you must go to Disney. Experiencing the joy of the happiest place on earth through your children’s eyes, was something I will never forget. It was also nice to have a much slower day there than you would as an adult trying to go on every ride possible, instead being restricted to what your little one can do. We got there for opening time, the entrance line was insane but they are so good at efficiency in Japan and it didn’t take that long to get in. We did Priority Pass for Buzz Lightyear, which was so great and we caved and bought Premier Access for Beauty and the Beast which was the absolute best! We didn’t manage to get any entry requests. We had lunch at Pan Galactic Pizza Port and dinner at Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall. We loved “it’s a small world” and Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin and visiting Mickey’s house was a huge highlight.
– Other: Team Lab (absolute must)
What we didn’t get time to DO..
– Fire Museum
– Tokyo Metropolitan Government Tower
– Ueno Park
– Farmer’s Market at United Nations University
– National Museum of Nature and Science –
– Fish Market
EAT..
– Kura Sushi
– Buy Me Stand
– Parklet (we were obsessed, what’s more there is an epic park right outside!)
– The Stand for canelle and/or a glass of wine
– Sarabeth’s for breakfast
KYOTO
We caught a 2 hour midday Shinkansen to Kyoto and stayed 6 nights here too. It is incredibly different from Tokyo, and also such a lovely area to explore. I think if we went back we would stay closer to the Gion area, but we loved our hotel and couldn’t find equally nice accomodation in that area. But it was quite a trek to get around generally in Kyoto, so stay close to where you’d most like to explore.
STAY..
We stayed at the Rakuro Kyoto by The Share Hotels. It was a beautiful hotel, we had a spacious room with a balcony, seperate bedroom and bathroom with a bath. The hotel staff were lovely and there was washing and drying facilities which was helpful. We weren’t personally a fan of the western or Japanese style breakfast that was provided but it was helpful having an onsite cafe/restaurant. I would definitely scope out where other hotels from this chain are next time.
DO..
– Nishiki Market – a must go
– Golden Pavilion – one of the most beautiful places you will ever go
– Philosophers Walk – highly recommended
– Explore the Gion area – must do
– Maruyama Park – super pretty, couple if with the philosophers walk and exploring Gion, and there is a Blue Bottle Coffee close by
– Bamboo Forest (not as amazing as I expected but still worth a visit if you have time)
– Kyoto Aquarium – it was actually really great, we went on a whim because it was a cold, wet kinda miserable day, but we really enjoyed it!
What we didnt get time to DO..
– Silver Pavillion
– Fushimi Inari
EAT..
– School Bus Coffee Makers (we were obsessed and went most days for breakfast or pastry treats)
– Weekenders Coffee (super hard to find, gorgeous tiny stand up coffee shop)
– Blue Bottle Coffee (chain with great coffee)
– Walden Woods coffee (so cute and definitely worth a visit)
– KeFu Stand
HIROSHIMA
We again caught a midday Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima. Hiroshima is a very pretty relatively ‘small-feeling’ town. It’s great because it all seemed really compact but with a great range of food/shopping and coffee!
STAY..
We stayed in an airbnb right near the peace park. It was apartment style, with a full kitchen, washings facilities, bath etc. It wasn’t the most luxurious place ever but very comfortable, all the amenities you need and great location. We had to take a ‘rail car’ (about 20mins) which is essentially a tram to get there from the main station, but the stop was right outside the door so that was fine. We chose airbnb for Hiroshima because I didn’t really find a huge range of hotels to choose from.
DO..
– The Peace Memorial Park and Museum – must do for obvious reasons. We timed the museum visit for right when Elliot fell asleep in the carrier, we felt it DEFINITELY wasn’t appropriate for a small child so were very pleased he napped the entire time. Of note there is a discount for seniors if you take your passport..
– Miyajima Island (or affectionately known as “Deer Island” in our house) – we had a wonderful day here, for those from WA, I felt like it had Rottnest Island vibes, but obviously a lot bigger. The ferry getting there was very efficient (and very flat).
EAT
– Okonomimura; this is 3 floors of Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki, absolutely must do. Wouldn’t suggest it is the most traditionally toddler friendly thing to do, but we managed with some close supervision and sticker book entertainment!
– Andersen; we went for breakfast and it was ok, it definitely wasn’t amazing but the market style grocery store on the ground floor was incredible. We actually did a shop here on our last day and bought ourselves an ‘eat in’ dinner, and the next days’ breakfast and lunch for our journey to Hokkaido. You can even enjoy coffee in their cute little garden.
– Obscura coffee
– Archive coffee
– Cave de Oenophile – now, going to a wine bar that specialises in Italian style food in Japan probably isn’t on everyone’s list of things to do, but my goodness, the food here was beyond delicious. The wine selection by the glass was also spectacular including champagne! The restaurant itself has a bit of a dark uninviting feel but we went at about 4.30pm and we were the only ones there, our toddler was made to feel more than welcome and we had the YUMMIEST of dinners cooked to order. Definitely recommend a visit for a glass of wine (or buy from their extensive wine store) or dinner!
HOKKAIDO
It was a pretty long day of travel, starting with the rail car back to the train station, then train to the airport, then the flight to New Chitose Airport, then the 2 hour bus transfer to Club Med, but when we got off the bus and walked through the doors at Kiroro Grand, the tiredness melted away and we were in complete parent heaven!
STAY..
I essentially picked which club med based upon accomodation options for a bit of a larger room, the presence of a kids club and the closest transfer from an airport. And that was Kiroro Grand. Huge added advantage that is was brand new having only opened at the beginning of this season. The room was amazing, we stayed in a Junior Family Deluxe Tatami room. It had a seperate lounge room where we set up Elliot’s bed. They did also provide a porta-cot.
We will stay at club med time and time again as a family as it is one of the easiest ways for EVERYONE to have a holiday. Elliot had an absolute ball at the kids club, and dinner, and every other minute of the day, and we had the time of our lives having a few hours off, pretending not to be parents; sitting silently on chair lists and zooming down the mountain. The facilities and staff at the kids club were incredible and made us feel so comfortable leaving out baby with them.
The food was incredible. It’s essentially fine dining food but in a family setting. The staff are so friendly and get to know you very quickly. They come over and interact/entertain the children. It was wonderful. We have been to only 1 club med before, pre-children, we went skiing in France, and we loved it then, but the enjoyment this time was something else.
We stayed here for 4 nights, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing, except mayyyyybe 1 more night? But 4 was great and it was perfectly placed at the end of the holiday for maximum no-fuss, all inclusive vibes.
I am happy to refer you if you are considering booking your first club med holiday – get in touch with your name and email address and you (and I) will receive a $150 voucher off your trip!
On the last day, we made our way back to Tokyo (to Haneda because its closer to the city) stayed overnight to make the flight home less traumatic and then flew out from Narita via ANA the next morning.
Other
– the Can*Do stores are essentially $1 stores, you can stock up on the most amazing things for toddlers including sticker books, drawing suppliers, spare bibs, wash clothes, definitely worth a visit at the beginning and end of the trip!
– if you’re into big brand kids stuff such as sleich/brio/lego etc, its all soooo cheap in Japan. We pack pretty efficiently (eg. dont end up with a lot if spare luggage space), so had to resist buying too much, but if you do have space, highly recommend hitting up the shops to stock up for the next few birthdays and Christmases!
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