Family trip to japan

[Climbles]

We are planning a trip to Japan for 14 days in October. My DH, DD (12) and DS (9).
We are flying in and out of Tokyo. Any recommendations for places to go, hotels to stay at etc?

Placemaking - my dream holiday - I have goosebumps reading this thread!

Skip Osaka and go to Hiroshima instead.

Following! All sounds amazing!

Everyone has given such good tips, so I won’t add too many more! We did this bus/bullet train day trip from Tokyo to Mt Fuji, and it was fantastic. Lake Ashi was absolutely stunning, and it was a definite highlight. Also Tokyo City Hall has amazing free viewing platforms, with phenomenal views of the city.

www.viator.com/en-GB/tours/Tokyo/Mt-Fuji-Lake-Ashi-and-Bullet-Train-Day-Trip-from-Tokyo/d334-2142TYO_F800_F820?m=64813&supag=98775588920&supsc=dsa-647668688366&supai=544821595107&supdv=m&supnt=g&suplp=9044958&supli=&supti=dsa-647668688366&tsem=true&supci=dsa-647668688366&supap1=&supap2=&gbraid=0AAAAAD-gbd55VSZwqtlaLODD2UW94GMZc&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgaGgBhC8ARIsAAAyLfHex8d7NEOPfD_Or91A8h6sZwQPFR8VtCxGmZPrxK4CMChp4aW8IMwaAtqZEALw_wcB

@Climbles I hope you don’t mind me jumping onto your post but we have literally just booked flights to and from Haneda for 2 weeks in October too!!
thanks for all the amazing info in here. It’s really helped us think about what we want to do and thought I’d share in case it’s helpful!! And also have a few questions if anyone can help

we arrive in HND late so staying at an airport hotel overnight.
we’ve then booked a ryokan in Tokyo which looks amazing for 4 nights. I’ve found out through lots of research that some hotels: ryokans don’t allow you to book until 3-6 months before so worth bearing in mind ( i was getting worried that nothing was left!!)

we’d love to see the tuna auction but you now have to enter a ballot for tickets a month before.

thinking of day trips to Mount Fuji and poss Nikko, has anybody done those?

sadly the robot show is now closed.

we are thinking of either going to Osaka for a couple of nights then Kyoto for 5 and doing a day trip to Hiroshima then a day back in Tokyo OR going to Kyoto then having a night in Hiroshima, again any views would be really welcome!!!

we want to do the railway from Kyoto, go to the bamboo forest and get the boat back.

if you’re going to Kyoto and interested in a geisha show, there are some from 1/11 onwards.

will be great to follow this and I’ll add in as i find things!!

This all sounds amazing. Can I ask those of you who have booked for Oct which airline are you using and how much roughly were your flights? Considering an Oct 2024 visit. Will follow this thread for all the fantastic info and ideas 🙂

We booked with Qatar, at around £875 pp. ( I’m writing that quickly so I’m not quite as eek at the cost!) according to Google flights it was a good price but I can’t confirm that!
I think if you booked as soon as the flights come out it will likely be cheaper. I had looked at Skyscanner and Asians were a bit cheaper but Qatar have great reviews so would prefer to fly with them!

Sorry Asiana- auto correct!!

Go to Disney, there are two parks and one day in each is enough.

The tickets are cheaper and the snacks are amazing.

Disney Sea is really unique, who needs a castle when you've got a volcano?

@User65412
I have attached this from the Uk Government web site. It’s clear what you must do for 2 jabs. Can you not get a private third jab? I would not risk all that money with a mandatory pcr test requirement. Just see if you can get a COVID jab from somewhere. Odd decision not to have third.

Thank you @Holidayqueen1 , will keep an eye on things once next years flights become available. For long haul I prefer a known airline with some decent reviews too.

That's a very good price for Japan in these post-Covid times.

Good to know @Glame !! I’d been looking for a few weeks and it seemed good, also booked directly with Qatar rather than via opodo/ kiwi etc, have had a couple of nightmares with them over past couple of years and won’t do that again!
in case it helped I signed up for a Qatar privilege account last year and this price was as a result of them doing a deal for privilege members. I hadn’t booked any flights previously so may be worth a look in case they do them regularly

So exciting, isn’t it!
Can I ask which ryokan you have booked in Tokyo?

We haven’t booked anything but the kids want to do Disney sea and Nintendo land (or something like that). I’m also going to try and book the Pokémon cafe too.
So much good advice on here, thank you

Hiya
of course! We booked the edo Sakura, it has great reviews and near ueno park. I just wanted to get something booked at least for Tokyo! When do you go? Parks sound great, our DS not bothered about that but we def want to go to the samurai museum, pokemon cafe and ideally a sumo stable plus manga museum in Kyoto.

Thanks @TizerorFizz
I would love to have a 3rd but I'm not eligible and can't see that's it's available privately? 119 told me I wasn't eligible and that I'd just have to do the pcr route. I may be wrong!

www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/

The Pokémon cafe and the shop is so good!

We organised everything ourselves. Key lostions we had written down in English and in Japanese. We used my phone data and paid the daily rate to use my home data, which let us translate everything we needed to. Some people get an extra sim to use on arrival. Which is easier now due to e-sims.

I’d love to go back to Japan but they are still very obsessed with Covid precautions and wearing a mask all trip isn’t my idea of a holiday. Apparently some places still take your temperature before allowing you in. Maybe things will have changed by October but I wouldn’t personally risk it.

Following!

It’s disappointing to hear about the Covid regulations. I would love to go but not dealing with all that Covid crap ever again.

Recently returned from Japan. There are no Covid restrictions now. Mask wearing is optional, most visible on public transport but it's a personal preference and the Japanese have always tended to wear them since long before Covid. I travelled all over Japan and only once was my temperature checked when entering the Peace museum in Hiroshima.