How to Plan an 11-Day Japan Family Journey from Tokyo to Kyoto

Japan is an incredible family destination. If you ever make a call there with your partner and little ones, you need to visit two of its prominent cities, Tokyo and Kyoto. These destinations may be around 500 kilometres apart, yet they are highly accessible to each other. Therefore, it will not be stressful to hop from one to the other in a short period. Read on to find out how to plan an 11-day family venture between these two locations.

Focus On Safe Transportation and Logistics 

When you are planning a family vacation between two wonderful cities, one of the first steps you need to take is to secure your flights and accommodations. Try to finish booking these a few months in advance to get the stress of finding the perfect place to stay away from your mind and to make sure you have acquired a place on the plane for you and your family, especially if you are travelling there during the peak season, which is from late March to early April and during November. 

Since you are going to engage in a long-distance journey, it would be helpful to purchase point-to-point Shinkansen tickets through the SmartEX app to reserve seats in advance for your journey and to avoid ticket counter queues. If you have a great deal of luggage with you, it would be appropriate to use Takkyubin services to ship it between your accommodations. Then you can navigate between the two cities with only a few essentials in small backpacks and handbags.

Make an 11-day Itinerary 

Each destination is equally worth exploring. Therefore, it would be fitting to divide your 11-day stay between the cities as five days in Tokyo and six days in Kyoto, as you might like to make day trips to nearby locations such as Osaka and Nara from Kyoto. Find family-friendly stays in both locations with easy access to places and activities which you would love to try out. 

Check out some Tokyo and Kyoto hotel offers and place yourself in accommodations which have family-friendly facilities such as spacious suites or connecting room configurations. You can also get free cots or infant beds upon request. Having public transportation, such as a subway station, is also helpful for smooth travelling experiences. Make your stay as stress-free and enjoyable as possible for every member in your circle. 

Pick Some Must-try Experiences

To experience the best of both cities, it is essential to include some places that would be enjoyed by both the young and old in your itinerary. This will ensure that your kids will enjoy the trips as much as you. Keeping them engaged will help you avoid unnecessary fussiness or meltdowns. Also, make sure that you have time to rest a bit and recharge, as travelling and sightseeing with small ones can be quite exhausting. 

Some of the places you can visit during your Tokyo stay include sites like teamLab Planets, KidZania Tokyo, Tokyo Character Street, Takeshita Street, Ueno Park, and Asakusa Kannon Temple. Taking a bullet train is the easiest and most efficient way to reach Kyoto. If you stay at a property like Park Hotel Kyoto, you will be within a stone’s throw away from top sites like Nijo Castle, Kyoto International Manga Museum, Nishiki Market, Kyoto Culture Museum, Kyoto Gyoen National Garden and more. You can even take the subway from Karasuma Oike Subway Station to places like Pontocho Alley and Bamboo Forest Path within minutes from there. This will save you time from having to journey from lodgings that are far away from the top tourist attractions in each area.